Haynal Imre

Haynal, Imre Dr. Imre Haynal was a well-known physician in the city of Kolozsvár / Cluj (today Romania). He was the director of a clinic specializing in the treatment of internal diseases. During the war, Haynal saved the lives of many Jews by hiding them in his clinic. Among the Jews saved by Haynal were Ilona Horváth and her husband Mihály, a dentist. After the German invasion, the Horváths, like the rest of the Jews of Kolozsvár, were concentrated in a ghetto. The Jews expected that they would be living in the ghetto for some time, so they set up a dental clinic, in which Mihály Horváth worked as a dentist. One of Horváth’s patients was a young Hungarian policeman who had been assigned to guard the ghetto. He became friendly with the Horváths and helped them escape in the beginning of June. A friend of the Horváth family, Dr. László Gyenge*, hid them until an informer threatened to turn them in. Dr. Haynal knew that the Horváths were in danger. Despite the risk involved in hiding a Jew, he admitted Ilona into his hospital, creating the excuse that she was suffering from a terminal illness. In addition to Ilona, Haynal was hiding many other Jews, including Ilona’s own aunt Szenes. In order avoid raising suspicions, Haynal never reported to the authorities when he admitted any of his Jewish “patients,” and therefore did not receive extra beds. As a result, the hospital was so crowded that many people had to sleep on the floor. At one point, the security forces tried to break into the hospital to search for Jews. Haynal refused them entry, announcing in a loud voice: “There are no Jews here, only my patients, and I know all of them very well.” For a month and a half, until the liberation of the city, Haynal took care of Ilona Horváth and the other Jews in his clinic. Despite the grave danger involved, he never asked for any compensation. As the military situation worsened, Haynal refused to be evacuated to the German Reich together with the rest of thehospital staff. He remained in Kolozsvár until the end of the war. Since the Romanian regime was not prepared to accept him, he moved to Budapest. After the war, the Jews he saved kept in contact with him, and supported him after his dismissal from the university in 1957. On July 26, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Imre Haynal as Righteous Among the Nations.