Károly Szabó
Encyclopedia
Károly Szabó was an employee of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest
from 1944 to 1945. He was a supporter of Raoul Wallenberg
and had a significant role in making contact with the representatives of the Hungarian police and other state officials. He was arrested without legal proceedings 1953 in Budapest in a Raoul Wallenberg secret trial
.
s in 1929 he (13 years old) became friends with Pál Szalai
. This friendship continued in the critical months of 1944–1945 while Pál Szalai
, high ranking member of the police force supported Raoul Wallenberg.
Between 1944 and 1945 Károly Szabó was one of the typewriter mechanics of the Swedish Embassy. Dr. Ottó Fleischmann, a Doctor of Medicine
and psychologist, employee of the Swedish Embassy, motivated Károly Szabó to play an active role in the rescue actions of Raoul Wallenberg. Pál Szalai supported his friend with important personal documents, signed by the German command in the Battle of Budapest
. Karoly Szabó's intuitive purchase decision for a leather coat was another key factor. Black leather trench coat
, was a means of inspiring fear and respect, and the subsequent Hollywood image of the black-clad, trench-coated Gestapo
officer has entered popular culture. In Budapest's Jewish community he was known as "the mysterious man in the leather coat".
Károly Szabó attracted exceptional attention on December 24, 1944 as Hungarian Arrow Cross Party
members occupied the Embassy building on Gyopár street. He rescued 36 kidnapped employees from the Budapest ghetto
. This action attracted Raoul Wallenberg's interest. He agreed to meet Szabó's influential friend, Pál Szalai, a high ranking member of the police force The meeting was in the night of December 26. This meeting was preparation to save the Budapest ghetto in January 1945. Pál Szalai
honored as Righteous among the Nations
04.7.2009 .
The last meeting between Wallenberg and Szalai, together with Dr. Ottó Fleischmann and Károly Szabó, was on the evening of January 12, 1945 at the Gyopár street Swedish Embassy at Wallenberg's "last supper"
invitation. The next day, on January 13 Wallenberg contacted the Russians to secure food and supplies for the people under his protection. He was detained by the Soviet forces Red Army
on January 17, 1945.
During World War II
Lars Ernster
and Jacob Steiner
lived in the office of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest, Üllői Street 2-4. In the night of January 8, 1945 all inhabitants were dragged away to near the Danube banks by an Arrow Cross party execution brigade of the city commander. At midnight, 20 policemen with drawn bayonets broke into the Arrow Cross (Nyilas) house and rescued everyone. Ernster and Steiner were among the rescued. Ernster fled to Sweden
, where later he was member of the Board of Nobel Foundation
(1977–88), and Steiner fled to Israel
, where he is now a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
.
Information from Jacob Steiner
after he has read this page: On December 25, 1944, Jacob Steiner
's father was shot dead by Arrow Cross militiamen, falling into the Danube as a result. His father had been an officer in World War I
and spent 4 years as a prisoner of war
in Russia
.
Dr. Erwin K. Koranyi psychiatrist in Ottawa write about the night of January 8, 1945 in his "Chronicle of a Life" in 2006 "in our group, I saw Lajos Stoeckler" and
"The police holding their guns at the Arrowcross cutthroats. One of the high-ranking police officers was Paul Szalai, with whom Raoul Wallenberg used to deal.
Another police officer in his leather coat was Karoly Szabo."
leader Ernő Gerő
, which is shown by a note sent by him to First Secretary Mátyás Rákosi
.
In 1953 preparations for a show trial started in Budapest to prove that Wallenberg had never been in the Soviet Union, nobody had dragged off Wallenberg in 1945, least of all the Soviet Army. Three leaders of the Jewish community of Budapest – Dr. László Benedek, Lajos Stöckler, Miksa Domonkos, and two additional eyewitnesses – Pál Szalai and Károly Szabó – were arrested, accused and tortured. Everything was ready for a trial designed to prove that Wallenberg had been the victim of cosmopolitan
Zionists.
On April 8, 1953 Károly Szabó was captured on the street, arrested without legal proceedings, and sent to prison. His family did not hear from him for six months. A secret trial was held and no official record of the case or the judge's verdict was made available. After six months of interrogation, the defendants were driven to despair and exhaustion.
The show trial was initiated in Moscow, following Stalin's anti-Zionist campaign. After Stalin's death and Lavrentiy Beria
's execution, the preparations for the trial ended and the arrested persons were released. Miksa Domonkos died shortly after the tortures in hospital (Book: Mária Ember, "They Wanted to Blame Us", 1992 http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no143/p129.html).
the International Mensch Foundation, the Carl Lutz Foundation, the Budapest Holocaust Memorial Institute and the 1944-2004 Foundation issued a Karoly Szabo memorial certificate.
