Object numberM2018/018:033
DescriptionLetter from Emil Reisz to his brother Feri, unknown date and location. The place name is half legible - beginning with "Nagy". This is a common prefix for names of Hungarian towns. Emil and/or Feri were eventually held in forced labour at Nagykanizsa, but the letter likely pre-dates this experience.
Emil is highly agitated and is imploring his brother to help him to deal with some kind of issue. Emil demands that Feri speak to a lawyer, and wants his case to gain the attention of Minister of the Interior. Emil is writing from a location at which he has been held "for months on end", Feri appears to still have freedom of movement.
The letter was probably written soon after the outbreak of war, perhaps when Emil was first suffering from police harrassment and arrest, and before both he and Feri were drafted into forced labour.
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.
Emil is highly agitated and is imploring his brother to help him to deal with some kind of issue. Emil demands that Feri speak to a lawyer, and wants his case to gain the attention of Minister of the Interior. Emil is writing from a location at which he has been held "for months on end", Feri appears to still have freedom of movement.
The letter was probably written soon after the outbreak of war, perhaps when Emil was first suffering from police harrassment and arrest, and before both he and Feri were drafted into forced labour.
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 1938 - 1941
Subjectlabourers, forced labour, arrests, forced labour camps, lawyers, separation, family life
Object nameletters
Materialpaper
Techniquehandwritten
Dimensions
- height: 300.00 mm
width: 465.00 mm
Language
- Hungarian Nagy… [remainder of place name illegible], 17th [month and year illegible]
To Feri,
You write about everything but you are not answering my questions… [ILLEGIBLE]… I don’t know why they have kept me here for months on end… [ILLEGIBLE]… See from here how their lies are imbued with immense bad will… You [plural] still haven’t written to me about whether you have gone to ‘Zaltzenberg’ [speaks about exchanges?]… You must see this lawyer. Don’t even write to me until you have done this. Respond to me immediately, but only if you have already gone to the lawyer. It is mind boggling that after what I have done for [somebody], they can do this to me. I am already explaining what I am basing my demands on. These people are in contact with the lawyer, and this lawyer has a good relationship with a gentleman from the Ministry of the Interior. Now, after the completion of the business of this issue, it will become clear who was processing my case. I am convinced that you are doing everything in my interest, but you have to take responsibility for getting mixed up with these crafty and evil people. Apparently the case could have gone to the Ministry of the Interior on the 10th of January, but at the advice of these people, we need to wait. Now you need to admit that I was right when I was distrustful about them. I ask you again to go to the lawyer, and there it will be that these peoples’ bad will will be immediately be made apparent. I only want an answer to this letter after you have gone to the lawyer. In your letter from last week you said that you would travel to Kunzenmiklos on Friday. Then, I received a letter that my case is with the Minister of the Interior, but I can only check this on Monday. You must do something because I am becoming physically sick from this… Writing this letter… to prevent it from falling into Mummy’s hands, and I am surprised that you cannot agree to a visit every second week. With love, Emil.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ester Sarkadi-Clarke