Ottlik Géza & Gyöngyi (Debreczeni)

Ottlik, Géza Ottlik, Gyöngyi Géza Ottlik was a writer who lived in the Buda section of Budapest, with his wife, Gyöngyi (née Debreczeni). Ottlik was acquainted with the work of István Vas, a well-known Hungarian poet and writer, and knew that Vas was suffering from persecution because he was a Jew. Despite the fact that they were not well acquainted before the war, Ottlik and his wife hid Vas in their apartment from the time the Arrow Cross party rose to power in the middle of October 1944 until the liberation of Buda in February 1945. They shared what food they had with Vas – something that was particularly difficult during the long battles over Budapest, which caused severe food shortages in Buda. Unlike many Jews who hid during the war years, Vas did not have forged papers identifying him as an Aryan. In any case, his Semitic appearance would have made people suspicious of such papers even if he had them. Ottlik served in an aerial defense unit, and was on duty for 24 hours every two days. Because it was known that his wife, Gyöngyi, was alone in her apartment when Ottlik was on duty, Vas had to take care to stay especially quiet during these periods to avoid arousing the suspicion of the building concierge, who was a member of the Arrow Cross party. At one point while he was in hiding, Vas found out that his mother had been arrested and was being held at the brickyard in Óbuda, along with other Jews who were to be sent on a death march to the German Reich. Géza Ottlik went to her in order to get her released. Gyöngyi Ottlik also put herself in great personal danger in order to save Vas. One day, a group of Arrow Cross men broke into the Ottliks’ apartment because they had been informed that the couple was hiding a Jew. Everything happened so quickly that Vas didn’t have time to reach his usual hiding place in the sofa, and was in the next room at the time. Gyöngyi didn’t lose her cool, and angrily addressed the Arrow Cross men: “How dare you accuse thefamily of the titled Géza Ottlik of hiding Jews?” she cried. “One of our ancestors was one of the heads of court under Prince Rákóczi. Get out of here immediately!” Gyöngyi Ottlik’s calm in the face of danger saved them in a situation that seemed hopeless. The Arrow Cross members left the apartment without discovering the Jew hidden in the next room. Through the help and bravery of Géza and Gyöngyi Ottlik, Vas survived the war and lived to write his famous poetry and books. On June 4, 1998, Yad Vashem recognized Géza Ottlik and his wife, Gyöngyi Ottlik (née Debreczeni) as Righteous Among the Nations. Hergét, Boris Boris Hergét (née Lukácsi) was a married woman in her 40s. She rented a patch of land in the Artists’ Colony in Szentendre, not far from Budapest, which she used to raise vegetables. Although she was not an artist, and was not particularly well educated, Hergét had learned a great deal from the “school of life.” She was an enthusiastic supporter of the artists who came to Szentendre to hone their craft. Known as “Auntie Boris” among the colony’s artists, writers, painters, and sculptors, Hergét treated them all as if they were her own children. She regularly offered hospitality in her two-room apartment to young artists who had not received a place in the official Artists’ House sponsored by the authorities. One of these artists, to whom Hergét became very attached, was a young Jewish woman, a left-wing painter named Piroska Szántó. After the German invasion of Hungary, Hergét returned to her native village of Bajót (Esztergom county). From there, she wrote a letter inviting Szántó to come to her village, “So the Germans would not kill her.” Szántó warned Hergét putting herself in grave danger by hiding a Jew, but “Auntie Boris” was willing to take the risk. Szántó came to Bajót, and moved in with Hergét and her husband. Despite his ethnic German ancestry, Hergét’s husband did not inform on her. “Auntie Boris” spread rumors in the village thatSzántó was really her illegitimate daughter, from an earlier time in her life when she had worked as a cook in Budapest. With this story, she managed to hide Szántó safely in her home. Szántó penned an autobiography after the war, Balaam’s Ass, in which she paid tribute to “Auntie Boris” for saving her life. On June 4, 1989, Yad Vashem recognized Boris Hergét (née Lukácsi) as Righteous Among the Nations.