Biography
Gyorgy (now George) Pick is the son of Istvan and Margit (Kornhauser) Pick. He was born on March 28, 1934 in Budapest, where his father worked as an engineer and his mother as a legal secretary. After Hungary allied itself with Nazi Germany, Gyorgy's father lost his job. Beginning in 1940, Istvan was conscripted into the Hungarian labor service. He served three stints. In 1940 he was sent to a small town in Ruthenia for three months, where he was put to work building roads. In the summer of 1943, he was sent to Cluj, where he also did road construction. Finally, in April 1944 he was sent to the western part of Hungary to erect anti-tank fortifications. During his absence, Gyorgy and his mother remained in their home in Budapest. Gyorgy attended the Jewish Boys' Orphanage School of Budapest (Zsido Fiu Arvahaz). In June 1944 they were forced to move to one of the specially designated "yellow star" houses in the city. In September 1944 Istvan's battalion moved to Budapest. One month later, on October 25, his commander warned the members of his unit that they would be sent to Germany the following day. During the 24-hour furlough the men were given prior to their transfer, Istvan went into hiding with a friend. At first he hid in the basement of his grandparents' home, which had been largely destroyed in a bombing raid. However, after his friend was caught in dragnet, Istvan had to find a new shelter. He sought the help of a former Hungarian business associate, Gyorgy Gyekis, who sent him to a textile factory on Csango Street. The factory was ostensibly manufacturing uniforms for the Hungarian army, but in actuality, had ceased production. Approximately 170 Jews were hiding there, including close to 100 women and children. The factory was established by Imre Kormos (Kohn), a Hungarian Jew living on false papers, who had had prior experience in the textile industry. Kormos operated four factories where 1100 Jews were hidden. On November 22, one month after coming to the factory, Istvan sent an urgent message to Margit and Gyorgy telling them to join him. Shortly after the Picks were reunited in the factory, Kormos (who had been hiding with Hungarian friends) was betrayed to the Gestapo. The informer also disclosed the locations of three of Kormos' four factories. On December 2, five armed members of the State Security Police raided the Csango Street factory where the Picks were hiding. Fortunately, the Jews were able to evade arrest by bribing the police. Kormos, however, was not able to bribe his way out. Though he was tortured for two days, he did not disclose the location of his fourth factory, thus giving those hidden there a chance to escape. Kormos was sentenced to death, but managed to escape and survive the war. A few days after the December 2 raid, Gyorgy Pick was transferred with the rest of the children in his factory to a building under the protection of the International Red Cross. Because there was no food there, Gyorgy left and rejoined his parents in the textile factory. Soon after his escape, there was an Arrow Cross raid on the Red Cross safe house, during which the children were rounded-up and shot on the banks of the Danube. Gyorgy and his parents remained at the Csango Street factory until December 17, when two policemen brought them to the new central ghetto. They were liberated by the Soviets one month later on January 18, 1945. Though Gyorgy and his parents survived, 161 members of their extended family perished in the Holocaust. The Picks remained in Budapest until the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, when they immigrated to the United States.
