Leo Tschoell

Leo Tschöll (* 1893 in Graz) is an Austrian Jewish savior who was honored as Righteous Among the Nations.

After the annexation of Austria to Germany in 1938, he emigrated to Yugoslavia in Belgrade and built a business on. After the occupation of the country in 1941, he fled to Hungary and founded in Budapest in turn a patent office.

1944 worsened the situation of the Hungarian Jews. This year, the fascist Arrow Cross Party came to power, which supported the deportation of Jews by the German Nazis. Several Jews who turned to him for help, Leo Tschöll granted at this time on his property in Gödöllő shelter. These included two 19 -year-old members of the Betar - resistance movement, Robert Offner and Sabtaj Nemet, which had managed to escape in the establishment of the ghetto Košice in March 1944.

After the Betar resistance movement had the two men concerned a safe hiding place, Tschöll allowed them to use his patent office for falsifying documents. So hundreds of documents that were distributed to Jews in Budapest arose. As Offner was in August 1944, was arrested by the police, distant acquaintances, all references to the illegal activities of Tschölls office. Offner was about a month later flee from prison and begin its work in the Budapest underground again.

As early as June 1944, when the Jews in Budapest were interned in so-called " Jewish houses ", Tschöll hidden more and more Jewish families in his apartment and provided them with food and clothing until they were able to move to other hiding places. Since the resistance movement was looking for hiding places, Tschöll claimed under the pretext of the need for housing for workers of his office, an empty villa, in the converted cellar for 30 persons and the arms were hidden. The end of 1944 Tschöll allowed also more Jews to leave, he got them by protective passports.

In December 1944, the police discovered Tschölls activities, which he was informed by friends. Although a direct search of his home was to be expected, Tschöll went to the apartment to warn there a hidden Jewish woman with her child before he went into hiding until the war ended.

1956 Tschöll returned back to Vienna. On February 13, 1968 Dr. Leo Tschöll by the Israeli Yad Vashem was awarded the distinction of Righteous among the Nations.