The Holocaust History of the Jews in Hungary

1 holocaust

1.1 interwar years
1.2 anti-jewish laws, 1938-1941
1.3 january 1941 census
1.4 first massacres
1.5 chaim michael ber weissmandl , gisi fleischmann
1.6 occupation , deportation

1.6.1 nazis take on hungary
1.6.2 deportation auschwitz
1.6.3 efforts rescue jews
1.6.4 arrow cross rule


1.7 number of survivors
1.8 kastner affair
1.9 joel brand
1.10 hungarian gold train
1.11 raoul wallenberg

the holocaust
interwar years


winston churchill, july 11, 1944

in first few decades of 20th century jews of hungary numbered 5 percent of population. minority had managed achieve great commercial success, , jews disproportionately represented in professions, relative numbers.

in 1921 budapest, 88% of members of stock exchange , 91% of currency brokers jews, many of them ennobled. in interwar hungary, more half , perhaps as 90 percent of hungarian industry owned or operated few closely related jewish banking families.

a jewish hungarian country girl around 1930.



local customers in front of jewish grocery in berzence, around 1930.

jews represented one-fourth of university students , 43% percent @ budapest technological university. in 1920, 60 percent of hungarian doctors, 51 percent of lawyers, 39 percent of privately employed engineers , chemists, 34 percent of editors , journalists, , 29 percent of musicians identified jews religion.

resentment of jewish trend of success widespread: admiral horthy himself declared anti-semite , , remarked in letter 1 of prime ministers, have considered intolerable here in hungary everything, every factory, bank, large fortune, business, theater, press, commerce, etc. should in jewish hands, , jew should image reflected of hungary, abroad.

unfortunately jews had become, quirk of history, visible minority remaining in hungary; other large non-hungarian populations (including slovaks, slovenes, croats, , romanians, among others) had been abruptly excised hungarian population territorial losses @ trianon. left hungary s jews 1 ethnically separate group serve scapegoat nation s ills. scapegoating began quickly. in 1920, horthy s government passed numerus clausus , restricting jewish enrollment @ universities 5 percent or less, in order reflect jewish population percentage.

anti-jewish policies grew more repressive in interwar period hungary s leaders, remained committed regaining lost territories of greater hungary , chose align (albeit warily) fascist governments of germany , italy – international actors stand behind hungary s claims. inter-war years saw emergence of flourishing fascist groups, such hungarian national socialist party , arrow cross party.

anti-jewish laws, 1938-1941

starting in 1938, hungary under miklós horthy passed series of anti-jewish measures in emulation of germany s nuremberg laws. first, promulgated on may 29, 1938, restricted number of jews in each commercial enterprise, in press, among physicians, engineers , lawyers twenty percent. second anti-jewish law (may 5, 1939), first time, defined jews racially: people 2, 3 or 4 jewish-born grandparents declared jewish. employment in government @ level forbidden, not editors @ newspapers, numbers restricted 6 per cent among theater , movie actors, physicians, lawyers , engineers. private companies forbidden employ more 12% jews. 250,000 hungarian jews lost income. of them lost right vote well: before second jewish law, 31% of jewish population of borsod county (miskolc excluded), 2496 people had right. @ next elections, less month after new anti-jewish legislation, 38 privileged jews vote.

in elections of may 28–29, nazi , arrow cross (nyilas) parties received 1 quarter of votes , 52 out of 262 seats. support larger, between 1/3 , 1/2 of votes, on ballot @ all, since not listed in large parts of country instance, support nazi parties above 43% in election districts of zala, győr-moson, budapest surroundings, central , northern pest-pilis, , above 36% in veszprém, vas, szabolcs-ung, sopron, nógrád-hont, jász-nagykun, southern pest town , buda town. nazi parties not on ballot in eastern third of country , in somogy, baranya, tolna, fejér. smallest support in békés county (15%), pécs town (19%), szeged town (22%) , in northern pest town (27%)

the third jewish law (august 8, 1941) prohibited intermarriage , penalized sexual intercourse between jews , non-jews.

