Rescuers from Pannonhalma during World War II
Submitted to the student competition entitled “Exclusion – From Antisemitism to School Bullying: Examples of Enemy Creation,” announced in 2025 by the Jewish Roots in Győr Public Benefit Foundation; this entry won third place (edited version with subheadings – ed.)
Work by Levente Deák, Márton Péter Domokos, and Máté Dániel Drozdik, students
Pannonhalma Benedictine High School
Supervised by Tamás Németh, history teacher
Ferenc Kelemen‘s Early Life
Ferenc Kelemen was born on January 10, 1884, in Hahót to a poor family. He began his elementary education in Keszthely and later attended the town’s Catholic High School, run by the Premonstratensians.
He demonstrated outstanding diligence and humility from an early age. Due to the poverty of his family, he was forced to get through his high school years with the help of donations from foundations and local families.
After completing his studies … he entered the priesthood: as a novice, he moved to Pannonhalma, where six years later he took his final vows and became a member of the Benedictine monastic community under the name Kelemen Krizosztom. He first worked as a teacher in Pápa, but his first pastoral assignment was in Nyalka, a small village near Pannonhalma. He continued to serve there throughout World War I and the events that followed. Afterward, he moved to Budapest to continue his service, and following his return to Pannonhalma, he became coadjutor, though this was not part of his plans.
Chief Abbot Kelemen Krizosztom’s Political Connections
He was elected Chief Abbot in 1933 and began his far-reaching reform efforts that very same year. Under the leadership of Kelemen Krizosztom, the abbey had recovered from its previous unfavorable economic conditions by the start of World War II, to such an extent that construction of an Italian high school—that is, our school, today’s Pannonhalma Benedictine High School—could begin in 1939. Among the primary motivations for the Abbot’s efforts to establish the school… was the fact that he maintained close friendships not only with Pál Teleki but also with Bálint Hóman (right wing politicians of the time, members of Horthy’s subsequent governments – ed.). His political connections were, in any case, extremely wide-ranging: he had a good personal relationship with Miklós Horthy and his wife (authoritarian governor of Hungary, from 1920 to 1944 – ed.), and he also tried to establish close ties with the ministers in the government. [1]
In his memoirs, he wrote the following about his political connections:
“I pursued only one policy, and that was: the policy of my Order… For I took over my Order ten years ago in an extremely dire state. Its resources were exhausted, its buildings damaged, its live and dead stock depleted and in need of replacement … Healing the wounds of my Order directly required me to seek the warmest possible relationship with the ruling power… I could not concern myself with appearances, given the great responsibilities entrusted to me.” [2]
By this time, his health had severely deteriorated due to his growing responsibilities and the burdens of his multifaceted activities. Citing this, he requested his dismissal in a letter to Cardinal Serédi (Archbishop in Hungary from 1927 to 1945 – ed.) dated October 23, 1939.
“It is no secret to Your Eminence that I am a man suffering from nervous and lung ailments. I have at most one or two years left to live. I would like to spend these few years in the quiet of Bakonybél (village located between Pannonhalma and the Lake Balaton – ed.), preparing for death.
I do not wish to cause harm in my current office through the anxiety stemming from my worsening nervous disorder, nor do I wish to become unbearable to my fellow friars. At this moment, it could be held against me that I am running away from the burden of these difficult times. I am not doing this out of cowardice. From the very beginning, I knew that my role would be temporary.” [3]
The cardinal rejected the Abbot’s request, even though it would have been difficult even for a healthy person to fill such a position of responsibility in a Europe spiralling into chaos. The Catholic Church of the mid-20th century was forced to confront growing anti-Semitism, the political radicalization resulting from the conditions of the era, and the worsening war situation. Pannonhalma was not spared from these challenges either.
