Description
Object description
Hungarian Jewish civilian in Budapest, Hungary, 9/1939-10/1944; inmate in Budapest Ghetto, Budapest, 10/1944-2/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Budapest, Hungary, 1920-1939: family origins; anti-Semitism in Hungary; Jewish religious life; loss of employment following introduction of Jewish Laws, 1938; story of older brother leaving Royal Hungarian Army and emigrating to Palestine prior to outbreak of Second World War. Aspects of period as civilian in Budapest, Hungary, 1939-1944: reaction to outbreak of Second World War, 3/9/1939; effect of war on daily life; wartime experiences of fiancée Beno Teichmann; reaction of Jewish community to proclamation by Admiral Miklos Horthy, 10/1944; arrest of Jewish men following German entry into Hungary, 3/1944; story of arrest and imprisonment of fiancée Beno Teichmann; forced march towards Austrian border.
REEL 2 Continues: help receieved from local people; escape with friend and subsequent rearrest; conditions on march; story of being taken off march and put under Swedish Government protection with Schutz-Pass; description of journey on cattle truck back to Budapest. Recollections of period living under Swedish Government protection in Budapest Ghetto, Budapest, Hungary, 10/1944-2/1945: accommodation in Swedish premises on Tatra Street; incident of hiding in toilet to avoid abduction by members of Arrow Cross Party; father's injuries during air raid and conditions in hospital; reunion with brother Georg.
REEL 3 Continues: brother's arrest and experiences in Arrow Cross Party headquarters known as the 'Dead House'; life in Budapest Ghetto for Schutz-Pass holders; internment of parents; meeting Raoul Wallenberg and opinion of his work for Hungarian Jews; issue of Schutz-Pass by other European governments; awareness of war and listening to British Broadcasting Corporation radio news broadcasts; fate of family members in Holocaust; attitude to survival; liberation of Budapest, 2/1945; behaviour of liberating Soviet Army troops, 2/1945; importance of links with Yugoslavia; amputation of father's leg; communication with brother living in Palestine.
REEL 4 Continues: incident with Soviet Army soldier; marriage, 2/1945. Aspects of period as civilian in Hungarian People's Republic Austria and GB, 1949-1961: attitude to communist Hungarian People's Republic regime; story of escape to Austria via Czechoslovakia; description of daily life in British Zone of Occupation, Vienna, Austria; reason for emigrating to GB, 1953; emigration of parents from Budapest, Hungarian People's Republic to Israel, 1961. Reflections on experiences of Holocaust: attitude to loss of family members in Holocaust and own survival; opinion of film 'Schindler's List' (1993).
REEL 5 Continues: further comments on Raoul Wallenberg; story of statue of Raoul Wallenberg in Budapest being removed by Communist regime; opinion of other Swedes who helped Jews including Per Anger; importance of preserving memory of Holocaust victims.