1

THE STORY OF MY TIMES(My 20th Century)By MIKLOS N. SZILAGYI

Copyright © 2007-2009 by Miklos N. Szilagyi

I cannot tell this to anyone; therefore, I will tell it to everyone.- Frigyes Karinthy

Volume Two:In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

6. "The most damnable nation"

1941 was the year when the war became a World War. I was already fiveyears old and avidly followed the progress of the war. Here is a chronologicalaccount of this year’s main events:

My last smiling picture for a long time, taken in May 1941

January 1-2: British bombing of Bremen.January: The Germans enter Romania through Hungary.January 3-22: Advance of British troops to Lybia. 130,000 prisoners of

war; 1300 guns, 400 tanks, hundreds of aircraft taken or destroyed. Tobruk is inBritish hands and becomes a fortress. The 10th Italian Army is destroyed.

January 9: Hitler officially abandons his plan to invide England.January 18: Revolt in Abyssinia.January 21-24: The Iron Guard launches a coup d’état in Romania.February 6: Benghazi is taken by the British.

2

February 12: Erwin Rommel is sent to Tripoli. The Afrikakorps is formed tohelp Mussolini.

Erwin Rommel Poster of the Waffen SS

February 24: British attack on Abyssinia.March: British victory in Somalia.March-April: Bombing of British ports.March-May: German planes sink 179 British ships, U-boats sink 142 more.

Great Britain loses 3.6 million tons of ships by U-boats this year.March 1: Germany occupies Bulgaria. Bulgaria joins the Tripartite Pact.March 6: The Battle of the Atlantic starts.March 7: British troops arrive in Greece.March 11: Lend-Lease becomes law in the United States.March 24: Yugoslavia joins the Tripartite Pact.March 26-29: British victory over the Italian Fleet.March 27: Revolution and military coup in Yugoslavia. The Regent

resigns.April 1: Pro-Nazi government in Iraq.April 3: Churchill warns Stalin about the Nazi plan to invade the Soviet

Union. Roosevelt sends him a similar message in July through his trusted aide,Harry Hopkins and even includes the Soviet Union in Lend-Lease. Stalin ignoresthese warnings and continues to supply Nazi Germany with grain, fuels, andeven military material.

April 4: Evacuation of Benghazi.April 6: Addis Ababa is taken by the British.April 6: Germany invades Greece and Yugoslavia. Croats support the

Germans, create an independent state, and kill hundreds of thousands of Serbsand Jews.

3

April 6-8: Operation Punishment: The brutal bombing of Belgrade. 17,000dead.

April 10: Rommel reaches the Egyptian border.April 11: The United States extends her Security Zone to the East.April 13: Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Treaty.April 13: Belgrade taken by the Nazis.April 17: Yugoslavia surrenders. Stalin does nothing to help them. Iosip

Broz Tito leads guerilla warfare against the Nazis and keeps 20 Germandivisions busy.

Iosip Broz Tito Serédi Jusztinián, the Primate of Hungary in a religious procession

April 18: Greek Prime Minister Korysis commits suicide.April 24: The Germans take Athens. Greece surrenders. The British leave

Greece with 51,000 troops; 12,000 are lost.May 1: Representatives of the German General Staff are present at the

parade in Moscow.May 2: Iraq attacks British troops there.May 5: Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa and is restored to

power.May 7: Stalin takes the Soviet Government over from Molotov who

continues as Foreign Secretary. Emigrant governments’ representatives areexpelled from the USSR.

May 10: Heavy bombing of London. House of Commons is partiallydestroyed. 3,000 people are killed in one night. Shortly thereafter, night bombingof London is stopped. It manifests three facts:

1) Battle of Britain lost by the Luftwaffe.2) Great Britain survived the Blitz.3) No invasion.

However, 43,381 civilians were killed in Britain by German bombers for one year.May 11: The British bomb Hamburg.May 11: Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy, flies to Scotland. The British

imprison him.

4

May 20: German parachute attack on Crete. The attack succeeds but theLuftwaffe is used up. It loses about 15,000 men.

