6.

The Ábrahám family

As we saw in Section 4, Rezső was hired by Ignátz Deutsch to

teach at the Jewish Community School in Őcsény in 1907-1908. They
maintained a close relationship even when Rezső was already
teaching in Simontornya. He came to Őcsény regularly to teach
German to Ignátz’s young daughter, Margit. The girl liked her teacher.
When Rezső went to visit families with marriageable daughters,
Margit ironed his shirt. In May 1909 they became engaged. He was
26, she barely 18. They were married on February 6, 1910.

Deutsch Margitka and Ábrahám Rezső are engaged.

Őcsény, May 1909.

The young couple liked the songs of Pista Dankó, especially these:

Eltörött a hegedűm, nem akar szólani,

Rózsi, Rózsi mi bajod? Mért nem akarsz szólni?
A hegedűm majd megreparálom...
Szólalj meg hát, rubintos virágom.

and

Madár vígan dalolva lombos ágon,

Lágy esti széltől csókdosott virág,
És minden, minden széles e világon,
Szerelmet érez, hőn szeretni vágy!
Bevallanám én is titkát szívemnek,
S elmondanám, hogy mily híven szeretlek,
Elmondanám, de hasztalan beszéd,
Hideg szobor vagy, meg sem értenéd.

Rezső knew that an elementary school teacher’s miserable

salary was not enough to raise a family. Ignátz had a relative who
worked for the Déli Vaspálya Társaság or simply Délivasút (Southern
Railroad Company) that served the transportation needs of
Southwestern Hungary. This relative recommended Rezső for a job
at the Company.
To work for a railroad was considered a very good job with
many guaranteed benefits including a pension plan. The popular
slogan said: Teheti, mert vasúti, magyar állam fizeti. (He can do it
since he is with the railroads and paid by the Hungarian state).
Therefore, it was not easy to become a railroad employee. The
Southern Railroad Company did not belong to the state, but later it
became part of Magyar Államvasutak (MÁV, Hungarian State
Railroads).
Rezső passed the
entrance exam mandated by the
Company and started his
railroad career on March 16,
1910. First he had to learn
different skills necessary for this
kind of job. Thus, he had to
report to Mr. Gusztáv
Zimmermann, telegraph
supervisor in Nagykanizsa, to
learn the basics of telegraph
service. After passing the
telegraph examination he was
“candidate to station attendant
assistant “ (!!!) for a short time,
then appointed as “temporary
file-clerk“ with a salary of 2.80
korona per day at the
Department of Tariff
Reclamations and Repayments
in Budapest on July 8, 1910. Rezső is a temporary file clerk

2
 The appointment meant that they had to move to Budapest.
Margit did not want to live in the big city. As a compromise, they
moved to Nagytétény, a village just south of Budapest on the West
(Buda) side of the Danube, from where Rezső could commute to
work by train. (Nagytétény is now District XXII of Budapest). They
rented a room in the house of a German woman by the name of Mári
Milch, who had two sons and two or three cows and sold milk in one
of the markets of Budapest.
László (Laci) was born there on November 13, 1910.

Six-month-old Laci is inoculated against smallpox

In June 1911 Rezső was appointed file clerk of 2nd class with a
yearly salary of 1200 korona.
This was a permanent job that
provided security to the family.
Rezső signed his oath to be
faithful to His Imperial and
Apostolic Royal Majesty in
February 1912. In May he was
admitted to the Pension Fund
of Servants (sic). In June 1913
his salary was raised to 1300
korona per year. Two years
later he already earned 1400
korona per annum.

Rezső has a permanent job

3
 So help me God (again) The ultimate job security: Rezső is
admitted to the Pension Fund of
Servants

The family soon moved to Márvány Street on the Buda side of

Budapest. This is where their second child, Ilonka, was born on May
21, 1912.
Ödön, Margit’s youngest brother, came to live with the family in
1913 when he was 12 years old. He started as an apprentice
mechanic but he had seen his father working as a furrier and wanted
to become one himself. Later, he moved to a furnished room, married
Sári Fenyvesi, and rented a workshop on Tisza Kálmán Square
where he established his successful furrier trade. He employed about
a dozen journeymen and several apprentices. He played all string
instruments: violin, cello, contrabass, and cimbalom. He taught Rezső
and Laci to play the cimbalom, too.
The family moved again to Nagytétény, this time to a house
with three rooms and a cellar, then back to Buda, to Greguss Street,
just opposite the terminal station of the Southern Railroad Company.
They first lived at 4 Greguss Street in a two-room apartment, then on

4
the first floor of 3 Greguss Street in a one-room apartment but with a
bathroom. There was an empty ground at the corner of Greguss
Street and Nagyenyed Street. The two children played there. It was
also a place where funeral processions stopped on their way to the
Farkasrét Cemetery. During military funerals the orchestra played
Gotter Halte, the national anthem of the Empire.
Count Károly Khuen-Héderváry was Prime Minister from 17
January 1910 till 22 April 1912. He was followed by László Lukács
(22 April 1912 – 10 June 1913), then by Count István Tisza (10 June
1913 – 15 June 1917). Everything looked just fine.

Let’s rush with the rushing times! I need Dido for cosmetics!

