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Hardly any local documents or statistics can be found about the operations of the Hungarian Royal Gendarmerie, the crimes committed against the Hungarian Jewry by the German SS troops and the tortures that took place in the forced labour battalions during World War II.

Even more so is the case in small rural communities such as Monor that had a population of less than 500 Jews and only one synagogue. The names of the Hungarian Jews murdered or taken to forced labour battalions and death camps were all lost with the destruction of the Jewish communities. The gendarmerie made all efforts to destroy any traces of the genocide. The Museum of the Institute of Military History of the Hungarian Ministry of Defense declared that all names of those drafted to forced labour battalions from Monor were lost during the war.

One of the local data centres, The District Court Archive of Monor was destroyed by fire half a year after Monor's liberartion in the spring of 1945. This book, a commemoration of Jews deported from Monor as well as those who managed to escape is based on personal and semi-official sources. During the past few decades the only available source of information about the “elimination” of Jewish rural communities and the details of the lives touched by the Hungarian fascists and their anti-Semitic allies were through a few scenes in movies and through memoirs of survivors. Pertinent information was not dealt with in detail by historians either.

There was partial justice done when several gendarmes, Arrow Cross leaders and military officers who lead forced labour batallions were taken to trial after Word War II by the communist regime and were condemned for the crimes they committed. The details of these trials were made publicly available. Many of the rogues who committed similar crimes in rural communities would escape justice by leaving the country or disappearing in larger cities. Some even changed their colour from the green of Arrow Cross to the red of communism. Crime cannot be erased and the lack of justice done during the darkest pages of the World War II, the cataclysm that destroyed the Jewish community of Monor cannot be amended.

This book, that we have assembled from accounts and data of survivors serves as a mirror of the lives of the late members of the Jewish community of Monor and commemorates their sufferings and the tragic fates of their friends, neighbours, acquaintances, all those who were dispersed and died.

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Monor lies southeast of Budapest between the rivers Danube and Tisza on the northern part of the plain known in Hungary as “Alföld.” Before World War II it was a large village with over fourteen thousand inhabitants and it belonged to the counties of Pest, Pilis Solt and Kiskun. Currently it is a town situated in the county of Pest. During the past centuries Monor was a growing agricultural village that later turned into a small industrial centre. The district of Monor took up the name of the town. Monor was a popular place to stop by for those travelling by road or train between the city Cegléd and the capital, Budapest.

The highway that ran next to Monor was developed into an international highway during the period when Ferenc Kossuth was the Minister of Commerce. The first train from Monor to Cegléd took passengers on September 1, 1847. Since Monor was only 35 kms away from Budapest, travelling to the capital became even easier by train. People would commute to work or to attend secondary or post-secondary schools.

Freight trains running through Monor contributed to the development of commerce and trade and by 1941 Monor had expanded from a village into a town. Most inhabitants were Roman Catholics, followed by Calvinists, Lutherans, Greek Orthodox, Baptists and Sabbatarians, in descending order. There were also 434 Jews including those who were not religious. The history of Monor and related data, date back a few hundred years only.

Although there were Jews living between the rivers Danube and Tisza as far back as the Tartar invasion in the 13th century, and the Turkish occupation, between the 16th and 17th Centuries, most documents mentioning Jews in Monor can only be found in the 1800s. The lives of Jews before this period is shrouded in obscurity, although it is known that there were Jews in Monor even in the 1700s. This population increased to a lesser extent than the rest of the population of the town. In the 1830s there were few Jewish families in Monor. Birth and marriage certificates can be found from 1835 in the county archives although births and marriages were documented much earlier. Around 1840, two merchants, Mór Lőwy and Antal Feuermann were the most predominant organizers of the Jewish community. By 1848 the number of Jews grew to about 100 and by the 1850s this number doubled.

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According to the census in the following years Monor's population of Jewish inhabitants grew as seen in the table below.

Year	Number of Jewish inhabitants
1880	388
1910	570
1920	490
1930	445
1941	344

The numbers above were sourced from the Central Bureau of Statistics, and the numbers do not include Jews who converted to other religions nor those born to mixed marriages or those enlisted in the army who were deemed to be Jewish.

From the beginning of World War II, Anti-Jewish Laws were adopted in Hungary to determine who was considered to be a Jew. Those who were born to mixed, Jewish and non-Jewish parents as well as those Jews who converted to Christianity before World War I were all considered Jewish. Hence an additional 90 Jews of non-Jewish faith appeared on the census of Monor.

According to the traditions of the Jewish religion there had to be at least 10 good men present to hold a religious service (quorum). Until the mid 19th century Jews gathered in homes to pray in Monor because of their low numbers. However, as the Jewish population increased it became possible to organize a “kile.” The first place of worship was built in the mid 1800s and a few decades later the first synagogue was built in Monor at Verbőczy Street 15 which is today called Dózsa György Street. In 1857 Mór Lőwy, variety store owner was the leader of the Jewish community in Monor. The first independent Jewish school was built in the 1860s.

Mór Lőwy, Dávid Feuermann and Manó Hirschl visited King Franz Joseph in the castle of Buda to ask for his assistance in the building of a synagogue. As was the custom when appearing before the king one had to wear traditional Hungarian attire or a dress coat.

The king expressed his support by donating 100 Korona (a fair amount according to the standards of the age) to support the construction of a synagogue. When the Christians of Monor heard about the king's donation many offered their help too, either in the form of free help or by donating building materials.

The same year the Jewish Community of Monor was established headed by Antal

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Feuermann with 25 Jewish families (105 members). At that time Monor did not have a rabbi, thus the Jewish Community formed a part of the rabbinate of Pécel. A rabbi assigned to the region would go to Monor so that he may be present at major religious events such as weddings, funerals and name giving ceremonies. In case the rabbi was unavailable, a local religious person well versed in the Talmud and Torah would be the substitute. (See appendix 8)

As the village of Monor grew and developed, it soon turned into the centre of the county. The Jewish residents of Monor had a significant role in the development of commerce and they contributed to all other aspects of the village the same way as the non-Jewish residents. They did not, however, hold positions in public administration and public affairs. In 1872 the first credit union “Monor District Savings Bank” (Monor Kerületi Takarékpénztár) was established and Monor was one of the more economically developed towns in the country. The historical changes in the country brought about in 1848 resulted in the emancipation of the Jews and from then on the Jews of Monor played a further increased role in the development of the town both directly and as taxpayers.