May 24: The German battleship Bismarck sinks the British battleship Hoodbut three days later she is sunk herself.

May 26: The British evacuate Crete. The occupying Germans brutalize thelocal population.

May 27: Roosevelt declares an “unlimited national emergency.”May 31: British troops arrive in Iraq to forestall an Axis takeover. Pro-

British government in Baghdad.June 8: The British move to Syria and Lebanon together with the Free

French. They fight against Vichy forces. De Gaulle promises independence toSyria.

June 13: The Soviet news agency TASS denies “rumors” about Germantroop movements at the border regions.

June 13: British forces lose 250 tanks in Libya during one day.June 14: The United States freezes German and Italian assets in the US.June 15: Croatia joins the Tripartite Agreement.June 18: Friendship treaty between Germany and Turkey.June 21: General Wavell is relieved from his Middle East command. He is

replaced with the equally incompetent General Auchinleck.June 21: The British take Damascus.June 21: Molotov asks German Ambassador Schulenburg to clarify

German “dissatisfaction” with the Soviet Union. (The Ambassador was executedby the Nazis in 1944.)

June 22: Operation Barbarossa: 192 German, Finnish, and Romaniandivisions (4 million soldiers), 4,000 tanks, and 5,000 aircraft invade the SovietUnion along a more than 2,000 km long front without declaration of war. TheSoviets have 119 ordinary plus 67 reserve divisions and plenty of airplanes butthousands of Soviet airplanes are destroyed on the ground and the surpriseattack moves ahead very fast: 400 – 700 km in 2.5 weeks. The silly orders of theSoviet Central Command demanding counterattacks only contribute to thelosses. Two million Soviet soldiers are killed and one million of them becomeprisoners of war in the first month of the war. Only three Soviet divisions are ableto fight successfully. Brest holds on for a whole month but 11 divisions are lost atMinsk alone (June 28). Hungary, Italy, and Slovakia declare war on the SovietUnion. Hitler predicts: “Moscow and Leningrad will be obliterated.”

5

Germany makes Europe free Motherland is calling you!

Molotov announces the attack on radio. Stalin is silently waiting for hisarrest in his dacha for 12 days, but the Soviet leadership is afraid of leading thecountry in this crisis and still trusts Stalin in spite of his responsibility in depletingthe Red Army of its commanders during the brutal purges. He becomes Chairmanof the State Defense Committee. He gives his first speech only on July 3.

Our case is right. The enemy Everything for the front!will be destroyed! Everything for the victory!

6

Many Ukrainians greet the Germans as liberators. 400,000 Soviet soldierschange sides to the Wehrmacht, but the brutal treatment of the population soonturns the people’s attitude around. Jews and Communist Party workers are beingshot on the spot. Partisans rise up behind the front and intensive guerilla warfarestarts. 15 million refugees leave their homes. Even the formerly persecutedclergy helps raising the patriotic feelings of the people.

The 4 million Soviet prisoners of war are treated equally brutally. Many ofthem were murdered. At the same time, at home they are condemned as traitors.Soviet soldiers fight to the death, but special police forces were engaged behindthe frontlines to kill those soldiers who try to retreat from the battle.

Soviet troops use the tactics of scorched earth: they destroy everythingbefore evacuating any town or city. Factories are moved to the East.

Originally, the three major field commanders of the fronts were SemyonTimoshenko, Kliment Voroshilov, and Semyon Budyonny, but these friends ofStalin could not cope with the situation.

Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov

July 1: Riga is taken.July 7: The United States takes over Iceland from Britain.July 10: Tallinn falls.July 12: Vichy forces surrender in Syria.July 12: A Soviet-British treaty is signed. The arch-anti-Communist

Churchill said: “If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favorable referenceto the Devil in the House of Commons… We shall give whatever help we can toRussia and the Russian people.”

Although Stalin had done nothing to help Britain, he immediately demandsa second front in Western Europe. It was an absolutely unreal idea at that time.Instead, Britain intensifies bombing of German cities.

