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“The sharp difference between a hero and a coward lies in that the hero fears and stays while the coward fears and flees”, said Piarist monk Ödön Lénárd who was convicted and imprisoned three times during the communist dictatorship. He is also commemorated in the book revealing the fate of sixty people of various characters. The members of the resistance to Nazism, those fighting against communist takeover, the revolutionists and freedom fighters of 1956, as well as Hungarian priests, politicians and intellectuals from Hungary, Transylvania, Subcarpathia, Délvidék (southern territories of the former Kingdom of Hungary) and Upper Hungary all exerted great efforts to save lives during the holocaust. Among them were aristocrats, simple peasants, a Transylvanian bishop and a journalist allowed to join the communist party despite his age later growing increasingly distant from it.
The vast majority of those described in the book are still unknown to the general public. By publishing their portrait, we also settle old scores to preserve the memory of those who stood up for us. The volume edited by Gergyely Czókos, Réka Kiss, Áron Máthé and Zoltán Szalai and published by Mathias Corvinus Alapítvány (foundation) in cooperation with the Committee of National Remembrance and Mandiner.hu gives an illustrated account with high-quality photo documentation and numerous recounts of the lesser known history of the 20th century.
