Gitta Mallasz (June 21, 1907 – May 25, 1992) was a Hungarian graphic designer and an artist. Today, she is best known for her transcription of a series of extraordinary spiritual instructions, of which she was one of the recipients in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In English, the book is called ''Talking with Angels''.

Life

Margit Eugenia (Gitta) Mallasz was born in 1907 in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

(Laibach) into an Austro-Hungarian family. Her father was an officer in the Hungarian army, her mother was Austrian. In her adolescence in Hungary she became friends with Hanna Dallos at the Academy of Graphic Arts. She was a talented swimmer and in the early thirties, became a national free style and backstroke champion. She won the bronze medal of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at the

1931 European Aquatics Championships The 1931 LEN European Aquatics Championships were held from 23 to 30 August in Paris, France. Medal table Medal summary Diving ;Men's events ;Women's events Swimming ;Men's events ;Women's events Legend: WR – World record Water polo ...

in Paris. She also made the acquaintance of Lili Strausz, a professor of

calisthenics Calisthenics (American English) or callisthenics (British English) ( /ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪks/) is a form of strength training consisting of a variety of movements that exercise large muscle groups (gross motor movements), such as standing, graspi ...

who was also a massage therapist. Soon Gitta Mallasz resumed working in graphic art and joined Hanna Dallos in the atelier which she ran with her husband Joseph Kreutzer. Once

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

gained political power in Budapest, the aristocratic Gitta Mallasz took over the commercial management of the atelier from Hanna and Joseph, who were

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

just like Lili Strausz. This quartet of young people was in search of the meaning of life and the spiritual. Then the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out. The atmosphere became oppressive and alarming. Hanna and Joseph rented a small house in the outskirts of

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and reduced their activities to the absolute essentials. Gitta Mallasz and Lili Strausz joined them. One day when Gitta shared her thoughts with her, Hanna Dallos revealed that it wasn't her any more who was speaking. The 25 June 1943, was the beginning of ''Talking with Angels'', seventeen months of spiritual instructions received and transmitted by Hanna, which ended up in an old college building transformed into a workshop for manufacturing military uniforms. The clandestine purpose was trying to save a hundred Jews. Gitta Mallasz accepted the management of it in order to save her friends. But, in 1944, the Nazi vice tightened. Joseph Kreutzer was deported on 3 June, Hanna and Lili were taken to Ravensbrück on 2 December. They never returned; Gitta Mallasz found herself alone in possession of a few black covered notebooks containing the transcripts of the instructions. In Hungary, after the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

terror came the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

oppression. Gitta became dress and stage designer and spokesperson for the State Folk Assembly of Rábai Miklós. In those years, in spite of her professional success, Gitta said that she felt like a living dead. In 1960, she "chose freedom" and settled in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. She restarted her career as a graphic designer. To save her family from persecution, she contracted a marriage of convenience with Laci Walder which later turned into a love-match. He was a Jewish communist, veteran of the

International Brigade The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existe ...

. With her husband, Helen Boyer, and several friends she set herself the task to translate the notebooks into French. The publication was delayed. Eventually, the writer Claude Mettra, producer at the French public radio station

France Culture France Culture is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: * France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" sta ...

interviewed Gitta Mallasz about her spiritual adventure in his weekly program on March 22, 1976. The impact was enormous. Shortly thereafter, the text was published by Aubier and became an overnight bestseller. Gitta Mallasz flatly refused to become a guru despite public pressure. But an invitation to a conference of the Zurich C. G. Jung Institute in June 1983 was an important turning point. From then on Gitta Mallasz dedicated the rest of her life to commenting on ''Talking with Angels'', and guarding against false interpretations be it in conferences or in books. In 1988, in a severe accident she broke both her wrists. She gave up her little house in

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and moved to live in Tartaras (

Ampuis Ampuis () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. See also Communes of the Rhône department The following is a list of the 208 communes of the Rhône department of France. This list does not includes the Lyon Metropolis ...

) in the vineyard region of the Côte-Rôtie in the vicinity of her close friends Bernard and Patricia Montaud. From 1985 onwards, Bernard Montaud had been organizing her conferences. She spent her last years there peacefully, writing her last books and releasing the

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

's teachings. She died on May 25, 1992, in Tartaras, in the commune of Ampuis (France). Her ashes were dispersed over the

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''Talking with Angels''

The dialogues in Hungarian were transcribed onto notebooks during a series of 88 events, from June 25, 1943, to November 23, 1944. They have been published altogether in 21 languages. The first edition was in French, '' Dialogues avec l'ange'', published in 1976. It was first published in English in a short edition in 1979 by Watkins Publishing, followed by a complete edition by Daimon Verlag in 1988 under the title ''Talking with Angels''. Only in 1989 was it published in Hungarian.

Awards

Gitta Mallasz was recognized

Righteous among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sa ...

in June 2011 for having saved a hundred Jewish women and children in Budapest in 1944.Yad Vashem
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Books

In French

* * * *

In German

* * * These books stem from correspondence following her public speaking engagements.