The Empire engaged in a hate campaign against Serbia in

1914. The popular sentiment was strongly for a war. People scanted
the popular slogan: Megállj, megállj, kutya Szerbia, nem lesz tiéd
soha Bosznia! (Wait till we catch you, dog Serbia, Bosnia will never
belong to you!)
Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo on
June 28, 1914. On July 23, assured by unconditional support of
Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire issued an impossible
ultimatum to Serbia. Nevertheless, the Serbian government accepted
almost all the terms of the ultimatum. In spite of this, the Empire
declared war on Serbia on July 28 and proceeded to bombard
Belgrade with artillery the next day.
The Emperor announced: “Mindent megfontoltam, mindent
meggondoltam” (I have considered and thought everything over). He
also promised that the soldiers will be back home by autumn “when
the leaves fall.” Total mobilization followed.
The war was supported by many Hungarians who believed the
Emperor. However, the national minorities were not so enthusiastic.
For example, Rezső witnessed Bosnian soldiers of the Austro-
Hungarian Army defecating into the water of a public bath in

5
Budapest, to show their unhappiness to fight against their Serbian
brothers.
The military discipline in the “K und K“ (Imperial and Royal) Army
was very strict as the following anecdote demonstrates it. The
sergeant explains to his platoon: “The authority of a Private First
Class is such as that of your village Notary. The authority of a
Corporal is such as that of your District Administrator. The authority of
a Lance Sergeant is such as that of your Chief Constable.“ A soldier
asks permission to speak: “What is the authority at home that
corresponds to that of a Sergeant?“ The sergeant replies: “That high
an authority does not exist at your home or anywhere else outside the
Army!“
It was generally assumed that the Empire would be on the
winning side of the war. This belief, however, was based on
emotions, not facts. For example, the authorities totally forgot to take
America’s possible involvement into account. As a result, the war was
not only doomed to defeat but it also led to the end of the Austro-
Hungarian Monarchy.

Total mobilization Up with the war!

6
 Laci and Ilonka celebrate the war

Rezső was already 31 years old and unfit to military service. He

was, however, enlisted in the Militia in November 1914. He was not
actually called up because railroad workers were considered
performing military service.

7
Rezső is enlisted in the Militia with the right to a braid on the sleeve of
his uniform

The war ended the universal blissfulness of the happy peace

times. Béla Zerkovitz’s song reflected the new mood:

Tanulj meg, fiacskám, komédiázni,

Tanulj meg kacagni, sírni, ha kell,
Tanulj a rosszhoz is jó képet vágni,
Magaddal törődj csak, más senkivel.
Ne higyj a barátnak, hű szeretőnek,
Ne higyj az eskünek, ne higyj soha,
Tanulj meg, fiacskám, komédiázni,
Mert minden, minden csak komédia.

8
 At the Railroad Company Rezső became a freight
transportation expert. He specialized in auditing waybills. This was a
rather complicated task because freights were transported using
different railroads both inside and outside of the country and a
complex system of discounts was in effect.
The family had a permanent permit to travel second-class on all
railroads of Hungary and even on some abroad. Only upper-class
people traveled first class those days. Ladies, gentlemen and
stowaways traveled second class. Third class was for ordinary
people.
Rezső‘s job required a high-school diploma. He had attended a
Gymnasium back in Nagyszalonta for two years only. His Teacher’s
Certificate was not accepted as a replacement, so he had to pass a
matriculation exam for the required diploma in 1916. On top of that,
he had to attend a school for training to become a railroad officer. He
received this diploma a year later. As a result, he had three diplomas.
Neither of them was from an institute of higher education, but he liked
to mention his diplomas each time we had an argument about
something.

Rezső’s diploma from the High School of Commerce

9
 Rezső is qualified as a railroad officer

Emperor Franz Joseph died on November 21, 1916. Charles I

assumed the trone of the Empire. He was also crowned as Hungarian
King Károly IV. The war took its victims by thousands. Everything was
rationed. Acordingly, the enthusiasm disappeared and a strong anti-
war movement developed. Tamás Emőd’s poem characterizes the
mood:

Temetőszagot hoz százfelől a Posta,

Verje meg az Isten, aki ezt okozta.
Aki ezt a nagy gyászt a világra mérte,
Az Úristen előtt feleljen meg érte.

10
Rationing bread, flour, fat, sugar. Everything for the Army!

War casualties who were lucky to survive

11
 Against the horrors of the war

Rezső joined the Social Democratic Party in 1916. He was one

of the organizers of the local chapter of the Railroad Workers‘ Trade
Union. Together with Sándor Millok (1887 – 1959), the later editor of
Népszava, the Party’s newspaper, they organized the Party in the 1st
District of Budapest. Rezső became secretary of the Party’s section
at the Railroad Company.
Rezső also met Aladár Weisshaus (1887 – 1963) at the
Railroad Company. Weisshaus was a prominent figure of the
Hungarian workers‘ movement. He was imprisoned for his
revolutionary activities. As a punishment, he was not allowed to read
any books except the Bible. Then he asked a Bible in English and
learned the language from this source (!) so well that when Ramsay
MacDonald, the later Prime Minister of Great Britain, came to
Budapest in 1919, Weisshaus was able to confer with him in English.
We will hear of this remarkable man later.
Count Móric Esterházy was Prime Minister from 15 June to 20
August 1917. Sándor Wekerle followed him (20 August, 1917 – 31
October 1918).

12
 On November 7, 1917, the October Revolution triumphed in
Russia.

Lenin

Funeral hymn over the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

It was clear that the war had been lost. Soldiers deserted the
front en masse. In the ensuing chaos, Count Mihály Károlyi
established a National Council on October 24, 1918. A week later the
“Aster Revolution” broke out (soldiers put this flower on their caps).

13
Tisza was assassinated. Count János Hadik was appointed Prime
Minister, but the “Red Count” Mihály Károlyi replaced him the same
day. He held this post until 11 January 1919.
The enthusiasm was overwhelming and it flared up to an anti-
monarchy attitude. People in cafes sang Gotterhalte, the anthem of
the Empire, replacing the lyrics with the listing of the suits of the so-
called Swiss cards, which were and still are the most widespread type
of playing cards used in Hungary:

Hetes, nyolcas, kilences, tizes,

alsó, felső, király, disznó.
(Seven, eight, nine, ten,
knave, boss, king, pig).
DISZNÓ KIRÁLY (Pig king), felső, alsó,
tizes, kilences, nyolcas, hetes.