July 16: Smolensk is taken.

7

July 26: The US and Great Britain freeze all Japanese assets.End of July: Japan occupies Indo-China and continues torturing the

population in China.August 7: Stalin becomes Supreme Commander of all Soviet forces.August 9 - 12: Churchill meets Roosevelt in Newfoundland on board of

HMS Prince of Wales and USS Augusta.August 12: US Congress passes the extension of the draft by one vote.August 14: Churchill and Roosevelt sign The Atlantic Charter, a foundation

stone for the later establishment of the United Nations.

Churchill and Roosevelt on board of USS Augusta

8

August 17: Novgorod falls.August 27: Soviet and British troops take over Iran to secure supplies to

Russia from the South. The Shah abdicates in favor of his pro-Allies son,Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

September 8: Leningrad is surrounded. The German Army lays siege tothe city. On the Leningrad Front Georgy Zhukov replaces the incompetentVoroshilov. Zhukov saved the city from occupation.

Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov

September 19: Kiev falls. 660,000 Soviet POWs are taken.September 20: Heavy bombing of Leningrad starts.September 29: The Soviet Union joins the Atlantic Charter.September 30: The Germans start their attack on Moscow.October 7: Zhukov is transferred from Leningrad to Moscow to save the

capital, too.October 8: Orel falls.October 14: Kalinin falls. The Germans are 40 miles from Moscow. Part of

the Soviet Government and all foreign diplomats move to Kuibyshev. Manycivilians are evacuated. Stalin secretly offers Hitler the occupied territories inexchange for peace.

October 16: Odessa falls.October 18: Hideki Tojo becomes Prime Minister of Japan.October 19: The Germans reach Tula, Moscow is almost surrounded.

State of siege is announced in Moscow.October 25. Kharkov falls.November 2: Kursk falls.November 7: Parade in Moscow. The troops go to the front straight from

the Parade. Russian resistance starts to stiffen. Fresh Siberian divisions arrive to

9

defend the capital. Women and children work 10 – 15 hours per day in factoriesevacuated to the Ural and Siberia to produce weapons for the front.

We defend our beloved Moscow! Become a hero!

November 18. British attack in the Desert. At the same time, heavy lossesin the Eastern Mediterranean: seven great ships are sunk, including Ark Royaland Neptune.

November 21: Rostov falls.November 22: The Road of Life to Leningrad opens through Ladoga Lake.December: The Ethiopians drive the Italians out with British help and

restore their independence.December 5: The Germans heavily attack Malta.December 6: Great Britain declares war on Finland, Hungary, and

Romania.December 6: Soviet counterattack at Moscow. New Soviet weapons

appear: the T-34 tank and the Katyusha rocket launcher. German attack onMoscow fails. They retreat 200-300 kilometers from Moscow. The Germans losehalf a million men and 1,500 aircraft, but they continue the blockade of Leningradand advance to the South. They occupy the Crimea by the end of the year. Hitlertakes complete personal command of the German Army.

December 7: 360 Japanese aircraft attack Pearl Harbor, destroy 8battleships of the American Pacific Fleet and kill 2,344 people. Japan alsoattacks Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, Borneo, and the Philippines.

10

Roosevelt addresses Congress after Pearl Harbor

American war posters

11

and other memorabilia

December 7: Hitler issues the Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog) Decree:"After lengthy consideration, it is the will of the Führer that the measures takenagainst those who are guilty of offenses against the Reich or against theoccupation forces in occupied areas should be altered. The Führer is of theopinion that in such cases penal servitude or even a hard labor sentence for lifewill be regarded as a sign of weakness. An effective and lasting deterrent can beachieved only by the death penalty or by taking measures, which will leave thefamily and the population uncertain as to the fate of the offender. Deportation toGermany serves this purpose."

December 8: The United States, Britain, and China declare war on Japan.The Japanese take Guam.

