Brothers for Resistance and Rescue 1 - CENDO

Fraenkel Avraham
Samuel Benjamin
Fraenkel Jenő
Born in Kisvárda on 4.1.1897
Died in 1986 in Israel
Member of "Mizrahi"
Avraham fought in WW I with the Austro-Hungarian army with the rank of
junior officer. After his discharge from the army he joined the Zionist
movement. He started to study medicine but was forced to stop due to
the anti-Semitic decrees. He joined the Zionist student union “Maccabea”
and later the "Mizrahi" movement. He held high positions in those
movements.
From 1943 Avraham gave assistance to Jewish refugees arriving in
Budapest. After the Germans invaded Hungary on 19.3.1944, he was
arrested by the Gestapo with his wife and his eldest son. His son was
released with Kasztner’s help whereas Avraham and his wife were set
free by Pinhas Rosenbaum and his comrades, members of "Bnei Akiva"
wearing the fascist Arrow Cross uniform. Avraham was transferred to the
“Glass House” on 29, Vadász Street and served there as a member of
the management.
After the liberation he recruited people for aliya. In 1946 Avraham took
part in the 22nd Zionist Congress in Basel. In 1948 he made aliya but
was asked to return to Hungary in order to lead the movement. He was
arrested by the communists, freed and after a year and a half he returned
to Israel.
Fraenkel Gabi
Born in Budapest in 1923
Member of “Dror Habonim”
At the age of fifteen, in Újpest, Gabi joined the “Dror” movement which
after some time became “Dror Habonim”. As refugees started arriving
from Poland and Slovakia, he was operating in Miskolc where he helped
in their absorption and obtained accommodation and food for them.
After the Germans invaded Hungary on 19.3.1944, Gabi became an
underground activist obtaining Aryan papers and distributing forged
documents. He was enlisted in a forced labor unit near Budapest and,
while serving there, he still distributed the forged documents to his
comrades and traveled to country towns to help the Jews and convince
Brothers for Resistance and Rescue 93