The seven Egyptian guards kidnapped in the Sinai Peninsula last week have been freed. [Times of Israel] Germany is supporting efforts to add Hezbollah to the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations. [Times of Israel] Hundreds of protestors marched in Malmo, Sweden to address rising levels of anti-Semitism in the city. [Ynet] A Jewish conductor will celebrate the 200th birthday of anti-Semitic composer Richard Wagner. [Forward] The 18-year-old heir to the Belz Hasidic Jewish dynasty was married …More

A congressional medal of honor in memory of Raoul Wallenberg was unveiled at the US Treasury Thursday. The Raoul Wallenberg Congressional Medal includes an image of the Swedish hero on one side, with a photo on the reverse side displaying Wallenberg’s hand issuing a passport. Wallenberg, a Swedish gentile, saved an estimated 100,000 Jews in Hungary during World War II. One of his most famous techniques was furiously passing out forged Swedish passports as Jewish prisoners boarded deportation trains. The …More

Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, was made Australia's first honorary citizen. At a ceremony Monday at Government House in Canberra, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said it was "entirely fitting" that "this man of moral courage and heroic example” be named as Australia's first honorary citizen. Among the guests was Frank Vajda, who faced near-certain death from a firing squad in 1944 when Wallenberg arrived to secure his release. Also present was …More

Prosecutors in Lublin said they have no legal basis for prosecuting a Swedish artist who admitted to stealing ashes of Holocaust victims who died in Poland. An investigation into the actions of Carl Michael von Hausswolff, who allegedly used human ashes stolen from former death Nazi death camp Majdanek, was suspended by prosecutors in Lublin because the theft occurred in 1989 and the Polish statute of limitations on such a crime is five years. The case is "beyond the jurisdiction of the Polish justice system," a …More

Swiss authorities turned away only 3,000 Jewish refugees during the Holocaust and not 24,500 as believed, French Nazi hunter and historian Serge Klarsfeld said. Klarsfeld told Switzerland’s Der Sonntag newspaper that the figure of 24,500 came from imprecise archive material processed by the authors of the 1999 Bergier report on Switzerland’s Holocaust-era record. The Bergier commission, which named the figure of 24,500, did not possess information that specified the rejection of Jews or the reasons …More

A controversial Catholic bishop is facing legal fines for comments denying the Holocaust. Bishop Richard Williamson, 72, was originally convicted of incitement by a German court for remarks made in a 2008 interview. The bishop, who is a British national, said “historical evidence is strongly against” the fact that six million Jews died at the hands of Hitler. "I believe that the historical evidence, the historical evidence is strongly against, is, is, hugely against, six million Jews having been …More

A record number of complaints about hate crimes in the Swedish city of Malmo has not resulted in any convictions for such offenses in more than two years. The Swedish court system did not convict anyone of hate crimes in 2010 and 2011 despite 480 complaints, the local daily Sydsvenskan reported Monday. In total, only 16 cases formed the basis for an indictment, none of them for anti-Semitic behavior. Malmo Jewish community leaders say a few dozen anti-Semitic attacks occur annually in the city. Approximately …More

Raoul Wallenberg is set to receive an annual day of commemoration in his native country. The Holocaust hero, who is believed to have died in Soviet captivity in 1947, will be remembered August 27 in Sweden, with a national holiday dedicated to his memory each year. Wallenberg was crucial in saving the lives of an estimated 100,000 Jews during the Holocaust, working undercover as a diplomat to forge thousands of passports and aid would-be death camps prisoners in fleeing to safe lands. News of the memorial day …More

A Swedish art gallery in Lund reportedly has cancelled the exhibition of a painting made of Holocaust victims’ ashes. The gallery owner, Martin Bryder, is quoted as telling Sydsvenskan, a local newspaper, that he decided to pull the exhibition of a painting by Carl Michael von Hausswolff because of protests by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Jewish community of Malmo. The Simon Wiesenthal Center called the painting a "desecration" and "abomination." The artist told the newspaper that he used ashes that …More

A Swedish artist is facing a backlash, after reports surfaced one of his noted works was made using the ashes of Holocaust victims. Carl Michael von Hausswolff mixed the ashes with water to create a gray “paint,” using the mixture to create a small painting of streaks. The piece now hangs in a gallery in the town of Lund, the Telegraph reported yesterday. Von Hausswolff took the ashes during a visit to the Majdanek concentration camp in 1989. The camp was in operation from 1941 to 1944, at which time …More

Multiple anti-Semitic attacks in Sweden have prompted the European Jewish Congress to call for a meeting with the Swedish Prime Minister. [Israel National News] There is lower enrollment in Jewish day schools in Massachusetts due to a combination of lower income for parents and less funds for scholarships. The solution may be a statewide education tax credit program. [Boston.com] A Jewish Buenos Aires radio station, launched after the Israeli embassy bombing, will mark its 20th anniversary with a street party …More

Swedish war hero Raoul Wallenberg was made an honorary citizen of Montreal. Mayor Gerald Tremblay bestowed the rare honor at an Oct. 25 ceremony at City Hall that was witnessed by local residents who owe their lives to Wallenberg. "We render homage to a man of exceptional values, a hero [who] represents for always, in all circumstances, a model and a source of inspiration for all Montrealers," Tremblay said. A non-Jew, Wallenberg was dispatched to Budapest in the dying days of World War II to save Jews. He …More