Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 09/15/2011 One of the most famous rescuers of all time, Raoul Wallenberg used his power as a wealthy influential Swedish diplomat in Hungary during WWII to outwit the Nazis and save tens of thousands of Jews by providing them with documents that gave them the protection of neutral Sweden. Based on Borden’s years of intensive personal research, including interviews and archival sources, this account written in rapid-reading free verse (“The days were uncertain, / and the city held its breath”) is presented in a spacious, accessible format that includes lots of historic and personal photos, documents, and profiles of victims and heroes. Borden skillfully places the biographical story in historical context, including the horror of the genocide and what Wallenberg was saving the Jews from––the ruthless, pro-Nazi Arrow Cross thugs, the death marches, concentration camps, and gas chambers. There is also the mystery of Wallenberg’s disappearance in Soviet prisons. With extensive back matter for students’ further research, this is an important addition to the Holocaust curriculum. - Copyright 2011 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 01/01/2012 Gr 7–10—This is a detailed biography of a "righteous Gentile" whose intelligence, courage, and organizational talents saved thousands of Jews from being sent from Hungary to Nazi concentration camps. Wallenberg came from a wealthy and influential Swedish banking family. Writing in a direct and adulatory tone, Borden carefully chronicles his life, beginning with his birth in 1912 to his mysterious disappearance at the hands of the Soviets after they liberated Hungary from the Nazis at the end of the war. To this day, apparently nobody knows what became of him. Only a citizen from a neutral country like Sweden had any chance of negotiating on behalf of the Jews, and Wallenberg persevered against great odds. Borden's extensive research is evident throughout. Abundant photographs add immediacy to the narrative, and the double-spaced text and wide margins make the book accessible to students with reading difficulties. An extensive bibliography, a list of archive sources, and another of video recordings are appended. This volume adds to the scholarship about Wallenberg already found in Sharon Linnea's Raoul Wallenberg: The Man Who Stopped Death (Jewish Pubn. Society, 1993).—Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ - Copyright 2012 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 03/01/2012 This scrupulously researched biography recounts the remarkable life and work of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish businessman who dedicated the latter part of his life to helping Hungarian Jews escape from Budapest at the end of the Second World War. As a young man, he had copious opportunities, due in large part to his family’s wealth, and took full advantage of them, learning five languages, traveling extensively, and attending an American university. Wallenberg’s business dealings in Hungary made him an ideal candidate when the American-based War Refugee Board came to Sweden seeking someone for a mission to Hungary, to provide assistance to Jews who were being deported to Auschwitz by the trainload. Upon arrival in Budapest, Wallenberg invented the schutzpasse system, wherein falsified documents connected Hungarian Jews to neutral Sweden and subsequently saved the lives of thousands. Wallenberg mysteriously disappeared in January 1945 following a covert meeting with Soviet military leaders, and to this day his fate remains unknown. Borden spent nearly a decade researching this book, meeting with remaining members of Wallenberg’s family and interviewing individuals who received help from Wallenberg during the war, and the resulting account is rich with detailed information. While the amount of detail may be a little daunting, to readers unfamiliar with the historical context, the writing is helpfully accessible. the story is riveting, and the stylish prose, in compact, ragged-right format, provides a sense of urgency and mystery. Color photos and facsimiles of documents are abundantly sprinkled throughout the text, and an author’s note, bibliography, and index are included. HM - Copyright 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.