Номер объектаM2018/018:020
ОписаниеPostcard from Hungarian forced labourer Emil Reisz to his maternal uncle Istvan Herceg (nickname Pista/Pisti), in Budapest.
The postcard is dated to c. 10 September 1942. It includes a return address in Sajoszentpeter, northern Hungary.
The postcard appears to have the handwriting of another unknown individual, Miklos Grosz. The authors make a detailed request for warm clothes, and write that sending food is prohibited.
Emil Reisz 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.
The postcard is dated to c. 10 September 1942. It includes a return address in Sajoszentpeter, northern Hungary.
The postcard appears to have the handwriting of another unknown individual, Miklos Grosz. The authors make a detailed request for warm clothes, and write that sending food is prohibited.
Emil Reisz 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.
Место изготовленияSajoszentpeter, Hungary
Дата 1942-09-10 - 1942-09-10
Темаforced labour, clothing, forced labour camps, labourers, separation, loved ones' final contacts, family life
Наименованиеpostcards
Материалpaper
Техникаhandwritten
Размерность
- length: 146.00 mm
width: 105.00 mm
Язык
- Hungarian Sender: [ILLEGIBLE]
257/77
To:
Istvan Herczeg
Felsoerdosor 12/14
Budapest
10.09.1942 [?]
My dear Pisti, please get mummy to buy and send to my address the following items – A shirt and trousers, a pair of thick leather gloves, and fur lined mittens, two pairs of ski socks, [warm underwear / a warm layer for wearing under one's gloves?], ear muffs, A fur hat, two pairs of warm footwraps. ... [ILLEGIBLE ADDRESS]
The outer layer of the parcel should say Sajoszentpeter, and the inner lining should say Miklos Grosz 257/77. No food is allowed. Love Emil.
One pair of long warm thick socks
Кредитная линияSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Ester Sarkadi-Clarke