Varga Tamás

Varga, Tamás Like most adult Jewish men in Hungary during the war, Péter Iván Valkó and his brother Endre, from Budapest, were drafted for forced labor. Following the German occupation of Hungary, Endre's wife Ángela (neé Burger) and three-year-old son János were hiding with a family on the western side of the Danube River, using false identity papers. With the war coming to an end, the Jewish forced laborers were taken towards the Austrian border on one of the infamous "death marches." They first were taken to work in a military factory, but on November 27, 1944, when the factory was taken over by the Germans, they were taken to Fertőrákos, and then to a camp in northwestern Hungary near the town of Balf. In a statement he wrote in 1948, Péter Iván described the harsh conditions in the labor camp, conditions that worsened significantly once the camp's command was taken over by the SS. With bitter humor, he described the soup they got as doki soup (doctor's soup), because of its terrible taste, and because only Endre, a physician, ate it. In despair, the Jewish prisoners sent a letter to friends of the Exodus Circle, an anti-fascist, intellectual organization. Tamás Varga, a math teacher and a member of the Exodus Circle, received the letter. At the time, Varga was a Hungarian soldier stationed close by and had already helped several Jews flee the camp. Varga was friends with Péter Iván Valkó before the war. He decided to bring false identification papers to and 25 other forced laborers in Balf, in order to help them escape. Of the 25 men, most of them engineers, eight decided to join Varga and leave the camp. Varga accompanied them to the town of Sopron, telling the guards and patrols on the way that these were soldiers in civilian clothes transferring between units. He intentionally chose to smuggle the Jews to safety on Christmas night, since he knew that many of soldiers and guards would be drunk. Nevertheless, the trip was extremely hazardous. On their way to Sopron, they were apprehended by an armed German soldier. Varga attacked the soldier, and with the help of two of the prisoners set about tying him up. In the struggle they were so nervous that at first they tied their own legs to the soldier's. It never crossed their minds, however, to kill the soldier. The next day the soldier was able to free himself, and reported the event to the authorities. Afraid to continue in such a large group, the men dispersed. In a planned meeting a few days later, those who arrived heard that Varga had hidden two of their comrades in one of his relative's home, and then guided them towards the town of Győr, from where they were able to travel in safety to the already liberated region of Hungary. Of the eight prisoners, seven escaped safely and were saved. Varga also hid Péter Iván and his friend Kun in the home of his father, a Reformed Church minister, in the town of Kunszentmiklós. The story is mentioned in a book written by Győrgy Bence, as well as in several letters and in the 1984 interview of Endre Valkó. Tamás Varga's rescue actions stemmed from pure humanitarian motives; he never received anything in return, and severely endangered his own life as well as that of his family members. After the war, Varga married Ágnes Binéth. The couple had a son, Győy and a daughter, Zsuzsa, who both live in Budapest. After the war, close ties were maintained between the rescuer and the survivors. Iván Valkó married Anna Mária, who survived Dachau, and had daughter Agnes, who died in 1987, and a son, Péter, who lives in Texas. Endre Valkó had a second son, Tamás, named in honor of his father's rescuer. Tamás Valkó lives in Budapest, while his older brother János lives in the Netherlands. On June 13, 2012, Yad Vashem recognized Tamás Varga as Righteous Among the Nations.