1999, John Lewis

“If anyone had told me that one day I would be standing here receiving this great honor, this great medal…as a member of Congress, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy!’” John Lewis, ninth Wallenberg Medalist, told his audience at Rackham Auditorium in January 2000.

1996, Marion Pritchard

Marion Pritchard protected the lives of 150 Dutch Jews—most of them children—during World War II, using whatever means were at hand. “By 1945 I had lied, stolen, cheated, deceived and even killed,” she told the audience assembled in Rackham Auditorium for the seventh Wallenberg Lecture in October 1996. She emphasized that she did not work…

1995, Per Anger

In 1944, Per Anger worked with Raoul Wallenberg to save the Jews of Budapest and witnessed Wallenberg’s extraordinary actions. Anger dedicated much of his life to learning the truth about Wallenberg’s disappearance 1945.

1994, Miep Gies

Miep Gies reading the incoming letters, June 2001. Photo by Bettina Flitner.

Gies sheltered Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II. She came to international attention after the posthumous publication of Frank’s diary.

1991, Jan Karski

As a courier for the Polish government-in-exile and the resistance during World War II, Jan Karski was an early witness to the Holocaust who was among the first to bring detailed evidence to the Allies about the extermination of the Jews in Europe.