In the second half of the 19th century the town started to thrive due to its industrialization and economic development. The Jewish population of the town played a great role in these both as contributors and as initiators. However, investors and loans were needed to ensure further development. After WWI, Bertalan Bokor and Leó Huppert established the “Monor District Credit Bank” (Monor Kerületi Hitelbank).

The Jewish population of Monor was comprised of many merchants, tradesmen and intellectuals. The merchants offered a wide variety of wares, such as spices, clothing, shoes, watches, jewelry and ornamental pieces, leather books, paper, iron and wooden articles, construction materials and wines as well as many other goods. The majority of the merchants were grocers who could often hardly make a living with their small stores. Their income was even less than that of the petty bourgeoisie. There were others who fared very well.

Electricity was introduced to Monor in 1909 and consequently commerce advanced at a pace never seen before. After World War I there was a nationally renown seed company: Monori Mag. Its purpose was to produce high quality seeds. The company was owned by the Magyar Magtenyésztő Rt. Seeds were grown over an area of 231 acres. The company was led by József Derera, Dr. István Kell and Dr. László Lukács till the beginning of World War II. The Popper publishing house was established and was functioning before World War I. It delivered books and publications and a variety of printed materials countrywide

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(see Appendix 6). There was also a steam mill and a brick factory, cement works, vinegar factory and distillery. There were a variety of woodworking shops as well. In 1920 a brush factory was built and later in 1928 an iron and metal casting factory. The General Tradesman Association of Monor was established in 1885 and in 1929 it had 339 industrial workers, many of them Jews. There were many Jewish craftsmen and artisans, bakers, tinkers, carpenters, cobblers and shoe manufacturers, tailors, seamstresses, painters, barbers and watch repairmen, saddlers, cooks, butchers, carbonated water deliverers, brush makers, aestheticians, mechanics, printers, book binders and photographers.

Among the Jewish population of Monor there were teachers, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, musicians, lawyers, architects, clerks, accountants, bankers, factory managers, principal railway administrators, chief engineers, railway workers, farmers, drivers, deliverers, factory workers and general labourers.

Between World Wars I and II the chief of the volunteer fire brigade of Monor as well as several of its members were Jewish. There were three lumberyards owned by Jews before World War II. A lumberyard as well as the wine and grocery store were established by Bernát Huppert. They were around from 1862 to 1944 on Pesti Road that is now called Ady Endre Street. Its last owner Gábor Huppert died of typhoid under terrible conditions in Ukraine in a forced labour battalion in World War II.

Ignác Polacsek established a lumberyard (1908–1944) on Pesti Road as well and the Gettler lumberyard (1929–1944) was operating on Andrássy Street, currently called Móricz Zsigmond Street. The owners lost their lives during World War II during the time of the Jewish persecution. These lumberyards formed an integral part of the development of Monor. They sold construction materials and fuels and they also undertook wood manufacturing jobs. There were Polacsek lumberyards in several neighbouring villages and towns some distance away, in Üllő, Vecsés, and Szemeretelep. The family also had lumberyards in Gödöllő and Szolnok. Later the head office moved to Budapest and there was a manufacturing and processing plant in Pestszenterzsébet, where they even had a bucksaw. These plants provided permanent and reliable employment for the population of Monor and neighbouring towns.

There were two carbonated water companies in Monor owned by Jews. Béla Hirschl owned one on Hunyadi János Street and Izidor Fleischmann owned another on Virág Street. The latter was formerly owned by Hugó Berger. Polacsek and Sons had a cement products manufacturing plant as well. They manufactured cement well rings, tiles as well as lining for sewage pipe segments.

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Monor did not have a butcher that performed ritual slayings for a long time nor was there a kosher butcher. From the early 1900's, Károly Schmitterer had a kosher butcher shop on Kossuth Lajos Street. Later, just before World War II Ferenc Solty sold kosher meat in his butcher shop at 7 Gőzmalom Street (currently Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street). Selected animals were slain in these butcher shops according to religious guidelines and traditions. They had a separate store for the processing and selling of the kosher meat products. They did not sell pork or dairy products in these stores.

The emancipation of the Jews in 1848 and 1849 and later during 1867 (the year of the “Reconciliation” [“Kiegyezés”]) to World War I meant that most Jews no longer maintained kosher kitchens and they took on jobs that Jews were not traditionally engaged in. Many Jews were Neologs, and many hungaricized their names. In many countries this trend is known as Reform Judaism.

The peaceful years were interrupted by the revolution of 1848, World War I and the era of the “Tanácsköztársaság” (Hungarian Soviet Republic). From 1914 to 1918 the Jews of Monor enlisted in the Hungarian army by law; many joined voluntarily.

116 Jewish soldiers from Monor fought in World War I and 8 of these died in action. The names of these soldiers can be found in the memorial of the heroes of Monor right next to the Presbyterian Church. The Jewish Community erected a marble tablet for these heroes, which was kept in the synagogue.

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György Ajtai moved this marble tablet to his home before the destruction of the synagogue. The surviving valiant Jewish soldiers of Monor returned after the war, many with serious injuries. Six soldiers returned as invalids and 41 received awards for their injuries, valour and bravery. None of the Jews of Monor returning from the war, many of them highly decorated and capable, received any positions in the police force or the gendarmerie in the town hall or public administration.

There was one exception to this: Jenő Kaufer, royal tax officer, who openly supported Miklós Horthy's “white” brigade in 1919. In the summer of 1919, Miklós Horthy called in the Romanians with the approval of the Triple Entente, to help him in his fight against the Tanácsköztársaság (Hungarian Soviet Republic). The army of the Tanácsköztársaság shot two Romanian soldiers who served in the vanguard in 1919 in Monor. In retaliation, the invading Romanian Royal Army took 53 hostages in August 1919, from highways and railway stations, amongst them a 17-year-old Jewish boy, István Klang from Monor. Dr. Ferencz Szilágyi, a Jewish lawyer, from Monor came out crying from the Romanian headquarter in frustration. He was unable to set the youth free. August 3, marks the horrific day when the hostages were taken to the clay mine of the brick factory by the Romanian army. Fifty-two were shot to death, amongst them the Jewish boy. Only one of the 53 had the fortune to escape.

