Agnes Adachi

AGNES MANDL ADACHI (1918-2010)

Undaunted in her search for the fate of Raoul Wallenberg, and dedicated to preserving his humanitarian legacy for future generations, Agnes Mandl Adachi – herself a

World War II heroine – passed away on Saturday, September 18, 2010, a day of rest and the holiday of Yom Kippur, a day given to “creating a new destiny for oneself” and offering prayers for mankind.

Although born in Budapest in 1918, Agnes Adachi’s life journey truly began on July 9, 1944, the day the 26 year old met the “greatest hero of her life – Raoul Wallenberg,” a young Swede with incredible fortitude and destined to save 100,000 Hungarian people from Nazi terrorism. For Agnes, born a Jew, and under the safety of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest, it was a day that shaped her life!

For the six months following, and with selfless conviction that we are responsible for each other’s wellbeing, Raoul, assisted by Agnes, physically rescued individuals - even jumping into an icy Danube River to save many who were tied together and thrown in to drown. Upon Wallenberg’s request, Agnes was also instrumental in completing Schutzpasses and delivering them on foot to thousands of Jewish women, saving them from death camps.

Agnes arrived by cargo boat at Boston in 1951 to yet another journey, a life dedicated to commemorating the heroism of Wallenberg and later establishing The Raoul Wallenberg

Committee of Greater New York as well as her Wallenberg Humanitarian Award bestowed each year on individuals young and old who exemplified “what love and caring is all about.” Endlessly, she held tributes and visited schools, sharing anecdotes and memorabilia.

Agnes Adachi was the recipient of many honors and has been recognized at the Holocaust Museum, Washington D.C. and by the Holocaust Museum, Chicago.

From 1949 until the present, she was an active member of Soroptimists International, a non-governmental agency of the United Nations. She authored several books including her autobiography Child of the Winds, and a booklet of her poems Homecoming.