The Aster Revolution

14
 Revolution has broken out! Up with the Republic!

The Empire signed the armistice that ended the First World War
on November 3, 1918. The Empire was
officially dissolved on November 11. On
November 16, the National Council
proclaimed the Hungarian People’s
Republic. Károlyi became its President on
January 1, 1919. Dénes Berinkey was
Prime Minister from January 18 till March
22, 1919. Károlyi tried his best to establish
order in the country. Among other things,
he allowed the regular sergeants to wear
golden shoulder straps like officers. (The
Soviet Republic later abolished all ranks.
No wonder, most of the commissioned and
non-commissioned officers were against
the Soviet regime.) Károlyi Mihály, the
Red Count

15
 The proclamation of the Republic

The chaos that followed was complete. Serb, Czech, and

Romanian troops occupied two-thirds of Hungary. The Serb and
Croat population of Southern Hungary issued a proclamation in the
city of Újvidék that they wished to join Serbia (November 25). On
December 1, the Romanian population of Transylvania issued a
similar proclamation in Gyulafehérvár to join Romania.
On March 20th, 1919, the Entente Powers (France, Great
Britain, Italy, the United States, Serbia, Romania, the Czechs, etc.)
delivered the "Vyx Ultimatum" that allowed the
enemy states to annex whatever territory was under
their occupation. The next day, Károlyi and his entire
government resigned. The more radical socialists
jumped at the opportunity and joined forces with
Béla Kun (1886-1938), the Bolshevik agitator whom
Károlyi had released from prison earlier that day.
Unfortunately, Kun’s original family name was Kohn
and this caused a lot of problems for the Hungarian
Kun Béla
Jews later.
The Hungarian Communist Party was organized in a Moscow
hotel on November 4, 1918, when a group of Hungarian prisoners of
war formed a Central Committee and dispatched members to
Hungary to recruit new members, propagate the party's ideas, and
radicalize Károlyi's government. They started to publish Vörös Újság
(Red Newspaper) on December 7. By February 1919, the party had
some 40,000 members, including many unemployed ex-soldiers,

16
young intellectuals, many of them Jews. In the same month, Kun was
imprisoned for incitement to riot, but his popularity skyrocketed when
a journalist reported that he had been beaten by the police. Kun
emerged from jail triumphant when the Social Democrats handed
power to a government of People's Commissars, who proclaimed the
Hungarian Soviet Republic on March 21, 1919. Sándor Garbai was
Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars from 22 March till
23 June, 1919, followed by Antal Dovcsák (24 June – 1 August), but
the real power belonged to Kun who officially held only the post of
People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs.

The Red Newspaper

On June 25, Kun's government proclaimed a dictatorship of the

proletariat, nationalized industrial and commercial enterprises, and
socialized housing, transport, banking, medicine, cultural institutions,
and all landholdings of more than 40 hectares.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat!

Long live the Hungarian Soviet Republic in alliance with the Russians

17
 The new regime was enthusiastically supported by the
intelligentsia. They sang revolutionary songs like this:

Fel vörösök, proletárok,

Csillagosok, katonák!
Nagy munka vár ma reátok,
Állnak még a paloták.
Királyok, hercegek, grófok,
Naplopók és burzsoák,
Reszkessetek, mert feltámadt
Az elnyomott proletár.

Orchestras all over the country played the International:

Föl, föl, ti rabjai a földnek,

Föl, föl, te éhes proletár!
A győzelem napjai jönnek,
Rabságodnak vége már!
A múltat végképp eltörölni
Rabszolgahad, indulj velünk!
A föld fog sarkából kidőlni,
Semmik vagyunk, s minden leszünk.
Ez a harc lesz a végső, csak összefogni hát,
És nemzetközivé lesz holnapra a világ!

Proletarians of the World, unite!

18
Even the greatest Hungarian poets saluted the revolution:

Im eljöttem!
Eljött a Vörös Isten!
És megy s dörgő léptére messze reszket
A sárga Szajna s medréből kicsap,
Jerichós visszhangot ver vén Westminster,
S az Óceán zöld üvegén vörösen
Elõre rezg ezermérföldes árnya,
S átfogja a Fehér Ház vak falát...
Hozsánna néked, új Isten, hozsánna!
Ismerj meg minket, tieid vagyunk!
A szíved hajtó, élő, drága nedv,
A diadalmas vörös lüktetés
A mi bús bérünktől is gazdagult,
S világra ömlő harsonád sodrába
Gyötört torkunk reszkető hangverése
Szerényen s mégis egyítve simul
A kicsiny, árva magyar jaj-patak
A messze zengő, nagy moszkvai árba,
Mely most tisztára mossa a világot;
Hozsánna néked, új Isten, hozsánna!
Legyen szavad teremtés új igéje,
Formáld át sáros, bűnös, ócska bolygónk,
Mit elrontott sok régi, úri isten.
Te istenek közt új és proletár,
Formáld boldoggá pörölyös kezeddel,
Emelj minket roppant tenyereidre
És a magad képére gyúrj át minket!
- Árpád Tóth: Új Isten szól hozzátok, emberek!

Ez az ország a mi országunk,
Itt most már a mi kezünk épít,
Tobzódtatok, tobzódtatok,
Éppen elég volt ezer évig.
Hír és dal ma riongva vág szét
Városfalak közt, falvan, pusztán:
Itt van a nép, megjött a Nép
Vihar-irammal, Hadak Útján.

19
Itt van a nép, trónt ülni fog most
Ezer évig férge a rögnek,
Itél a nép, ítélni fog
S ezerszer jaj a bűnösöknek.
- Endre Ady: A Hadak Útja

Nyakatokon vad, úri tatárok,

S mégis büszke a ti fejetek.
Frissek a vérben, nagyok a hitben;
Csák Máté földjén ti vagytok az Isten.
Előre, magyar proletárok!
Ami csak szépség s ami reménység,
Mind ti vagytok a Tisza körül.
Nincs a világon még annyi bánat,
S annyi láncosa nincs még a világnak,
Mint itt és nincs annyi nagy éhség.
Éhe kenyérnek, éhe a Szónak,
Éhe a Szépnek hajt titeket.
Nagyobb igaza sohse volt népnek,
Hitványabb Nérók még seholse éltek.
Vagytok: a Ma; vagytok: a Holnap.
Én, beteg ember, csupán csak várok,
Vitézlő harcos nem lehetek.
De szíveteket megérdemeltem,
Veletek száguld, vív, ujjong a lelkem:
Véreim, magyar proletárok.
- Endre Ady: Csák Máté földjén

Ady was celebrated during the Károlyi

regime as the storm bird of the Revolution.
He did not live to see the Soviet Republic (he
died on January 27, 1919).

