Description
Object description
Hungarian Jewish schoolchild in Budapest, Hungary, 1934-1944; inmate in Yellow Star House in Budapest, Hungary, 6/1944-10/1944 and under protection of Swedish Government in Budapest, Hungary, 10/1944-1/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of background in Budapest, Hungary, 1934-1941: family circumstances; parents' conversion to Catholicism; family name change from Kupfenstein to Dobai; signs of Jewish culture at home. Recollections of period as schoolchild in Budapest, Hungary, 1941-1944: father's recall to Royal Hungarian Army Reserve; father's military experience in First World War; dismissal of father from Royal Hungarian Army under Nuremberg Laws; sight of German Army in transit to invade Yugoslavia, 1941; growing apprehension about situation; father's call-up to labour battalion in western Hungary; anti-Semitic remark made by father; visit to father in Carpathian Mountains; having to wear Star of David on clothing, 4/1944. Recollections of period in Yellow Star House in Budapest, Hungary, 6/1944-10/1944: move from flat to Yellow Star House.
REEL 2 Continues: atmosphere in Yellow Star House; effects of Allied bombing; restriction of movements; rumours of Jews being collected in countryside; start of German occupation, 3/1944; fall in morale in Jewish House; temporary experiment of going into hiding; listening to British Broadcasting Corporation radio broadcasts; food situation; move from Yellow Star House to block of flats escorted by Arrow Cross and reaction to being spat on, 10/1944; declaration of neutrality by Admiral Miklos Horthy, 10/1944; role of women including mother in scrubbing German quarters; short period on farm; start of deportations; reappearance of father. Recollections of period under protection of Swedish Government in Budapest, Hungary, 10/1944-1/1945: obtaining Swedish passports and role of Raoul Wallenberg; move to Swedish House; Soviet Army shelling of city; status of Swedish House.
REEL 3 Continues: mutual support of Jews in Budapest. Recollections of liberation by Soviet forces, Budapest, Hungary, 1/1945-3/1945: witnessing house to house fighting; liberation by Soviet Army troops, 13/1/1945; question of Germans deportation of Jews until the end of their occupancy; nature of visit to grandmother across devastated city; silence at end of fighting in Budapest; picking up helmet as souvenir and finding wearer's head still inside; stealing from Soviet forces; Soviet Army's erection of pontoon bridge across River Danube; story of meeting with cousin returned from Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp; appearance and behaviour of Arrow Cross Party members.
REEL 4 Continues: Recollections of period as civilian in Hungary, 1945- 1948: behaviour of Soviets in Budapest, 1945; short period at country school; adapting to normal life; father's organising of move to GB; continuing of education at Sovospatat School; nature of post-war Hungarian society; sight of bulk of Soviet Army's withdrawal from Hungary; return of anti-Semitism to Hungarian society, 1946. Recollections of period as civilian in GB, 1948-1959: limitations on possessions and money allowed to be brought out of Hungary; initial impressions of Richmond, 1948; period at Tynemouth Grammar School, North Shields, 1948-1953; family's wish to integrate into British society; mother's guilt at cutting off of family ties caused by Iron Curtain; family life in London, 1955-1959; story of how his mother told his future wife of family's Jewish background.
REEL 5 Continues: Reflections on Holocaust experiences: question of complexity of acknowledging Jewish identity and not having spoken of experiences; reaction to having opportunity to talk of his experiences; gratitude to Raoul Wallenberg for his efforts to save Jews; post-war visits to Hungary; affects of visit to Auschwitz Concentration Camp and seeing the film 'Schindler's List' (1993).