Object numberM2018/018:022
DescriptionPostcard from Hungarian forced labourer Feri Reisz, written 5 July 1942 from a camp in an unknown location to his father Ignacz Reisz.
Postcard addressed to the apartment in Budapest to which Feri's parents had fled due to the anti-Semitic government harrassment occuring in their home village of Kunszentmiklos.
Feri writes that he is healthy, sends his wishes to the family, and emphasises that if letters are to reach him in the camp, they must be carefully addressed.
The postcard is standard issue stationary, bearing the slogan "The price of a Hungarian life: the death of the Soviets!"
Feri Reisz was born in 1911 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. Feri had one brother, Emil (b. 1915), and a sister, Ilona (b. 1916).
In 1930, Feri was barred from entering university due to the Horthy government’s restrictive anti-Jewish quotas, outlined in the ‘Numerous Clausus’ law of 1920. He subsequently travelled to Vienna to study for a few months.
In the years leading up to the war, Feri and Emil 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.
The brothers 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.
Postcard addressed to the apartment in Budapest to which Feri's parents had fled due to the anti-Semitic government harrassment occuring in their home village of Kunszentmiklos.
Feri writes that he is healthy, sends his wishes to the family, and emphasises that if letters are to reach him in the camp, they must be carefully addressed.
The postcard is standard issue stationary, bearing the slogan "The price of a Hungarian life: the death of the Soviets!"
Feri Reisz was born in 1911 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. Feri had one brother, Emil (b. 1915), and a sister, Ilona (b. 1916).
In 1930, Feri was barred from entering university due to the Horthy government’s restrictive anti-Jewish quotas, outlined in the ‘Numerous Clausus’ law of 1920. He subsequently travelled to Vienna to study for a few months.
In the years leading up to the war, Feri and Emil 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.
The brothers 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.
Production placeHungary
Production date 1942-07-05 - 1942-07-05
Subjectforced labour, forced labour camps, labourers, separation, family life, loved ones' final contacts
Object namepostcards
Materialpaper
Techniquehandwritten
Dimensions
- length: 147.00 mm
width: 105.00 mm
Language
- Hungarian The price of a Hungarian life: the death of the Soviets!
Official notes: Checked 14.07.1942
From
Name: Feri Reisz
Rank: [ILLEGIBLE]
Camp mail number: 223/76
Post stamp dated 17 July 1942
To:
Ignacz Reisz
34 Szigony Street, Floor 1, Apartment 3, Budapest
05.07.1942
Dear Mummy and Daddy, although I haven’t received a letter from home yet, I am writing again and letting you know that, thank God, I am healthy. Please be very careful with addressing your letters to me. I send my love to Emil, Ilona, (unintelligible) and the children, and regards to all acquaintances.
Feri.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ester Sarkadi-Clarke