Ady Endre
20
 Work! Bread is scarce!

Rezső as a social democrat and also as an intellectual was

naturally attracted to this new life. He was elected to the Great Soviet
and also to the so called Executive Committee of Twenty. In the latter
he served together with People’s Commissar Mátyás Rákosi, the later
dictator of Hungary. I have seen a document in the Museum of the
Hungarian Workers‘ Movement that proved this fact. These were not
full-time positions; he continued his work at the Railroad Company.
His salary was raised to 2900 korona per year.
As might be expected, not everybody was happy with this
regime. However, Tibor Szamuely (1890-1919) organized a very
effective commando force (the so-called Lenin Boys) who went from
place to place to suppress any counter-revolutionary activity.

The Lenin Boys

21
 Szamuely
Tibor
You! Counter-revolutionary, hiding in the dark
and spreading disquieting rumors, tremble!

The following anecdote is typical of those times. An old peasant

and a young man are sitting in a train car. They start a conversation.
The old man consistently calls the young lad “Comrade People’s
Commissar.” The young man protests and asks why he is called so.
The peasant answers: “Because you are a sniveling brat and also
Jewish.” (“Mert taknyos is, meg zsidónak is tetszik lenni.”)
Shadow counterrevolutionary governments formed in Szeged
(occupied by French troops). The “Szegedi gondolat” (Szeged’s Idea)
was created by bloodthirsty military officers who gathered there ready
for revenge.

Don’t despair! The triumphant campaign of the Red Army (May-June,

1919).

22
 Red soldiers, forward!
In, into the Red Army!

To arms! To arms!

In late May, Kun attempted to fulfill his promise to restore

Hungary's borders. The Hungarian Red Army marched northward
and reoccupied part of Slovakia. Despite the initial military success,
however, Kun withdrew his troops about three weeks later when the
French threatened to intervene. This concession shook his popular
support. Kun then unsuccessfully turned the Hungarian Red Army on
the Romanians, who broke through Hungarian lines on July 30,
occupied and looted Budapest, and ousted the Soviet Republic on

23
August 1, 1919. Kun fled first to Vienna and then to Soviet Russia,
where he was executed during Stalin's purges. Szamuely was killed
around the border with Austria while he was trying to escape.
Gyula Peidl (a Social Democrat) formed a new government but
it lasted only six days. He was followed by István Friedrich (7 August
– 24 November, 1919. Károly Huszár’s government was formed on
November 24. He stayed in power until 14 March 1920, when he was
replaced by Sándor Simonyi-Semadam (14 March – 19 July, 1920).
The revenge of the counter-revolution was horrible. The White
Terror that followed the fall of the Soviet Republic caused the torture
and death of thousands of communists and Jews (of course, without
any legal procedures). We can read about the unspeakable atrocities
committed by the beasts of the white commandos in Andor Gábor’s
Letters from Vienna. The castrations, buryings alive, hangings, and
other tortures and mass executions committed in Siófok and
Orgovány were especially well documented.

Three prominent butchers of the White Terror: Prónay Pál, Héjjas

Iván, and Bibó Dénes (from left to right)

Rezső was arrested, too. He was released on September 5 on

the condition that he had to report to the Police every week. His
colleagues testified in his defense.

24
 Rezső is a political prisoner Proofs of Rezső’s reporting to
the Police

“I hereby testify that Ábrahám Rezső, clerk of the Southern Railroad

Company, did not commit any crimes during Communism, and he
behaved himself with utmost righteousness. – Horky Ferenc, August
15, 1919.“

The Railroad Company also started an investigation that lasted

almost two years. Interestingly, Rezső‘s promotion during the Soviet
Republic was approved already on November 28, 1919.

25
 Ábrahám Rezső is acquitted of the charges for his behavior during
the so-called (sic) Soviet Government. April 15, 1921.

The leader of the counter-revolution was Miklós Horthy of

Nagybánya. He was born in Kenderes on June 18, 1868. He was a
Rear-Admiral of the Austro-Hungarian
Imperial Fleet. He served as aide-de-
camp (confidential assistant) of the
Emperor from 1910 to 1914. In
February1918 the sailors mutinied in
Cattaro (now Kotor), a port in the
Adriatic Sea. Horthy ruthlessly put
down the mutiny, ordering the
execution of many sailors, and earning
the nickname of The Butcher of
Cattaro. After this heroic deed he was
appointed Commander in Chief of the
entire Imperial Fleet. He surrendered
the Fleet to the new State of Slovenes,
Croats and Serbs (the later Yugoslavia)
on October 31, 1918.

Horthy Miklós

26
 After the Romanian occupation he ceremoniously entered “guilty
Budapest” (his own words) riding a white horse on November 14,
1919. On March 1, 1920 he was proclaimed Ő Főméltósága a
Magyar Királyság Kormányzója (His Serene Highness, Governor
Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary).
Endre Nagy characterized him in his Cabaret:
Volt egyszer egy tenger,
Azon volt egy ember,
Felmászott a trónra,
Nem mászik le róla.
Indeed, athough he was Regent of the Hungarian Kingdom, he
was not planning to allow the King to occupy his throne. When King
Károly IV attempted to do so, Horthy’s troops unceremoniously threw
him out of Hungary.

