There are countless political-historical works on the Hungarian Holocaust, which tell us when, by whom and how anti-Jewish measures, exclusion, ghettoization and deportations were decided. In contrast, the present exhibition gives us a closer look at how everyday Hungarians, Jews and non-Jews alike, experienced the Holocaust. What choices did they have to make in the course of the anti-Jewish legislation, and how did they deal with the radically new life situations? What was the impact of the Holocaust on the relationships between colleagues?

The first and second anti-Jewish laws put tens of thousands of people out of work. The percentage limits of the laws were applied by the legislators on an occupational basis. Although the Bar Association of Attorneys had a longer tradition (it was founded in 1875), the National Press Chamber was created specifically to implement the anti-Jewish laws in 1938. By 1943, practically all the trade associations had become anti-Semitic and were used as means of marginalizing the Jewish colleagues rather than protecting the occupational group’s interests. From 1942 onwards, the leaders of the Bar Association demanded a “numerus nullus”, the total exclusion of Jewish attorneys, which was finally achieved after the German occupation of the country, in the spring of 1944. The meat industry also saw the solution to their professional problems in the marginalization of the “Jewish competitors”. The infamous medical association, the notoriously anti-Semitic MONE, called in several forums for Jewish doctors to be called up for forced labor service, dozens of whom perished in the occupied Soviet territories during 1942-43. The title of the exhibition is borrowed from Béla Zsolt, who in his memoir Nine Suitcases quoted an official document about his wife’s extraordinary efforts: “[My wife] fought for me with the whole military and political gang, which sent me out with the written order ‘that it is undesirable from a Christian national point of view’ for me to come home.”

In the light of this, it is all the more surprising that, to this day, it is relatively rare to find a thematic presentation of the Holocaust by professions. This exhibition aims to change this trend. Because of the limited exhibition space and the temporary nature of the exhibition, we cannot aim at a complete picture, instead, we present here the most important turning points, and also some personal stories. It is also crucial to understand that in a professional setting even a single gesture, any small help could mean a lot to Jewish colleagues and clients of Jewish origin, while the selfishness and cruelty of certain colleagues was always hard to forgive.

Following the war, the professional associations were immediately re-established, and they played a key role in holding compromised colleagues to account, thus responding to the public demand. Each occupational group had to confront its members individually with their actions during the Second World War, and take account of the losses suffered by the death of their Jewish colleagues. The head of the new Concierges’ Free Trade Union was János Boldis, who, for instance, had to publicly explain himself when asked about the wrongdoings of the concierges in 1944: “the concierges’ activity during the war was much more public than anyone else’s”- he said. As he added, per se pardoning them, the concierges had to execute the Nazi orders, and they had no opportunity to sabotage them. It is, however, well known that nearly two dozen concierges were awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations for their rescue activities in Budapest, in 1944. Our exhibition aims to contribute to the understanding of the Holocaust experience of everyday people. By following the life stories of individuals from five specific occupational groups, we seek to offer a new, human perspective on the persecution of the Jews. By following the activities of members of the Budapest Bar Association of Attorneys, the journalists, the concierges, the Budapest butchers and the employees of the Budapest Capital Transport Corporation (BSZKRT), we will present a less well-known part of the Holocaust in a single visual space, shading some light on the trauma that affected a wide section of urban society.

​​Rudolf Balogh: Snowy street scene with tram 44 at the National Theatre, 1920
The photograph is property of the Hungarian Museum of Photography.

Berlin (now Nyugati) Square, 1931
© Fortepan / Pesti Brúnó