A Hungarian nun who helped save the lives of perhaps one hundred Jews during World War II was beatified Sunday, Sept. 17 in a Mass attended by thousands. Sara Salkahazi was killed by the Arrow Cross — the Hungarian allies of the Nazis — on Dec. 27, 1944, for hiding Jews in a Budapest building used by her religious order, the Sisters of Social Service. The beatification ceremony took place September 17 in front of Budapest's St. Stephen Basilica and was attended by about 20,000 people, according to the Catholic News Service. Cardinal Peter Erdo said the martyrdom of Sister is "close to us, and her example is within our reach ... She was willing to assume risks for the persecuted ... in days of great fear." Hungarian Chief Rabbi Jozsef Schweitzer, a Holocaust survivor, spoke at the beatification, "expressing gratitude on behalf of persecuted Jews for those Christians who saved Jewish lives, even though they weren't great in number." A biography of Blessed Sara Salkahazi is available on the website of the Sisters of Social Service.
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First rabbis ordained in Germany in 60 Years
More than 60 years after the Nazis shut down Germany's only rabbinical school, three rabbis were ordained on September 14th in a ceremony welcomed by many as confirmation that Jewish life can again flourish in the country decades after the Holocaust. For a full ABC news story, click HERE.