Horthy enters guilty Budapest

Horthy is greeted by the triumphant new rulers of Hungary

27
 His Serene Highness

On June 4, 1920, the Peace Treaty ending World War I was

signed in the Grand Trianon Palace of Versailles. Its portion known
as the Trianon Treaty sanctified the dismemberment of Hungary. It is
a fact that less than half of the population of old Hungary was
Hungarian. It is also a fact that the national minorities had been
oppressed by the Hungarian authorities and looked down upon by the
Hungarian people. They were even referred to by derogatory names
like tót for Slovak and oláh for Romanian. Transylvania was called the
land of three nations: Hungarians, Székelys, and Saxons. The
Romanians who formed a considerable proportion of the population
were not even mentioned, let alone represented. Many Slovaks took
their sons to a high mountain and showed them the land below:
Vidish Yano, Magyarzország [Look, Yano, Hungary (with a Slovak
accent)]. And Yano traveled from place to place as a drótostót (tinker
Slovak).

28
 Therefore, it was justified that after the collapse of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire the Romanians,
Slovaks, Serbs and Croats were allowed
to join Romania and the newly formed
countries of Czechoslovakia and the State
of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs,
respectively. However, the creators of this
Treaty headed by the senile French Prime
Minister, Georges Clemenceau (1841-
1929) established the new borders
without regard of the actual distribution of
the population. They took away two thirds
of historic Hungary including such
territories as, for example, the Csallóköz
where the population was almost purely Georges Clemenceau
Hungarian. The entire province of Transylvania was summarily
swallowed by Romania including all of the Hungarian Székelys.

Justice for Hungary! Cursed be the hand that

signs this peace!

29
This is our cross! He is our supreme leader!
This is our Motherland!

The dismemberment of Hungary

30
 Horthy’s troops in front of the Royal Castle

Although Horthy came to power on Romanian bayonettes, his

regime was based entirely on revenge against all states that acquired
Hungarian territory in Trianon, especially Romania. He did not forget
the Jews, either. Numerus Clausus was intruduced in 1920 by his
Prime Minister, Count Pál Teleki (19 July 1920 – 14 April 1921). This
was the first anti-Jewish law of 20th century Europe. No wonder,
Horthy bragged that he had been a Fascist before Mussolini. The
number of Jews who could be admitted to the Hungarian universities
was officially designated as no more than five percent of the total
enrollment. As a result, talented Jewish young men left the country by
the thousands, among them Ede (Edward) Teller, Jenő (Eugene)
Wigner, Dénes (Dennis) Gábor, and many other future prominent
scientists. According to the famous anecdote, during the development
of the atomic bomb, when Einstein went to the bathroom, somebody
exclaimed: “Gentlemen, now we can speak Hungarian.”
The extreme right-wing elements formed parties like Magyar
Országos Véderő Egyesület
(Hungarian National Defense
Force Union) and Ébredő
Magyarok Egyesülete (Union
of the Awakening Hungarians).
They hysterically demanded
revenge.

Meeting of the Awakening

Hungarians
31
 Demonstration of the new masters of Hungary

Horthy used all available means to establish himself as the real

ruler of Hungary. He went as far as creating his own nobility in the
form of the Vitézi Rend (Order of Courageous Warriors). Needless to
say that the first Vitéz was Horthy himself.

Vitéz nagybányai Horthy Miklós initiates new members into his Order
of Courageous Warriors

A few surviving freedom-fighters of 1848 are celebrated in 1920

32
 Opening an academic year of the Pázmány Péter University

Horthy’s gendarmes in action

Teleki was followed by Count István Bethlen as Prime Minister

(April 14, 1921 – August 19, 1931). His task was to make Horthy’s
blood-stained regime presentable. He is known as the creator of the
era of consolidation. Tortures and killings were replaced by a corrupt
gentry heel-clicking old-boy regime. To get ahead, one had to know –
or even better be a relative - of influential people. The novel Rokonok
(Relatives) by Zsigmond Móricz (1879-1942) clearly demonstrates
the true nature of these “happy“ times when decisions were made
behind padded doors by the ruling political and economic elite, poor
people were starving, but others started to laugh again.

33
 Bethlen István (far right) and his Cabinet

The consolidation has already started

As always, the Cabaret reflected the mood:

Tudja az Isten, hogy mért lettem ilyen röhögős.

Kiderül abból, hogy sohasem voltam nős.
Temetés, vagy esküvő, vagy egyéb gyászeset,
Nekem az olyan mindegy, mert csak röhögnöm lehet.
S ez olyan ragadós, akár a kanyaró,
Az én röhögésem elkapja a bon fülébe dó (?).
Nevet a gróf, nevet a tót, nevet a Csortos, nevet a Kohn,
Nevet az ember, ilyen még nem volt.
Kacag a Spock, kacag a Spitz, kacag a Spitzer, kacag a Blitz,
Kacag az ember, nincs is benne vicc.
Röhög a Bloch, röhög a Blum, röhög a Kohn es Grün,
Röhög a Grosz, röhög a Klein, röhög a Silverstein.
Remeg a háj, röcsög a máj, reped a mellény, a vese fáj,
Nevet a színház, hál’ Isten good bye.

34
 Hogyha a tárcám elcsórja egy szegény zsebmetsző,
Nevetek egyet, de becsapódott ő.
Ha a végrehajtó jön foglalni engemet,
Nevetek egyet, s felkérem, hogy foglaljon helyet.
Ha a lábamra hág egy mázsás asszonyság,
Én igy röhögök: “Ne keljen fel, érezze jól Magát!”
Nevet a zsé, nevet a faj, nevet az izr, nevet a gaj,
Nevet a színház, hál’ Isten nincs baj.

The other side of the consolidation

Shoeblack

35
 Shimmy was the fashionable new dance:
Jön-e velem Nagysád shimmyt járni?
Bizsereg a talpam, nem tud várni,
Ha a zenekarban hottentotta tam-tam szól.
Shimmy ma a táncok fennkölt csúcsa,
Már a csecsemő is mind ezt nyúzza,
Ajándékba kaptuk eztet mink az Antanttól.
Erre tanít mostan Pest és Danzig,
Ez lesz a divat itt hundred zwanzig,
Most kreálta épp egy néger bölcs a Kongónál.
Csak a szerecsen nő volt rá büszke,
De ma lobog érte minden nőcske,
Shimmy, shimmy, shimmy szívem csücske,
Shimmy nélkül nincsen bál!

