ORILLIA MUSEUM OF ART & HISTORY
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We all have stories to tell about our connections to the past.
This is the case for Orillia Museum of Art and History (OMAH) History Committee member Fred Kallin, who has been working with the group Oved for Human Rights (Oved is Hebrew for work).
The group has been documenting the stories of Raoul Wallenberg and Per Anger, two Swedes who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazis in Hungary. The group also researched the history of Fred’s father Nils Kallin, who saved the lives of prisoners in Japanese prison camps.
For Fred, it has been an emotional journey to research this piece of his family history and the story is one of heroism. His father deserves to be recognized, especially for the number of lives he saved.
Nils Kallin, a Swede, was working for SKF in Japan. To gain more social contacts while there, he volunteered for the Swedish Diplomatic Service before and during the Second World War. He was then appointed acting ambassador for a number of countries who had pulled their embassies out of Japan.
In that role, on behalf of The League of Nations, he was asked to inspect Japanese civilian prison camps to ensure proper treatment of the prisoners. He found the conditions and treatment horrific and he demanded humane treatment for prisoners in accordance with the provision of The Geneva Convention.
He was on shaky ground as the provision only covered military prisoners in prison camps and the provision for civilians in prison camps was not added to the Geneva Convention until 1948. The Japanese authorities did not know enough about the Geneva Convention to realize the ruse, and as a result Nils’ actions saved many lives in the Japanese prison camps.
Fred felt compelled to document his dad’s contribution for future generations. He believes that it is a piece of history that helps to restore our faith in humanity.
Click here to view Fred being interviewed about his father’s heroism. Stay tuned for part two of the interview at a future date
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