Breiner Paula (Einetter)

Breiner, Paula Paula Einetter (later Breiner) lived in the city of Losonc / Lučenec (today Slovakia), which during World War II was part of Hungary. After the German invasion, laws went into effect that forced Jews to hand all their possessions over to the state. Einetter was approached by two Jews within a short space of time, who asked her to hide their valuables for them. One was Dr. Schenk, and the other was Dr. Dávid Reinfeld, who was Einetter’s family doctor as well as a personal friend. Einetter agreed to hide jewelry belonging to the Reinfeld family, and offered to hide Reinfeld and his wife as well should the need arise. Not long afterwards, Reinfeld and his wife were forced to take Einetter up on her offer. In April 1944 they appeared at Einetter’s doorstep and she hid them in a pantry. Someone apparently informed on them, because one night in June, the police raided Einetter’s apartment. They searched the apartment and confiscated jewelry belonging to the Jews, but miraculously they didn’t discover the Reinfelds’ hiding place. Einetter was arrested for possessing Jewish property belonging to the state, imprisoned in jails in Losonc and in Budapest, and was later transferred to the internment camp in Csörgő. After interrogation and torture she was allowed to go back to her home, but was restricted in her movements and remained under police supervision. In the fall of 1944, despite the heightened danger of continuing her activities under these circumstances, Einetter hid another Jew, Dávid Breiner, an escapee from a labor-service company that was to be sent to the German Reich. Einetter’s relationship with Breiner dated from the time that Breiner had been apprenticed to her father. Einetter hid Breiner from October 1944 until the liberation of the city in January 1945 despite the fact that she was under police scrutiny. Motivated solely by her love for her fellow man, she received no compensation for her rescue activities. After the war Einetter andBreiner married, and they immigrated to Israel in 1949. The Reinfelds also survived the war and moved to the United States. On June 20, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Paula Breiner (née Einetter) as Righteous Among the Nations.