january 1941 census

according magyarország történelmi kronológiája , census of january 31, 1941 found 6.2% of population of 13,643,621, i.e. 846,000 people, considered jewish according racial laws of time. in addition, in april 1941, hungary annexed bácska (bačka), muraköz (međimurje county) , muravidék (prekmurje) regions occupied yugoslavia, 1,025,508 people including 15,000 jews (data october 1941). means inside may 1941 borders of hungary, there 861,000 people (or 5.87%) @ least half jewish, , therefore considered jewish. number, 725,000 (or 4.94%) jewish in accordance jewish religious law (4.30% in pre-1938 hungary, 7.15% in territories annexed czechoslovakia , romania in 1938-1940 , 1.38% in territories annexed yugoslavia in 1941).

the following source, statistical summary written in beginning of 1944 , referring 1941 census data:

the question jewish grandparents added late questionnaires @ census of 1941, when of sheets had been printed. in addition, lot of christians of jewish ancestry did not answer question truthfully. while 62,000 christians admitted jewish ancestry (including 38,000 in budapest), actual number estimated @ least 100,000:

first massacres

it not clear whether 10,000–20,000 jewish refugees (from poland , elsewhere) counted in january 1941 census. , not prove legal residency since 1850, 20,000 people, deported southern poland , either abandoned there or handed on germans between july 15 , august 12, 1941. in practice, hungarians deported many people families had lived in area generations. in cases, applications residency permits allowed pile without action hungarian officials until after deportations had been carried out. vast majority of deported massacred in kameniec-podolsk (kamianets-podilskyi massacre) @ end of august.

in massacres of Újvidék (novi sad) , villages nearby, 2,550–2,850 serbs, 700–1,250 jews , 60–130 others murdered hungarian army , csendőrség (gendarmerie) in january 1942. responsible, ferenc feketehalmy-czeydner, márton zöldy, józsef grassy, lászló deák , others later put infor trials in budapest dec 1943 , sentenced, of them escaped germany.

during war, jews called serve in unarmed labour service (munkaszolgálat) units used repair bombed railroads, build airports or clean minefields @ front barehanded. approximately 42,000 jewish forced laborers killed @ soviet front in 1942–43, many times hungarian guards. 4 thousand forced laborers died in copper mine of bor, serbia. nevertheless, miklós kállay, prime minister march 9, 1942 , regent horthy resisted german pressure , refused allow deportation of hungarian jews german extermination camps in occupied poland. anomalous situation lasted until march 19, 1944, when german troops occupied hungary , forced horthy oust kállay.

chaim michael ber weissmandl , gisi fleischmann

before deportation of jews of hungary perpetrated, rabbi chaim michael ber weissmandl , gisi fleischmann, leaders of bratislava working group, courageously , tenaciously fought allies indifference nazi , fascist hatred, in order save jewish population of slovakia , elsewhere in europe. rabbi weissmandl s , working group s valiant struggle recorded in book min hameitzar dr. abraham fuchs unheeded cry , dr. david kranzler s thy brothers blood document rabbi weissmandl s relentless efforts strike deal eichmann, in order rescue jews of hungary , 1 third of jews of slovakia (the rest had been exterminated) total destruction.

occupation , deportation
nazis take on hungary

adolf eichmann on trial in jerusalem 1961.



hungarian jews on judenrampe (jewish ramp) after disembarking transport trains, sent rechts! - right - meant labor; links! - left - gas chambers. photo auschwitz album (may 1944).



hungarian jewish women , children carpatho-ruthenia after arrival @ auschwitz deathcamp (may/june 1944). photo auschwitz album.

on march 18, 1944, adolf hitler summoned horthy conference in austria, demanded greater acquiescence hungarian state. horthy resisted, efforts fruitless – while attended conference, german tanks rolled budapest.

on march 23, 1944, government of döme sztójay installed. among other first moves, sztójay legalized arrow cross party, began organizing. during 4 days interregnum following german occupation, ministry of interior put in hands of lászló endre , lászló baky, right-wing politicians known hostility jews. boss, andor jaross, committed anti-semite.

