Nazi Deportation of Hungarian Jews at the Expense of Losing the War Lisa Armstrong St. Thomas Aquinas High School Overland Park, KS

The Holocaust The Holocaust refers to a specific genocidal event in twentieth-century history: the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Definition from www.ushmm.org

Nazis Transform Germany into a “Racial State” Nuremberg Laws passed in Germany to revoke Jewish citizenship and rights beginning in 1933 Nazis begin the war against Jews

Expanding the Racial Campaigns March 1938: Germany occupies Austria March 1939: Germany occupies Czechoslovakia September 1939: Germany invades Poland Jews of Poland put into ghettos June 1941: Germany invades Russia Einsatzgruppen: Mobile Killing Squads Feb. 1942: Auschwitz opens As the Nazis wage war in Europe, they also continue their assault on Jews.

Hungary before WWII Modern Hungary est. 1918 One of Germany’s most loyal allies Antisemitic government

Antisemitism in Hungary Prewar: Pogroms, restrictions from attending universities, eliminations from public service 1938: Anti-Jewish laws passed 1941: Exiled 17,000 “stateless Jews”—those who were not used as slave laborers were executed by Nazi Einsatzgruppen

Portrait of Szenka and Florika Liebmann. Bela Liebmann (1899-199?), Hungarian Jewish photographer and businessman. In addition to running his store, he also did photography in local theaters. In 1932 Liebmann married his first wife, Szerena (Szenka) Hortobagyi (b. 1912), and two years later their daughter Flora (Florika) was born. During World War II Liebmann was conscripted into the Hungarian labor service. His wife and daughter were deported, and in April 1945 were killed along with 38 other victims, in the village of Weissenbach by retreating SS soldiers.

Hungary during WWII 1938: Ally of Germany in taking over Czechoslovakia 1941: Aided Germany in the invasion of Russia 1943: Hitler upset with Hungary’s seeming “neutrality” in the war, and for not doing more to “eliminate” their Jews (Dawidowicz 379).

German Occupation of Hungary March, 1944: Hitler declares occupation SS and Reich leader Edmund Veesenmeyer rules Hungarian government

Arrow Cross Party Antisemitic Hungarian Intimidated and harrassed Jews 1944 ordered remaining Jews of Budapest into ghetto

Intimidation by Nazi forces Gestapo moved into Hungarian towns Listed all wealthy individuals Took leaders into custody Threatened to shoot leaders if the wealthy wouldn’t pay (Gilbert 662). A synagogue used as a warehouse for the belongings of deported Jews. Szeged ghetto, Hungary, 1944.

A synagogue used as a warehouse for the belongings of deported Jews A synagogue used as a warehouse for the belongings of deported Jews. Szeged ghetto, Hungary, 1944.

Deportations Adolf Eichmann 10 March 1944: meeting at Mauthausen concentration camp to plan the deportation of 750,000 Jews of Hungary

Deportations on this scale required the coordination of numerous German government agencies including the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), the Main Office of the Order Police, the Ministry of Transportation, and the Foreign Office. The RSHA or regional SS and police leaders coordinated and often directed the deportations. The Order Police, often reinforced by local auxiliaries or collaborators in occupied territories, rounded up and transported the Jews to the extermination camps. The Ministry of Transportation coordinated train schedules. The Foreign Office negotiated with Germany's Axis allies over the transfer of their Jewish citizens to German custody. The Germans attempted to disguise their intentions. They sought to portray the deportations as a "resettlement" of the Jewish population in labor camps in the "East." In reality, the "resettlement" in the "East" was a euphemism for transport to the extermination camps and mass murder.   The Germans used both freight and passenger cars for the deportations. The deportees were usually not given food or water for the journey, even when they had to wait for days on railroad spurs for other trains to pass. Those packed in sealed freight cars suffered from overcrowding. They endured intense heat during the summer and freezing temperatures during the winter. Aside from a bucket, there was no sanitary facility. The stench of urine and excrement added to the humiliation and suffering of the deportees. Lacking food and water, many of the deportees died before the trains reached their destinations. The transports were accompanied by armed police guards who had orders to shoot anyone who tried to escape. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/index.php?ModuleId=10005445

Railroads Principal means for transporting troops, munitions, supplies & raw materials (Hilberg) Daily usage for military and industrial purposes YET, freight trains also used for deportations of Jews Trains required and necessary for the war effort were used to transport Jews as well.

First Deportations March 19, 1944: Nazis occupy Hungary 200 Jewish doctors and lawyers from Budapest deported to Mauthausen Nazis sent 12,000 Hungarian Jews a day to Auschwitz A transport of Jews from Hungary arrives at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Poland, May 1944. __________

Deportation of Jews. Koszeg, Hungary, July 1944.

Deportations By June 7, 290,000 Jews from Carpathia & Transylvania (where Elie Wiesel is from) had been deported By July 7, over 437,000 Hungarian Jews had been deported to Auschwitz. (Dawidowicz) __Jewish residents of the Szeged ghetto assemble for deportation. Szeged, Hungary, June 1944. ________

Portrait of an engaged Jewish couple in Cluj. Pictured are Jolande Markovits (the donor's sister) and Bela Blau. Blau was on leave from his Hungarian labor battalion. Blau survived the labor battalion and deportation to Auschwitz. Jolande perished in Auschwitz.

Slave Labor Thousands were also sent to the border with Austria to be deployed at digging fortification trenches. 100,000 Hungarian Jews were brought to German Labor Camps because “Hitler allowed Himmler and Speer to bring some Jews into Germany to add to the labor force needed for military production” (Bergman 212).

THE ECONOMIC BALANCE SHEET DISCUSS HILBERG CHART

Deportations By the end of July 1944, the only Jewish community left in Hungary was that of Budapest, the capital. Elderly Jews are transferred from their assigned houses to a ghetto area. Budapest, Hungary, November or December 1944.

