"Det står ett rum här och väntar på dig ..."

"A truly fascinating, subtle and revelatory portrait of this enigmatic character and perhaps the closest any historian has got to the real man and the truth of his fate." Simon Sebag Montefiore

Raoul Wallenberg had envisioned a different life. He sought no hero role and no real adventure. In the spring of 1944, he would turn 32 years old and he worked for a small trading company that imported geese, turkeys and egg powder from Hungary. He was trained as an architect, went for a career in business but found it difficult to find his ways.

Then the Holocaust came to Hungary. An American-Swedish Rescue Action for the last remnants of Europe's Jewish population was discussed. Swedish Government was urged to send someone. But who? A series of coincidences meant that all eyes fell on the food retailer Raoul Wallenberg.

Six months later, thousands of Hungarian Jews had the young Swede to thank for their lives. In January 1945 Raoul Wallenberg voluntarily went to meet the Soviet troops in a bombed out Budapest. He would never return to Sweden.

Det står ett rum här och väntar på dig is not only a great story that will take your breath away. It is also the result of an historical research effort in up until now unknown and unexploited archives. For the first time ever, the full story of Raoul Wallenberg is presented, using all the sources available today - his childhood and early career in Stockholm during the War, the dramatic short six months in Budapest, the circumstances surrounding his arrest and imprisonment in the Soviet Union, and the lengthy political game about his fate until this day. For the first time we get to follow Raoul Wallenberg's family through the entire series of tragic diplomatic failures, which led to him never coming back.

The story sheds new light on why it was that Raoul Wallenberg in the late seventies was highlighted as an American hero and became a high priority in the White House.

The author Ingrid Carlberg has with scientific precision produced a shattering reading experience, where famous characters in history come to life. The person Raoul Wallenberg emerges from the shadows, as well as his life in Moscow prisons. Recurrent connections to recent history creates a deeper understanding of what really happened and why.

Reading sample in English >>