Swedish Performer Ben Olander To Present Raoul Wallenberg Program at Jackson Center
Swedish storyteller, songwriter and singer Ben Olander will present a program on the life and times of Swedish humanitarian and diplomat Raoul Wallenberg at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 8, 2008, in the Robert H. Jackson Center’s Carl Cappa Theater. The presentation, which includes a picture play, lecture and music, is free and open to the pubic. Donations will be accepted. The program is cosponsored by the Scandinavian Studies Program, the Robert H. Jackson Center and the American Scandinavian Heritage Foundation.
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Raoul Wallenberg, who battled against victimization and mass murder, is credited with saving as many as 100,000 Hungarian Jews during World War II. The Soviet Red Army detained Wallenberg in 1945, and his fate has remained unresolved.
According to Olander, “Wallenberg gave us a model which is to show others respect and consideration, and to have the courage to stand up for our fellow human beings by intervening when others are wronged.” He states that the memory of Wallenberg’s actions gives him hope and has served as a model of how we can fight evil. People say of Wallenberg that one man can change the world. Olander feels that “Each and every one of us can change the world.” To Olander, talking and singing about Raoul Wallenberg’s deeds is unbelievably inspiring.
Olander is supported by friends at the Association of Holocaust Survivors in Stockholm, the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation in New York City and the Raoul Wallenberg Committee of the United States. Olander has presented at several locations in Sweden and at many places in United States including the United Nations, Columbia University and the Swedish American Institute in Minneapolis, Minn. to name a few.
For further information call 716-483-6646.