For much of the Holocaust, Hungarian Jews lived in relative safety thanks to their country's alliance with Germany. They were targets of anti-Jewish laws limiting their participation in the economy and subjecting Jewish men to a labor service draft, but were largely spared mass violence until the German invasion of March 1944. In the Holocaust's most rapid deportation, over 400,000 Hungarian Jews were transported from the countryside primarily to Auschwitz, where most were gassed upon arrival. Jews in Budapest, Hungary’s capital, were spared deportation – but not mass violence. Highlighting survivor testimonies from the Museum’s oral history collection, Dr. Sara Abosch-Jacobson, the Barbara Rabin chief education officer, and Felicia Williamson, director of library and archives, discuss the experiences of Budapest’s Jews during the Holocaust.
This program is part of the Museum's History Highlights series and was recorded in September of 2023.
