Heroism in Hungary during the Holocaust

Psychologist Erica Frydenberg has written a powerful account of the Holocaust in Hungary, weaving together her own family’s story of survival with history.

The book’s title Do Not Forget Me Street, refers to a real street in Budapest. It also evokes the cries of 560,000 Hungarian Jews killed in the Holocaust – the men, women and children lined up on the edge of the Danube River and brutally shot by the Hungarian Arrow Cross, and those sent on cattle cars to gas chambers.

Remarkably, around 250,000 Hungarian Jews survived, largely thanks to the Budapesti Schindlers, including Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz, who provided protective passes and safe houses.

For Frydenberg, this time in history is deeply personal.

Born during WWII in Budapest, just as Hungary was implementing Hitler’s Final Solution, Frydenberg’s own uncle, Nandor Eichel, saved her life. Protected by diplomatic papers, Eichel rescued many other Jews, whose stories only came to light decades later in Australia.