Szemere Istvánné (Kaszás); Daughter: Éva

Szemere, Mrs. István (Éva) Szemere Éva Éva Szemere, nicknamed Babus, and her daughter Éva lived in Budapest and for many years they had Jewish neighbors named Jenő and Klára Ungár. In 1942, two of Klára Ungár’s nephews arrived in Budapest. They had escaped from Slovakia and appeared without documents, as illegal refugees. Szemere arranged for the two fugitives to receive Aryan papers, and with the help of these documents they lived safely for two years. After the German occupation, Ungár’s nephews sneaked back across the border to Slovakia. In the summer of 1944, The Szemeres’ building was designated a yellow-star house. Despite this, Babus and her daughter Éva chose to continue to live there, and to help Jews. Klára Ungár’s husband, Jenő, was drafted into forced labor, leaving her alone in the apartment with a nine-month-old baby. Babus obtained Aryan documents for her, and arranged a hiding place for her and her baby in the Aryan part of Budapest. During the Arrow Cross period, Jenő Ungár escaped from his forced-labor unit and hid in the basement of the Szemeres’ building. Éva brought him food daily, until he was forced to flee because of the fear of informants. Babus made sure that he had Aryan documents, which helped him to survive. Another Jew saved by Babus Szemere was Ilona Gellért. Gellért was taken from Budapest on a death march, but managed to escape together with her mother near the Austrian border and return to the city. The two women turned to Babus, who came to their aid without hesitation. She hid them in an empty apartment in the building and cared for them with devotion. When Gellért and her mother were forced to move, Babus Szemere gave them her documents and those belonging to her daughter. Éva Szemere was killed in an air raid in January 1945, when she left the bomb shelter to bring food to the Jews in hiding. All the Jews saved by the Szemeres – those who immigrated to Israel and the United States, and those who stayed in Hungary –remained in contact with Babus Szemere until the day she died. On February 12, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Mrs. István (Éva/Babus) Szemere and her daughter Éva as Righteous Among the Nations.