Budapest 44 : a story of rescue and resistance 1944-1945

A biography of Shmuel Binyomin (Wolf) Frey, who was born in Slovakia in 1908. Frey's wife travelled to England in 1938 and remained there; in 1942 he fled to Hungary, and his two young daughters joined him there. As a member of the Slovakian Working Group rescue committee, Frey helped Slovakian and Polish refugees in Budapest, providing them with aid and false papers. After the Nazi invasion in 1944 he increased his rescue activities, concentrating on saving children. Raoul Wallenberg and Carl Lutz helped him hide 300 children, first in a convent and then in a deserted mansion on Domonkos Street. The Domonkos Home became a refuge for other Jews as well, who were hidden there until the liberation. Frey also helped Wallenberg provide many Jews with Swedish passes, so they could avoid arrest. In 1945 Frey was arrested by the Soviets and interrogated concerning Wallenberg's activities; however, he was soon released due to the intervention of a prominent Hungarian communist. Through international efforts, the residents of the Domonkos Home managed to emigrate to Great Britain in 1947; the Frey family was reunited and in 1950 emigrated to the USA. Frey's parents and three of his brothers, with their families, perished in the Holocaust.