1944, the fateful year
As the year 1944 dawned, it became clear to everyone that the front would soon reach Hungary; for the Abbot, Monte Cassino served as a cautionary example (a Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino; bombed by the U.S. Air Force in February 1944 on the assumption that it had been occupied by the Germans. It was almost completely destroyed, along with its priceless library. Subsequently, German troops stationed in the area did indeed take up positions among the ruins of the monastery. The mountain and its surroundings became the scene of prolonged bloody battles /the Battle of Monte Cassino/; source – ed.). By then it lay in ruins, and it was clear that if Pannonhalma were forced to accommodate soldiers or weapons from either side, it could suffer the same fate.
The solution was provided by Vencel Nagy, a fellow monk of Father Chrysostom in Komárom, who had learned that the International Red Cross, operating in Budapest under the representation of Friedrich Born, the Commercial Attaché of the Swiss Embassy, had not yet found a rural refuge. [4] (Friedrich Born was actually the Head of the Budapest Delegation of the Red Cross in 1944 – ed.)
Under the protection of the Red Cross
Father Vencel and Friedrich Born agreed that Pannonhalma would request the conclusion of a relevant agreement as soon as possible. It is worth mentioning Mike Jámbor, OSB, who participated in the preparatory work for the agreement,[5]; it was he who, following the agreement, had the documents approved and signed, and declared before the Minister of Foreign Affairs that, under the terms of the agreements, an institution suitable for caring for war orphans and children in need would be established at Pannonhalma.
On October 13, 1944, Krizosztom Kelemen and Friedrich Born, acting on behalf of their respective parties, signed the agreement, which provided international protection for Pannonhalma—just in time, as such an agreement would have been impossible during the Sztójay government, which came to power following a coup attempt two days later. Upon the conclusion of the agreement, Krizosztom Kelemen described the terms in a letter to his fellow monks as follows:
“I am enclosing for strictly internal use the document addressed to me by Friedrich Born, the Hungarian representative of the International Red Cross, which clarifies the current situation of Pannonhalma for my fellow friars:
“Pursuant to Cabinet Decision No. 30246/9 of November 4, the entire Pannonhalma complex—including all buildings of the Archabbey and the entire park area—has been placed at the sole and exclusive disposal of the delegation of the International Red Cross Committee under my leadership. All military and civilian authorities are required to leave the area immediately, as are the military hospital and other settlements, as well as all persons who do not belong to the monastery’s regular staff. The Hungarian Red Cross has no right of entry, nor do civilian refugees. Refugee children in need may be taken in.”
With fraternal love, Krizosztom, Pannonhalma, November 30, 1944.” [6]
In accordance with the decree, the German troops stationed here until then left the abbey grounds, and the military hospital established here could not operate for long either. However, securing protection was by no means the end of the matter. The authorities tried time and again to overstep their powers: one autumn day, the students of the Benedictine high school were confronted with the fact that they were stuck there, as some of them had by then turned 14, which meant that the authorities began demanding their extradition so they could be transported to Germany in closed convoys. However, Krizosztom Kelemen unequivocally and definitively refused to comply with this demand. News of this spread immediately among both the war-torn population and the pro-German authorities.
