Ruzicskay György

Ruzicskay, György György Ruzicskay was a famous painter whose artwork was well known both in Hungary and abroad. He lived with his Jewish wife Eta at No. 19 Kmetty Street in Budapest. The studio in which Ruzicskay worked was also located there. Following the German occupation, and later, during the Arrow Cross period, the Ruzicskays’ apartment and studio served as a hiding place for many Jews. Documents were also forged there, and given to people who were persecuted by the authorities, either because of their religion or their political opinions. A large painting, mounted on the wall of the studio, hid a secret door that led to a large room in the attic. Dozens of people were hidden there. Eta Ruzicskay provided these fugitives with food and everything else they needed. The Ruzicskays helped the people they hid remain in contact with family members who were hiding in various places in the city, delivering information, money and documents between them. The Ruzicskays’ apartment served as a place of refuge not only for their Jewish friends and acquaintances, but also for people they had never met before. This was the case of Imre Révész, a Jewish man who had escaped from a forced-labor unit. After Révész reached the apartment and asked for help, the couple hid him for three months, until the liberation. Other survivors helped by György Ruzicskay and his wife included Klára Barát-Bihari, György Szőllősi, the Beder brothers, the six-member Hoffman family, and a couple by the name of Deák. On May 28, 1978, Yad Vashem recognized György Ruzicskay as Righteous Among the Nations.