Valent Štefan

Valent, Štefan During the war, Štefan Valent, a court judge in the Nitra District, had a reputation of being ready to help refugees. One of those who availed themselves of this readiness was his Jewish neighbor, Dr. Alexander Freund. Vera and Robert Freund, who were Alexander’s young niece and nephew, had been sent to Hungary to escape the deportations in March 1942. They were caught at the beginning of June and sent back to Slovakia. A Hungarian border patrolman who was paid to instruct them how to evade the Slovakian border patrol. Knowing that their parents had been deported in the meantime, they reached the home of their uncle, Dr. Alexander Freund, on foot. The concierge, a woman from the German minority, saw them arrive, and the family was afraid that she would inform on them. Concerned for the fate of his niece and nephew, Freund lasked Valent to arrange an accelerated adoption for the two so that his exemption from deportation would also protect the children. Valent, unable to remain indifferent to the tragic story, promised to obtain the adoption certificate with all possible speed. However, before the certificate was ready, members of the fascist Hlinka Guard appeared at Freund’s home to take the children. The aunt, hoping for a miracle, stalled for time in packing the supplies which deportees were allowed to take along. The miracle occurred. In the midst of the preparations, Valent appeared with the adoption certificate. Presented with the document, the troops could not arrest the children, who were probably saved from death, which was the fate of most of the 1942 deportees, including their parents. After the adoption was formalized, Robert was able to attend school. His aunt died in 1943 and his sister, Vera, returned to their relatives in Hungary. On September 7, 1944, when he returned to his uncle’s home after school, he was stunned to find the house sealed. Robert understood that the deportations had resumed, that his uncle had been taken and thathe too was thus in danger. The first person he thought of approaching for help was Valent, and indeed the judge’s door was open for him. After spending a day there, Robert was sent to the Catholic priest, Dr. Štefan Galló*, in the small neighboring village of Ireg (now Jarok). Both he and his sister survived the war. On September 17, 2003, Yad Vashem recognized Štefan Valent as Righteous Among the Nations.