Gábor Sztehlo (1909–1974) was a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Pastor in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

who saved Jewish children from the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and Hungarian

Arrow Cross Party The Arrow Cross Party (, , abbreviated NYKP) was a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which formed a government in Hungary they named the Government of National Unity. They were in power from 15 October 1944 to ...

fascist persecution during World War II. Sztehlo was born November 25, 1909, in Budapest and studied theology in

Sopron Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

. Starting in 1932 he served as a chaplain in Budapest, then later in

Hatvan Hatvan ( German: ''Hottwan)'' is a town in Heves County, Hungary. Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". It is the county's third most populous town following Eger and Gyöngyös. Etymology Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". It is a com ...

and Nagytarcsa. In 1937 he founded the first Hungarian adult education center in Nagytarcsa, the beginnings of the Folk College System, inspired by his experiences in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. He later returned to Budapest prior to the German invasion of Hungary in 1944. Jozsef Èliás led the Good Shepherd Committee, which was founded in October 1942 by converted Jews. This organization provided food and clothing for Jews conscripted into forced labor. Bishop Sándor Raffay appointed Gábor to represent the Lutheran Church in the committee, which he later led after Èliás was forced to go into hiding. Working with the

International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a aid agency, humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of Law of ...

and the Lutheran Church, the Committee helped find homes for Jewish children and provided papers stating that they had converted to Christianity, setting up 32 children's hospices across Budapest. It is estimated that between 1,540 and 2,000 children and 400 adults were saved from persecution before the war ended.http://www.sztehloalapitvany.hu/Honlap-Introduction.pdf After the liberation of Budapest in October, 1945, Sztehlo founded Gaudiopolis, a self-declared "children's republic" for both Jewish and non-Jewish children while working with the Red Cross to find homes and support for them. Gaudiopolis was nationalized in 1950. Gábor stayed in Budapest to organize hospices for the handicapped and elderly, amongst other social work. After the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

, his family moved to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he joined them in 1961. In 1972 Sztehlo was recognized by

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

as being "Righteous Among the Nations", the first Hungarian to receive the title. He died from a heart attack on May 28, 1974, in

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss ...

, Switzerland. In 1991 former students and coworkers established the Gábor Sztehlo Foundation for the Help of Children and Adolescents. In 2009 a memorial to Sztehlo, created by the sculptor Tamás Vigh, was erected facing the Deák Square Lutheran Church in Budapest.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sztehlo, Gabor 1909 births 1974 deaths Protestant Righteous Among the Nations Hungarian Righteous Among the Nations Hungarian Lutheran clergy Clergy from Budapest 20th-century Hungarian clergy 20th-century Lutheran clergy Lutheran chaplains Hungarian emigrants to Switzerland