Sára Salkaházi
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Sára Salkaházi,
Early life
Salkaházi was born in Kassa (now Košice, Slovakia) on 11 May 1899 to Leopold and Klotild Schalkház, owners of the Hotel Schalkhaz in Kassa. The family was of German origin. Her father died when she was only two years old. Her brother described her as "a tomboy with a strong will and a mind of her own."[1] She earned an elementary school teacher's degree, and later worked as a bookbinder's apprentice, and in a millinery shop. She became a journalist and edited the official paper of the National Christian Socialist Party of Czechoslovakia. At this time, she was far from devout, and at times, even flirted with atheism. Before becoming a religious sister, she was once engaged to be married, but she soon broke off the engagement.
Religious life
The Sisters of Social Service, founded in by Margit Slachta in 1912 were at first reluctant to accept the chain-smoking woman journalist.[2] She joined the congregation in 1929, and took her first vows on Pentecost 1930. Her first assignment was at the Catholic Charities Office in Kosice, where she supervised charity works, managed a religious bookstore, and published a periodical entitled Catholic Women. At the request of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Slovakia she organized all the various Catholic women's groups into a national Catholic Women's Association,[1] and established the National Girls' Movement.[2] As national director of the Catholic Working Girls' Movement, Salkaházi built the first Hungarian college for working women, near Lake Balaton. To protest the rising Nazi ideology Salkaházi changed her last name to the more Hungarian-sounding "Salkaházi".[3] In Budapest, she opened Homes for working girls and organized training courses. She also wrote a play on the life of Margaret of Hungary, canonized on 19 November 1943.[3]
Her boundless energy was misunderstood by the other sisters as an attempt to draw attention to herself.[4] Her superiors doubted her vocation and refused to allow her to renew her temporary vows, or to wear the habit for a year. She considered leaving.[2] Nevertheless, she continued to live the life of a Sister of Social Service without vows.[1] The Hungarian Benedictines in Brazil were asking for Sisters to work there in mission, and Sara was eager to go, but World War II intervened.
World War II
Salkaházi opened the Working Girls' Homes to provide safe haven for Jews persecuted by the Hungarian Nazi Party.[3] In 1943, she smuggled a Jewish refugee from Slovakia, disguised in the habit of the gray sisters, and the woman's son, out of the Sisters' house in Kassa, which was being searched by the Gestapo, and brought them temporarily to Budapest.[5] During the final months of World War II, she helped shelter hundreds of Jews in a building belonging to the Sisters of Social Service in Hungary's capital, Budapest.[6] About 100 people were aided by Salkahazi herself, who was the national director of Hungarian Catholic Working Women's Movement.[7] As the sister responsible for the house, she secretly made a formal pledge to God in presence of her superior to be prepared to sacrifice herself if only the other sisters were not harmed during the war. The fact and text of the pledge have been preserved in her journals.
Martyrdom
Betrayed to the authorities by a woman working in the house, the Jews she had sheltered were taken prisoner by members of the Hungarian pro-
In 1969,[9] her deeds on behalf of Hungarian Jews were recognized by Yad Vashem[8] after she was nominated by the daughter of one of the Jewish women she was hiding, who was killed alongside her.
Beatification
On 17 September 2006 Salkaházi was beatified in a proclamation by
Speaking at the Mass, Rabbi József Schweitzer said of Salkaházi, "I know from personal experience ... how dangerous and heroic it was in those times to help Jews and save them from death. Originating in her faith, she kept the commandment of love until death."
Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said, "The honor bestowed by Pope Benedict XVI on Sister Sara Salkahazi for risking and eventually giving her life to save Jews in peril is an important statement by the church. It is unfortunate that there were not more individuals like Sister Sara, but her example must be held up to demonstrate how lives can be saved when good people take action to confront evil." Foxman, a Holocaust survivor, had been saved by his Polish Catholic nanny.[7]
Sára Salkaházi took as her motto, "Here I am; send me!"[4][11]
References
- ^ a b c "Sára Salkaházi". Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ a b c "Sára Salkaházi (1899–1944)", Vatican News Service
- ^ a b c "Bl. Sara Salkahazi, Martyr, Member of the Sisters of Social Service". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Sadlier Religion – Faith and Witness". Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ "Salkahazi, Sara", Yad Vashem
- ^ McDonough, Chris International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation Sara Salkahazi [1]
- ^ a b "ADL Applauds Beatification Of Hungarian Nun Who Saved Jews". Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ^ Jerusalem Post. 16 September 2006.
- ^ "The Righteous Among The Nations – Salkaházi Sára (1899–1944)". Yad Vashem The Righteous Among The Nations Database. 19 October 2013.
- István Pongráczand a few other names, all male.
- ^ Isaiah 6:8.
Sources
- Website on Sister Sára Archived 7 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- Hungarian Martyr Beatified. Sister Sara Salkahazi Helped Jews Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- The Sisters of Social Service
- Sára Salkaházi
- Sára Salkaházi – her activity to save Jews' lives during the Holocaust, at Yad Vashemwebsite
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