a few days later, ruthenia, northern transylvania , border region croatia , serbia placed under military command. on april 9, prime minister döme sztójay , germans obligated hungary place @ disposal of reich 300,000 jewish laborers. 5 days later, on april 14, endre, baky, , eichmann decided deport jews of hungary.

a jew living in hungarian countryside in march 1944 had less 10% chance of surviving following 12 months. in budapest, jew s chance of survival of same 12 months 50%. although 1943, bbc polish service broadcasting exterminations, bbc hungarian service had not mentioned jews @ all. after german invasion in march 1944, hungarian service did broadcast warnings, late. however, according professor cesarani, although jews survived deportations claimed had not been informed leaders, no 1 had told them, there s plenty of evidence hungarian jews have known. of jews did not believe holocaust might happen in hungary: might happening in galicia polish jews, can’t happen in our cultivated hungarian state.

according yehuda bauer, when deportations auschwitz began in may 1944, zionist youth movements organized smuggling of hungarian jews romania. around 4,000 hungarian jews smuggled romania, including zionist youth movements organized smuggling , paid individual smugglers on border. romanians agreed let jews in, despite heavy german pressure.

deportation auschwitz

ss-obersturmbannführer adolf eichmann, duties included supervising extermination of jews, set staff in majestic hotel , proceeded rapidly in rounding jews hungarian provinces outside budapest , suburbs. yellow star , ghettoization laws, , deportation, accomplished in less 8 weeks enthusiastic of hungarian authorities, particularly gendarmerie (csendőrség). plan use 45 cattle cars per train, 4 trains day, deport 12,000 jews auschwitz every day countryside, starting in mid-may; followed deportation of jews of budapest july 15.

just before deportations began, vrba-wetzler report reached allied officials. details report broadcast bbc on 15 june , printed in new york times on 20 june. world leaders, including pope pius xii (25 june), president franklin d. roosevelt on 26 june, , king gustaf v of sweden on 30 june, subsequently pleaded horthy use influence stop deportations. roosevelt threatened military retaliation if transports not ceased. on 7 july, horthy @ last ordered transports halted. according historian péter sipos, hungarian government had known jewish genocide since 1943. historians have argued horthy believed jews being sent concentration camps work, , returned hungary after war. horthy himself not have been clearer in memoirs: not before august, wrote, did secret information reach me of horrible truth extermination camps. vrba-wetzler statement believed have been passed hungarian zionist leader rudolf kastner no later 28 april 1944, however, kastner did not make public.

the first transports auschwitz began in may 1944 , continued soviet troops approached. hungarian government solely in charge of jews transportation northern border. hungarian commander of kassa (košice) railroad station meticulously recorded trains heading auschwitz place of departure , number of people inside them. first train went through kassa on may 14. on typical day, there 3 or 4 trains, between 3,000 , 4,000 people on each train, total of approximately 12,000 jews delivered extermination facilities each day. there 109 trains during these 33 days through june 16. (there days when there many 6 trains.) between june 25 , 29, there 10 trains, additional 18 trains on july 5–9. 138th recorded train (with 400,426th victim) heading auschwitz via kassa on july 20. 10 trains sent auschwitz via other routes (24,000+ people) (the first 2 left budapest , topolya on april 29 , arrived @ auschwitz on may 2), while 7 trains 20,787 people went strasshof between june 25 , 28 (2 each debrecen, szeged , baja, 1 szolnok). unique kastner train left bergen-belsen 1,685 people on june 30.

by july 9, 437,402 jews had been deported according reich plenipotentiary in hungary edmund veesenmayer s official german reports. 1 hundred , forty-seven trains sent auschwitz, 90% of people exterminated on arrival. because crematoria couldn t cope number of corpses, special pits dug near them, bodies burned. has been estimated 1 third of murdered victims @ auschwitz hungarian. of time period, 12,000 jews delivered auschwitz in typical day, among them future writer , nobel prize-winner elie wiesel, @ age 15. photographs taken @ auschwitz found after war showing arrival of jews hungary @ camp.