A Jewish school was erected next to the synagogue. It had one classroom and children from grades 1 to 4 were taught in a combined class. There were three small apartments that had entrances from the courtyard. One was assigned to the teacher, one to the cantor and one to the custodian (samesz). In the building between the synagogue and the apartment of the cantor was the council room which was mainly used for gatherings, performances, celebrations and many courses were offered to young people.

During the winter months when heating had to be turned on, religious services were held here as well. Every Jewish organization used this space for their gatherings, such as The Community Council, The Women's Club, The Girls' Group, the School Committee and the chevra kadisha (assisting the Jewish funeral services). Every Sunday afternoon the space would be used to hold events and the occasional dance for the entertainment of the younger generation. When the room was available, ping pong tables were set up for casual tournaments and entertainment.

Mendel Wachs was the cantor of the synagogue of Monor after World War I. He was followed by cantor Sámuel Klein who had an exceptionally beautiful

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voice. He was there until he was taken to forced labour. The cantors were well trained and they performed circumcisions as well. Cantor Klein sang mostly melancholic songs but there were joyous, beautiful melodies also. His unique voice helped strengthen their faith in the Lord of those who listened to him. Until 1944 the superintendent of the synagogue was Simon Grünfeld. He filled in for the cantor and occasionally started the prayers.

During the period before the revolution of 1848–49 the prayers and celebrational events were lead by any one of the participants. From 1850, a rabbi would visit Monor for these events and services from the nearby town of Pécel. In Appendix 7, the partial list of the Jewish leaders of religious ceremonies can be found.

Mózes Kohn was the assigned rabbi during the construction of the synagogue of Monor and for a period after. He was followed by his grandson, Mihály Kohn, who died in a railway accident in 1912.

Dr. Schlesinger was the rabbi from 1914 to 1922. He also fulfilled the duties of army chaplain during World War I.

The next rabbi was Dr. Izsák Pfeiffer from 1923–1944. (See Appendix 4)

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After World War I there were no more Orthodox Jews to be found in Monor. They either moved away or stayed on as Neologs. There were neither Talmud Torah nor orthodox Jewish schools. Before World War II there were 5 elementary schools in Monor: two public schools, one Catholic, one Reformed and one Jewish. The Jewish school of Monor opened its doors to students in the 1860s. After the turn of the century, Izrael Krausz, who came to Monor from Ócsa, a member of the Popper family was the teacher of the school. He taught grades from 1 to 4 in the small one-classroom school on the Verbőczy Street (currently Dózsa György Street) with such passion and success that they often referred to the school as the “Krausz University.”

Izrael Krausz died in 1922 and Henrik Friedlander became his successor who was the teacher of the school till 1944. He was a tall round-faced, balding man with a small moustache and he was well known for his pedagogical skills. He motivated his students by praising them for their achievements but he was strict and gave the occasional “knock on the head.” He rarely used the ruler to slap an exceptionally disobedient student, which was a very widespread form of punishment in those days. He taught all four classes with dedication and thoroughness and in addition to covering the curriculum taught in public schools he also taught Hebrew, German and religious studies. The instruction of German ended in 1934 when the Nazi party gained power in Germany. The teacher also assumed the role of the coach for the gymnastic exercises, which were held in the schoolyard every day. The elementary school ran from Sunday to Friday from 8 am to 1 pm. The students were responsible for providing their own textbooks, notebooks and stationery, including a small bottle of ink and blotting paper. Students would dip their metal tipped pens into this bottle of ink and whenever the ink spilt the blotting paper would be used to soak it up and thus try to make it disappear.

The Jewish elementary students had to buy their own Hebrew Bible also. They paid tuition, except for the select few in need who were allowed to study for free. The students would recite poems from Sándor Petőfi and Mihály Vörösmarty on the 15th of March, the National Day of Hungary, along with Izsák Pfeiffer–Pap's poem entitled “We Jews too.” Most of the Jewish children went to the Jewish School of Monor from grade 1 to 4 because it was only there that they could learn Jewish Religious Studies as well as Hebrew, the language in which the Bible was written.

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1920-1924	Rózsi Grosinger, István Popper
1921-1925	Magda Bleyer
1923-1927	Györgyi Bleyer
1925-1929	Marcel Pfeiffer
1927-1931	Imre Goldstein, Márta Révész
1929-1933	Cecília Bergmann, László Hőnig, Tibor Kaufer
1930-1934	Judit Bokor, Tibor Gellért, Miklós Goldstein, Magdolna Widder
1931-1935	Sándor Ambrus (who completed the 1933–1935 schoolyears in Budapest), Miklós Beck
1932-1936	Erzsébet Auspitz, Gábor Hőnig, Tibor Vermes
1933-1937	László Beck, Miklós Bokor, Erzsébet Friedlander, Margit Klein, Vera Komlós
1934-1938	Éva Kovács, György Révész, Olga Wenger, László Kőszegi
1935-1939	Lajos Auspitz, Artúr Birnbaum, Margit Búzás, György Friedlander, János Frisch, Miklós Guszman, Henrik Gutfreund, Vera Rosinger, Adolf Klein, László Vermes
1936-1940	György Beck, Katalin Guszman, Mária Huppert, Margit Kőszegi, Vera Reiner, Irén Roth, Magda Szántó, László Widder
1937-1941	Ferenc Goldstein, József Klein, Kati Kugel
1938-1942	György Klein, Erzsébet Szántó
1939-1943	György Auspitz, Tibor Beck, Béla Birnbaum, Géza Fehérvári, Pál Goldstein, Tibor Klein, Péter Rosinger
1942-1944	Ilona Goldstein, György Grosz, Judit Révész
1943-1944	Miklós Schwarcz

Due to the excellent reputation of the Jewish teachers and the school, a few Christians from Monor enrolled their children as well.

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Ervin Bodrogközi (Szarka) Sándor Blaskó Piroska Bulla Erzsébet Buzás Lajos Erényi (Erzbrucker) Erzsébet Erényi (Erzbrucker) Géza Fehérváry László Hunyadi János Morvai Henrik Schmidt Simon Imre Tóth László Tóth Géza Újvári András Veres László Veres Sándor Vladár Erzsébet Zöldi

Once the Jewish students completed their elementary school studies, many of them continued their education in the Jewish High School on Abonyi Street in Budapest. Some went to public high schools while others continued their studies at trade schools. Most of these students commuted to the capital by train daily from Monor, only a few decided to move to the capital. Those who stayed at Monor to study did so mostly at the Polgári school on Pesti Street, (currently Ady Endre Street) up to the fourth grade. Many of the Jewish students, who completed their Polgári, went to study in high schools in the capital or to schools of commerce.

