Diving medal owned by a Hungarian Jewish family

Eva Ehrlich (1924-2009) was born Eva Hevesi in Budapest, Hungary to Dr. Ferenc (1898-1952) and Magda (nee Rottenstein, 1906-1977) Hevesi. Ferenc worked as a rabbi in the city of Székesfehérvár, Hungary. In 1930, the family returned to Budapest, where they shared a large apartment with Ferenc’s parents, Simon (1868-1943) and Janka (Johanna, 1872-1945) Hevesi. Simon was the chief rabbi of Hungary, and Ferenc worked under his father at the Dohany Street synagogue. The combined household was very traditional, and they observed all of the holidays and ate exclusively kosher. They had a close extended family, and they regularly met at Eva’s grandparents’ home for meals. When Eva was around 9 or 10, she moved with her parents into their own apartment. She was educated at private elementary and secondary schools, where she learned French, German and English. Although Eva had many non-Jewish friends as a child, she did experience some antisemitism. During a Friday night service in 1932, her father had to disarm a shooter who came into his synagogue.

Things became worse for the Jewish population as Hungary began instituting anti-Jewish policies modeled after German laws in 1938, and then joined the Axis alliance in November 1940. Eva continued attending school alongside her classmates, most of whom were also Jewish. However, some of her male friends were conscripted into forced labor battalions to support the war effort. Eva and her family were able to keep abreast of the war by illegally listening to Allied radio broadcasts. When Eva graduated high school in 1942, most Jews were prohibited from attending university. After much difficulty, a connection of the family was able to get Eva enrolled, but she was prohibited from attending medical school as she had wanted. In 1943, Eva’s grandfather, Simon, died. Ferenc and a colleague succeeded him as co-chief rabbis of Hungary.

Following Hungarian attempts to sign an armistice with the Allies, the German army occupied Hungary on March 19, 1944, and Adolf Eichmann arrived in Budapest to personally oversee the occupation. Two weeks later, the occupation authorities decreed that all Jews six years and older were required to wear a yellow Star of David. Eva and her family’s valuables were confiscated, and they were removed from their apartment and forced into one they had to share with another family. Curfews were slowly imposed, and food became scarce. The family was forced to relocate again, into a single room apartment crowded with 20 people. No longer allowed to attend school, Eva began working at the Jewish community center, compiling lists of all those in the community. That summer, she also became engaged to William Vasadi (?-1944), an attorney who also worked at the community center, following his forced service in a labor battalion. Eva and her mother purchased two sets of false papers in case they needed to escape, but did not obtain any for Ferenc, as he was too well-known to be able to use them.

On October 15, the radically antisemitic, German-backed Arrow Cross Party seized power of the Hungarian government. They began carrying out violent attacks against Jews, forcing many into hiding. William went into hiding in a Swiss-protected building, Ferenc went to the home of a Gentile cousin of Magda’s, while family friends helped Eva and Magda secure rented lodgings. Out of fear of discovery, Eva and Magda moved every few days, aided by members of the underground resistance. William begged her to join him at the Swiss building, but she did not want leave her mother. A few days later, William’s protected house was raided by Arrow Cross soldiers and he was shot and thrown into the Danube River. In November, a closed Jewish ghetto was created in the area around the Dohany Street synagogue. Ferenc’s brother and sister-in-law were forced into the ghetto, but were able to escape.

Ferenc was thrown out of their relative’s home in December, and he went to the sanatorium where his mother was staying, which was owned by an American doctor. A rabbi in the Judenrat alerted the authorities, but the doctor helped Ferenc escape again, and he was taken into an apartment owned by a retired army colonel. Eva and Magda eventually went to the same apartment building, and were placed in the basement with a group of Gentiles hiding from the air raids. They remained there until their section of the city, including the ghetto, was liberated by the Soviet army on January 16, 1945. The remainder of the city was liberated the following month.

When they came out from hiding, Eva and her family were able to find Magda’s parents, Moritz and Erna Rottenstein, who had survived in a Jewish hospital. Erna was very ill, and died a short time later. Ferenc’s mother had been in the same sanatorium where he had hidden, but she starved to death after the nurse who was caring for her began stealing her food. Eva accompanied her father to the synagogue, where they found huge piles of unidentifiable Jewish corpses, frozen by the winter temperatures. Ferenc presided over a mass service and burial. Long lines soon formed for individual burials.

Near the end of February, Eva and her parents returned to their apartment, only to find it had been emptied of all their belongings by the building janitor. After he was caught, the janitor was able to get their belongings back. Eva returned to college as soon as she could, and was given credits for the time she had lost. Ferenc became a chaplain for the Hungarian army, and returned to his former rabbinical duties. The American military mission arrived in Budapest, and Eva met a Hungarian-American soldier, Adrian Heller. They got married on October 8, 1946, and Eva immigrated with him to the United States.

In the fall of 1946, Ferenc traveled to England and the United States, where he Anglicized his name to Francis. He was sponsored by the American Joint Distribution Committee, and gave speeches on behalf of the Hungarian Jewry. On February 2, 1947, Francis presided over Eva’s religious wedding ceremony in New York City. Magda was also granted permission to travel to attend the wedding. Before Eva’s parents could return to Budapest, they were warned that Francis was being accused of a crime and that he should stay in the US.

Eva and her husband divorced in the summer of 1949, and she moved with her parents to Georgia, where Francis led a congregation. They later moved to Washington, D.C., where Eva worked for the Library of Congress and met Bernard Ehrlich, who she married in 1950. Francis was invited to lead a congregation in Hawaii, where he died in 1952. Magda lived with Eva and Bernard until her death in 1977, and they raised three daughters.