He lived with his parents and sister in the house at 30 Honvéd huszárezred Street, from where they were sent to the Debrecen ghetto in mid-May 1944. On 16 June 1944, they were transferred to the collection camp in the Debrecen brick factory, from where the family was deported to KL Auschwitz-Birkenau at the end of June 1944. István, his sister Anna and their mother were killed in one of the gas chambers shortly after their arrival.