After introduction by Prof. Dr. Szabolcs Szita speech Aliza Bin-Noun Israel Ambassador, Dr. John Hóvári Ambassador Deputy Secretary of State, Prof. Dr. Schweitzer Joseph retired National Rabbi .
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
from 1944 to 1945. He was a supporter of Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
and had a significant role in making contact with the representatives of the Hungarian police and other state officials. He was arrested without legal proceedings 1953 in Budapest in a Raoul Wallenberg secret trial
Secret trial
A secret trial is a trial that is not open to the public, nor generally reported in the news, especially any in-trial proceedings. Generally no official record of the case or the judge's verdict is made available. Often there is no indictment...
.
Friendship with Pál Szalai 1929
In the Hungarian Boy ScoutBoy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
s in 1929 he (13 years old) became friends with Pál Szalai
Pál Szalai
Pál Szalai also spelled Pál Szalay and anglicized as Paul Sterling was a high ranking member of the Budapest police force and the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party during World War II....
. This friendship continued in the critical months of 1944–1945 while Pál Szalai
Pál Szalai
Pál Szalai also spelled Pál Szalay and anglicized as Paul Sterling was a high ranking member of the Budapest police force and the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party during World War II....
, high ranking member of the police force supported Raoul Wallenberg.
Budapest 1944 – 1945
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
and psychologist, employee of the Swedish Embassy, motivated Károly Szabó to play an active role in the rescue actions of Raoul Wallenberg. Pál Szalai supported his friend with important personal documents, signed by the German command in the Battle of Budapest
Battle of Budapest
The Siege of Budapest centered on the Hungarian capital city of Budapest. It was fought towards the end of World War II in Europe, during the Soviet Budapest Offensive. The siege started when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was first encircled on 29 December 1944 by the Red Army...
. Karoly Szabó's intuitive purchase decision for a leather coat was another key factor. Black leather trench coat
Trench coat
A trench coat or trenchcoat is a raincoat made of waterproof heavy-duty cotton drill or poplin, wool gabardine, or leather. It generally has a removable insulated lining; and it is usually knee-length.-History:...
, was a means of inspiring fear and respect, and the subsequent Hollywood image of the black-clad, trench-coated Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
officer has entered popular culture. In Budapest's Jewish community he was known as "the mysterious man in the leather coat".
Károly Szabó attracted exceptional attention on December 24, 1944 as Hungarian Arrow Cross Party
Arrow Cross Party
The Arrow Cross Party was a national socialist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which led in Hungary a government known as the Government of National Unity from October 15, 1944 to 28 March 1945...
members occupied the Embassy building on Gyopár street. He rescued 36 kidnapped employees from the Budapest ghetto
Budapest ghetto
The Budapest Ghetto was a ghetto where Jews were forced to live in Budapest, Hungary during the Second World War.- History :The area consisted of several blocks of the old Jewish quarter of the city surrounding the main synagogue, and was surrounded by a high fence and stone wall that was guarded...
. This action attracted Raoul Wallenberg's interest. He agreed to meet Szabó's influential friend, Pál Szalai, a high ranking member of the police force The meeting was in the night of December 26. This meeting was preparation to save the Budapest ghetto in January 1945. Pál Szalai
Pál Szalai
Pál Szalai also spelled Pál Szalay and anglicized as Paul Sterling was a high ranking member of the Budapest police force and the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party during World War II....
honored as Righteous among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
04.7.2009 .
The last meeting between Wallenberg and Szalai, together with Dr. Ottó Fleischmann and Károly Szabó, was on the evening of January 12, 1945 at the Gyopár street Swedish Embassy at Wallenberg's "last supper"
The Last Supper (Leonardo)
The Last Supper is a 15th century mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice d'Este...
invitation. The next day, on January 13 Wallenberg contacted the Russians to secure food and supplies for the people under his protection. He was detained by the Soviet forces Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
on January 17, 1945.
Prevented crime in January 1945
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Lars Ernster
Lars Ernster
Lars Ernster was a professor of biochemistry, and a member of the Board of the Nobel Foundation- Biography :Lars Ernster was born in Hungary and came to Sweden 1946. He played a prominent role in the scientific community. He took his Ph.D. degree at the Stockholm University in 1956...
and Jacob Steiner
Jacob Steiner
Jacob Steiner is a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a researcher of the physiology of the senses.- Academic positions :*Lecturer 1965*Senior lecturer 1974*Associate professor 1979*Emeritus 1996...
lived in the office of the Swedish Embassy in Budapest, Üllői Street 2-4. In the night of January 8, 1945 all inhabitants were dragged away to near the Danube banks by an Arrow Cross party execution brigade of the city commander. At midnight, 20 policemen with drawn bayonets broke into the Arrow Cross (Nyilas) house and rescued everyone. Ernster and Steiner were among the rescued. Ernster fled to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, where later he was member of the Board of Nobel Foundation
Nobel Foundation
The Nobel Foundation is a private institution founded on 29 June 1900 to manage the finances and administration of the Nobel Prizes. The Foundation is based on the last will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite....
