Schalkház Sára

Salkaházi, Sára Sister Sára Salkaházi was a nun in the order called the Sisters of Social Service headed by Margit Slachta*. The “gray sisters” – so called because of the gray habits they wore – rejected the anti-Jewish edicts of the time, and placed their institutions at the service of the persecuted Jews. In 1943, the “Social Sisters” in the city of Kassa / Košice (today Slovakia) hid Mirjam Grosz (later Shlomi), a Jewish refugee from Slovakia, together with her son. Later, after the German occupation of Hungary, the order’s house, in which they and other Jews were hiding, was searched by the Gestapo. Salkaházi managed to smuggle Grosz and her son out of the building, and traveled with them to Budapest. This surely saved their lives; three other Jews who were caught in the basement of the building were shot on the spot. Grosz, equipped with forged papers, and disguised in a gray nun’s habit, and her son, found shelter with the Social Sisters of Budapest. A job was arranged for Grosz within the framework of the order, but as the danger for Jews in the city increased, she and her son were smuggled back to Kassa. Salkaházi remained in Budapest, where she was appointed director of the Home for Working Catholic Women, located on Bokréta Street. During the Arrow Cross period, this house, under Salkaházi’s direction, was filled with hidden Jewish women and children. Nearly all these fugitives were put to work at various jobs, equipped with Aryan documents and were given uniforms of the “gray sisters” so as not to arouse the suspicions of the Arrow Cross gangs. In addition to the Catholic girls, the staff and the hidden Jews, there were also Hungarian soldiers staying in the residence. One day, a Christian woman who was employed at the residence was warned by Salkaházi to stay away from the Hungarian soldiers. Angered by what she saw as an inappropriate intrusion into her personal affairs, the worker denounced Salkaházi to the Arrow Cross, informing the party thatSalkaházi was hiding Jews at the residence. On December 27, 1944, the Arrow Cross invaded the residence, searching for Jews. They checked documents, and arrested a number of Jews whose papers aroused their suspicions. Together with Salkaházi and Vilma Bernovits, one of the teachers, these suspects were taken for “interrogation” – in fact, all of them were shot dead on the banks of the Danube. On February 18, 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Sára Salkaházi as Righteous Among the Nations Slachta, Margit Margit Slachta, a devout Roman Catholic, was the first woman ever elected to the Hungarian parliament. Beginning in 1920 she represented the United Christian Party (KNEP). Slachta was the founder and director of a Catholic order known as the Sisters of Social Service, which was active both in Hungary and in Slovakia. Because of the gray habits worn by the nuns of the order, they were called “the Gray Sisters.” Slachta was active within the framework of the order, sponsoring educational programs for Catholic women and supporting socialist and charitable objectives. In 1941, Slachta was the first to raise her voice against the Central National Authority for Controlling Foreigners (KEOKH) expulsions of “stateless” Jews from Hungary to Galicia. In 1942, when the deportations from Slovakia became known, Slachta put the institutions of the order at the service of the Jewish refugees. One of the Jewish refugees saved was Miriam Grosz (later Shlomi). In 1943, together with her young son, Grosz escaped to Kassa / Košice (today Slovakia) and was hidden in the order’s residence. Her life and the life of her son were saved thanks to Slachta and Sister Sára Salkaházi*. After the war, Grosz immigrated to Israel. After the German occupation, and especially during the Arrow Cross period, Slachta took up residence in the “Social Sisters” center on Thököly Street in Budapest, an institution that provided a hiding place for many Jews. The center was located opposite the 14thdistrict Arrow Cross party headquarters, a building notorious for being a place where Jews were tortured and murdered. At one point, Arrow Cross gangs invaded the Social Sisters center, and carried out a brutal hunt for Jews. Slachta herself suffered physical attack at the hands of one of the Arrow Cross men. She managed to remain calm, however. She called for help from the Vatican representative and continued to do what she could to protect the residents of the building by voicing her strenuous opposition to the search. Hundreds of Jews – both well-known people and everyday citizens – owed their lives to Margit Slachta. Some received forged papers through her, and others were given a place to hide. During the democratic period after the war, Slachta was again appointed to the Hungarian parliament. At the end of 1948 she fled Hungary. She died in 1974. On February 18, 1969, Yad Vashem recognized Margit Slachta as Righteous Among the Nations.