Edelmann Friedrich & Brigitte ; Daughter: Brigitta

Edelmann, Friedrich Edelmann, Brigitte Edelmann, Brigitta Friedrich Edelmann (nicknamed Fritz), born in 1900, was the owner of a tavern who also served as mayor of Thondorf, a small town in the province of Styria, in eastern Austria. At the beginning of 1945, groups of Hungarian Jews from various places were led through the area toward the Mauthausen concentration camp, as part of the Nazi death marches. Martin Herskovits, a Jewish prisoner from Hungary who participated in one of these marches, managed to escape, and hid in the Styrian forestland. In the forest he banded together with seven other Jews, but it was extremely difficult to find the food necessary for survival. Despite the risk that it entailed, they decided to turn to the local residents and to ask for food and shelter. Near the town of Thondorf, the group met Friedrich Edelmann’s wife Brigitte. She welcomed the fugitives into her home, where she and her husband, together with their 21-year-old daughter Brigitta, hid them in their barn. Brigitta brought them water and food every day. They hid the eight Jews for about two months, until the end of the war. The Edelmann family put themselves in grave danger by sheltering fugitive Jews, a crime that could have led to deportation to a concentration camp, and eventually to death. The danger was made even greater because there were Gestapo agents stationed in the area, and also because, due to Edelmann’s position as mayor, local authorities visited his home regularly. The Edelmann family received no financial compensation for their actions, and they shared their food with the Jews they were hiding, during a period when food was scarce. After the war, Martin Herskovits returned to Satu Mare, a town that belonged to Hungary, and was absorbed into Romania in 1946. Later, he immigrated to Israel. On January 27, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Friedrich Edelmann, his wife Brigitte and their daughter Brigitta as Righteous Among the Nations.