(1977–88), and Steiner fled to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, where he is now a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
.
Information from Jacob Steiner
Jacob Steiner
Jacob Steiner is a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a researcher of the physiology of the senses.- Academic positions :*Lecturer 1965*Senior lecturer 1974*Associate professor 1979*Emeritus 1996...
after he has read this page: On December 25, 1944, Jacob Steiner
Jacob Steiner
Jacob Steiner is a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a researcher of the physiology of the senses.- Academic positions :*Lecturer 1965*Senior lecturer 1974*Associate professor 1979*Emeritus 1996...
's father was shot dead by Arrow Cross militiamen, falling into the Danube as a result. His father had been an officer in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and spent 4 years as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Dr. Erwin K. Koranyi psychiatrist in Ottawa write about the night of January 8, 1945 in his "Chronicle of a Life" in 2006 "in our group, I saw Lajos Stoeckler" and
"The police holding their guns at the Arrowcross cutthroats. One of the high-ranking police officers was Paul Szalai, with whom Raoul Wallenberg used to deal.
Another police officer in his leather coat was Karoly Szabo."
1947–1964
- At the invitation from the Wallenberg familyWallenberg familyThe Wallenberg family is a prominent Swedish banking family, renowned as bankers, industrialists, politicians, diplomats and philanthropists. The most famous of the Wallenbergs, Raoul Wallenberg, a diplomat, worked in Budapest, Hungary, during World War II to rescue Jews from the Holocaust...
Károly Szabó visited StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
in summer 1947. He was one of the last three persons who had seen Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest. - In the autumn of 1947 he visited the rescued family Jakobovics in AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. His visit made headlines in Dutch newspapers :nl:Het Vrije Volk. - In the summer of 1963 and 1964 he visited at invitation the rescued Kalber and Löw in Basel and Jakobovics in London.
Show trial preparations 1953 in Hungary
The idea that the "murderers of Wallenberg" were Budapest Zionists was primarily supported by Hungarian CommunistPeople's Republic of Hungary
The People's Republic of Hungary or Hungarian People's Republic was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communist period under the guidance of the Soviet Union. The state remained in existence until 1989 when opposition forces consolidated in forcing the regime to...
leader Ernő Gerő
Erno Gero
Ernő Gerő was a Hungarian Communist Party leader in the period after World War II and briefly in 1956 the most powerful man in Hungary as first secretary of its ruling communist party.-Life and career:...
, which is shown by a note sent by him to First Secretary Mátyás Rákosi
Mátyás Rákosi
Mátyás Rákosi was a Hungarian communist politician. He was born as Mátyás Rosenfeld, in present-day Serbia...
.
In 1953 preparations for a show trial started in Budapest to prove that Wallenberg had never been in the Soviet Union, nobody had dragged off Wallenberg in 1945, least of all the Soviet Army. Three leaders of the Jewish community of Budapest – Dr. László Benedek, Lajos Stöckler, Miksa Domonkos, and two additional eyewitnesses – Pál Szalai and Károly Szabó – were arrested, accused and tortured. Everything was ready for a trial designed to prove that Wallenberg had been the victim of cosmopolitan
Rootless cosmopolitan
Rootless cosmopolitan was a Soviet euphemism widely used during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1948–1953, which culminated in the "exposure" of the alleged Doctors' plot...
Zionists.
On April 8, 1953 Károly Szabó was captured on the street, arrested without legal proceedings, and sent to prison. His family did not hear from him for six months. A secret trial was held and no official record of the case or the judge's verdict was made available. After six months of interrogation, the defendants were driven to despair and exhaustion.
The show trial was initiated in Moscow, following Stalin's anti-Zionist campaign. After Stalin's death and Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
's execution, the preparations for the trial ended and the arrested persons were released. Miksa Domonkos died shortly after the tortures in hospital (Book: Mária Ember, "They Wanted to Blame Us", 1992 http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no143/p129.html).
Timeline
- 1916 Born on November 17, 1916 in Budapest.
- 1932–1940 Works for the Remington US typewriter company in Budapest
- 1940–1945 Works for Brunsviga German calculators company in Budapest (Gelpke, Nádor tér) and mechanican for bureau equipment on the Swedish Embassy Budapest 1944–1945
- 1945–1949 owner of the "Universal" bureau equipment company with PlachySylvia PlachySylvia Plachy is a Hungarian/American photographer.Plachy was born in Budapest, Hungary. Her Czech Jewish mother was in hiding in fear of Nazi persecution during World War II. Her father was a Hungarian Roman Catholic aristocrat and she was raised in his faith.Plachy's family moved to New York...
and Wagner representatives for Brunsviga (German), Precisa (Swiss), Odhner (Swedish) calculating machines in Hungary. - 1950 His business was "nationalized" (expropriated without compensation)
- 1953 Arrested and secret show trialShow trialThe term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial in which there is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as...
preparations - 1955–1964 Independent technician for office equipment
- 1963-1964 In the summer of 1963 and 1964 he visited at invitation the rescued Klaber and Löw in Basel and Jakobovics in London.
