Object numberM2018/018:025
DescriptionPostcard from Hungarian forced labourer Feri Reisz, written on 15 November 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.
The postcard is standard issue stationary, bearing the slogan "The persistence and sacrifice of Hungary makes our arms victorious!"
Feri writes that he is healthy and looking forward to receiving a winter package. He says he has written to his maternal uncle Joska (Josef Herceg) for some kind of assistance. Josef's status as a decorated World War I veteran allowed him to provide some assistance to his family members during the war. He was at one time able to intervene to prevent Feri's sister Ilona from being deported, and played an invaluable role in hiding her children. He was eventually deported and did not survive the Holocaust.
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.
The postcard is standard issue stationary, bearing the slogan "The persistence and sacrifice of Hungary makes our arms victorious!"
Feri writes that he is healthy and looking forward to receiving a winter package. He says he has written to his maternal uncle Joska (Josef Herceg) for some kind of assistance. Josef's status as a decorated World War I veteran allowed him to provide some assistance to his family members during the war. He was at one time able to intervene to prevent Feri's sister Ilona from being deported, and played an invaluable role in hiding her children. He was eventually deported and did not survive the Holocaust.
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 1942-11-15 - 1942-11-15
Subjectlabourers, forced labour camps, forced labour, family life, loved ones' final contacts, 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 15.11.1942
From
Name: Ferenc Reisz
Rank: Forced labourer
Camp mail number: 223/76
Post stamp dated 25 Nov 1942
To:
Ignacz Reisz
34 Szigony Street, Floor 1, Apartment 3, Budapest
15 Nov 1942
My dear parents, I received 4 letters this week and I read with great gladness that thank God you are all well. I have not yet received the winter package - but it is true that so far I have not had a great need - and I hope that it will arrive in the next few days. As far as my health is concerned, thank God I am well. Recently I wrote to Joska, and asked him to deal with my issues and I think he got the note. Please send me 100gram parcels containing [ILLEGIBLE] - With love, Feri
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ester Sarkadi-Clarke