This website demonstrates a process for placing ancestors and selected communities in a historical context of Place and Time.
Section 1. THE PERSONAL
In this section, I attempt to reconstruct our experiences during the Holocaust in Budapest, Hungary, within the context of events affecting the larger community.
Section 2. THE COMMUNITY
A Single Death Is a Tragedy; A Million Deaths Is a Statistic [1]
About 3000 members of the Jewish community of Szombathely were deported to Auschwitz. This excellent exhibit in Szombathely, Hungary, takes us behind the numbers and, with 937 photographs and text, reveals the tragedy of individuals and families whose lives were brutally interrupted and taken.
Section 3. THE PROCESS
All sections are outlined below.
Section 1 Budapest and the Holocaust in Hungary — 1944-45
We thought Hungary was safe from the Nazis. We were wrong. They arrived unexpectedly, unannounced, and very well prepared. They had lists of people to be arrested and immediately deported. Day after day, our survival became more dubious.
THE OCCUPATION BEGINS - 19 March 1944
On this day, the Astoria Hotel becomes the headquarters of German officers. We can see them from our apartment’s windows. Can they see us?
I was five years old. During the following ten months, we moved into “yellow-star buildings” and into “protected buildings,” we obtained Swiss and Swedish Schutzpasses [safe passes] and were baptized. Read more
YELLOW-STAR HOUSES - 24 June 1944
By 24 June 1944 over 200,000 people deemed to be Jews had to move into 1944 buildings identified as Yellow Star buildings. This was the first phase of our concentration.
STOP DEPORTATIONS -
The 15th US Army Air Force was instrumental in saving the lives of over 200,000 Budapest Jews scheduled for deportation. This Air Force mission was part of an amazing cluster of events that forced Regent Horthy to take a stand against the Nazi overlords.
RESCUE AND ASSISTANCE
According to historian Xavier Cornut, Carl Lutz led the “largest rescue operation of World War II.” I focus on Carl Lutz, Gertrud Lutz-Fankhauser, and the young Chalutzim (Zionists).
THE ARROW-CROSS (NYILAS) PERIOD AND THE SOVIET CONQUEST
The NYILAS was the Hungarian Nazi party. With the support of German forces, they staged a coup that led to a murderous government. Simultaneously, the Soviet army drew closer. Their arrival was a “liberation” for the surviving Jews of Budapest, but the Russians came as vengeful conquerors fighting their way through Budapest and Hungary.
Section 2 - The Community of Szombathely, Hungary
This photograph of cousin Olga Günsberger led me to the unexpected exhibit in Szombathely, Hungary.
Through this exhibit, my grandson was able to “meet” Olga, an ancestor, in a personal way that her genealogical data could not provide.
He saw the history of this community and its people. He also saw photographs of the many children deprived of a future.
Section 3 - The Process toward Your Roadmap
Answering the first four questions seems easy at first glance, and can be drawn from your genealogy database.
WHO is the target person, group, or community
WHERE is the target place / location?
WHEN defines a time frame.
WHAT is the event or series of events that impact the “who,” “where,” and “when.”
HOW was the WHAT accomplished? Namely, “how” were the events carried out that impacted the “who,” “where,” and “when.”
WHY was the “how” done.
The WHERE and the WHEN are two critical reference points for geography and timeframe.