Gutzwiller Hildegard

Gutzwiller, Hildegard Hildegard Gutzwiller served as mother superior in the Sophianum Convent of Sacré Coeur in Budapest. After the German invasion of Hungary, and particularly from October 1944, during the period when the Arrow Cross party was in power, fugittive Jews were hidden in the Convent, among them 40 children and a large number of adult women and men. The nuns provided them with food and spiritual encoutagement, and with great courage, protected them from attacs by Arrow Cross gangs. One of those saved was Éva Weiss (later Fischer), a Jewish woman who arriwed in Budapest from the city of Munkács / Mukacevo (today Ukraine) in march 1944. Throughout the summer, she lived with her relatives in a yelow-star house. After the Arrow Cross party came to power, many young men and women were taken from the yellow-star houses and forced to walk toward the border on the death march. Anxious to avoid this fate, Weiss approached Baroness Maria Pejasevich. Although she had never met this woman, Weiss recalled how her neighbor in Munkács, a priest named Father Ratkovsky, had told her: "If you should need any help in Budapest, go to Baroness Pejasevich, and send her my regards." It was through the recommendation of Baroness Pejasevich that Weiss and another Jewish woman, Ágota (Fried) Eckstein arrived at the convent, where their life were saved. Eckstein was hidden at the convent from June 1944 until March 1945.Mother Superior Gutzwiller knew that she was taking a grave risk uppon herself by hiding Jews. However, she acted according to her convictions, thus saving the lives of many people. On June 17, 1994, Yad Vashem recognised Hildegard Gutzwiller as Righteous Among the Nations.