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New Documentary About Raoul Wallenberg by Holocaust Survivor George Preger

By Noelle Norman

“This is the story of Canada’s recognition of a young man who eventually gave his life in the midst of saving others he had never even met,” says the narrator of George Preger’s recent documentary Raoul Wallenberg – Honorary Canadian Citizen, Saviour of Thousands of Jews in Budapest.

In the spring of 1944, Hungary found itself suddenly occupied by German troops. The country had been a German ally throughout the war, but now they had been caught trying to establish a separate peace with the Soviet Union and the Nazis took swift action. George Preger was eight years old at the time. His father, a Hungarian Jew, managed to get a hold of false papers for himself and his family. Serving in the Hungarian army, he was rarely able to visit his family, but when he did, he made sure to prepare them for the random raids conducted by the Nazis. He would wake young George in the middle of the night, shining a flashlight in his face to interrogate him in German about his new identity. Who was he? What was his name? Who were his parents? On paper, young George was now the son of his German governess and his real mother was her half-sister. They were hiding in a Hungarian village, posing as ethnic Germans. Their German had to be flawless and they had to learn to decipher every symbol on the uniforms of German and Russian soldiers. What unit they came from, what loyalties they held.

“My father was a very perceptive person. He had served in the AustroHungarian army in World War I as an officer and later lived in Berlin. He saw what was happening in Germany – the change to the Nazi regime and what was coming. Many other Jewish families did not realize what was coming – did not prepare and were subsequently caught in this horrible situation that ensued,” says Preger.

While these nightly preparations were obviously extremely stressful, failing an interrogation could be fatal. “I remember seeing a beautiful girl and her father being executed in the courtyard. They had passed us over believing we were gentiles,” Preger recalls. The incident would serve as a life-long reminder of the need for constant vigilance.

Preger managed to survive the war and after completing his studies in central Europe, he moved to Sweden where he lived for 20 years. In 1969, Preger and his family moved to Canada where they settled in Toronto. In 1985, Preger, then chair of the Swedish Canadian Chamber of Commerce, accepted the certificate recognizing Raoul Wallenberg as Canada’s first honorary citizen. Dedicated to preserving the memory of Raoul Wallenberg and his legacy, Preger recently made a short documentary called Raoul Wallenberg – Honorary Canadian Citizen, Saviour of Thousands of Jews in Budapest, which is available for free on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=HvTNivX2qUk).

George Preger

Hemma hos

Enchanted by Karin

By Noelle Norman

Swedish Toronto-based designer Karin Edhlund handcrafts leather products inspired by Norse mythology and the Swedish nature in which she grew up. Karin’s company, Förtrollad (Swedish for Enchanted), focuses on bringing Swedish design to a North American audience while staying true to its values of sustainability, functionality, quality, and simplicity.

Karin Edhlund was adopted by Swedish parents at a young age. She grew up in Huddinge where she loved spending time in the forests near her home. After graduating and studying photography in Stockholm, she decided to head off on the adventure of a lifetime and left for Toronto to find her biological mother and study fashion at George Brown College. Some 25 years later, Toronto has become home, but Karin still draws her inspiration from her Swedish childhood. “I recently discovered that my adoptive great grandfather and his father were saddle makers. They loved leather, just like I do now,” she smiles.

Using traditional tools and techniques, Karin handcrafts small batches of leather and textile products such as bags, accessories and bracelets. When asked about the inspiration behind her work, Karin reveals that her childhood hikes and adventures in the Swedish forest greatly impact her creativity to this day.

“According to Nordic mythology and ancient folklore tales, the forests are inhabited by marvelous creatures like forest fairies, elves, trolls and other mythical beings, surrounded by fierce gods and godesses all with their very own unique supernatural powers. This was so magical to me as a little girl and I used to spend hours dreaming up fantastic stories and divine adventures. Norse mythology and ancient Nordic folklore intrigue me to this day,” she says.

Nature is what drives Karin. “I often walk in High Park here in Toronto. I try to stay off the beaten paths and have found hidden places that no one else seems to frequent. I think nature is incredibly healing and I feel it’s important that we take care of it and conserve it. I try to be aware of how I use resources. I recycle leather from old jackets and make sure not to waste even small scrap pieces,” she says.

Karin is always trying to make her company more climate friendly. For each sale, she donates money to plant a tree through a partnership with onetreeplanted.org, and Förtrollad has so far planted more than 500 trees worldwide.

Karin is all about minimalism and the importance of functionality in fashion, concepts that are very prominent in the world of Swedish design. Whenever she returns to Sweden, usually once a year, she buys Swedish fabrics that she wishes to share with her North American clients. One of her most recent designs are small pouches made out of Estrid Ericson’s iconic Swedish elephant fabric. Karin is also inspired by Swedish fashion through the ages: she is now working on bags influenced by näverkorgar and the technique of weaving together strips of birch bark, but instead of bark she uses woven leather strips.

Learn more about Karin and Förtrollad here: https://fortrollad. com/pages/about-us.

[Design]