Object numberM2018/018:016
DescriptionPostcard from Emil Reisz to his father, Ignacz, addressed to the family home in the village of Kunszentmiklos. Post stamped March 1938.
The letter was likely written while Emil was serving as a pre-war conscript in the Hungarian Army. He reports that he is healthy, sends well wishes home and gives advice relating to the family farm.
Emil was born in 1915 to Ignacz and Margit Reisz (nee Herceg). The Reisz family were successful businesspeople and owned farmland in the village of Kunszentmiklos, south of Budapest. They were a prominent and integrated local family. Emil had one brother, Feri (b. 1911) and a sister, Ilona (b. 1916).
Emil was a gifted athlete - accomplished primarily in discus and javelin, as well as long jump and hurdling. By the time of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he was allegedly considered a likely candidate for an Olympic medal in discus. However, as a Jew he was excluded from selection for the Hungarian team. It was around this time that the family began to use a Hungarianised form of their name: Rabay.
Emil was also a talented artist, and had a keen interest in agriculture. He and his brother were barred from entering university due to the Horthy government’s restrictive anti-Jewish quotas outlined in the ‘Numerous Clausus’ law of 1920.
In the years leading up to the war, Emil and Feri were conscripted into the army, like many other young Hungarian men. While home in Kunszentmiklos in the early years of the war, they became the focus of police harassment and were interned.
They were segregated from other non-Jewish conscripts, drafted into the Jewish Labour Service, and transported to forced labour camps. They may have both spent time in forced labour at Nagykanizsa - a camp which was home to some famous Jewish actors and intellectuals. They are believed to have died in separate camps near the river Don (present-day Russia) at some time in 1943. The family later heard that a lack of sufficient footwear may have contributed to Emil’s death.
The letter was likely written while Emil was serving as a pre-war conscript in the Hungarian Army. He reports that he is healthy, sends well wishes home and gives advice relating to the family farm.
Emil was born in 1915 to Ignacz and Margit Reisz (nee Herceg). The Reisz family were successful businesspeople and owned farmland in the village of Kunszentmiklos, south of Budapest. They were a prominent and integrated local family. Emil had one brother, Feri (b. 1911) and a sister, Ilona (b. 1916).
Emil was a gifted athlete - accomplished primarily in discus and javelin, as well as long jump and hurdling. By the time of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he was allegedly considered a likely candidate for an Olympic medal in discus. However, as a Jew he was excluded from selection for the Hungarian team. It was around this time that the family began to use a Hungarianised form of their name: Rabay.
Emil was also a talented artist, and had a keen interest in agriculture. He and his brother were barred from entering university due to the Horthy government’s restrictive anti-Jewish quotas outlined in the ‘Numerous Clausus’ law of 1920.
In the years leading up to the war, Emil and Feri were conscripted into the army, like many other young Hungarian men. While home in Kunszentmiklos in the early years of the war, they became the focus of police harassment and were interned.
They were segregated from other non-Jewish conscripts, drafted into the Jewish Labour Service, and transported to forced labour camps. They may have both spent time in forced labour at Nagykanizsa - a camp which was home to some famous Jewish actors and intellectuals. They are believed to have died in separate camps near the river Don (present-day Russia) at some time in 1943. The family later heard that a lack of sufficient footwear may have contributed to Emil’s death.
Production placeHungary
Production date 1938-03-01 - 1938-03-31
Object namepostcards
Materialpaper
Techniquehandwritten
Dimensions
- length: 147.00 mm
width: 105.00 mm
Language
- Hungarian Sender: Emil
To: Ignacz Reisz, Kunszentmiklós.
My dear parents and children, … there is nothing special to report, I am healthy and I wish for you at home to stay healthy as well. The address that I mentioned to daddy is Reich Machine Factory, Szombathely (pressing machine and machine for threshing corn). There is another machine factory called Szofiana Machine Factory Pecs (everything could be bought cheaper…ILLEGIBLE). If Daddy hasn’t forgotten, in the field and also ... ILLEGIBLE ... they should plant three acres of carrots. Please don’t forget to plant 4 acres of ILLEGIBLE [some kind of animal feed?]. The rest, with the exception of what is fallow, plant with corn.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ester Sarkadi-Clarke