Conversation with Mihály Meixner’s grandson, who rescued Jews from Győr
The Righteous Among the Nations award is an honour bestowed by Israel upon non-Jews who demonstrated extraordinary courage by risking their lives to rescue Jewish people during the Shoah. This distinction is bestowed upon individuals by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority. As of 1 January 2023, a total of 28,486 awards have been presented, 869 of which to Hungarian citizens. One of them was Mihály Meixner from Győr, the late owner of the Hotel Royal, now Hotel Rába, whom we have previously written about. In his capacity as the ghetto commander, he endeavoured to enhance conditions, procured additional food for the forced labourers, and helped them escape. We spoke with his grandson, who shares the name Mihály, to learn how they honour the memory of his heroic grandfather.
“My grandfather passed away before I was born, so I know about his story during the Holocaust only from family narratives. It was not until much later, perhaps around the time of the regime change, that the topic began to be discussed within the family,” the 74-year-old grandson begins.
What do you know about your grandfather?
For him, personal integrity and moral principles were of the utmost importance, regardless of whether this person was a Jew, a Gypsy*, tall or short, good-looking or ugly or anything else. This remains an integral part of our family’s mindset. I share this perspective. He was quite a daring man. He died in November 1948. Among family and friends, the consensus was that it was definitely better this way, because at least they didn’t take the hotel away from him during his lifetime, which was nationalized in 1949. He would certainly have defended it with weapons. His determination also saved a woman in labour in the ghetto: he let excavated a passageway beneath the fence and helped her escape during the cover of the night. He then transported her to the hospital in his commander’s car and forced the doctor to assist her in the delivery of the baby.
How did he become ghetto-commander?
He was a professional soldier, a captain. He sustained a serious injury to his right shoulder during World War I, which resulted in his discharge from the military. Then, he was redrafted during World War II. He was present at the Transylvanian invasion in 1940. He was subsequently reassigned to the hinterland, where officers were in high demand. At that point, he was appointed to oversee the ghetto and the forced labourers. Later, he was taken captive by the Russians.
Was the war ever discussed in your family?
No. During the communist era, it was not recommendable to talk about those times. Being member of the former “Royal-hotel-and-café family” was not the best recommendation at the time anyway. My grandmother shared numerous anecdotes about the family’s past, including details about the hotel, and all kinds of other stories. For example, she told me how she had a room restored in 1945 in the hotel that had been hit by a bomb, and subsequently stood at the train station with a small sign announcing that the Royal Hotel was in operation again. However, the war years were never spoken about. Actually, neither in the affected Jewish families. Their underlying concept probably was, that if this man had helped us, his descendants should not face any repercussions because of that. For example, I had a Jewish classmate. She only learned about my grandfather’s courageous deeds when a report about the award ceremony appeared in the daily paper ‘Kisalföld’. Yet her family was directly implicated. It was then that her parents told her about the incident with the pregnant mother. It had happened to one of their relatives.
Who initiated the recognition of the Righteous Among the Nations and how did the process unfold?
I was on a business trip abroad. The phone rang at home, and my wife answered it. They were looking for Mihály Meixner’s son. My wife gave them the number of my uncle László, who had witnessed the events and could provide detailed information. He was living in Budapest at the time. Unfortunately, I am unaware of the individual who initiated the process. Twelve or fifteen families provided testimony. Among those saved were Mihály Röder, Ignác Löwinger (later Yitzchak) and Ernő Weisz (later Yehoshua Ben-Ami), all of whom made Aliyah.
Did the Jewish community in Győr ever express appreciation for your grandfather’s actions?
No, never. However, those who survived Auschwitz, including the deputy director of the local National Savings Bank branch, Dezső Rudas, or the chief accountant of a county retail company, Berci Krausz, and a few others, took note of me, presumably out of gratitude for my grandfather. By this I mean that after graduating from commercial college, when I got a job at Áfész they kept an eye on me from the background, so that if anything would have gone wrong, they could help. (Editor’s note: Áfész, or General Consumer and Sales Cooperative mainly provided commercial, agricultural and other services in rural areas before the regime change.)
And the state or the local government?
They did not address the matter either. The only public recognition of my grandfather’s memory was the presentation of the Righteous Among the Nations award at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on 6 September 1998, a ceremony which was attended by several hundred people. The award was presented to my uncle by the Israeli ambassador. We still have the commemorative plaque, but the certificate of honour got lost, along with many other documents. We do not hold any special commemorations in the family. My ascendant relatives are no longer alive. We, the current family, have stored away in our hearts the memory that we once had such a great, humanistic ancestor.
Recorded by György Polgár
* The word ‘gypsy’ is not considered an insult in Hungary.
English translation by György Polgár