Object numberM2018/018:017
DescriptionPostcard from Emil Reisz to his father, Ignacz, addressed to the family home in the village of Kunszentmiklos. c. February 1938
The letter was likely written while Emil was serving as a pre-war conscript in the Hungarian Army. He reports that all is well and that he is enjoying the food parcel the family sent. He requests a map and laments the fact that he is not allowed to return home.
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 subsequently 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 all is well and that he is enjoying the food parcel the family sent. He requests a map and laments the fact that he is not allowed to return home.
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 subsequently 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 placeKiskunhalas, Hungary
Production date 1938-02-01 - 1938-02-28
Object namepostcards
Materialpaper
Techniquehandwritten
Dimensions
- length: 147.00 mm
width: 105.00 mm
Language
- Hungarian Sender: R.E.
Kiskunhalas
To:
Ignacs Reisz
Kunzenmiklos
9 Kalvin Square
My dear parents, true to my promise I am writing a card. Really though, there is nothing special to report. I am healthy, everything is fine. I am eating the contents of the parcel happily while I still have the whole smoked leg and still have some of the cookies… I would like to go home, but they won’t let me so I am staying. If you find your map, please send it to me because I lost the one I have here. How is mummy’s leg/foot? Does she still have a cold? What is going on on the farm?
With love, Emil
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ester Sarkadi-Clarke