Protection of Persecuted Persons
The Abbot’s and the abbey’s stance on this matter became clear to everyone, but the authorities had no choice for the time being, so the abbey was soon overrun by political and war refugees arriving from all directions, as well as Jewish asylum seekers. In a later report by Kelemen Krizosztom to Prince Primate Mindszenty (Prince-Primate Cardinal József Mindszenty from 1971 to 1975 – ed.) it was written:
“(…) We provided safe haven to 760 people for three months, and during the siege, in addition to our fellow monks, some 3,000 people found refuge within the walls of the main monastery for two to three weeks. Among the refugees who spent months here were many of other faiths, including 36 people persecuted because of their Jewish origins. The number of young men we protected within the walls of Pannonhalma exceeds 50; we did not allow them to leave for Germany. The Abbot personally took these young men under his protection, accepting the consequences himself. Similarly, the Jewish refugees also enjoyed his personal protection. … He personally assumed responsibility for the vast amount of valuable belongings that the refugees had accumulated in Pannonhalma. On October 25, 1944, the Gestapo took action against the Abbot for his prominent involvement in Hungarian public life; they conducted a house search in Pannonhalma while looking for János Vörös, Chief of the General Staff of the Hungarian Army, and also searched through all the documents kept in the Abbot’s residence. The Gestapo arrived with such a large contingent that their actions clearly indicated serious intent.” [7]
In the fall of 1944, the organization of the relief agency and the reception of refugees began under the supervision of Eduard Brunschweiler, a Swiss businessman and Red Cross delegate (Brunschweiler was entrusted with this task by F. Born – ed.). … In the medical facility established alongside the children’s shelter, 120 surgeries were performed, 10 people died, and 9 births were attended. [8]
At that time, the duties at the gate and the reception of the Abbot’s guests … were performed by Lajos Torda, who is still referred to in Pannonhalma today simply as “Uncle Lajos,” and who had by then served for four years as the Abbot’s Hussar, as well as being Krizosztom Kelemen’s closest confidant (the “Abbot’s Hussar” was a former, historical office of the Pannonhalma Archabbey; the title referred partly to the border hussars who served at the abbey during the Turkish occupation, and partly to the personal bodyguard/valet serving the Abbot; source – ed.). … According to those who knew him personally, Uncle Lajos was a well-meaning, jovial, and talkative man. [9]
These same accounts suggest that Uncle Lajos was less burdened by the pressure exerted on Pannonhalma by the authorities and the weight of caring for the refugees. This was due, among other things, to the fact that their work entailed different responsibilities: Krizosztom Kelemen was aware of all the hiding activities taking place on the abbey’s grounds and had taken on the task of coordinating them; moreover, the management of the entire institution rested largely on his shoulders.
In contrast, Uncle Lajos, serving as the Abbot’s right-hand man, took care of the Jews’ needs, but also provided assistance and spiritual support during Father Krizosztom’s illnesses, and ensured the safety of György Geréb, whom he personally sheltered (György Geréb (born György Grósz), 1923–1982, Hungarian psychologist, honorary university professor; his parents and both of his siblings were victims of the Holocaust; he himself was taken to a labour camp in Transdanubia, from which he escaped to the Pannonhalma Abbey, where he was saved by Krizosztom Kelemen and Lajos Torda; source – ed.).
What Krizosztom Kelemen and Uncle Lajos have in common, however, is their willingness to take risks, for the Arrow Cross regime did everything in its power to prove to the Abbot personally, or to some employee, that they had violated the conditions set by the International Red Cross—because if that were the case (and Szálasi was certain of it /Ferenc Szálasi, head of the fascist Arrow Cross movement, appointed PM by Miklós Horthy in 1944 – ed./), then the protection would be considered null and void, the Arrow Cross could begin deporting boys who had reached the age of 14 (conscription age) to Germany, executing Jews in hiding, freely disposing of the fate of those who harboured them, and using the building for their own purposes.
Although the protection agreement categorically prohibited armed men from setting foot in the abbey, the authorities regularly conducted house searches, against which the Benedictines defended themselves using their own methods.
First and foremost, it was a fundamental rule that if someone was a political refugee, a Jew, or a person who needed to be hidden, they were provided with a special hiding place in secret rooms or passages behind the walls. They were usually placed there by fellow Benedictines or Uncle Lajos, and could only come out upon hearing the voice of a specific priest. A vivid example of Pannonhalma’s ingenuity, still alive in the memory of the Benedictine community today, is the incident when the Germans surrounded the castle to take away all the students of military age, but the priests allowed only the soldiers’ commander to enter, with the aim of wearing him down. They began the commander’s tour as far away as possible, starting at the basilica, then proceeded slowly onward, showing him everything—from the temporary hospital to the kindergarten—where the orphaned children mistook the stranger for their father, and this seemed to have some effect on the commander’s spirit. The plan worked, and the soldiers eventually gave up the search. [10]
In addition to young men subject to military service and political refugees, they also hid 36 Jews during those eight months. … György Geréb, for example, was hidden between two doors in the abbot’s apartment. The door was covered by a large portrait of the Pope, [11] in front of which the soldiers, sitting on the furniture during house searches, would linger from time to time; thus, a cough or a careless movement could have meant execution or a concentration camp for Uncle Lajos and the Abbot alike.
