Ferenczy Béni & Erzsébet

Ferenczy, Béni Ferenczy, Erzsébet Béni Ferenczy was a famous Hungarian painter who lived in Vienna with his wife Erzsébet. In 1938, following the Anschluss, or annexation of Austria to the Reich by Nazi Germany, the Ferenczys left Austria and returned to Budapest. The Ferenczys were friends with a Jewish couple named Cecília and József Litván, and their three boys: György, 15, Gábor, 12 and Ferenc, seven. After the German occupation, József was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Mauthausen together with political prisoners. Cecília was deported to Auschwitz in July. The three sons were left without their parents in a yellow-star house in Budapest. After the Arrow Cross party came to power, the danger to Jews living in Budapest increased dramatically. Erzsébet Ferenczy took the boys, together with their two aunts, to her home, where she and her husband hid them for a short time. Because they were known for their liberal opinions, the Ferenczys considered it too dangerous to hide the Jews there for the long term, and found an alternate hiding place with some Christian friends. But soon, when things became more dangerous, the friends decided they were no longer willing to take the risk, and the Ferenczys took the children back into their home. Occasionally, during roundups of Jews, they would move the children to other hiding places. Thanks to the Ferenczys’ bravery, the three children survived the war, as did their aunts. The father survived the war and returned from Mauthausen, but the mother perished in Bergen-Belsen. Ferenczy was a great artist and humanitarian, and together with his wife, worked fearlessly to save people who were being persecuted, either because of their religion or because of their political beliefs. The three Litván children, and many other Jews remained alive because of their courageous acts. On January 29, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Béni and Erzsébet Ferenczy as Righteous Among the Nations.