Victor János & Jánosné

Victor, János Victor, Mrs. János Dr. János Victor was a Protestant minister who served as the spiritual leader of a church located in Budapest’s Szabadság Square. Married with five children, Victor and his family had been close friends with a Jewish family by the name of Herman for many years. After the German occupation, the building in which the Herman family lived was designated a yellow-star house. The father, Ödön Herman, his wife Irma, and their 13-year-old daughter, Erzsébet, continued to live in the building. After the Arrow Cross party rose to power in October 1944, Arrow Cross men appeared at the building with a police escort. They arrested all the Jewish men, including Ödön Herman, who was deported and never returned. When Victor heard about the deportation, he feared that the lives of the female members of the Herman family were also in danger. He sent his 15-year-old son, Dániel, to smuggle Irma and Erzsébet out of the yellow-star house. Because of the risk of discovery, the boy loaded the two women into a covered handcart in order to transfer them to his father’s church in Szabadság Square. Victor and his wife welcomed Irma and Erzsébet, and settled them into a hiding place on the building’s second floor, where 5-6 additional Jews were already hiding. They remained there for three months. Victor’s wife arranged for their food and other needs. Victor and his children did their best to encourage the hidden Jews, giving them spiritual support and hope that the evil regime would soon end. When the battles ended in Budapest, Irma and her daughter, Erzsébet, returned to their home. Although the building had been damaged in the bombing, they remained there, waiting for Ödön, their husband and father, to return. Unfortunately, he perished in the Holocaust. Irma Herman and her daughter Erzsébet owed their lives to the bravery and kindness of János Victor and his wife. On August 2, 1994, Yad Vashem recognized János Victor as Righteous Among theNations. On August 29, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Mrs. János Victor as Righteous Among the Nations.