Object numberM2018/018:052
Description20 medals awarded to Hungarian Jewish athlete Emil Reisz. Mostly athletic medals - for longjump, shotput, discus, and general sporting activities, dating from 1924 to 1937. M2018.018.052t is not an athletics medal, it marks the liberation of Upper Hungary in 1938, possibly acquired by Emil while in pre-war military service.
These medals were kept by Emil's sister Ilona after Emil's death in the Holocaust. She stored them in a hand-decorated box which Emil had sent home from a forced labour camp (see M2018/018:51). Until the end of her life, Ilona would occasionally take out the box and admire it.
Emil was born in 1915 to Ignacz and Margit Reisz (nee Herceg). The Reisz family were successful, integrated, businesspeople and owned farmland in the village of Kunszentmiklos, south of Budapest. 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.
These medals were kept by Emil's sister Ilona after Emil's death in the Holocaust. She stored them in a hand-decorated box which Emil had sent home from a forced labour camp (see M2018/018:51). Until the end of her life, Ilona would occasionally take out the box and admire it.
Emil was born in 1915 to Ignacz and Margit Reisz (nee Herceg). The Reisz family were successful, integrated, businesspeople and owned farmland in the village of Kunszentmiklos, south of Budapest. 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 1924 - 1938
Subjectmedals, medal ribbon, sports, sports & recreations, Olympics, antisemitism
Object namemedals
Materialmetal, fibres (fabrics)
Dimensions
- medals diameter: 40.00 mm
medals diameter: 28.00 mm
triangular ribbons width: 50.00 mm
triangular ribbons height: 39.00 mm
medals depth: 2.00 mm
018:052e ribbon length: 400.00 mm
018:052e ribbon width: 41.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ester Sarkadi-Clarke