Sára Salkaházi
Hungarian Roman Catholic religious sister (1899–1944)
Feast: 11 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Sára Salkaházi had been a teacher, bookbinder, milliner and successful journalist when she asked to join the Sisters of Social Service, founded in 1923 by Margit Slachta; at first the sisters turned this chain-smoking journalist away.
Received at last, she defended the Jews and was killed for it: on 27 December 1944 in Budapest, before the firing squad shot, she turned with inexplicable calm to face her executioners. She was the society's first martyr.
The miracles
As a martyr, beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A journalist turned sister who defended the Jews and died a martyr for it.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Sára Salkaházi
- Wikidata Q51772 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Sára Salkaházi (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.