December 9: The Japanese take Bangkok.December 10: The Japanese sink two British warships, Repulse and

Prince of Wales off the cost of Malaya. No British or American capital shipremains in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Japanese forces land in thePhilippines.

December 11: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.December 13: Rommel attacks in the North African Desert.December 16 - 18: British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden in Moscow.December 17: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz becomes the new Commander

of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

12

December 22 – January 14, 1942: Churchill visits the United States andCanada. He addresses the US Congress on December 26.

December 24: Hong Kong capitulates.December 24: The British take Benghazi again.Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler is published in English this year.1941 was the year when mass extermination of the Jews started. About

one million Jews were murdered during this year. Mobile killing vans wereintroduced to gas Jews. German Jews were forced to wear yellow stars on theirclothes and move to Judenhauser (Jewish houses) from September 1.Emigration was forbidden a month later. All the Jews in the occupied territorieswere totally separated from the rest of the population and concentrated in ghettoswhere the conditions were such that 25 % of the Jewish population died beforethey could be taken to the extermination camps.

Denmark was the only exception. King Christian X remarked that if theGerman administration tried to introduce the symbol of the Star of David inDenmark, "then we should all wear it." He was extremely popular. He took a dailyride on horseback through Copenhagen not accompanied by any guard. Whileacknowledging greetings from the Danish population, he would studiously ignorethe salutes of German military personnel. Almost all Danish Jews were saved bytheir neighbors who transferred them to Sweden on small boats.

Two mortal enemies of the Supreme Race King Christian X of Denmark

January 30: Hitler promises to destroy all Jews of Europe.March 3: The Krakow Ghetto is established.June 22: Special killing squads (Einsatzgruppen) are established to

murder Jews in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union. Children’s headswere smashed against walls. Many of them were buried alive. Members of theSS enthusiastically volunteer to carry out these crimes.

13

July 31: Reinhard Heydrich is authorized to work out the plan of the FinalSolution of the Jewish Problem, i.e., the extermination of all Jewish people:“To Gruppenführer Heydrich,

Supplementing the task assigned to you by the decree of January 24,1939, to solve the Jewish problem by means of emigration and evacuation in thebest possible way according to present conditions, I hereby charge you to carryout preparations as regards organizational, financial, and material matters for atotal solution (Gesamtlösung) of the Jewish question in all the territories ofEurope under German occupation. Where the competency of other centralorganizations touches on this matter, these organizations are to collaborate. Icharge you further to submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of theadministrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out thedesired final solution (Endlösung) of the Jewish question.Göring.”

As we fight, you work for the victory! The fight and work of an Einsatzgruppe

September 3: Zyklon B gas is first used in Auschwitz.September 17: Deportation of German Jews begins.September 29: 34,000 Jews are massacred outside Kiev, at Babiy Yar.

Hundreds of thousand Jews murdered in Odessa, Riga, Vilna, Kharkov, theBaltic Republics, and all over other occupied territories.

December 16: Hans Frank, Gauleiter of Poland, states: "Gentlemen, Imust ask you to rid yourselves of all feeling of pity. We must annihilate the Jewswherever we find them.”

This was the year when Hungary definitely united herself with the Nazis.On March 20, Rákosi was exchanged for the flags of the 1848/49 War ofIndependence, but then came the treason of Henrik Werth, Chief of the GeneralStaff. He openly supported the Croat extremists and negotiated with the German

14

General Staff behind the back of the Government Hungary‘s participation inattacking Yugoslavia. When Prime Minister Count Pál Teleki learned about it onApril 3, he shot himself. He wrote the following suicide note to Horthy:

"Your Serene Highness: We broke our word - out of cowardice - withrespect to the Treaty of Eternal Peace based on your Mohács speech. Thenation feels it and we have thrown away its honor. We have allied ourselves toscoundrels - as not a single word is true about the alleged atrocities! Not againstHungarians, not even against Germans! We will become body snatchers! Themost damnable nation. I did not hold you back. I am guilty."