Poor people danced polka:

Sej, haj, Rozi, vasárnap kirándulunk,
Meglásd, Rozi, unatkozni nem fogunk.
Két szép szemed hamisan kacsint le rám,
Polka közben súgom neked,
Hogy egy csókra szomjas a szám.

They also sang songs like this one:

Éjjel az omnibusz tetején,
emlékszel kicsikém, de csuda volt.
Lent nyikorogtak a kerekek,
s felettünk nevetett a telihold.
Miközben a lovacskák bandukoltak Budán át,
eloltottam égő ajkad, s a lámpát,
Éjjel az omnibusz tetején,
emlékszel kicsikém, de csuda volt.

It looked like better times appeared to the Ábrahám family as

well. György (Gyuri), the family’s third child, was born on March 12,
1920. Three years later (March 5, 1923) another son was born: Tibor
István (Tibi). The Railroad Company changed its name to Duna-
Száva-Adria Vasúttársaság (Danube-Sava-Adria Railroad Company)
and Rezső advanced to the position of Controller.

36
 Ilonka around 1920

Gyuri’s birth certificate

Tibi’s birth certificate

37
 Tibi is inoculated against smallpox

Rezső became a member of the Chevra Kadisha (Jewish Holy

Society) of Buda in 1924. The family, however, could not afford to
attend the Dohány Temple during the high holidays. Instead, they
prayed at their relatives, the Friedmans (see Chapter 4), or at small
prayer houses. Some theaters (e. g., Budai Vigadó) were also
transformed into prayer houses during the high holidays.

Rezső is a member of Chevra Kadisha

38
Ábrahám Rezső around 1924

Rezső is a Controller

39
 Laci was a very smart and quite mercurial boy. He played
excellent chess since early childhood and was quick to take a boxing
stance and hit everyone (including adults) whom he did not like. Once
he came home from school beaming: “Dad, I know German,” he
yelled. “What do you know?” inquired Rezső. Laci answered: “A, a,
a…, I have forgotten the rest.“
The children went to school in Attila Street. Rezső wanted Laci
to go to a gymnasium (see Béla’s story in Chapter 3) after the 4th
grade. The Verbőczy Gymnasium was at the end of the same street,
opposite the Horváth Garden. (As the popular song said: Legyen a
Horváth Kertben Budán, úgy este fél nyolc után.) Rezső went to the
director of the school in his railroad officer’s uniform and was greeted
with the respect due to a Hungarian gentleman of high standing. This
respect immediately evaporated when the director looked at Laci’s
documents that stated his religion. So, Laci went to an ordinary
middle school.
Laci studied to play the violin, Ilonka the piano, without too
much success. The two children spent all their summers in Őcsény.
There, Ilonka met her first love, László Filler.

Laci’s first-grade report Laci’s third-grade report card

card has good grades has no grades (so ordered
the People’s Comissar
for Public Education)

40
Laci is through with elementary Laci graduated from middle
school school

Soon, new problems developed in the world. Mussolini came to

power in Italy in 1922. In Russia, a bloody civil war was going on. In
1924 Lenin died and Stalin started to consolidate his grip on power in
the Soviet Union. Europe suffocated in the grips of the Great
Economic Depression.
Inflation started in both Germany and Hungary. It swallowed
Ilonka’s dowry. Korona was replaced by pengő on January 27, 1927
(1 pengő was equal to 12,500 korona).
During the Great Depression Béla Zerkovitz’s song was very
popular:

Az egyiknek sikerül, a másiknak nem.

A sors olykor nem tudja mit akar.
Az egyiknek kiderül, s a nap fénylik fenn,
a másiknak nem jut csak zivatar.
Az én szívem nem sejti, mi a csók és napsugár,
mert nékem nincs senkim, ki szívdobogva hazavár.
Az egyiknek sikerül, a másiknak nem.
A sors olykor nem tudja mit akar.

41
 Benito Mussolini

Have YOU signed up as a

volunteer (in the Civil War)?

Lenin and Stalin in 1922 Lenin is dead

42
A little piece of the emerging “socialist realism:” Female workers and
peasants! All to the elections! Under the red flag, together with men!
– We bring fright to the bourgeoisie!

A ten-fillér (one tenth of a pengő) coin of the Hungarian Kingdom

(without a king). The Sacred Crown of Hungary is on the head side.

Rákosi Mátyás, the later dictator of Hungary, as a prisoner in 1925

43
 The Nazis were already marching

Have you forgotten what happened seven years ago at Trianon?

This was also the era of the roaring Twenties. Josephine Baker
conquered the world by singing with very few clothes on. Everybody
danced charleston:

44
 Szívemben vágy parazsa nő,
meggyújt egy fekete nő tüzes szemével.
Beleszerettem rögtön, csak az a baj,
hogy szívem olvad, akár a pirítóson a vaj.
Az én babám egy fekete nő,
a szeme fénylő fekete kő.
Fekete hajú, fekete fajú,
jól tudom, boldog, akit megölel ő.
Fekete gyöngysor van a nyakán,
fekete testén csak a banán.
Piros, mint tűz a szája,
a charlestont úgy riszálja,
az én kis fekete babám!

Oly jól csúszik ez a banánhéj,

Együtt csúszni ezen, babám, kéj,
Dobd el valahova, jobb, mint a datolya,
Jaj, csak ne nagyon félj!
Ebből származik a banán-blues,
Oly jó, mit a zene aláhúz,
Egy kis muzsika kő, máris csúszik a nő,
Jöjj hát velem, és csússz!
Egy kis banán, mindig van ám,
Csúszhatsz babám hát,
Ha nincs talán, ültess babám
Egy kis banánfát!

Josephine Baker

45
 After her husband’s death in 1917, Róza (Rezső’s mother) lived
alone until 1929. She sold geese at the market together with her
daughters, Margit, Cili, and Mili. The Marksteins, parents of the later
well-known humorous actor, Alfonzó (József Markos) sold geese
there, too. Róza convinced the younger Margit (her daughter-in-law)
that she should buy geese from the peasant women right at the
railroad station. Goose trading was a good business in those days,
especially because of great demand for the liver of forcibly fed geese
(this cruel practice is illegal now). The goose traders were mostly
Jews. To this day, the anti-Semites shout “Libások!” (goose traders)
in soccer stadiums to demonstrate against the MTK soccer club that
used to be affiliated with Jews.

