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In Katalin, a group of three women nicknamed the “little trio” formed around Hanna and took part in several talks. They were Eva Dános, Agnes Péter and Erzsébet Rusznyak.

Gitta mentioned the presence of two of these women in her comments for Dialogue N° 84 and 85 on 31 October and 3 November 1944:
One of the jolly jokers sharing the tool shed with Hanna and Lili, a very discreet woman [Erzsébet], asks us, to our great amazement, if she might spend the evening with us. Years later, she explains to me: “I had no idea of the significance of the gatherings, but when I saw Hanna’s transformed, radiating face as she returned to the workshop in the evenings on several occasions, I became convinced that I, too, should participate. My usual modesty and shyness were so absent that I would have broken down the door if I had been denied entry.” The fourth occupant of the tool shed, who is very attached to Lili [Eva], also wishes to attend.

Lili’s friend [Eva], present for the first time, listens with intense concentration. After the dialogue, she says to Hanna: “Right from the beginning, I also heard all the words you pronounced inside of myself. Your words corresponded exactly to those that I heard, with one exception.” She named the word , and Hanna replied “You are right; here I made a mistake.” Having corrected it in my notes at the time, I have since forgotte what this word was.

According to Gitta, Eva Dános participated in Dialogues N°85 to N°88, the last one before her arrest on 1 December (1). She was deported to Ravensbrück with Hanna and Lili, but survived the hardships of the camp and an endless train transfer to Burgau. She described this period and the death of her companions in a poignant account (Prison on Wheels, Daimon, 2000).

Agnès Péter and Erzsébet Rusznyak only attended Dialogue N° 85. They left Katalin after the attempted arrest by the Arrow Crosses on Sunday 5 November 1944 and escaped deportation.

(1) In her private correspondence (letter written on 26 November 1994 to PanosVyras), Eva Dános stated that Gitta's dates were not very reliable: in fact, she had started to attend the talks about a month earlier, at the beginning of October 1944. She would therefore have taken part in about ten talks. In the same letter, she mentioned that she wrote the notes for Dialogues N° 80 (20 October) to N°86 (10 November 1944). Unfortunately, her notebook is missing.

 Maria Klinda (she was the niece of Father Paul Klinda who set up the factory in Katalin in 1944), Eva Dános, Agnes Péter (from left to right)                                                                   ( Photo R. Hinshaw)

Translated by Treharne Translations