Count Teleki Pál (1879-1941) and his suicide note addressed to Horthy

Teleki’s funeral Bárdossy addresses Parliament

15

Horthy replaced him with László Bárdossy.April 11: Hungary enters Yugoslavia together with the Nazis. 11,475

square kilometers of Yugoslav territory is returned to Hungary in spite of the factthat only 28.4% of the population of the returned Bácska region was Hungarian.

The occupied territory The name “Hungarian” will be beautiful again, worthy of its old great fame. We salute you, returned Southland!

Hungary’s territorial growth during the period of 1938-1941

16

April 24: Horthy-Hitler meeting in Mönichkirchen.June 27: Hungary declares war on the Soviet Union. It was Horthy’s

personal decision, wholeheartedly supported by Bárdossy. The HungarianNewsreel declares: “We will sweep away the red monster!“ The undergroundslogan “Horthy Miki, Horthy Miki, leszöl Te még bolseviki!“ (You will become aBolshevik one day!) appears.

Soviet soldiers return the flags of the War of Independence to Hungary

Departure to the front Jány Gusztáv, commander of the 2nd Hungarian Army with a Nazi officer

17

July 1: 45,000 Hungarian soldiers (four brigades) attack the Soviet Union.Food rationing is introduced in Hungary.

July 6: To accommodate the future German occupants, traffic is redirectedto the right side of the rode. Hitler Square, Berlin Square, and Mussolini Squareappear in Budapest.

One heart, one will. Keep to the right! Forward to victory!

July 12: 20,000 Jewish refugees from Poland and other Jews who couldnot prove their Hungarian citizenship are deported to occupied Ukraine. Theywere murdered in Kamenets-Podolsk on August 27-29.

Deportation of the “homeless Jews” They await their executionby Hungarian soldiers and gendarmes in Kamenets-Podolsk

July 30: Hungarian troops cross the Bug River. They occupy part ofUkraine.

August 4. The great Hungarian poet Mihály Babits dies.

18

Babits Mihály (1883-1941) Kabos Gyula (1887-1941)

August 8: The 3rd Jewish Law is accepted by Parliament. It prohibitedintermarriage and penalized sexual intercourse between Jews and non-Jews.According to this law, Jews converted to the Christian faith and also Christians ofJewish ancestry lost their protection from racial persecution. But the 825,000Hungarian Jews could still hardly foresee what was to follow.

October 6: The unforgettable Gyula Kabos dies in America.October 11: Hungarian troops reach the Donets River.December 12: It is difficult to believe now, but Hungary declares war on

the United States.Anti-Semitism strengthens. More Jews are called to “Labor Service.”

“Erger, Berger, Schossberger,“ sings the mob on the streets of Budapest. Foodshortages are explained by the “machinations of the Jews.“

Songs have changed, too. Katalin Karády was now singing about“Somewhere in Russia:“

Üzenet jött messze-messze földről,Halványzöldszín tábori levél.Aki írta, a szívével írta,Minden sora őszintén beszél.Muszka földre lassan jár a posta,S alig várják már a válaszom.Megkérem a rádiótól szépen,Közvetítsék kívánság-dalom!Sokkal jobban szeretlek, mint máskor,Minden percben Rád gondolok százszor,Valahol Oroszországban,Valahol Oroszországban.S arra gondolok, mikor egy csillag rám ragyog,Azt a csillagot Te ott éppúgy láthatod…

19

Mindig a Te leveledet várom,S csak Terólad álmodom az álmom,Valahol Oroszországban,Valahol Oroszországban.

And about “My dear little lieutenant:“

Jó éjt, drága kis hadnagyom! Jó éjt!Most az ég rád borít holdfényt.És én csak Terád gondolok. Jó éjt!Jó éjt! Arra kint jéghideg szél zúg,Fekszel és hallgatod, mit súg.Jó éjt, csak Terád gondolok. Jó éjt!Távol, messze a határtól,Sóhajom talán megtalál.Drágám, elsuttogom százszor,hogy a szívem vár, egyre vár.Jó éjt! Két karod átölelt nemrég.Mennyi csók, mennyi szép emlék.Lesz még újra nyár, újra csók. Jó éjt!