Gyuri in 1927 Rezső at about the same time

The Ábraháms moved from Buda to Pest, to 53 Népszínház

Street, to be closer to the market. The Friedmans (Mili) and the Grófs
(Margit) also lived nearby. Then Margit (Ábrahám) became ill. She
developed an organic heart disease. It was believed that the original
reason was that she had punctured her finger with a needle, but it is
more probable that the cause was her latest pregnancy with Tibi. It
became desirable for her to live in a place with fresh air. They chose
Mátyásföld, a very nice, green settlement not far from Budapest (it is
now District XVI of Budapest) in February 1929. Although this is a flat
region, its elevation is approximately the same as that of Mount
Gellért in Buda (about 100 meters above the Danube).

46
 Margit had to spend most of her time resting with cold water on
her chest. This was the accepted practice to treat heart diseases
then. Housekeeping and cooking became Ilonka’s job. She was only
12 years old when she started cooking for the entire family. She had
to stand on a footstool to reach the top of the oven!
They rented a big house (five rooms and a veranda) with a
large garden around it at 6 Szép Street, Mátyásföld. The rent was not
very expensive because the owner lived in Romania, but when he
returned he gave them notice. In June they moved to a newer part of
Mátyásföld, 11/A László Street. Their real estate agent was Sándor
Szentkirályszabadjai Mozgai, a retired captain of the Austro-
Hungarian Army. Ödön asked him if there were any furriers in
Mátyásföld. He replied with disgust: “Come now! Only gentlemen live
here!”

Ilonka’s registration card for moving to Mátyásföld

It was a relatively good time for the family, not counting Margit’s
illness. The Consolidation worked well and Rezső had a good salary
(270 pengő per month). This was the time when Count Kunó
Klebelsberg, the Minister of Culture, managed to reform the
Hungarian educational system. He created 5,000 new schools in rural
areas, established new types of high schools, and fundamentally
improved the university system by supporting academic research.
There was a Jewish community in Mátyásföld. Its rashe kol
(chairman) was Mr. Szekeres, a rich needlework merchant. He
wanted his daughter to marry Laci. He was not the only one. Laci was
a very handsome, smart young man with a good job, but he was not
thinking about marriage at all.

47
 Laci’s graduation tableau

After graduation from the 8th grade Laci

continued his studies at the High School of
Commerce in Márvány Street. He graduated in
1928. To find a job was not an easy task. Based
on the recommendation of his French teacher, he
got a job at the Book Distribution Company of the
Athenaeum Printing House. He was a good typist
and stenographer. His skills were used in the
Legal Department of the Company.
He had been working there for half a year
when one of Margit’s cousins offered him a job at
the British-Hungarian Bank. When he disclosed Laci in 1928
that he had had a kidney infection, the physician
of the Bank decided that he was unfit for the job. (Once he went to
the Velence Lake with his friends. While rowing on the lake their boat
turned over and they had to swim in the cold water. He developed a
kidney infection, of which he was totally cured.)
Laci tried again with the Hungarian General Savings Bank
where he was admitted as a “bank boy.“ This was a starting position
that involved many menial tasks (according to a contemporary joke,
the bank boys‘ job was to lick the envelopes before they were
sealed). Nevertheless, it was considered a good job because it could
lead to a well-paid position in 10-12 years. Later he was transferred
to the Magyar Általános Hitelbank (Hungarian General Credit Bank)
where he worked for eleven years.

48
 Laci was an excellent sportsman. He won several fencing,
rowing, and target practice competitions. One of his prizes was a
good size bronze lion on a marble base. I am sorry it disappeared
after Laci‘s death.
The most influential and richest man in the Jewish community
in Mátyásföld was Lipót Götzl, the inventor, manufacturer, and
distributor of Szidol, a very popular liquid for cleaning silver tableware
and copper door handles. We will meet him again soon.
The Ábraháms were lucky to get acquainted with Dr. László
Szemere who was a wonderful, compassionate, and very intelligent
physician. In addition, he was also a poet who translated Hungarian
poems into German! His book Ungarische Dichtungen was
recognized as an excellent introduction of Hungarian poetry for the
German audience. He was also a doctor for the Southern Railroad
Company, so he became the family doctor of the Ábraháms. He was
born before Rezső’s father, but was a very vigorous man. He went on
house calls on his bike until he was 90 years old. When Margit
needed him, he came even in the middle of the night. Once Margit
complained about a pain in her belly and asked the doctor where the
appendix was. He replied: “I know, but will not tell you.”
On Sundays Ödön visited with his wife. They played music
together. Rezső played the violin, Ödön the cello, Laci the cimbalom,
and Sári sang (she had a good voice).
During Margit’s illness old Róza always felt when she was
needed and appeared immediately. She loved Margit from the bottom
of her heart. When the family moved to László Street, she moved in
with them.

The Ábrahám family in Mátyásföld, 1929:

Tibi, Rezső, Ilonka, Margit, Laci, and Gyuri

49
 Tibi, Ilonka, Laci, and Gyuri
A Hungarian peasant girl:
Ilonka in 1930

Gyuri graduated from Tibi is a first-grade student

elementary school in 1930

Ilonka became a furrier’s apprentice in Ödön’s workshop. She

diligently prepared food for the entire family and sang softly to herself
sweetly plaintive Hungarian songs:

50
 Akácos út, ha végig megyek rajtad én,
Eszembe jut egy régi szép regény:
Nyáreste volt, madár dalolt a fán,
S itt kóborolt, csavargott egy cigány,
Megszólítám: De jó hogy megtalállak itt,
A legszebb lány tudod-e, hol lakik?
Ott arra lenn, túl az akácsoron,
Ma estelen egy ház elé osonj.
Egy ablaknál állj meg cigány,
Úgy muzsikálj, hogy sírjon az a szép leány,
Olyan legyen, mint egy szerelmi könnyes vallomás.
De csak csendesen,
Ne hallja senki más.