The Christian Principals of the Polgári, Mihály Kocsis and later Dezső Polyák exercised no discrimination towards the Jewish students in the Polgári or towards the Jewish teacher, Izidor Révész. Between World Wars I and II students found it challenging to continue their studies at universities due to the law called “numerus clausus,” which was established in 1920. This meant that only a limited

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number of Jewish students, typically 5% were admitted to certain faculties. After 1938 “numerus nullus” was the law, which meant that the universities were not permitted to admit Jewish students. For some faculties this came into practice as early as 1933 during the right wing rule of Prime Minister Gömbös. The exception were a few students who had special connections.

Those Jews who completed university often had great difficulties finding jobs in the manufacturing industries, in schools, universities and in the public sector. Consequently, Jews opted for choosing fields of study where they not only could excel, feel a sense of dedication but also where they had the opportunity to practice their profession and be independent as well. In the mid 1920s Dr. Imre Rosinger was a law clerk in the Law Firm of Dr. Miksa Teller, the father of nuclear scientist Dr. Ede Teller (who became world famous after World War II). Very few Jews of Monor could afford to study abroad and therefore be free of the “numerus clausus.” At the beginning of the 20th century, Dr. Bernát Wachs, son of the cantor was extremely poor and the National Jewish Community covered his tuition so that he could attend medical school in Prague.

Dr. Miklós Schwarcz (Szûcs) could not gain admission to Hungarian universities either. He was fortunate to be able to study medicine in Bologna, Italy because his family could support him. The fascist regime of Mussolini even provided university scholarships to talented foreign Jewish students who were in need. Dr. Miklós Schwarcz could complete his medical internship only in Italy.

Many Jews from Monor were athletes. Imre Balla Sr. and Mihály Deutsch were members of the soccer teams of Monor. Károly Dicker played water polo, László Frisch was a swimmer, ice-skater and tennis player. László Popper was a tennis player. There were many others who played ping pong or swam with the Reformed Youth Club of Monor.

Many Jews decided to hungaricize their names so that they could fit in better in the society of Monor. There were also those who tried to avoid the growing perils associated with the Arrow Cross Party and anti-Semitism. Much like a saying of the time reflects “it is easier to change a name than the minds of anti-Semites.”

There were many mixed marriages with Christians since Jewish and Christian youths attended the same schools and entertainment. There were eighteen families in Monor who converted from Judaism, lived in mixed marriages or whose children were raised as Christians. These families did not participate in the Jewish community's events nor did they go to the synagogue. There were just a handful of marriages where the Christian spouse converted to Judaism.

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For example, lawyer Dr. Ferenc Szilágyi's wife Irma Benyács converted to Judaism and even became the leader of the Jewish Women's Association of Monor. The Neumann and Szûcs families indulged in mixed marriages. The Christian husbands agreed with their Jewish brides before marriage that they would raise their children according the Jewish traditions and faith and this agreement was recorded in the children's birth certificates.

In the perilous years that followed, most of those of mixed marriages who converted from Judaism and those of semi-Jewish origin managed to survive the years of persecution. A few of them were however, taken to forced labour battalions or deported to Auschwitz. Many of them did not survive and never returned home, among them: Dr. Sándor Ákos and his wife, Dr. Ödön Dabasi, Endre Eibensütz, Gábor Huppert, the Lőwy family, László Neumann, József Szûcs and György Wilheim. Endre Eibenschütz and György Wilheim died in Ukraine as forced labourers wearing white armbands.

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Detailed descriptions of the Laws Against Jews are available in the sources listed in the Bibliography. Below is an excerpt from the Law.

There were occasional manifestations of Anti-Jewish policies and hatred against the Jews in Hungary as early as the Post-World War I era. The “numerus clausus” law was introduced at universities soon to be followed by the “numerus nullus” law. Hungarian anti-Semitism became stronger after 1933 when Hitler came to power in Germany. In the same year Gyula Gömbös, representing an ultra right wing party was elected as Prime Minister of Hungary. Mihály Komlós was a member of the successfully functioning choir in Monor called “Wake up Worker Training and Choral Society” (“Ébredj Munkásképző és Dalkör”). He was well known for his beautiful voice and was the son of the teacher Izrael Krausz. He was expelled from the choir in the mid 1930s because he was Jewish. A considerable number of the population of the large village of Monor held leftist political views. In the parliamentary elections of 1935 József Pakots, a liberal writer and journalist was elected to be parliamentary representative as a result of an open election as opposed to candidate Károly Papp who supported the right wing in power.

As Nazism in Germany grew into a mass movement, Hungary also saw the rise of fascist-like or openly fascist parties. Zoltán Böszörmény established and lead the “Kaszáskeresztes Párt” (Scythe Cross Party), a national socialist party, and later Zoltán Meskó established his openly far-right “Magyar Nemzeti Szocialista Földmunkás és Munkáspárt” (Hungarian National Socialist Agricultural Labourers' and Workers' Party). These parties were small in number yet manifested their views very aggressively. Their common denominator was that they were anti-Jewish. Their aim was to take the possessions of the Jews and force them into exile. They came up with tasteless Nazi slogans such as “Jew run to Palestine, we don't need your democratic whine.” or “We can do this you will see, you'll be hanging from a tree!” These parties could only achieve some success with lumpenproletariat, who equated the Jews and gave them employment with the capitalists.

No intellectuals (or as they were called: trousered men) joined this crowd. The Nyilaskereszted Párt (Arrow Cross Party) that became notorious was formed in 1939. Hitler occupied Austria with ease on March 12, 1938 and annexed it to Germany. Béla Imrédy who followed Kálmán Darányi as Prime Minister in

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1938, wanted to gain full marks from praising the Anschluss and introduced the Laws Against Jews in Hungary even before Hitler demanded it.