Ilona Nagykovácsi warned the world, Do not hurt the Hungarian!:

Ágyú dörög most széles e világon.Talpra magyar, hív újra a haza!Győzni fogunk, bár százezer veszéllyelSzáll szembe most a magyar katona.Fényes Tejútról Hadak Ura nézi,Nem hagyja veszni magyarok honát.Esdeklő népünk forró ajka zengi:Áldd meg Istenünk a hős katonát! Künn a határban nyílnak a virágok,Sarjadozik a földben a búza,Vígan dalol a mezei pacsirta,Csöndben legel valahol a gulya.Csak nyíljatok, ti szép magyar virágok,Zengjen a daltól erdő és a rét!Szorgos kezek, dolgozzatok serényen,Értetek harcol a magyar honvéd! Ha egyszer majd a harcból visszatérnekHős véreink, a magyar katonák,Nékik vírul majd Nagy-MagyarországonMindenfelé a sok tarka virág.Szép magyar lányok bokrétával várják,Hangzik nevüktől Tisza-Duna part.Vérükkel írták fel a magas égreÉgő betűkkel: Ne bántsd a magyart!

20

And this:

Szellő, ma messzire szállj,Mesze szállj, mint a sólyom madár.Muszka földön egy honvéd áll,Kis dalomal ma hozzá szállj.Majd ha visszajöttök megint,Még az égbolt is csókot int!Fenn a zászló leng, még a föld is reng,Hogyha visszatér a regiment!Várlak én is, várlak nagyon,Visszavár a két karom.Száz leány zengi büszkén e dalt,Hogyha visszajöttök majd!

New irredentist songs accompanied the butchering of Yugoslavia:

Ferenc József csatorna vissza lett az csatolva,Visszatért már a Délvidék!Zombor, Zenta, Szabadka hazavágyó magyarjaEzt akarta megélni még!Piros-fehér-zöldben ragyog ma már,Duna-Tisza köz a magyar határ!Ferenc József csatorna vissza lett az csatolva,Visszatért már a Délvidék!

Szabadka, Zombor, Újvidék!Honvédsereg virágra lép.Visszatért már szent határunk,Ősi földön jár a lábunk,Szívünkben öröm ég!Új hajnal fénye virrad ránk.Nagyobb lett újra szent hazánk.Visszatért szép Délvidékünk,Visszaadta Horthy nékünk,Vigyázzunk mi reá!

Szentelt föld-anyánk e föld, melyen állsz,A déli végekre a honvéd vigyáz.Miénk volt ezer évig, s az is marad,Bácska és Bánát örökre szabad!

There were also better songs like these:

Hunyd be a szemed és gondolj rám,Én is így teszek sok hosszú éjjelen át.Futni, menekülni késő már,Amióta láttam arcodnak lágy mosolyát.Sorsod átfutott a sorsomon,Ott égett az ajkad egy percig az ajkamon.Tőlem el nem választ senki, mert te hozzám tartozol.S ha kísértésbe jönnél, hogy elhagyj egy éjszakán,Csak hunyd be szemed és már úgyis gondolsz rám.

21

Tudom, hogy vársz, ha őszi csend borul az éjre,Felnézel a csillagos égre. Tudom, hogy vársz!Gondolsz reám, ha este nyolcat üt az óraÉs mégy az új találkozóra. Gondolsz reám.

Krasznahorka büszke vára, ráborult az éj homálya.Tornyok ormán az őszi szél régmúlt dicsőségről mesél.Rákóczinak dicső kora nem jön vissza többé soha.Harcosai mind pihennek bujdosó fejedelemnek.A toronyból késő este tárogató nem szól messze.Olyan kihalt, olyan árva Krasznahorka büszke vára.

Egy csók és más semmi, a vágyam csak ennyiÉs csendben elmenni tovább.Csak egy perc, csak álom,De én azt sem bánom,Ha itt ég a számon a szád.Hisz' máma nincs dráma, nem kell a nagy regény,Szívünk ma már oly szerény...Egy csók és más semmi, a vágyam csak ennyi,És csöndben elmenni tovább.

