Today, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center commemorates Raoul Wallenberg Day and recognizes the incredible heroism and humanitarian work of Raoul Wallenberg, who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.

As a Swedish diplomat, Wallenberg distributed protective passports and offered shelter to Jewish men, women and children, protecting them from deportation to death camps.

Wallenberg was named the first Honorary Citizen of Canada in 1985, after which the government declared January 17 as Raoul Wallenberg Day.