Komjatiová Irena

Komjatiová, Irena Irena Komjatiová lived in Nitra. Her elder son, Vojtech, worked in the local post office, while Elemir, the younger, was still in school. Irena made a living from her small store and a sewing workshop. Dov Hönig, b.1926, from Lipník, arrived in Nitra in 1942 to study at the yeshiva there. He was caught in September 1944 following the German invasion of Slovakia and the renewal of the hunt for Jews. After escaping from the Sered camp and trying unsuccessfully to reach Hungary, he was desperate to find a safe haven. He knew Irena from previous visits with two young Jewish women who were now in hiding in her house and was thus aware of her readiness to assist Jews. Irena took the young man in. Her younger son Elemir, who was Hönig’s age, was sent to the police station to ask for new papers, claiming his old ones had been stolen. With these papers, Hönig, too, became “Elemir Komjati.” Vojtech used his connections in the post office to help him get in touch with Rabbi Weissmandel, the driving force behind the Jewish rescue operations in Slovakia, who was then in hiding in Bratislava, and obtain money from him for her wards. When members of the fascist Hlinka Guard appeared at Irena’s house, Hönig, who could not present his false papers with Elemir also there, managed to get to the outhouse in the yard and from there to flee. Two days later, a person unknown to Irena came to her store and told her that Hönig had not found another place to hide. Irena was happy to receive a sign of life from Hönig, and asked that he come to the store, not her home. Hönig arrived after dark. To his great surprise, Irena uncovered an opening to a cellar in which a young man named Tibor Steiner was already hiding. Irena saw to their basic needs and provided information about the situation outside until Nitra’s liberation by the Red Army. On March 18, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Irena Komjatiová as Righteous Among the Nations.