Object numberM2009/066:013
DescriptionLetter from Andor, Paks, Hungary, 16 March 1946, to George Medak, Sydney. He writes in response to George's letter searching for information about what happened to his family. Excerpt: "On June 5, we were all taken to Szekesfehervar, to the Csiko(?) brick factory, first all the Jews from the county and then from Szekesfehervar and we were all taken to Auschwitz on June 14. There was a so-called selection there that meant that about 15 per cent of the transport were taken out. The elderly, the sick, children under 15 and all mothers with children were, instead of a bath, taken to the gas chamber and executed. At first, we knew nothing about their fate and they could not have known it either."
Part of a collection of letters related to George and Iren Medák. George was born in Ercsi, Hungary on 26 February 1900. He viewed with alarm the success of Hitler’s territorial expansion as well as the radicalisation of German antisemitism. The Anschluss in 1938 was the catalyst that prompted him to put into action plans that resulted in his family’s successful emigration to Australia. He immigrated with his wife, Iren (nee Revesz) and six-year-old daughter, Veronica. They arrived in 1939. George tried desperately and repeatedly, albeit unsuccessfully, to get permission for his brother Dr Erno Medák, his wife Boriska and their young daughter Magdalene, to join them in Australia.
In December 1941 George was arrested as an ‘enemy alien’. Detectives took him away from his home to Liverpool internment camp, and from there to Tatura. He was released after about five weeks, and in February 1942 he joined the Australian Army. He had nothing but praise for the quality of care whilst in detention. During this time, his wife “walked the streets of Lane Cove” obtaining character references from friends, neighbours, work colleagues and the church ministry in order to petition for her husband’s release.
After the German occupation of Hungary—March 1944— letters from Erno stopped arriving. George’s quest to discover the fate of his family resulted in 22 letters of response from friends, neighbours and officials such as the Post Master in the villages of Sárosd and Seregélyes. They offer rare insight into the experiences of Jews living in rural Hungary, as well as the Nazi-allied Hungarian regime’s anti-Jewish laws, its forced labour service (munkaszolgálat), ghettoization, searching for “hidden Jewish wealth”, despair, suicide, deportation, and the decimation of rural Jewry. Through the letters he learned that his brother Dr Erno Medák and Erno’s wife Boriska, their young daughter Magdalena (Magdi) were murdered in Auschwitz in 1944; George’s mother Gisella Medák was also murdered.
George died June 1955. Veronica’s parents had hidden the knowledge that they were Jewish and she only found out in 1972 when her mother died. The collection includes copies of the letters of reference and a travel permit allowing Iren to travel for her dressmaking business and her daughter’s music lessons.
Part of a collection of letters related to George and Iren Medák. George was born in Ercsi, Hungary on 26 February 1900. He viewed with alarm the success of Hitler’s territorial expansion as well as the radicalisation of German antisemitism. The Anschluss in 1938 was the catalyst that prompted him to put into action plans that resulted in his family’s successful emigration to Australia. He immigrated with his wife, Iren (nee Revesz) and six-year-old daughter, Veronica. They arrived in 1939. George tried desperately and repeatedly, albeit unsuccessfully, to get permission for his brother Dr Erno Medák, his wife Boriska and their young daughter Magdalene, to join them in Australia.
In December 1941 George was arrested as an ‘enemy alien’. Detectives took him away from his home to Liverpool internment camp, and from there to Tatura. He was released after about five weeks, and in February 1942 he joined the Australian Army. He had nothing but praise for the quality of care whilst in detention. During this time, his wife “walked the streets of Lane Cove” obtaining character references from friends, neighbours, work colleagues and the church ministry in order to petition for her husband’s release.
After the German occupation of Hungary—March 1944— letters from Erno stopped arriving. George’s quest to discover the fate of his family resulted in 22 letters of response from friends, neighbours and officials such as the Post Master in the villages of Sárosd and Seregélyes. They offer rare insight into the experiences of Jews living in rural Hungary, as well as the Nazi-allied Hungarian regime’s anti-Jewish laws, its forced labour service (munkaszolgálat), ghettoization, searching for “hidden Jewish wealth”, despair, suicide, deportation, and the decimation of rural Jewry. Through the letters he learned that his brother Dr Erno Medák and Erno’s wife Boriska, their young daughter Magdalena (Magdi) were murdered in Auschwitz in 1944; George’s mother Gisella Medák was also murdered.
George died June 1955. Veronica’s parents had hidden the knowledge that they were Jewish and she only found out in 1972 when her mother died. The collection includes copies of the letters of reference and a travel permit allowing Iren to travel for her dressmaking business and her daughter’s music lessons.
