Gabriel Schutzengel papers

Gabriel Schutzengel (born Gábor 1925-2017) was born in Komárom, Hungary to Ferencz (1898-1945) and Julia (née Weiss 1900-1944) Schutzengel and had one sister, Vera (b. 1930?-1944). After the German invasion of Hungary in 1944 Gabriel and his father were sent to labor camps in Hungary while Julia and Vera were sent to Auschwitz where they were killed. Towards end of war, Gabriel escaped from the camp and went to Budapest for supplies and stayed with a family friend. He obtained false papers and went into hiding. After the Arrow Cross Party gained power in Hungary, Gabriel was unable to leave and hid in Budapest until liberation. Ferencz was sent on a death march to Mauthausen. He survived the march, but died shortly after liberation in 1945. After the war, Gabriel returned to Komárom and learned what happened to his family. He finished his education and moved to Israel in 1949. In 1951 he met Gertrud Duschner (later Tirzah Schutzengel, 1922-2005) also a survivor, and had three children, Dorit (b. 1953), Daniella (b. 1955), and Roy (b. 1959). They immigrated to the United States in 1957.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Dorit Heimer

Funding Note: The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.

Gabriel Schutzengel donated his memoir entitled “Machzor” to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 and Dorit Heimer, Gabriel’s daughter, donated Gabriel’s diaries and Hungarian ID to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018. The accessions previously numbered 2005.128 and 2018.127.1 have been incorporated into this collection.