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On the first anniversary of her death, Éva Fahidi was remembered at her former family home. 

An honorary citizen of Debrecen, writer and Holocaust activist, she has done much to ensure that the terrible legacy of the Holocaust is a living memory.

It was through the power of community and love that survival in the concentration camps was possible – this is what Holocaust activist Éva Fahidi said before her death. As a young woman, she was taken from the building at 27 Szoboszlói Road, her family’s former residence, with her loved ones on the 26th of June 1944.

She managed to escape from a death march at the war’s end. Later, his struggle against racism and anti-Semitism became known worldwide. Before her death, she was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Debrecen.

On Wednesday afternoon, a commemoration ceremony was held to mark the first anniversary of his death at the house from which the horrors of the Holocaust washed away.

“The message she tried to pass on to the world, the message of reconciliation and love, is an important legacy that Debrecen can claim as its own and a value that Debrecen wants to continue to cherish, as it has in the past,” Deputy Mayor István Puskás said.

Éva Fahidi retired as a foreign trader. In 2003, at the request of the museum in Stadtallendorf, she wrote a memoir in German. In 2005, her memoirs were published under the title “Anima Rerum—The Soul of Things,” part of which became a textbook in Germany.

As a survivor and contemporary witness, she has participated in various national and international events and has regularly spoken out against racism and anti-Semitism in the global and Hungarian press. Her mission is to preserve the Holocaust in the memory of the young generation. She has met young people in several high schools, universities and city events in Debrecen, participated in conferences and exhibitions and represented his mission. In 2015, she took a leading role in the modern dance production “Sóvirág” (Salt Flower) by the Tünet ensemble and in the film “Létezés eufóriája”(Euphoria of Existence), which recounts her life and the traumas she suffered.

Éva Fahidi died on the 11th of September, 2023, at 97. Last year, Éva Fahidi was awarded the Honorary Citizen of Debrecen title on the town’s day.

Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu