Dimensions
198 x 242 x 18mm
The fate of the Hungarian Jews is perhaps the most poignant chapter of the Second World War. What took 12 years in Germany, says a survivor historian, happened in Hungary in less than four months. In just eight weeks in 1944, when the world already knew about Auschwitz, 480,000 Hungarian Jews were deported. As survivors point out, the Nazis diverted resources from the military even though they were losing the war, to be certain of annihilating the Hungarian Jews.
This book tells the stories of five Hungarian survivors, who recall with tremendous lucidity episodes of extraordinary pain and resolve. They describe the lined ranks of their Hungarian neighbours making anti-semitic comments as the Jews were transported. Yet each of the survivors is shown returning to their home town and their place of incarceration. "Tell me", one asks a former neighbour, "after we were taken, did you talk about it?"
