St. Stephen's Day in Budapest

The Veres family (excluding Kati's father Bela Krausz) survived the Holocaust by living in hiding. Peter (b. October 23, 1938), the oldest son of Kati and George Veres, was born and baptized as an Anglican in London. As a British citizen, he was protected by the Swiss Embassy. Kati and George arranged for two Swiss women to hide six year old Peter for several weeks during the invasion of Budapest in October 1944. Kati, her mother Lenke, and her younger son Paul (b. June 21, 1944) remained in hiding together in the city, while George found protection in a Swiss emergency hospital after escaping from a forced labor battalion in December 1944. George, Kati, their children, and Lenke immigrated to the United States in 1949. A Catholic procession for St. Stephen's Day travels through Pest, the urban district of Budapest that lay east of the Danube River. An arrangement of troops stand at attention as the procession passes through an open square. The celebration probably takes place on August 20 when a case containing the relics of St. Stephen’s right hand is proceeded throughout the streets of Budapest.