Object numberM2018/018:018
DescriptionPostcard from Hungarian forced labourer Emil Reisz to his father, Ignacz. It is addressed to the apartment in Budapest to which Emil's parents had fled due to the anti-Semitic government harrassment occuring in their home village of Kunszentmiklos.
The postcard was written on 4 December 1942, from a camp in an unknown location. Emil reports that he is healthy and all is fine. He writes about forced labour with a certain patriotic optimism, saying "Mummy should not torture herself with worry about me, because after all, this is everyone’s duty to fulfil, and it will pass".
The postcard is standard issue stationary, bearing the slogan "The persistence and sacrifice of Hungary makes our weapons victorious!"
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 postcard was written on 4 December 1942, from a camp in an unknown location. Emil reports that he is healthy and all is fine. He writes about forced labour with a certain patriotic optimism, saying "Mummy should not torture herself with worry about me, because after all, this is everyone’s duty to fulfil, and it will pass".
The postcard is standard issue stationary, bearing the slogan "The persistence and sacrifice of Hungary makes our weapons victorious!"
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 placeHungary
Production date 1942-12-04 - 1942-12-04
Subjectforced labour, forced labour camps, labourers, loved ones' final contacts, family life, separation
Object namepostcards
Materialpaper
Techniquehandwritten
Dimensions
- length: 148.00 mm
width: 105.00 mm
Language
- Hungarian The persistence and sacrifice of Hungary makes our arms victorious!
Official notes: Checked 12th December 1942
From
Name: Emil Reisz
Rank: [ILLEGIBLE]
Camp mail number: 257/77
Post stamp dated 21 December 1942
To
Ignacz Reisz
34 Szigony Street, Floor 1, Apartment 3, Budapest
04.12.1942
My dear parents and children of the family. First of all, let me tell you that I am healthy and that I wish health to all of you also. I received the cards from dear Mother, Ilona and Uncle Jenö, and I was very pleased to have received these cards. My heartfelt congratulations to Gyurka and wish luck and happiness for a long time together. There is not much to write about myself except that I have just cut off my moustache. Mummy should not torture herself with worry about me, because after all, this is everyone’s duty to fulfil, and it will pass, and she should save her strength for then. With love, Emil.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ester Sarkadi-Clarke