- 1964 Death by strokeStrokeA stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
October 28, 1964 in Budapest.
Posthumous honors
On August 4, 2010, the birthday of Raoul WallenbergRaoul Wallenberg
Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
the International Mensch Foundation, the Carl Lutz Foundation, the Budapest Holocaust Memorial Institute and the 1944-2004 Foundation issued a Karoly Szabo memorial certificate.
After introduction by Prof. Dr. Szabolcs Szita speech Aliza Bin-Noun Israel Ambassador, Dr. John Hóvári Ambassador Deputy Secretary of State, Prof. Dr. Schweitzer Joseph retired National Rabbi .
See also
- Shoes on the Danube PromenadeShoes on the Danube PromenadeThe Shoes on the Danube Promenade is a memorial created by Gyula Pauer and Can Togay on the bank of the Danube River in Budapest. It honors the Jews who fell victim to fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II, and represents their shoes left behind on the bank when they fell...
- Battle of BudapestBattle of BudapestThe Siege of Budapest centered on the Hungarian capital city of Budapest. It was fought towards the end of World War II in Europe, during the Soviet Budapest Offensive. The siege started when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was first encircled on 29 December 1944 by the Red Army...
- Budapest ghettoBudapest ghettoThe Budapest Ghetto was a ghetto where Jews were forced to live in Budapest, Hungary during the Second World War.- History :The area consisted of several blocks of the old Jewish quarter of the city surrounding the main synagogue, and was surrounded by a high fence and stone wall that was guarded...
- Raoul WallenbergRaoul WallenbergRaoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
- Pál SzalaiPál SzalaiPál Szalai also spelled Pál Szalay and anglicized as Paul Sterling was a high ranking member of the Budapest police force and the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party during World War II....
- Lars ErnsterLars ErnsterLars Ernster was a professor of biochemistry, and a member of the Board of the Nobel Foundation- Biography :Lars Ernster was born in Hungary and came to Sweden 1946. He played a prominent role in the scientific community. He took his Ph.D. degree at the Stockholm University in 1956...
- Jacob SteinerJacob SteinerJacob Steiner is a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a researcher of the physiology of the senses.- Academic positions :*Lecturer 1965*Senior lecturer 1974*Associate professor 1979*Emeritus 1996...
- Collection from Karoly Szabo newspaper headlines Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Books, newspaper
- Dreams and Tears: Chronicle of a Life, Erwin K. Koranyi, General Store Publishing House, 2006, ISBN 1897113471, 9781897113479 (pages 89 – 90)
- A Man for All Connections, The Wallenberg-Szalai connection, Andrew Handler, Praeger/Greenwood, 30 January 1996; ISBN 0275952142 Handler focuses on explaining the Hungarian political context which made rescue possible.... Less well known is the fact that Wallenberg's mission was supported by various representatives of the Hungarian state apparatus
- József Szekeres: Saving the Ghettos of Budapest in January 1945, Pál Szalai "the Hungarian Schindler" ISBN 9637323147X, Budapest 1997, Publisher: Budapest Archives
- The mystery man with the leather coat. Faklya - Budapest, December 29, 1946 - February 9, 1947, interviews with Károly Szabó (Hungarian)
External links
- Szabó Károly 8/4/2010 in Magyar Televízió (or Hungarian Television) is a Hungarian national public service television company. Videó
- Homepage Raoul Wallenberg Asso.fr
- Documents to January 8. 1945. (English) http://www.spacetime-sensor.de/wallenberg.htm
- Forgács Gábor, The history of the Üllői út 2-4, Wallenberg office hired by the Swedish Embassy http://www.raoul-wallenberg.asso.fr/wallenberg_arch/wallenberg_test/wallenberg_forgacs.html
- Wallenberg: More Twists to the Tale, Mária Ember, They Wanted to Blame Us http://www.hungarianquarterly.com/no143/p129.html
- Interview with István Domonkos, son of Miksa Domonkos who died after the show trial preparations (Hungarian)http://www.szombat.org/2006/0602apamatelhurcoltak.htm
- Wallenberg Seminar in Budapest, March 1-2nd 2007 "We have to emphasize the deeds of Károly Szabó, Pál Szalai, Dr István Parádi, who were risking their life everyday" Gábor Forgács. The exhibition was opened by Dr. Gabor Demszky, Mayor of Budapest with a message of the President of the Republic of Hungary László Sólyom.