Baron György Gedeon Rohonczy Junior was born on 1 December 1884 in Czernowitz (now Chernivtsi, Ukraine), where his father was stationed as garrison commander. During the Nazi era, Rohonczy is known to have saved 121 Roma from Burgenland in Austria from imprisonment in camps and deportation to extermination camps, which is why he has been revered as Burgenland’s ‘Oskar Schindler’ for many years.
Background and Career
The Rohonczy family was ennobled in the 17th century and owned several estates in Hungary. The young György Rohonczy grew up in Budapest, spoke several languages fluently, studied law and then worked as a lawyer at the district court in Oberpullendorf [Hungarian: Felsőpulya]. When Burgenland was annexed to Austria in 1921, he resigned from his post because he had already sworn an oath to the Kingdom of Hungary.
From then on, György Rohonczy lived off the medium-sized agricultural estate in Mitterpullendorf [Középpulya] which his father had left him.1Buchacher, „Zigeuner-Schindlers-Liste,“ 33. In addition to his great passion for hunting, he was a lover of music, especially Romani music, which was highly regarded in Hungary in the 19th century. György Rohonczy was described by his contemporaries as a cultured, humorous, sociable and well-read person.2Karazman, “Retter der Romnja und Roma in der NS-Zeit,“ 13.
Rescue of Roma
After the war began, the workers on the Rohonczy estate were drafted into the military in increasing numbers. In addition, the Roma employed on the estate were sent to the Lackenbach detention camp from the end of 1940. In order to keep his business running, György Rohonczy travelled to Lackenbach, some 15 kilometres away, and requested workers for his estate. As it was classified as a business vital to the war effort—it supplied the Oberpullendorf hospital with milk and food—he was allocated women and men from the camp as workers.
Rohonczy subsequently brought more and more Romani women and men to the estate. Thanks to his persuasive manner, he managed to bring several families comprising around 15 to 20 men, women and children, as well as another 50 people, out of the camp as harvest workers, even though far fewer workers were actually needed for the daily and seasonal work. The families lived in the workers’ quarters on the estate and were also provided with sufficient food. This spared these Romani women and men the terrible life in the camp and, above all, saved them from the transports to the extermination camps which began in autumn 1941.3Brettl, Nationalsozialismus im Burgenland, 290.
Adolf Papai (born 1931), a Rom from Langental, reported of his mother Elisabeth: ‘Somehow my mother survived the Lackenbach camp. She got out to work for the baron.’4Karazman, “Retter der Romnja und Roma in der NS-Zeit,“ 14. Research shows that Rohonczy managed to rescue a total of 121 Romani women and men from the camp.5Baumgartner, Sprachgruppen und Mehrsprachigkeit im Burgenland, 12.
When the workers, especially the harvest workers, were threatened with being sent back to the Lackenbach camp, there were repeated attempts to flee to Hungary. At least 50 Roma are said to have fled across the border to Hungary. György Rohonczy is said to have deliberately looked the other way; he was not a staunch opponent of National Socialism, but he had a humanitarian commitment to helping ‘his Roma’.6Brettl, Nationalsozialismus im Burgenland, 290.
After 1945
When the Soviet Red Army marched in in 1945, György Rohonczy was arrested because of his aristocratic background and taken to Vienna. After some intervention, he was released and returned to Mitterpullendorf. The agricultural and forestry yields of the estate were modest, so he made a living by selling off land and buildings.
Despite the economic difficulties, his willingness to help remained unbroken. Rohonczy provided accommodation and food for Hungarian refugees from the 1956 uprising for weeks. He also supported the Maltese refugee aid organisation and provided the local scout group with a plot of land free of charge. When the manager of his estate died, he took care of his two minor children.7Ibid., 291.
Contact with the Roma from neighbouring Langental continued after the war. They came to the estate as harvest workers and invited György Rohonczy to wedding celebrations. The survivors respectfully referred to the ‘Baron’ as ‘Father’ and remained grateful for his efforts to save them until his death. György Rohonczy died on 26 April 1975 and was buried in the family crypt in the Mitterpullendorf church.8Karazman, “Retter der Romnja und Roma in der NS-Zeit,“ 14.
The ‘Burgenland Schindler’
On 6 March 1995, an article in the magazine ‘Profil’ described György Rohonczy as the ‘little Schindler’.9Buchacher, “Zigeuner-Schindlers-Liste,” 32. This was a reference to Oskar Schindler (1908–1974), who had saved more than 1,000 Jewish inmates of the Plaszów concentration camp from certain death – a story which had become known to millions of people in 1993 through Steven Spielberg’s (born 1946) film ‘Schindler’s List’. Now Rohonczy’s rescue of more than 100 Burgenland Roma has also been brought to the attention of a wider public.
For many years, the help that Roma in Burgenland received from other people similarly remained unknown. Noteworthy examples include the estate manager Ernst Kautz (1908–1993) from Kleinwarasdorf [Mali Borištof]10“Buona sera, Maestro!” Wilhelm Horvath im Gespräch. In: Mri Historija. Lebensgeschichten burgenländischer Roma, 6. and Count Ladislaus Niczky (1905–1992) from Nebersdorf [Šuševo],11“Te o Del te na del, hot afka te al, sar sins. Möge Gott geben, dass es nicht mehr so wird, wie es war“. Adolf Papai im Gespräch. In: ibid., 6. who were in close contact with György Rohonczy and also saved the lives of numerous Roma.
The story of the rescue in Burgenland has now been told more widely. For example, a play premiered in Eisenstadt on 2 April 2025 that tells the story of the three rescuers and also reflects critically on such current issues as civil disobedience and identity politics.12See the announcement at https://www.oho.at/programm/die-retter-eisenstadt [accessed 23/09/2025]. On 2 November 2025, a monument was erected to György Rohonczy in Oberpullendorf.
