A posthumous Righteous Among the Nations medal has been awarded to Salesian monk Mihály Kiss, who hid Jewish youth in the order’s house in Old Buda during the Holocaust. The award was presented by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén and Israel’s Ambassador to Budapest, Yakov Hadas-Handelsman, to the Salesian provincial head, János Andrásfalvy, on Thursday in Budapest.
In his welcome speech, Zsolt Semjén stressed that the Holocaust showed not only the unbridled evil in its stark reality, but also the power of human greatness.
„We must remember all those who, as Christians, risked their lives to save people”
– said the deputy prime minister.
Zsolt Semjén also said that the memory of the Holocaust was not simply a reminder of the most senseless and terrible act in the history of the 20th century and of humanity, but a point of reference that still defines the identity of the people of Europe today.
It taught us that a man can become anything he wants, that “we can decide for ourselves whether we are saints or villains.”
He added that the Hungarian government has shown unwavering commitment to Jewish communities in recent years. In a tense situation in the Middle East and in the face of the security challenges facing European Jewry, it has done its utmost to protect Jewish communities and to combat antisemitism. The government has sent a clear signal that it stands by Israel in the international political arena, he said, adding that relations between the two countries have developed steadily in recent years. In addition, the government supports the strengthening of religious life.
According to the deputy prime minister,
„we must remember not only with words, but also with deeds,” as „it is our duty to try to fill the void left by the slain with noble deeds.”
„Above all, we must ensure that a tragedy like the Holocaust never happens again, and
we must be vigilant for our Jewish and Christian communities, for their safety, their freedom and the survival of our common traditions.”
– added Zsolt Semjén.
Yakov Hadas-Handelsman said that the Righteous Among the Nations medal is the highest expression of gratitude from the Jewish people and the State of Israel for the humanity and courage of non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews.
“Mihály Kiss truly deserves the recognition for his extraordinary courage in helping Jewish children, hiding them from their persecutors in the chapel of the Salesians’ monastery in Old Buda, and risking his own life in the process,” said the ambassador.
He noted that the fact that Mihály Kiss was a priest makes his actions all the more significant, given the inter-religious relations at the time.
János Andrásfalvy, the head of the Hungarian province of the Salesians, emphasized in his welcome speech that the life of Mihály Kiss is a particularly important example for the Hungarian Salesians.
He recalled that Mihály Kiss, as the head of the Óbuda order from October 1944, during the Arrow Cross reign of a few weeks, took multiple people of Jewish background into the monastery, saving their lives.
On their way to the brickyard collection point, several of them „jumped” into the chapel, which was always open. When the Arrow Cross troops found out that the Salesians were hiding Jewish youths, they raided the monastery, dragged away the children they found there, and shot them into the Danube, he said.
Mihály Kiss and his companions were repeatedly beaten and tortured by the Arrow Cross, which probably contributed to the monk’s early death.
János Andrásfalvy also said that Mihály Kiss was the third Hungarian Salesian monk to receive the Righteous Among the Nations award.
Former provincial head Béla Ábrahám said that Mihály Kiss was born on September 7, 1891, in Győrszentmárton. In 1906, he entered the Salesians of Don Bosco as a novice and was ordained a priest in Krakow in 1916. He worked as director of the monastery in Rákospalota, then became head of the Salesians’ school in Nyergesújfalu, and from 1940, he was head of the order in Óbuda. His diary, which he kept from autumn 1944 to early 1945, is an important memoir that shows the greatness of its author and contains poignant descriptions of the horrors of war and the atrocities of the Arrow Cross.
Béla Ábrahám noted that the Salesian order was dissolved under communism, but their documents, including the diary of Mihály Kiss, were accidentally left behind. Someone had taken them to the archives, where no one dared touch them during the decades of communism; they were returned to the Salesians after the regime change.
The ceremony was attended by Michael Wallace Banach, Apostolic Nuncio; Shlomo Köves, Chief Rabbi of the Association of Hungarian Jewish Communities (EMIH); Lőrinc Nacsa of the KDNP, Boglárka Illés of Fidesz, and István Hiller and Tamás Harangozó, Members of Parliament for MSZP.