The Laws Against Jews, which restricted the human and civic rights of the Jews, was passed by the elected members of the parliament's lower house on May 28. These were accepted by the upper house, including the aristocrats and bishops. (1938 article # XV.)

Many open-minded Hungarians condemned the Laws Against Jews publicly, among them Zsigmond Móricz, Mihály Babits, Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Albert Szentgyörgyi, Count István Bethlen, Count Antal Sigray, the situation of the Jews became worse daily. Public humiliations were a regular occurrence as were open derogatory and discriminatory remarks against Jews. The parliament voted in favour of article IV in 1939, “as a means of achieving a more effective social and economic order.”

By then the Laws Against Jews were referred to simply as the Jewish Laws. In 1939, Jews were legally deprived of their right to vote. Consequently 5% of the population had no say or role in elections. Earlier there were some Jewish members of parliament such as Ernő Bródy, Béla Fábián and János Vázsonyi, son of Vilmos Vázsonyi, who had been the Minister of Justice; however, none of these were allowed into the parliament any more. Thus, the “peaceful years” for the Hungarian Jewry were over before World War II.

The anti-Semitism smouldered much like a dormant volcano. The incitement to hatred erupted in devastating flames. Th Arrow Cross Party and other fascist parties won considerable representation in the parliament in the elections of May 1939. The situation in Monor was no different. The extreme right wing Dr. Tamás Matolcsy, a notary for the ruling party, Dr. Pál Rabár and the factory owner János Lipták were elected over the representatives of the “Kisgazdapárt,” the Independent Smallholders' Party. Anti-Semitism was soon to manifest in physical assaults. One Sunday dawn, during the summer of 1939, the Jews woke up to find their windows and shop windows facing the streets all shattered. This event was referred to as the “Crystal Night” of Monor. The police announced that no eyewitnesses were found. Supposedly intellectual youths committed the crime.

On September 1, 1939, Hitler's army attacked Poland, and World War II broke out. Poland was overrun in three weeks, aided by the USSR. What followed in Poland is well known worldwide. Hitler declared before the war “If the Jews will cause the outbreak of World War II there will be no more Jews left in Europe,

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once peace is established.” He ended his war speech saying “Death to the Jews!”

In Hungary, the number of those who succumbed to Nazism grew constantly. This was partially due to German propaganda on the one hand and the incitement of the Arrow Cross Party, and extreme racist right wing party on the other. Among the so-called “gentlemen” there were Count Domokos Festetics landowner of 40,000 acres, and Dr. Béla Ómoravicai Imrédy, Minister of Finance and later Prime Minister. They all gained fame as bloody-mouthed anti-Semites. Imrédy had to resign later because it turned out that he had a Jewish great grandfather who converted from Judaism at the age of 8, as proven by Károly Rassay, a liberal parliamentary representative.

On August 24, 1938, Zoltán Szálasi, the leader of the the Party of National Will (later the Arrow Cross Party) was sentenced to three years in prison by the Supreme Court of Hungary for his acts of violence against the public and social order. This happened during the leadership of Regent Miklós Horthy and Prime Minister Béla Imrédy. The Supreme Court would not accept a bail of 50 thousand pengő to free Szálasi, not even before the final appeal trial. Despite this, in the autumn of 1940, all officers at a military dinner in Debrecen raised their glasses to Szálasi when one of them said “I raise my glass to the greatest Hungarian who is now imprisoned.” All raised their glasses except First Lieutenant Imre Rosinger from Monor.

The following day, he was commanded to join a forced labour battalion that was about to embark on a forced march in Transylvania in the Fogaras Mountains of the Southern Carpathians. A week of marching in sleet had a detrimental effect on the health of most of the forced labourers. Imre Rosinger was demobilized since he became an invalid due to a severe case of sciatica inflammation. He was taken back to Monor on a stretcher in late October. Since they could not treat him there, he had to spend six weeks in the Lukács Hospital in Budapest at his own expense.

Szálasi was set free in September 1940 from the Csillag Prison in Szeged with amnesty. The Hungarian army marched into the northern part of Transylvania with hardly any resistance.

Count Pál Teleki, world-renown geographer, became Prime Minister after Imrédy in 1939. He signed a mutual peace treaty with Yugoslavia in 1940.

Despite the treaty, German and Hungarian troops attacked Yugoslavia. Following the day of the attack of April 3, 1941, Teleki committed suicide. László

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Bárdossy was appointed as Prime Minister immediately after Teleki's death. Following the occupation of Délvidék, the northern lands of Yugoslavia (known as Vojvodina today), the Hungarian Laws Against Jews came into effect.

In January 1942, masses of Jews and Serbs were massacred as part of a major “action” by the Hungarian Army based on fabricated charges in the Délvidék (Újvidék, known is Serbian as Novi Sad.) More than one thousand Jews including women, children and elderly were gathered on the frozen Danube, stripped naked and shot. They then used artillery during the night to break up the ice so that the bodies could be carried away by the freezing river.

Mrs. Rosinger's brother, Dénes Ladány and family who managed to escape to Budapest from Novi Sad recounted the horror of the Novi Sad massacre of the Jews and the acts of the Hungarians during the “Freezing Days” of Novi Sad. Dénes lost his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law during those dreadful days between January 21st and 31st of 1942. Mrs. Rosinger shared the news in Monor where everyone listened to her in disbelief. Her audience remarked that such barbaric actions could have never taken place in Hungary. Regent Miklós Horthy promised that the criminals would be prosecuted. However, punishments were forgotten and the officers responsible for the crimes escaped from investigation and detention to Germany. Later they made their way back to Hungary in 1944, occupying high positions at the time when Hungary's invasion by the Germans took place.

Germany attacked the USSR in June 22, 1941. Hungary, under the leadership of Prime Minister László Bárdossy, without consulting the parliament, mobilized the Hungarian army immediately to support the Germans. Fascism spread faster than ever, fuelled by the victories of the German blitzkriegs. The Laws Against Jews, restricting the rights of Jews, followed one after another, making life increasingly difficult and humiliating. The House of Representatives voted in favour of the unlawful Laws, as they are referred to today, in great majority. One of the main purposes of the Laws Against Jews was to enlist Jewish men in forced labour battalions, from which returning was increasingly unlikely or impossible. (See chapter on Forced Labour Batallions.) Local authorities in Monor were not inactive either.

