Hungary History

Between May 15 and July 9, 1944, over 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported, and most were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The sole exception were the Jews in Budapest. This is the story of how one Jewish boy and 400 others were protected in a "yellow star house". The house was converted into a hospital run by Jewish doctors designed to treat everyone—even their wounded enemies, free of charge. The Jewish residents were ultimately saved in this way by a man who posed as an Arrow Cross officer and risked his own life while over 70,000 Jews were murdered at the Danube or in ghettos.

1939, nine-year-old Piri is happy to spend her spring vacation at her grandmother Babi’s house in the Ukrainian countryside. There, Piri freely enjoys the meadows, rivers and wildflowers. In her busy household, Babi makes sure her granddaughter continues to speak Yiddish and observe the Sabbath. But there is a darker side to this paradise. The Hungarian soldiers riding through the beautiful landscape are a threat not only to the Ukrainians but also to Jews. And when Piri returns to Hungary, she hears rumors of the ghettos.

One of the most powerful men who ever lived was a Holy Roman Emperor and controlled vast swathes of the planet. Quite a bit has been written over the centuries about Charles V, but even so, historical texts do not always reveal the complex personality that this man possessed. He was a man of purpose who felt destined to hold both Europe and the Christian faith together. He knew this would be no easy task, but he nevertheless threw himself into it whole-heartedly. This is the life and the story of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire.