Ágnes Steuer

שטוייר אגנש

Arnstein Ágnes

Born in Nyiregyháza on 19.6.1927

Member of “Dror Habonim”

Ágnes was the daughter of a wealthy modern orthodox Jewish family in Budapest. She studied at the Jewish high school and joined “Dror Habonim”. In the underground Ágnes dealt with finding accommodation for the refugees from Poland and Slovakia. She operated under the name of Horváth Éva and obtained from the Population Registry authentic birth certificates that were then modified to match the data of the people who needed them. A local detective suspected her of being Jewish and she was arrested but managed to escape. Ágnes resumed her underground activities on 52 Baross Street and in the offices of the International Red Cross.
She travelled to the Slovakian border carrying in her bag 36 Swiss Protection Documents that she gave to young men serving in a forced labor camp among whom was her future husband, Miki. She learned how to use a weapon from Vili Eisikovics. Ágnes was caught by Arrow Cross men, taken for interrogation but again she managed to escape. After the liberation in 1945 she engaged in locating Jewish children and youngsters and sending them to Eretz Israel (Palestine). Ágnes herself tried to leave Hungary for her aliya in 1949 but was caught. She was detained for six months. Again she tried to cross the border with her husband Miki and this time she succeeded. She made aliya in 1952.