Ármin Kaufer was summoned with a subpoena from Monor early 1939 to appear with his proof of citizenship. His family was stunned in disbelief because Ármin never had a citizenship certificate. He had, however, documents to prove that he was a corporal in World War I. He was even decorated for bravery. He paid his Social Security and taxes to the National Social Security Institute (Országos

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Társadalombiztosítási Intézet). He was told that all these did not matter or count. He had to show his certificate of citizenship and a certificate of residency to prove that he was from Monor.

Nobody cared or took into consideration that he lived in Monor since he was five and his brother was a government official. The Central National Authority for Controlling Foreigners (Külföldieket Ellenőrző Országos Központi Hivatal: KEOKH) considered all Jews to be foreigners and stateless if they did not have certificates of citizenship. Ármin Kaufer was born in the county of Pozsony in Nagymácséd in 1885. He only crossed the border when he was enlisted in the army in 1914 to fight in Galicia. One of his cousins lived in Galánta, and he was able to obtain a copy of the Jewish Census under Habsburg Emperor Joseph II. This copy contained one of Ármin's ancestors, based on which he was finally granted his certificate of residence and his citizenship certificate.

A detail worthy of mentioning here, is that the police inspector of Monor of noble descent, Béla Revisnyei Reviczky, handled Ármin Kaufer's case with extreme good will. When he received citations from KEOKH he always put the court documents to the bottom of the pile while he sent messages to Ármin and encouraged him to obtain the required documents. The above process took approximately 3 years. Inspector Reviczky kept in touch with several Jewish families in Monor. He would even occasionally visit Sándor Gellért's home in uniform.

There are some Hungarian circles who still believe that Hungary was a real refuge for Jews during the war where they could live in peace and security. It is difficult to refute and certainly worth remembering the acts of the KEOKH against 30,000 Jews who could not prove their Hungarian Citizenships. The majority of them were Hungarian speakers from Slovakia and from the Délvidék, the northern territories of Yugoslavia. Most of them were taken to the German-occupied Kamianets-Podilskyi, Ukraine of today, where the Germans executed them. The KEOKH did not want Dénes Ladány to stay in Hungary. There was a good willed person from Monor who worked at the KEOKH and following lawyer Imre Rosinger's request, removed Dénes Ladány's and family's file from the KEOKH thus saving them until March 1944. The same individual helped Ármin Kaufer with suggestions related to his afore mentioned citizenship case.

Jewish youths were marginalized countrywide due to the “numerus clausus” and “numerus nullus.” They could only complete their post-secondary studies at technical and commercial schools. In case of adults this was called retraining.

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The Association of Jewish Craftsmen and Farmers (MIKEFE “Magyar Izraelita Kézmûves és Földmûves Egyesület”) considered it to be its prime responsibility to train young Jews in industrial and agricultural fields. The discrimination and humiliation of Jewish boys affected those between 15 and 18 years of age of the Hungarian Levente Movement, a pre-military organization. It was compulsory to participate in this organization until reaching the official age of enlisting in the army or the declaration of being unsuitable for military service. At the beginning of the war there was no discrimination yet, however, as of 1941 the Jewish “levente-s” were disqualified together with non-Jews who were unsuitable and those who did not have shoes. As a result, these youths could not participate in national ceremonies and festivities in Monor. A special squad was chosen from the remaining youths. No gypsy could make it to the ceremonial section of the parade either due to the above.

From the summer of 1941, Jewish youths were isolated in the Levente organization. Instead of participating in the usual training for the army it was declared that Jews were not to be honored by using the name and training of the Levente Movement. Instead they had to carry out activities to assist others and even had to wear a yellow armband on their arms for easy identification.

In the meantime, religious life in Monor was observed quietly. The synagogue was never full, not even on the highest religious holidays, since all those who were in the forced labour battalions were missing. In September, 1943 rabbi Dr. Izsák Pfeiffer said a heartbreaking prayer on the day of Yom Kippur for all. In his prayer he listed all those who became victims of fascist racism: German Jews, Austrian Jews, Czech Jews, Polish Jews, Danish, Norwegian, French, Belgian, Dutch and Hungarian Jews, all Jews, “Lord, there is no way out for us Jews…!” he said, in front of the open Ark. All the members of the congregation were listening, standing to this shocking prayer of incredible beauty and depth.

According to the law of life, the old ones in the Jewish community died and there were hardly any marriages since most men were taken to forced labour battalions. The number of births were few and far between. The number of Jewish inhabitants of Monor declined considerably.

At this point those days of the mass murders were yet in the future, when the biological reserves of the Jews would be eliminated in Auschwitz.

The Hungarian Parliament, including the representative of Monor, produced a series of Laws Against Jews from 1938 to 1944. These Laws prepared the genocide and contributed to the horrors of the Holocaust.

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One of the main methods of humiliation and the racial and religious discrimination of the Hungarian Jewry, which had been voted for and approved by the parliament after the Germans invaded Austria was to send them to forced labour battalions. Jewish men were drafted into the Hungarian Royal Army but they did not serve as regular soldiers. They were enlisted in forced labour battalions to work on military projects. They were not allowed to carry weapons and were under the supervision and constant—on many occasions brutal— physical assault of the armed “keret”^[1] guards as they were forced to carry out dangerous assignments often until their death.

Earlier, at the beginning of 1939, Jewish men who turned 21, were still drafted as regular soldiers. However, in the summer of 1940, the Jews of military age were drafted for two years from Monor into the first forced labour battalion.

At this time, Jewish men of regular military age who were drafted into forced labour battalions received military boots and hats. In addition to those of regular military age, all Jewish men 21 to 50 years of age, were drafted for 3 months. In 1940, those serving in forced labour battalions still possessed their military ranks which were displayed and they received the corresponding military pay. The Jewish officers who possessed a so-called memorial letter were wearing uniforms. All others worked in regular street clothes. Paradoxically the offi ers were allowed to keep their swords but they did not have handguns in their military bags since they were stripped of their right to bear arms as untrustworthy individuals. Such was the case of László Frisch from Monor who did not take part in World War I because he was still a child then. As a Hungarian citizen he had requested a firearms license and this was granted to him only to be revoked in 1939, according to the Laws Against Jews. Jenő Kaufer, an ensign in World War I had served in Miskolc in the so-called “orchard” as platoon officer. He was not allowed to have a handgun either, however, the dextrous forced labourers carved him a pistol, so that his military bag would not dingle-dangle empty.