the devotion cause of final solution of hungarian gendarmes surprised eichmann himself, supervised operation twenty officers , staff of 100, included drivers, cooks, etc.

efforts rescue jews

budapest, hungary – captured jewish women in wesselényi street, 20–22 october 1944



holocaust shoe memorial beside danube river in budapest. shoes represent hungarian jews lost lives during holocaust.

very few members of catholic or protestant clergy raised voices against sending jews death. (notable bishop Áron márton s sermon in kolozsvár on may 18). catholic primate of hungary, serédi decided not issue pastoral letter condemning deportation of jews.

rome liberated on june 4, d-day landing in normandy on june 6. on june 15, mayor of budapest designated 2,000 (5%) starred houses every jew (20%+) had move together. authorities thought allies not bomb budapest because starred houses scattered around town.

at end of june, finally, pope in rome, king of sweden, and, in strong terms, president franklin d. roosevelt urged halt deportations. admiral horthy ordered suspension of deportations on july 6. nonetheless, 45,000 jews deported trans-danubian region , outskirts of budapest auschwitz after day. after failed attempt on hitler s life, germans backed off pressing horthy s regime continue further, large-scale deportations, although smaller groups continued deported train. in late august horthy refused eichmann s request restart deportations. himmler ordered eichmann leave budapest

according winston churchill, in letter foreign secretary dated july 11, 1944, there no doubt persecution of jews in hungary , expulsion enemy territory greatest , horrible crime ever committed in whole history of world....

the sztójay government rescheduled date of deportation of jews of budapest auschwitz august 27. romanians switched sides on august 23, 1944, causing huge problems german military. himmler ordered cancellation of further deportations hungary on august 25, in return nothing more saly mayer’s promise see whether germans’ demands met. horthy dismissed prime minister sztójay on august 29, same day slovak national uprising against nazis started.

in spite of change of government, hungarian troops occupied parts of southern transylvania, romania, , massacred hundreds of jews in kissármás (sărmăşel), marosludás (luduș) , other places starting september 4.

a memorial plaque carl lutz, swiss diplomat saved lives of thousands of hungarian jews during holocaust.


the arrow cross rule

after nyilas (arrow cross) coup d état on october 15, tens of thousands of jews of budapest sent on foot austrian border in death marches, forced laborers under hungarian army command far deported (for instance bergen-belsen), , 2 ghettos set in budapest. small international ghetto consisted of several starred houses under protection of neutral powers in Újlipótváros district. switzerland allowed issue 7,800 schutzpasses, sweden 4,500, , vatican, portugal , spain 3,300 combined. big budapest ghetto set , walled in erzsébetváros part of budapest on november 29. nyilas raids , mass executions occurred in both ghettos regularly. in addition, in 2 months between november 1944 , february 1945, nyilas shot 10,000-15,000 jews on banks of danube. soviet troops liberated big budapest ghetto on january 18, 1945. on buda side of town, encircled nyilas continued murders until soviets took buda on february 13.

the names of diplomats, raoul wallenberg, carl lutz, Ángel sanz briz, giorgio perlasca, carlos de sampayo garrido , alberto teixeira branquinho deserve mentioning, members of army , police saved people (pál szalai, károly szabó, , other officers took jews out camps fake papers), interior ministry official (béla horváth) , church institutions , personalities. rudolph kastner deserves special attention because of enduring negotiations eichmann , becher prevent deportations auschwitz, succeeding minimally sending jews still horrific labor battalions in austria , saving 1,680 jews in kastner s train.

number of survivors

an estimated 119,000 jewish people liberated in budapest (25,000 in small, international ghetto, 69,000 in big ghetto , 25,000 hiding false papers) , 20,000 forced laborers in countryside. of surviving deportees returned between may , december 1945, @ least check out fate of families. number 116,000.

it estimated original population of 861,000 people considered jewish inside borders of 1941–44, 255,000 survived. gives 29.6% survival rate overall. on other hand, jewish population fared better on romanian side in southern transylvania, since romania did not deport jews auschwitz. according calculation, hungary s pre-war jewish population 800,000, of 80,000 survived.

