Ghettos and Yellow-Star Houses
Ghettoisation in Hungary began swiftly after the German occupation in March 1944. In Transcarpathia, the process started at dawn on April 16, with sixteen ghettos and assembly camps established, followed by eleven more in Northern Transylvania. Within weeks, nearly 290,000 Jews were crammed into these two zones. By early June, ghettoisation had spread across nearly all of Hungary – except Budapest. In Budapest, Jews were instead forced into nearly 2,000 “Yellow-Star Houses,” marked with the Star of David. These buildings were overcrowded, unsanitary, and lacked food and clean water.
The primary aim of ghettoisation was to isolate and concentrate Jewish communities, preparing their deportation to Nazi death camps. After the Arrow Cross Party seized power, Budapest’s Jews were forced into a ghetto established in one of the city’s central districts, which existed until January 17, 1945, when the Soviet Red Army liberated the city.
“We were searched by the police at the headquarters of the congregation and everything of value was taken away. Among other things, they took my doll with the porcelain head, even though one of the policemen, after examining it, said there was nothing in it. The Hungarian police commander said, ‘He won’t need that anymore’. I was terribly upset about it.”
Recollection of a Hungarian survivor
Jeszenszki Kornélia (2023) A holokauszt a magyar nők emlékezetében – visszaemlékezések a gettósítás és deportálás időszakára. Erudittio-Educatio, 18(4): 36-50, p. 42
Further Reading / Sources
A magyar holokauszt személyes történetének digitális gyűjteményei
Kovács Éva Judit, Szász Anna Lujza, Lénárt András (2012). Buksz-Budapesti Könyvszemle, 23 (4): 336-351.
A holokauszt a magyar nők emlékezetében – visszaemlékezések a gettósítás és deportálás időszakára
Jeszenszki Kornélia (2023). Eruditio-Educatio, 18(4): 36-50
Falak mögött – Zsidó gettók a második világháború alatt. Holokauszt Emlékközpont
Pécsi Tibor (2009)