Kelenhegyi Emil

Kelenhegyi, Emil Emil Kelenhegyi was a captain in the communications corps of the Hungarian army. In 1943, his unit was serving on the Russian front. In order to carry out his work he requested that two Jews with professional skills, from a nearby labor-service company, be assigned to him. These two men were Ernő Farkas and Zsigmond Bán. From the start, Kelenhegyi treated Farkas and Bán not as forced laborers, but as regular soldiers. The two were given uniforms, and lived and ate together with the other soldiers under Captain Kelenhegyi’s command. Between May 1943 and January 1945, Kelenhegyi was transferred three times from place to place, but each time he brought his two faithful “assistants” with him, without his commanders knowing that they were Jews. After March 1944, Kelenhegyi’s unit was affiliated with the German army, and they had German commanders at the Russian and other fronts. This made the danger that Kelenhegyi had taken upon himself by hiding Jews even greater. During the rule of the Arrow Cross party, beginning on October 15, 1944, the legal punishment for hiding Jews was immediate execution, without trial. Farkas and Bán survived the war because of Kelenhegyi’s devotion and bravery. On April 25, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Emil Kelenhegyi as Righteous Among the Nations.