Ella Havas

This lady is Mrs. Emil Havas, Aunt Ella, who was my second aunt. The photo was taken in Budapest in 1950.

Ella was a journalist in Yugoslavia, and wrote for papers in Szabadka, Zombor, and I think in Uj Videk. For years she ran a psychological type section under the name Ella Havas - Emil Havas was her husband - and ran around in writing circles all her life.

Ella was deported from Szabadka in the summer of 1944 - it belonged to Hungary then, and they deported the Jews there. At the station, when they were marched to the boxcars, she saw a small guardhouse by the outer platforms of the station, and in an unguarded moment, she stepped out of the line and went into this house which was empty, and got down. The whole lot went, she stayed down and came out when they had gone. She went to the railway cashier, where they knew her, in fact, she was a well-known journalist there, and she got a ticket on credit for the fast train to Pest. She had no money, but the ticket lady gave her one on credit. She traveled up to Pest with the next fast train - she had acquaintances here in Pest through whom she found a place. Bela Balazs was a close acquaintance of hers, he also helped. She went into hiding with fake papers, and in the end she got through everything. She had an old Christian friend, called Ferenc Kende, who had a book and newspaper distribution office, he also helped her.