Szép asszonynak ábrázatja vitt engem a gyalázatba,

De kár, de kár, jaj de kár.
Ha meghalok, jó emberek, anyám mellé temessetek,
Megbántottam életében, tán megbocsát lenn a földben,
De kár, de kár, jaj de kár.

Ödön and his employees in front of his workshop.

He is the third from left; Ilonka stands beside him.

51
 These times are well represented by the annual publication of
the Triple Books of the newspaper “Az Est:” one book for men, one
for women, and one for children. The Book of Women was dedicated
“to working women as a useful tool, to rich women as a gorgeous
ornament, to young girls as a headlight to the future, and to elderly
ladies as a music box with the sweet songs of the past.”

The Book of Women, 1930

Szökik az asszony, ha nincs GFB harisnyája

(The wife runs away if she does not have
GFB stockings)

Part of a bourgeois home in the 30s

52
 Franciska Gaál (aka Szidónia Silberspitz, aka Fáni
Galizenstein) was the most popular actress at this time. When Fyodor
Shalyapin, the great Russian singer, gave a guest performance in
Budapest, he had a little affair with Franciska. A frivolous story said
that the lovers were walking in the rain, and then Saljapin ázott, Gaál
Franci ázott.
(Try to translate this from Hungarian!)
Young servant girls sang songs like this:
Meguntam az életemet, felmegyek Budapestre.
Ott sétálok a fő utcán minden áldott este.
Kicsínosítom magamat, a fejemet jól feltartom,
Majd valaki belém szeret odakint a Dunaparton.
Meanwhile, the family enjoyed its peaceful existence in
Mátyásföld.

Rezső and Margit relaxing in Mátyásföld (1932)

Three Graces of three generations: Róza, Margit, and Ilonka in 1932

53
 Count Gyula Károlyi became prime minister on August 19, 1931.
He held this office until October 4, 1932. On September 13, 1931,
Szilveszter Matuska blew up the viaduct near Biatorbágy under the
Budapest-Vienna express. Matuska had nothing to do with the
communists, but the government used this act to announce martial
law and do away with the communists who were still in Hungary.
Sándor Fürst and Imre Sallai were executed in spite of strong
international protest.

The Biatorbágy viaduct after Matuska’s attack

Young Hungarians pray to Prince Saint Imre

54
 The openly fascist Gyula Gömbös became prime minister on
October 4, 1932. Although he died on October 6, 1936, Hungary
started her irreversible path to total catastrophe under him.

Vitéz jákfai Gömbös Gyula (sitting in the middle) and his Cabinet

Laci was called to military service first on October 1,1932 and

served in a machine-gun company in the Hungarian part of Komárom
until June 30, 1933.
He was called to
service three more
times later. He
reached the rank of
corporal with a braid
on the sleeve of his
uniform that
indicated that he
was a man with
Laci the soldier
high-school education.

55
 Horthy’s soldiers (including Laci)

The soldiers sang military songs like these:

Horthy Miklós katonája vagyok, legszebb katonája.

Vígan élem katonaéletem, nincsen gondom másra.
Masírozok káplár úr szavára, úgy gondolok az én violámra.

Százados úr, sej-haj, százados úr, ha felül a lovára,

Hátratekint, sej-haj, hátratekint az elfáradt bakára.
Ugye fiúk, szép élet a katonaélet?
Csak az a baj, sej-haj, csak az a baj, hogy nehéz a viselet.

56
 Diófából, sej-haj, diófából nem csinálnak koporsót,
A bakának sej-haj, a bakának nem írnak búcsúztatót.
Ágyúgolyó lesz a baka búcsúztatója,
Barna kislány, sej-haj, barna kislány lesz a megsiratója .

They also marched while singing better songs:

A faluban nincsen kislány csak kettő,

Az egyiket elszerette a jegyző,
A másik meg a kapuban neveti,
Mert őt meg a segédjegyző szereti.

Jaj de magas, jaj de magas ez a vendégfogadó,

Van-e benne, van-e benne barna kislány eladó?
Ha nincs benne barna kislány eladó,
Dűljön össze ez a vendégfogadó!

It is very interesting to read the postcards and letters to Laci from

his family and colleagues:

Letter from his grandparents in Őcsény

57
 Postcards from Etel and Ödön

“You must avoid card players by all means. … Your Father”

“Drága Laczi fijam!“ Letter from Margit.

(This is the only surviving handwritten remembrance from her!)

58
 Letter from Ilonka Letter from Gyuri (the gipsy)

Letter from Tibi (the frog croaking) Letter from Aunt Fáni
(see Chapter 5)

Private Ábrahám László may leave the barracks before 12 o‘clock

59
Excerpt from a long letter from his colleagues (He was very popular!
Note his nicknames: Ábris, Áborka, Ámpor).

In 1932 the Danube-Sava-Adria Railroad Company was

nationalized and became part of the Hungarian National Railroads
(MÁV). After twenty-two years of service, Rezső was promoted to
intéző (a manegerial rank equivalent to captain in the Army).

Rezső is a manager at the Hungarian National Railroads

60
 The family celebrated Rezső’s fiftieth birthday on December 18,
1932. They bought him a leisure coat, a bottle of cognac, four
packets of tobaco, two pairs of socks. They also prepared a bottle of
coffee liquor for him.
A month later, on January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became
Chancellor of Germany.

Hitler bows to President Hindenburg accepting the Chancellorship of

Germany (Göring stands behind him on the left).

On March 17 another catastrophe struck the family: Margit died.

She was only forty-one years old! They buried her in the Budapest
Jewish Cemetery. A rose bush was planted on her grave. The small
bush grew wild and became a big tree that was removed twenty-one
years later when another dead person was buried in her grave.

Telegram to Laci: “Mommy died; funeral on Sunday. Your Father.”

61