here 2 different estimates number of survivors of people considered jewish. (the numbers in thousands)

the estimate of 995,000 people considered jewish not exaggeration 1941: number of jews 911,000 in same territory 3 decades earlier; in addition, emigration small in 1920s , negligible in 1930s.(from hungary us, total number of emigrants 30,680 between 1921 , 1930 , 7,861 between 1931 , 1940).

kastner affair

rudolf israel kastner (1906–1957) jewish-hungarian journalist , lawyer became known actions during holocaust in hungary. 1 of leaders of va adat ezrah vehatzalah (aid , rescue committee or vaada), small jewish group in budapest helped jewish refugees escape nazi-occupied territory hungary during world war ii, , helped them escape after hungary invaded on 19 march 1944. between may , july 1944, hungary s jews being deported gas chambers @ auschwitz-birkenau @ rate of 12,000 people day—for resettlement, nazis said. kastner negotiated adolf eichmann , kurt becher, both senior ss officers, allow 1,685 of them leave instead switzerland on became known kastner train, in exchange money, gold, , diamonds. after war, testified in favor of becher , other nazis nuremberg tribunal.

he later emigrated israel , subject of famous 1954 libel casel regarding claims malchiel gruenwald kastner had collaborated nazi regime. kastner allegedly knew deported jews being gassed @ auschwitz april 1944 vrba–wetzler report did little warn wider community. through inaction helped ss avoid spread of panic, have slowed down transports. judge ruled in gruenwald s favor, accusing kastner of having sold soul devil. kastner assassinated in tel aviv in 1957. of decision subsequently reversed israeli supreme court in 1958, although dissenting opinion agreed original judgement kastner had acted knowingly , in bad faith, fulfilled wishes ... of nazis, , thereby made easier them perform work of mass destruction. kastner remains controversial figure.

joel brand

joel brand (april 25, 1906 – july 13, 1964) hungarian jew known role during holocaust in trying save hungarian-jewish community deportation auschwitz concentration camp. described historian yehuda bauer brave adventurer felt @ home in underground conspiracies , card-playing circles, brand teamed fellow zionists in budapest form aid , rescue committee, group helped jewish refugees in nazi-occupied europe escape relative safety of hungary, before germans invaded country in march 1944. brand arrived in palestine try negotiate british way save of hungary s jews, arrested , jailed under still unexplained circumstances. bitter pleas save hungary s jews unanswered.

hungarian gold train

the hungarian gold train case of nazi-operated train during world war ii carried stolen valuables, hungarian jewish persons property, hungary towards berlin in 1945. after seizure of train american forces, none of valuables returned hungary or rightful owners or surviving family members.

raoul wallenberg

at time, 1 of daring figures of holocaust emerged onto stage: raoul wallenberg. using staff prepare protective passports under authority of swedish legation wallenberg saved lives of tens of thousands of jews, , according accounts hundred thousand - later preventing murder of 70,000 residents of ghetto. @ 1 point, appeared @ railway station, insisting many jews on train removed, , presenting arrow cross guards protective passports many on train. carl lutz, of swiss legation, saved many people in similar manner.

wallenberg abducted russians on january 17, 1945 , fate still unknown. russians claim executed in moscow lubyanka prison. reliable sources state seen alive later. there still efforts find out happened him.

in 1952-53 there preparations in budapest moscow directed antisemitic show trial, claiming wallenberg murdered hungary s jewish leaders in 1945. jewish leaders arrested , severely tortured, along 2 non-jews helped wallenberg rescue jews: pál szalai , károly szabó. szalai s discussion major general gerhard schmidhuber, @ wallenberg s request, saved estimated 70,000 jews in budapest ghetto. victims of show trial saved stalin s death on 5 march 1953. yet never recovered torture, , 1 of 2 died shortly after release.

budapest named wallenberg honorary citizen in 2003. several sites honor him, including raoul wallenberg memorial park, commemorates saved many of city s jews deportation extermination camps, , building housed swedish embassy in 1945.