Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour to welcome you to the 20th annual Wallenberg Day in Vancouver, as we honour the courageous rescue work by Corey Levine.  This event is put on by the Wallenberg Sugihara Civil Courage Society, also known as the Civil Courage Society in honour of Wallenberg and Sugihara.

My name is Jan Nordin, and I will mention briefly the courageous individuals for whom our Society is named.  The Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg was stationed in Budapest towards the end of World War II, where he saved tens of thousands of Jews from deportation and certain death in the concentration camps, at great risk to himself.  He disappeared on 17th of January, 1945, into Soviet captivity, never to be seen again.

He was made an honorary Citizen of Canada in 1985, and in 2000 the Canadian Government proclaimed that “throughout Canada, in each and every year, the 17th day of January shall be known under the name of ‘Raoul Wallenberg Day’ ”.

Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul in Lithuania during World War II.  He chose to act, at clear professional and personal risk to himself and his family, issuing transit visas without the approval of the Japanese government, to allow thousands of Jews to escape certain death.

Both Wallenberg and Sugihara have been designated by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations.

Our Society recognizes and honours individuals with a BC connection, who risked their personal well being to help others.  We define Civil Courage as an action which entails personal risk or sacrifice, intended to improve or save the lives of others who suffer from violence, conflict, or injustice – wrongs that may stem from any social context ranging from nations to peer groups.

Our Society has three main goals:

1. To honour the legacy of Raoul Wallenberg and Chiune Sugihara,
2. To recognize people who have acted with similar Civil Courage, and
3. To encourage and promote acts of Civil Courage in our midst.

I would like to thank all the volunteers, and the sponsors of today’s event which you’ll see listed on the back of the program.

Also, without your support by donations, we could not carry out this important work, so I would gently remind you that the donation table will be brought to the reception area.  There is also a donation button on our website.

And now I invite our Member Karen Coulter to read the City of Vancouver Proclamation…