EDITORIAL

Hero honored

7/18/2014

Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, saved as many as 100,000 Hungarian Jews from becoming victims of the Holocaust. This month, Congress posthumously awarded him its highest civilian honor.

Arrested by Soviet officials in 1945, Mr. Wallenberg is believed to have died in a Moscow prison — probably after being executed — in 1947. Accepting the congressional gold medal, his half sister said she hoped the truth about his death and detention will be uncovered.

Mr. Wallenberg was made an honorary U.S. citizen in 1981. In a period of tense U.S.-Russian relations, a complete accounting of what happened long ago under the Soviet regime would not be a blow to Russian prestige. On the contrary, it would enable Russian President Vladimir Putin to show his country in a different light.