The forced labourers referred to the summer of 1940, as a “jamboree.” József Steinberger and János Grozner were drafted from the Jewish community of Monor, in August 1940, according to their age, for regular military service
time. Ferenc Weisz was drafted from the neighbouring town of Vecsés. He hungaricized his name to Hegedûs after the war and became a resident of Toronto in 1995.

The Headquarter of the Military Support Services of Monor was located on Kossuth Lajos Street close to Mendei Street. Among the drafted forced labourers from Monor, were men from the older generations, such as: Antal Beck, who drove officers in command around in his Ford Eiffel manufactured in Cologne, Germany; Endre Deutsch, dance master; Ármin Kaufer, who was already 55 at the time; Klein, who married the daughter of Szigeti, the accountant of the Maár mill; Sámuel Klein, the cantor of the synagogue of Monor and Singer, who was a drummer in Endre Deutsch's band.

Due to the immense shortage of cars and drivers in the Hungarian army, Antal Beck was drafted with his car to serve as a driver because he had some connections at the headquarters of the Nádasdy Barracks of Budapest. Instead of being drafted into a forced labour battalion, he took part in the invasion of Transylvania in 1940, as a corporal and a military driver. After the operation in Northern Transylvania he was discharged together with his car. The officers in command and their deputies of forced labour battalions were Aryans but the platoon commanders were Jews in those days.

The majority of the forced labourers were housed in the empty school in Monor, the “Polgári”^[2] on Pesti Street (currently József Attila Street). Those who could not be accommodated were taken to the Vigadó on the corner of Pesti Street and Kossuth Lajos Street. They were also housed in the School of Agriculture on Czuczor Street. Further locations were: “Gazdakör” on 6 Gőzmalom Street, (currently called Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street); the Reformed “Nagyiskola” and the washrooms of the Casino on Kossuth Lajos Street. Before school began in September, the quarters were emptied and everyone was taken by trains to Gyertyánliget and Terebesfejérpatak (Trebusa), opposite Máramarossziget in the Transcarpathians occupied from Czechoslovakia.

In those days, the war orphans from World War I who were drafted into forced labour battalions were allowed to go home after one month of service at the beginning of October, while the rest of the labourers were only allowed home after the three months of scheduled assignments. After the recapture of Transylvania during the autumn of 1940, the forced labourers spent their winters primarily in the Carpathians of Historic Hungary (or Greater Hungary). Those Jews who served as drivers, were not forced to join the forced labour battalions up to and including the spring of 1941. Imre Breier took part in the invasion of

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“Délvidék”^[3] as a military driver and soldier. When Hungary participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 the process of drafting Jews into forced labour battalions sped up. The forced labour battalions' companies were taken mostly to the front in Ukraine.

As the war progressed, eventually more generations were drafted into the forced labour battalions and the labour they had to perform became increasingly more demanding and the service term was extended, with no leave allowed. The Jewish youths who were born in 1919, and were drafted in the late autumn of 1940, were not discharged after the completion of their term. It was then that two recently graduated Jewish boys from Monor, József Steinberger and Károly Grozner, had special distinguished uniforms tailored before joining the battalions. They were going to wear them on the rare days when they would get one day leaves. They were not allowed to have bayonets; however, they were soon forced to wear regular street clothes. Neither of them was ever discharged. They were taken to a never-ending forced labour in Ukraine, where they were eventually killed.

All the forced labourers who were drafted in August of the previous year and discharged after their 3-month terms were redrafted in April 1941. By this time war orphan status was not considered to be a reason for exemption. Those who were drafted, were put up temporarily in the Vigadó in Monor on Kossuth Lajos Street during the period when the companies were assembled. The Middle School or “Polgári” was not an option since this was during the school year and the school was not vacant. From Monor the companies were taken to Transylvania to work as lumberjacks. Later, they were forced to work in Transcarpathia on railway constructions, on the Szeretfalva–Déda railway line.

After entering the war against the Soviet Union in 1941, the forced labourers, drafted for the support of the military, were mainly taken to the war zone to clear minefields and perform other dangerous forced tasks. The working conditions were inhumane. Many suffered from hunger, frost and the varied methods of cruelties committed by the “keret,” which included shooting the labourers to death. These were referred to as mobile slaughtering grounds.

In 1942, the drafting of older Jewish men began. They were drafted only for three to four months forced labour terms in Hungary. Miklós Widder, a haberdasher, born in 1895 was among them. He returned home in a very bad condition at the age of 47 and died of a heart attack. This served as a horrific foretaste of much more of the same to come.

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The rabbi was never drafted. In 1942, the first, second and third generations were drafted into forced labour camps still with their original military terms. László Rothauser was one of these. In 1941, the Jewish forced labourers were stripped of their military ranks and an increased number of them were taken to the front in Ukraine.

By the end of 1942, all Jewish men from ages 24 to 33, who were deemed fit or close enough to being fit, were drafted. With the increase of anti-Semistism and the progress of the war, all Jewish men from ages of 18 to 50 were drafted if they were deemed fit to any extent.

The former privilege of being exempt from the draft of those ones who had been awarded medals of heroism in World War I was abolished and even those were drafted who converted to Christianity. They had to wear a white arm band instead of the regular yellow one. However, they were treated with the same cruelty as their yellow banded fellow labourers. From 1943 they did not receive military uniforms or military boots. All they got from the treasury were a military cap and their armbands. They had to wear yellow or white armbands; yellow for the Jews, white for those who had converted. Those who survived the forced labour camps in Ukraine were sent home at the end of 1943 and the beginning of 1944 during the time when Vilmos Nagybaczoni Nagy was the Minister of Defence.

The Headquarter of the Military Support Services of Monor was a recruitment centre, and as such many Jews from neighbouring cities as well were drafted here into forced labour battalions. The officer in charge was József Tomanóczy who was a major in 1940 but by 1943 he was a colonel. After the war, the People's Court found him guilty and he was imprisoned for a 12 year term. There were many officers in charge who were even more brutal than he. In Nagykáta, a town close to Monor, Col. Lipót Murai (Metzl) was directly responsible for the death of many forced labourers. After World War II the People's Court sentenced him and his associates to death and they were executed.