There were also instances when several members of the same family were in the building at the same time without knowing anything about each other. This precaution served their safety. When there were too many people to hide, they looked for other places for them; for example, there was a case where a Jewish woman was sent to the Ravazd parish (Ravazd, a village close to Pannonhalma – ed.) so that she could hide there as a woman working at the parish.
Egon Jávor, a Benedictine monk (Benedictine monastery in Sopron – ed.), recalls Father Chrysostom’s intercession on behalf of the persecuted persons outside the walls of the Benedictine high school as follows:
“… On several occasions, the Abbot asked us to help Jewish labourers. I no longer remember the names, but on such occasions, I would go out in civilian clothes on a bicycle to the nearby village, where the Jews were housed in the village stables; they built roads and fortifications during the day. Speaking with those whose names we had received in such stables, we brought them proper clothes, instructed them to leave their posts and come to the monastery, where we first hid them in the sacristy and then placed them to work. …” [12]
Final game
Uncle Lajos played a key role in the hiding operations; with the Abbot’s knowledge, he took care of those in hiding, found places for people to stay, warned them when he saw the gendarmes or the Gestapo approaching, escorted guests, and performed every other duty that fell within the scope of the “Abbot’s Hussar.” Perhaps this wasn’t clear to Uncle Lajos at the time, but Abbot Krizosztom was well aware that on at least two occasions they were mere minutes away from arrest and execution, a fact he himself recounted… in a handwritten letter addressed to Cardinal Mindszenty, which is now in private hands. He wrote this from exile in the United States when, for immigration purposes, he requested a certificate from his Benedictine colleagues in Hungary stating that he had never been the subject of a criminal case with the Hungarian police:
“(…) The relevant American authorities require a statement from the Hungarian police, as a supplement to the emigration documents, confirming that I have never been arrested.
(…) I have had dealings with the police twice in my entire life. Once, in the second half of ’44, the Gestapo searched our home in Pannonhalma: they were looking for Minister of Defence János Vörös and examined my documents; they took my two guest books. I was saved by the fact that I was an abbot nullius at the time. The second time, Szálasi sent a gendarmerie captain named Sándor with eight gendarmes after me in February 1945. He admitted that he had come for me, but Pannonhalma and its eight hundred refugees (including 500 children) made such an impression on him that he filed a report justifying why he did not take me away. He also said that they had intended to execute me. I believe that Iván Rakovszky and his wife, (…), the gendarmerie captain’s aunt, were among the Pannonhalma refugees who saved me at that time. There were several such attempts against me on Szálasi’s part. I can prove it.” [13]
The report to Mindszenty, which has already been cited once, continues as follows:
“The Gestapo arrived with such a large contingent that their actions clearly indicated serious intentions. Similarly, on March 8–12, 1945, members of the Court of Inquiry also appeared in Pannonhalma and spent several days there. Szálasi summoned the Abbot, along with other high-ranking clergy, during Holy Week; the Abbot expressly refused to appear at the appointed time via telegram. Those sent to arrest him and his associates and to seize Pannonhalma’s valuables had already set out but, as a result of the Russian occupation, turned back en route empty-handed to the so-called national leader’s headquarters.” [14]
It is worth mentioning that not everyone was as fortunate as the Abbot: at the same time, Szálasi had targeted several other church leaders. During this time, the bishops of Székesfehérvár and Veszprém were already being held under house arrest by the Arrow Cross in Sopron, while the enraged national leader issued an arrest warrant for Archbishop János Mikes of Szombathely on charges of harbouring deserters.
The Soviet occupation did not bring relief either, though there is no doubt that the story ended better than it might have, given the prospects at the time. After the communist takeover, the Church increasingly became a thorn in the eye of the authorities. The persecution, listing, and surveillance of religious practitioners began, along with the banning and restriction of religious events, the confiscation of property, and the surveillance of intellectuals and “reactionaries” who opposed these measures. The abbey lost its property, and its employees scattered. One employee, however, agreed to continue his service even without pay: Lajos Torda.
