Esther Vardi

Vardi Ester

Schächter Edit

Born in Técső (Tyacsiv) in 1922

Member of “Hashomer Hatzair”

     

Esther came from a Jewish ultra-orthodox family. In 1942 she joined the movement and in March 1944 arrived in Budapest. After the German invasion of Hungary, Esther went underground and, thanks to her Aryan appearance, she ran errands, obtained authentic documents from government offices and distributed them. She was sent to Kisvárda carrying a bag of forged documents and money for the Jews in the ghetto so that they could escape. Esther was arrested by Hungarian gendarmes but, when she went to the toilet, she managed to conceal the forged documents. After a few days of interrogation, when she did not reveal anything about her mission, but admitted to being Jewish, she was sent to prison in Budapest and within three weeks was deported to Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Esther was liberated on 19.4.1945. She returned to Budapest and in July she was on her way to Eretz Israel (Palestine). She stayed in camps in Cyprus and Atlit.
Esther is a member of Kibbutz Ha’ogen.