Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The Cases of Vasilii Sidorenko (1942–1944) and Raoul Wallenberg (1945–1947) : A Comparative Study of Consular Diplomacy, Intelligence, and Retaliation

Matz, Johan LU (2026) In Journal of Cold War Studies 28(2). p.128-168
Abstract
This article examines intriguing links between the case of Vasilii Sidorenko, arrested on 26 September 1942 in Stockholm and later sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of espionage, and the case of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who was arrested by the Soviet SMERSH military counterintelligence service in Budapest on 17 January 1945 and later imprisoned in the notorious Lubyanka and Lefortovo prisons in Moscow. The article discusses the nature of these links and discusses whether actions taken with regard to Wallenberg might have been influenced by the lessons the Soviet Union derived from the Sidorenko case.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Cold War Studies
volume
28
issue
2
pages
40 pages
publisher
MIT Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:105043756431
ISSN
1520-3972
DOI
10.1162/JCWS.a.1325
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d56f89f0-39e5-4e79-aabb-13f0fa5c4e13
date added to LUP
2025-08-27 16:03:30
date last changed
2026-09-07 04:00:59
@article{d56f89f0-39e5-4e79-aabb-13f0fa5c4e13,
  abstract     = {{This article examines intriguing links between the case of Vasilii Sidorenko, arrested on 26 September 1942 in Stockholm and later sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of espionage, and the case of the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who was arrested by the Soviet SMERSH military counterintelligence service in Budapest on 17 January 1945 and later imprisoned in the notorious Lubyanka and Lefortovo prisons in Moscow. The article discusses the nature of these links and discusses whether actions taken with regard to Wallenberg might have been influenced by the lessons the Soviet Union derived from the Sidorenko case.}},
  author       = {{Matz, Johan}},
  issn         = {{1520-3972}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{128--168}},
  publisher    = {{MIT Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cold War Studies}},
  title        = {{The Cases of Vasilii Sidorenko (1942–1944) and Raoul Wallenberg (1945–1947) : A Comparative Study of Consular Diplomacy, Intelligence, and Retaliation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/JCWS.a.1325}},
  doi          = {{10.1162/JCWS.a.1325}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}