Production placeHungary
Production date circa 1946
Subjectvictims, searching, families, final solution
Object nameletters
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 211.00 mm
height: 296.00 mm
Language
- Hungarian a. & b.
Paks, March 16, 1946
Mr dear Gyuri,
I received your letter of February 17 and your letter of February 23 at the same time and I now respond to both. By the way, I gave a letter for you to Ella K. after the visit on January 30 , and I hope you have received it since then. I will repeat here everything I put into that letter and I will start from when you left. I was called up in March 1939 and I served in the regular Army. Meanwhile at home we lost the liquor business and I could no longer trade in grain, but we survived. After about eight weeks I was demobbed and was called up again in July 1940 and I served in a Jewish labour battalion until December 6 and after that there was general mobilisation and I was called up again and my Panni had to struggle with the business and the farm on her own. Meanwhile, there was a constant stream of anti-Jewish regulations. In 1943 our land and equipment was taken away without any compensation whatsoever. However, the real troubles started on March 19, 1944, when the eternally cursed Germans marched in.
Our Agi suffered from whooping cough and Panni took her to Paszto for a change of environment as our governess was from Paszto. On the way home, Panni was captured at the Keleti and interned in Kistarcsa, and from there she was deported to Auschwitz on April 28. In Auschwitz she worked in various factories and only returned home on June 18, 1945. You can imagine my anguish, but with great difficulty I managed to get Agika home (Jews were not allowed to travel and we had to wear a star ). On June 5, we were all taken to Szekesfehervar, to the Csiko(?) brick factory, first all the Jews from the county and then from Szekesfehervar and we were all taken to Auschwitz on June 14. There was a so-called selection there that meant that about 15 per cent of the transport were taken out. The elderly, the sick, children under 15 and all mothers with children were, instead of a bath, taken to the gas chamber and executed. At first, we knew nothing about their fate and they could not have known it either. I only learnt the full truth after I returned home. I was together with poor Erno until July 11, I was then taken to work to ??? that belonged to Dachau and I worked there until the liberation. We were liberated on May 1, 1945 and severely ill, weighing only 45 kilos, I was there until July 11 when the Americans took me to ?? and I got home on September 8, weak, weighing 65 kilos. I found my home devastated, uninhabitable, no furniture or clothes, no business, no farm equipment, in other words, nothing. However, at home I found Panni, and I ‘d known nothing of her until then. I also found out the awful fate that befell our dear Agika and my relatives. We were often told about this in Germany, but we could not believe that a human brain could come up with something like this and human evil could implement it. With regard to the letter sent to you by Jozsef Mongyi, I will make enquires to ascertain how he behaved towards your poor family. My experience is that the majority were guilty, indifferent or cowards and they didn’t do anything to help us. The result shows it, only about eight to ten per cent of rural Jewry is still alive including those in forced labour who were deported late or not deported at all. Anyway, nothing should be sent to him just yet. His news about your dear family are true. I immediately sent a letter to Mrs Arpad Klein and as soon as I get a response, I’ll forward it to you. The house in Sarosd is in ruins. If you send me or your brother-in-law a power of attorney, we can attempt to get something back. There won’t be a great result, I know that from my experience. My dear Gyuri, thank you so very much for wanting to support us, but we are managing even if it is not easy and we don’t really suffer from the lack of anything. It is our souls that are destroyed because of the loss of our dear Agika. I’d like to ask you to let me know how one can get there , what can one do there, how much one needs to live and how much can one earn. Maybe it would be easier to live in another environment, though I’m afraid that we would not be free from these memories ever, regardless of where we are. Karcsi and his family perished as well as the rest of Panni’s family from here, with the exception of two nephews who live in Budapest with her brother and sister. The three Roth boys survived, and in Ercsi only 11 people survived from 110. We now live in Paks. We got our land back, I will attempt to plant the fields, and we earn enough here to live modestly. No house or furniture in Ercsi, only the awful memories. If I’m there for a few days to work the land I can hardly wait to get away. By the way the only habitable Jewish house is Karcsi’s and it is large enough for everyone who got home. The population is friendly as long as one doesn’t demand the return of stolen goods, and this is the bare minimum they can do, there is no moral or financial compensation. I’ll write more another time, I think this is enough for now.
With the warmest friendly regards to you and ?? and ??
Andor
All my letters are also for Mrs Schulz, I am grateful to you for forwarding them to her.
Panni also send her regards, when I write next she will also write to you.
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Dr Veronica Goldrick