- From the movie “Egy csók és más semmi“

Tíz óra múlt, a szívem kigyúlt,Az éjjel szerelmes dalán.Tíz óra múlt, a szívem kigyúlt,Ma éjjel Tiéd lesz talán.A szív nappal alszik, de úgy tíz utánFölébred és csókot, szerelmet kíván.Tíz óra múlt, a szívem kigyúlt,Az éjjel szerelmes dalán.

- From the movie “Bűnös vagyok“

Az én mamám nem hordott bubifrizurát,Nem hordott párizsi ruhát és mégis szép volt.Az én mamám lágy hangja csupa zene volt.Emlékszem, olyan szeme volt, akár az égbolt.Az én mamám még néha elpirult,Szívében még a múlt melódiája gyúlt.

Kék volt az alkony, s ültem a parton,Mikor egy nő jött, szép volt, bevallom.Szótlanul, szendén odaült mellém.Ez történt Lellén.Én tüzet kértem, gyufája lobbant,Szemébe néztem, szívem is dobbant,És szóltam enyhén: karomba venném.Ez történt Lellén.Imádott enni, új ruhát venni,De ez még semmi, el kellett venni,S azóta nem néz rám olyan szendén.Ez történt Lellén.

22

Advertisements and a calendar for Transylvanian girls

23

Money from 1941

My father came back from Labor Service and continued his work at UjIdők. Ha had to spend a considerable amount of time to show that our family hadbeen living in Hungary for the past one hundred years. This was needed to avoidimmediate deportation to Kamenets-Podolsk and being exterminated there.

“In these war times the wreath of respect, love, and gratitude belongs to ourheroically fighting army of soldiers; there is, however, another little army: the littlelead soldiers of the typesetter’s case who form a guard of honor around mydrawings in verse and prose, pictorial puzzles, and announcements. I salute thecommander of this little army, my dear beloved Mister Szilágyi with warmhandshake, Mühlbeck Károly.“ [Károly Mühlbeck (1869-1943) was a famousgraphic artist and illustrator of many popular magazines. I still have many of hisoriginal drawings that he presented to my father.]

24

My father took me to a soccer match between two amateur teams of fellowprinters. There I met Mr. Skultéti, an extremely fat man who was famous for thefollowing story: He went for a walk with one of his friends and forgot to button upthe fly of his pants. A little boy on the street started to yell: “Uncle! I can see yourwilly!“ Skultéti’s friend replied: “It is easy for you, son. He has not seen it for manyyears.“

After the match. Skultéti is standing third from left.

Laci in 1941 and his report card from the apprentice training school

25

I continued to enjoy reading and made notes about the books I read. Thenotes are gone to the Box but I still remember some, for example Luther’steaching in verse:Hetenként ha kétszer teszem,Mindkettőnknek elég leszen,S meg nem árt egyikünknek sem.(If I do it twice a week, it will be enough for both of us and will not hurt any of us.)

Dr. Róth, the aged owner of Lövölde Square #3 demonstrated his strengthto me by breaking lump sugars with two fingers. He also repeatedly told me astory about his daughter, Magda, who used to have a slight fever permanentlyduring her childhood. He had consulted a famous physician in Brasov where theylived at that time. The wise doctor’s advice was: “Throw the thermometer away!“

Gyuri graduated as a journeyman from one of the best cabinet-makers inBudapest and went to work in the Univerzal Furniture Factory, but soon wascalled to Labor Service. On October 25, he had to report to Labor Company #30in Kőszeg under First Lieutenant Gecső who happened to be a sadist. He openlydeclared that no Jew would ever return from his Company. Indeed, we never sawGyuri again. He was 21 years old.

26

All that is left of Gyuri: his report cards from the apprentice training school, hisjourneyman certificate,

his labor book, and his form for notification of departure to “military service”