Sister Klara Rath: Righteous among the Nations


This is the story of the hiding of about one hundred Jewish children and women in a convent in Budapest during the days of the Hungarian "Arrow Cross Party" at the end of Nazi occupation, from October 15, 1944 until February 1945. The children remember Christmas in the convent.

The ?rangyalház convent was under the protection of Raoul Wallenberg (Swedish diplomat, renown for his efforts to save Jews) and was directed by nuns who belonged to the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity* At the head of the convent was Sister Klara Rath, who had joined the congregation in 1942 and served as superior of the convent from 1944 until 1950. In 1944, the convent was situated on Ménesi Street in Budapest and was known as ?rangyalház. The Jewish survivors praised the supportive treatment of the nuns and the devoted care they received during the difficult months of the Arrow Cross regime (a Fascist movement that took power on October 15, 1944 and imposed a regime of terror and murder with regard to the Jews).

Kárpáthy Stern Zsuzsa was 14 years old when she was brought to the convent, thanks to a Christian friend of her mother. "What I saw in these difficult times was a group of people who remained human. These nuns sacrificed their lives for us. They went out at night and came back with Jewish babies, their mothers must have given them to the sisters. The nuns gave them to us to look after. They slept with us at night and the nuns taught us how to change their diapers." Many years later she returned to the convent with her husband in order to express her gratitude.

Spiegel Layton Zsuzsa was 8 years old when she arrived at the convent. Her father had been taken away for forced labor. She came to the convent through a German friend of the family. "I missed my mother very much but the nuns were fantastic, very warm hearted. I worked in the kitchen, peeling vegetables and potatoes, so that at least we would have something to eat. In December 1944, on Christmas, we all slept in the cellar, we played together we read, but we did not study that day. Christmas was very beautiful, with the smell of pines… an enchanted atmosphere". She too returned in order to thank the nuns.

Szüsz Fehér Veronica was 9 years old when she arrived at the convent, close to Christmas 1944 and she was there, according to her testimony, about six weeks. This was the time of he siege (the Russians were besieging Budapest), "yet there was always something to eat. I worked in the kitchen. We prayed too but it was natural because they gave us refuge and saved our lives". When Budapest was liberated, her father came to fetch her but her mother and grandmother never returned.

There were surprise visits of the "Arrow Cross" militias and of the Germans to the convent but Sister Klara, the superior rejected any attempt by them to find Jews in the house. Mária N?vér, a nun in the convent, told about one of the occasions when the Germans wanted to take up residence in the convent. However, Sister Klara, who knew German, quoted one of the verses from the Hungarian national anthem: "Here you must live and die" which hinted at the fact that she had no intention of leaving the house and bringing in the Germans even if this meant paying a heavy price. The Germans left the place in a rage. The same nun also told of a visit of the Arrow Cross militias who were looking for Jewish children but left after Sister Klara insisted that all the children in the convent were baptized.

Another nun, Visy Klára Claudia N?vér, had the job of ironing the clothes of the babies and the children. She told of the lack of food and the heavy famine that set in "after the Hungarians, then the Germans and then the Russians took everything". She also told of a visit of the Arrow Cross militias who were looking for Jews but who left empty handed after three hours after Sister Klara had fed them and given to drink from only the best foods in order to make them forget their mission.

The chaplain of the convent, Father Basics Imre Tóth István recounted that "Sister Klara had a strong personality and could not be shaken... she saved people through the front door and when that was impossible she brought them in through trhe window".

Sister Klara rath died in 1991 and was granted the title of Righteous Among the Nations in 2010.

* The Congregation of the Sisters of Charity was founded in France in 1633 by Saint Vincent de Paul during a time of social and economic crisis. Their primary goal was to save babies and children who were abandoned in the streets. A branch of this congregation was founded in Hungary, in 1852 by German speaking women from Graz in Austria.

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