A group of children poses on the balcony of an apartment in Budapest A group of children poses on the balcony of an apartment in Budapest. [Photograph #14657]

The Last Days Academy Award winning documentary Personal accounts of five Hungarian Jews who survived

Night by Elie Wiesel Nonfiction Sighet, in the region of Transylvania, Hungary

World Response Listening to London news--1942, 1943--progress of Allies Russian army making progress--1944

Persecution Gradual reduction of rights Einsatzgruppen--Moshe’s reports Ghetto experience “liquidation” of the ghetto train ride to Birkenau

A deserted street in the area of the Sighet Marmatiei ghetto A deserted street in the area of the Sighet Marmatiei ghetto. This photograph was taken after the deportation of the ghetto population. Sighet Marmatiei, Hungary, May 1944.

Antisemitism/Racism Dehumanization in the camps Bystanders watching them leave the ghetto Bystanders watching them on the death march

concentration camps--Auschwitz, Buna, Gleiwitz, Buchenwald The Final Solution Death camp--Birkenau concentration camps--Auschwitz, Buna, Gleiwitz, Buchenwald

Former prisoners of the "little camp" in Buchenwald stare out from the wooden bunks in which they slept three to a "bed." Elie Wiesel is pictured in the second row of bunks, seventh from the left, next to the vertical beam. [Photograph #74607]

President Bill Clinton (center), Elie Wiesel (right) and Harvey Meyerhoff (left) light the eternal flame outside on the Eisenhower Plaza during the dedication ceremony of the U.S. Holocaust Museum. Date: Apr 22, 1993 Locale: Washington, DC United States

Raoul Wallenberg

Better Late than Never Arrived in Budapest in July of 1944 Agent of American War Refugee Board Swedish Government

At the Jozsefvarosi train station in Budapest, Raoul Wallenberg (at right, with hands clasped behind his back) rescues Hungarian Jews from deportation by providing them with protective passes. Budapest, Hungary, 1944.

Swedish Passports 250,000 Jews remained in Hungary Holders under the protection of Swedish legation until emigration to Sweden Swedish "protective pass" issued to Lili Katz, a Hungarian Jew. The document was initialed by Raoul Wallenberg (bottom left). Budapest, Hungary, August 25, 1944.

Raoul Wallenberg (seated) at the Swedish legation, with his Hungarian Jewish co-workers. Wallenberg provided thousands of Hungarian Jews with Swedish protective passes. Budapest, November 1944.

Swedish Housing Nazis wouldn’t allow Jews to cross Germany into Sweden Wallenberg purchased or rented 32 buildings in Budapest Housed at least 20,000 Jews awaiting “emigration” to Sweden Sandor and Berta Guttman with their nine children in a safe house in Budapest. Emma Guttman (now Eisner) is the daughter of Sandor and Berta Guttman. She was born in Uzhorod, then part of Czechoslovakia, and had seven siblings. In 1935 the family was forced to leave their hometown because Sandor was a Hungarian Jew. The Guttmans then moved to Budapest, where they lived for the next ten years. Emma's entire family survived the war in Budapest in a safe house secured by the Swedish diplomat, Raul Wallenberg. After the war Emma left for Germany, where she settled in the Pocking displaced persons camp. There she met Ignacz (now Irving) Eisner. They married on February 8, 1949 and one month later left for Israel, sailing on board the Negba immigrant ship.

Protection of “Sealed Ghetto” Wallenberg saved 70,000 Jews by demanding that German commander prevent eminent murders Convinced commander that he would be hung when the Russians came A group of Hungarian Jews rescued from deportation by Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. Budapest, Hungary, November 1944.

Wallenberg the Hero He gave us the sense that we were still human beings. My mother and I were among thousands taken one night to stay at a brick factory outside Budapest. There was no food, no water, no sanitation facilities, no light. Then Wallenberg appeared and said he would try to return with passports, or “safety passes,” as we called them and would also try to get medical attention and sanitation facilities. Soon afterward, some doctors and nurses came from the Jewish Hospital. The point about Wallenberg is that he came himself. He talked to us and showed us that one human being cared about what was happening to us (Facing History 409). WRITTEN BY SUSAN TABON, HUNGARIAN JEW SAVED BY WALLENBERG

Elie Wiesel on Wallenberg: “Sadly, tragically, Raoul Wallenberg belonged to a small minority. And his mission started late, much too late, at a time when, except for those in the Hungarian capital, there were no more Jews left to be saved. Why had he not been sent earlier? Why had other diplomats not been dispatched to other cities on similar rescue operations? What would have happened if, in 1943, neutral nations had offered protection to the Jews of Warsaw, if great powers had offered citizenship to the Jews of Paris and Amsterdam?”

How would you answer Wiesel’s questions? Would such an effort have stopped fate or even reversed it?

IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO BE COMPASSIONATE; YOU MUST ACT

Resources Bergen, Doris. War and Genocide. Chamberlain, Scott. The Last Days: A Study Guide. Shoah Foundation. Los Angeles 1999-2000. Dawidowicz, Lucy S. The War Against the Jews 1933-1945. Bantam Books. New York 1975. Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior. Brookline, Mass. 1994. Gilbert, Martin. The Macmillan Atlas of the Holocaust. Da Capo Press. New York 1982. Gilbert, Martin. The Holocaust: A History of the Jews of Europe During the Second World War. Holt, Rinehart & Winston. New York 1985. Hilberg, Raul. Destruction of the European Jews. Wiesel, Elie. Night. Bantam Books. New York 1960. Wiesel, Elie. Memoirs: All Rivers Run to the Sea. Shocken Books. New York, 1995.