During the period between 1940 and 1944 the drafted unarmed forced labourers were often driven through Monor to the train station where they would be crammed into trains. As they were made to march along Petőfi Street under the control of the armed Hungarian soldiers, the “keret,” they were forced to sing, to feign enthusiasm at gunpoint, while orders were flung at them. In the meanwhile, the anti-Semites and members of the Arrow Cross Party would chant humiliating verses.

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The undernourished forced labourers who did not have proper clothing or medicine when they fell ill had an extremely trying time in the frontline in Ukraine. Their situation was even worse when their armed guards, the “keret,” happened to be ill-willed anti-Semites. Many forced labourers got their share of this added hardship and only a few were lucky with a more reasonable “keret.” The treatment they received, in most of the cases, depended on the attitude of the commanding officer.

Forced labourers were required to do a wide range of labour intensive tasks such as the construction of tank traps, bunkers and ramparts. They had to carry boulders, beams and other materials, often without having access to carts or vehicles. They were required to dig ditches, graves, latrines and participate in road constructions and haul ammunition, clean latrines as well as clear minefields.

Many lost their lives in the minefields or when the “keret” was randomly firing at them. Those who “only” lost a limb often died by the time they got to a field hospital where they would have received only sub-standard treatment anyway. The Minister of Defence prohibited military doctors from sending any injured forced labourer back to Hungary. For a place where one can sleep, in Ukraine, an unheated stable was preferable to an open shed in the freezing winter. Many forced labourers lost limbs to frostbites and many died when they were left untreated.

Almost everyone had lice due to lack of hygiene and typhus was quite common as well. Gábor Huppert died of typhus and many forced labourers who were found to have the deadly disease were burnt alive by the Hungarian soldiers. (See László Popper's account). Many forced labourers perished without any account of their last days.

The Hungarian soldiers who went to war in Russia in 1941 and 1942, believed that they would come out triumphant from the blitzkrieg started by the Germans. At the end of 1942, the Soviets stopped the Hungarian troops from advancing at the River Don and later in January of 1943, the Hungarians suffered a decisive blow when the Second Hungarian army was wiped out in the Battle of Voronezh. Many forced labourers lost their lives there due to the bombardment, the freezing winter, the cruelty of the “keret” and the dangers of the battlefield.

The Hungarian Army suffered staggering losses at the River Don, however, the proportion of forced labourers who lost their lives there was far greater than that of the Hungarian soldiers who died. All captured Jewish forced labourers

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as well as the Hungarian armed soldiers were taken as prisoners of war.

Being prisoners of war was no relief for the Jewish forced labourers. They received the same treatment as the captive Hungarian soldiers. Due to religious discrimination, they were often assaulted and died in captivity. There were Jews who gained freedom from their Soviet captors as late as July 1948. Such was the case of Sándor Grünfeld.

In February 1943, the Soviet troops defeated the Germans at Stalingrad (now Volgograd) by the River Volga and stopped their advance.

The anti-Semitic sadistic Hungarian armed troops, the “keret,” committed abhorrent cruelties at the frontline against the Jews. István Kossa, a faithful Christian describes the horrible details of the fate of a penal company in his book “From the Danube to the Don.” He describes that in the penal companies there were Christians as well as left wing supporters besides the forced labourers. Among them was Juda Silberpfennig, multi-millionaire, the owner of the famous Loden-Fabric Factory who was executed. The forced labourers taken from Monor to the Soviet frontlines died one after another, famished and cold, often wearing summer clothes in the middle of the winter and clearing mines or carrying the heavy components of barbed wire entanglements.

One of the most shameful acts of the Hungarian army was setting fire to the hospital of Doroshich in 1943. The hospital was filled with Jewish forced labourers who were suffering from typhoid. It should be noted, that Vilmos Nagybaczoni Nagy tried to punish the perpetrators when he became Minister of Defence, however, there were many anti-Semitic military officers in high positions so his attempt failed. From the fifty thousand Jews drafted only eight thousand were fortunate enough to make it back home to Hungary thanks to the humane orders of Vilmos Nagybaczoni Nagy. (He was later taken by force to Austria by the ruling Arrow Cross Party in 1944, where he was imprisoned).

Those Jewish men who returned from forced labour battalions in the Eastern Front became victims of being taken to forced labour battalions again, or being deported after the German takeover of power in Hungary on the 19th of March, 1944. All hell broke loose in April and May of 1944. The drafting of Jews reached extreme cruelty such as had never been seen before. Jews who were sick or not able bodied were drafted once again, even the ones with documents for exemptions from service for medical reasons. Jews from Monor were drafted to the headquarters of the 1st Regiment of forced labour battalions of Jászberény in 1944 (in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county), and from there they were sent to forced

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labour in the copper mines in Serbia and to Poland. Those Jews drafted in the beginning of 1940 believed that serving in the forced labour battalion would actually mean that. In reality it meant executing forced labour at gunpoint and endless abuse, assault and killing and neglect of those who were wounded or sick.

Brutal treatment of Jews became even more widespread from the autumn of 1944, as the area of operation of the forced labour battalions was reduced due to the approaching front. From November 1944, forced labour was nothing else but organized genocide lead by the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party and soldiers. At the beginning of 1945, the survivors were deported to death camps in Austria and in other German controlled territories. Jews were starved in captivity and mass murdered. From the beginning the forced labourers were under the armed control of the “keret.” However, from the summer of 1944, the “keret” was equipped with bayonets attached to the rifles. Jewish forced labourers ended up being prisoners of war in Hungary despite the fact that they were Hungarians. This well-fitting observation was made by writer Béla Zsolt, for being guarded by bayonets was typically used for prisoners of war.

By the summer of 1944, the number of Jews taken from Monor to forced labour battalions exceeded 100 and more than half of them were murdered. Most of the ones who died were those who had been taken to Ukraine. There were relatively more survivors among those who were deported to the west in 1945. Most survivors came from Eastern Hungary who escaped the deportation by the Arrow Cross Party, due to the advancing Soviet Army. Imre Szekeres was a survivor from the latter group.

Footnotes

1. “keret”, see Glossary of Terms in the Appendix. return
2. “Polgári,” see Glossary of Terms in the Appendix. return
3. “Délvidék,” see Glossary of Terms in the Appendix. return

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