As Krizosztom Kelemen opposed the activities of the emerging communist regime and spoke out against it, he was placed under surveillance, along with other dissidents. As a result of the pressure exerted on him by the authorities, he later decided to go into exile.
At this point, Lajos Torda and the abbot went their separate ways. Father Krizosztom was forbidden from returning, so, likely with Vatican assistance, he fled to Italy via Austria, then through Belgium and Germany to the United States. He died in exile in 1950. The Benedictines smuggled his ashes back to Hungary; his former valet placed them in the Pannonhalma Basilica.
Uncle Lajos was not an educated man. Unlike the Abbot, he did not move in intellectual circles. He had served at Pannonhalma from the age of 24, so it is not surprising that the communist authorities kept an eye on him as well. Being a talkative man, it was not too difficult to extract information from him; on several occasions, a communist official sent to interrogate him did so with the specific intent of extracting incriminating information from him about members of the monastic community. [15] This may be the origin of the assumption that Uncle Lajos may have served as a State Security informant (III/III), but—as Emeritus Abbot Asztrik Várszegi pointed out during our conversation—no concrete evidence of this has been found.
Lajos Torda passed away in 2008, after receiving the Righteous Among the Nations award from Yad Vashem on June 22, 1998, together with Krizosztom Kelemen.
Uncle Lajos previously spoke of their life-saving efforts as follows: “This kindness is heartwarming, but what I did was my Christian duty.” [16]
The slide images are taken from the PowerPoint presentation submitted by the students from Pannonhalma.
Cover photo: apatsagipinceszet.hu-latkepek
Notes:
[1] Imre Asztrik Várszegi, OSB: Kelemen Krizosztom (1929–1950), METEM, Budapest, 1990, 255, 262–263.
[2] Ibid., 263.
[3] Károly Hetényi Varga: Kelemen Krizosztom and the Pannonhalma Refuge, Vigila, 1985/4, 299.
[4] Ibid., 300.
[5] Imre Asztrik Várszegi, OSB: Kelemen Krizosztom (1929–1950), METEM, Budapest, 1990, p. 327.
[6] Circular Letter from Krizosztom Kelemen to the Hungarian Benedictines, Abbot’s Archives, Pannonhalma, 914/1944.
[7] Abbot Kelemen Krizosztom’s report to Prince Primate József Mindszenty, Abbot’s Archives, Pannonhalma, 1295/1945.
[8] Endre Wallinger: Refuge on the Mountain Top, in: Standing Firm, ed. Éva Szabó, Hungarian Association of Resistance Fighters and Anti-Fascists, Hungarian Red Cross Organization VII/5, 1996, 167.
[9] Narrative by Imre Asztrik Várszegi, OSB.
[10] Memoirs of Bánk Tihanyi, OSB (Pannonhalma, Nov. 10, 1976), in: Károly Hetényi Varga: Krizosztom Kelemen, Abbot of Pannonhalma, and the Hungarian Benedictines for the Victims of Nazi Persecution (manuscript), Pannonhalma Archabbey Archives, B 632/16.
[11] Account by Imre Asztrik Várszegi, OSB.
[12] Hetényi, op. cit., 302.
[13] Unregistered letter in the possession of Imre Asztrik Várszegi, OSB.
[14] Report by Abbot General Kelemen Krizosztom to Prince Primate József Mindszenty, Chief Abbot’s Archives, Pannonhalma, 1295/1945.
[15] A narrative by Imre Asztrik Várszegi, OSB.
[16] Memoirs of Lajos Torda (Pannonhalma, Nov. 11, 1976), in: Károly Hetényi Varga: Krizosztom Kelemen, Abbot of Pannonhalma, and the Hungarian Benedictines for the Victims of Nazi Persecution (manuscript), Pannonhalma Abbey Archives, B 632/16.
Edited and translated into English by P. Krausz supported by DeepL.
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