Brussels – Hungarian Army Officer Who Saved Jews During WWII Commemorated

Brussels – A Hungarian army officer, who saved the lives of around 2000 Jews in Budapest from Nazi persecutions during the last months of Word War II, was commemorated at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Captain Laszlo Ocskay, acted consistently against the policies of the “Arrow Cross Militia,” the Hungarian pro-Nazi authorities headed by Ferenc Szalasi.

Between October 1944 and January 1945, he used a former Jewish high school building in Budapest as a shelter for the 2,000 women, men and children, feeding them with army rations and defending them with military force.

After WWII, Ocskay lived in Austria before immigrating to the United States where he joined his son. He died in 1966 of a trauma after a fall.

During the commemoration event at the EU parliament, under patronage of Hungarian MEP Andras Gyurk, whose family members also saved Jews in WWII, and B’nai B’rith Brussels, Leslie J. Pardon, a 83-year-old Israeli who was among the people saved by Ocskay saluted his heroism and dedication.
“He was an outstanding and brave human being who protected a group of helpless human beings from annihilation under the most critical conditions and risked his own life by standing up against the power of institutionalized terror,” he said.
“Thanks to him I could miraculously escape from a train bound for Auschwitz,” he said.