Ep80. 'Shadows of Raoul Wallenberg' – Part 2. Frank Vajda - Saved by Wallenberg

He was a child when the world around him changed.

Not slowly. Not gradually. But almost overnight.

In this second part of Shadows of Raoul Wallenberg, Frank Vajda tries to remember what it was like to be young in a city where rules suddenly stopped protecting you — and where survival depended on things a child could barely understand.

He remembers fear. Confusion. The sound of boots in stairwells. The uncertainty of not knowing who was safe — and who was not.

And then, something else.

A piece of paper. A name. A stranger who spoke with authority — and acted as if the rules still mattered.

As if power could still be negotiated — even in a system already in motion.

What does a child actually understand in such moments? What stays — and what is reconstructed later in life? Is survival something you remember clearly… or something you spend a lifetime trying to comprehend?

Frank Vajda speaks not as a historian, but as someone who lived through it — and who, decades later, still wrestles with what happened, why it worked, and why it so easily could have failed.

Was Raoul Wallenberg a miracle — or a calculated presence in a system already collapsing? How much of survival comes down to courage… and how much to coincidence? And what does it mean to owe your life to decisions made by strangers — while so many others were not spared?

This is not a story of certainty.

It is a story of memory. Of fear. And of how close survival can come to disappearance.

Guest: Frank Vajda — Professor of Neurology, physician, and author, with a long academic career in Australia and internationally recognized contributions to medical research and scholarship.

A podcast by: Mikael Hylin

Music: Anton Fossum-Hylin

Cover: Photo: Raoul Wallenberg Academy - Coloured portrait of Raoul Wallenberg

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De berättelser, fakta, åsikter och synpunkter som presenteras i denna podcast är uteslutande de som tillhör presentatören eller intervjuobjektet och speglar inte nödvändigtvis Spionpoddens officiella hållning. Spionpodden är en oberoende, ideell podcast utan kopplingar till politiska, religiösa, ekonomiska, offentliga eller privata särintressen. Den är varken kontrollerad eller ägd av någon tredje part.

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Disclaimer:

The stories, facts, views, and opinions presented in this podcast are solely those of the presenter or interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official stance of Spionpodden. Spionpodden is an independent, non-profit podcast with no affiliations to political, religious, economic, public, or private special interests. It is neither controlled nor owned by any third party.

Spionpodden has not received any external funding, other than 100% anonymous, private, and entirely voluntary donations. The content is produced freely and independently, without influence from any outside parties. The responsible publisher is Mikael Hylin.