The Kallos Family Book 2022

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16 • THE KALLOS FAMILYher. When the mayor of Técső came in, he askedthe office girl to come into his office. When shecame out she said to Biri, ‘I am so sorry. Youmust leave at once. A Jewish girl can’t stay here’.For first time in her life, Biri felt bad about beingJewish and, as such, not wanted.On her walk back to the hotel, by chance shemet her father coming from the hotel. Seeing shewas despondent he asked her in Hungarian, ‘Mylittle girl, what happened?’ Biri burst out cryingand told her father she’d been told she couldn’twork in the council office because she was a Jew.He soothed her by saying they would go the nextday to their favourite patisserie in Máramaroszszigetwhere she could have whatever cake shewanted.In 1942 Laci, Biri’s younger brother, also completedhis middle school studies at the polgáriiskola. Although there was no high school inTécső, Zoltan wanted his son to further his secondaryschool education, so Laci attended aHebrew polgari in Chust for a brief period in 1943.After the initial scare of the 1938 Munich agreementand despite Germany’s September 1939invasion of Poland, Zoltan felt it was safe enoughfor his son to further his studies in Chust, wherehe would be protected somewhat by Hungary’sRegent Horthy and his then moderate PrimeMinister Miklós Kállay. When the Chust Hebrewpolgari was founded subjects were first taughtin Czech, but during the Hungarian occupationclasses were taught in Hungarian; there were alsoreligious classes taught in Hebrew. After brushingup on his Hebrew Laci then passed the entranceexam, which enabled him to attend Yavne, theHebrew gymnasium in Ungvár where he boardedwith a Jewish family for about two years. Ungvár,130 kilometres north of Técső, was the thrivingcapital city of Sub Carpathian Ruthenia; in 1941,its large Jewish population numbered 9500. At theHebrew gymnasium, founded in 1934, all subjectswere originally taught in Hebrew to accommodatethe region’s growing Zionist movement.Nonetheless, the school still upheld conservativereligious values so as not to upset the city’sreligious anti-Zionist element. Girls and boys sattogether in class but boys still had to wear hats.However, as with the Hebrew polgari in Chust,the gymnasium was subject to intense Magyarisation(Hungarianisation), so a compromise wasreached between the Hungarian authorities andthe Jewish citizens which meant that Hungarianwas taught as the first language and a few subjectscould still be taught in Hebrew. The Zionist atmospherewas replaced by Hungarian nationalism.Surprisingly, Hebrew gymnasiums, financed byJewish Institutions and sympathetic individuals,continued to operate during the Hungarian occupation,which meant that school registration rosesharply due to antisemitism in Hungarian speakingschools. In this way Hungarians achievedtheir goal of separating Jews from the generalpopulation.Laci returned to Técső in early 1944 after theUngvár Hebrew gymnasium had closed due to theMarch 1944 German occupation of the region.He arrived home just in time to join his family,who were being herded into the ghetto, wherethey would meet the same fate that befell Jews inother parts of Europe.The Tabak siblings’ education took a very differentpath to that of their Kallos first cousinsbecause Iren specifically requested that her childrennot go to gymnasium. She wanted them tolearn a skill so they could be guaranteed employmentand a good income. Accordingly, aftercompleting polgári iskola in Técső, Babi Tabak andher brother Ernst did not pursue further secondaryeducation. In those days it was common aftereight years of compulsory schooling (four years
PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 17Left to right: Biri Kallos, her cousin Babi Tabak, and friend Moca Lebovitz in 1943 on the bank of theTisa River. Before the war, these three girls were part of a group of six girlfriends. Note the timberscattered along the riverbank. The area had a thriving lumber industry. Timber cut upstream wasfloated down the Tisa for further processing at saw mills and wood yards.PHOTO PROVIDED BY BARBARA KALLOS.This photo of a group of Jewish women from the Ťačovo ghetto who were pronounced fit for labouris contained in The Auschwitz Album of photos taken by SS photographers in Auschwitz–Birkenauduring the arrival of a transport of Hungarian Jews, May 1944. It was shown to Ester Goldstein (néeShimshowitz) at the Eichmann trial. Ester is number 7 in the photo; her married sisters are numbers6 and 8. PHOTO FROM THE AUSCHWITZ ALBUM, BERNHARDT WALTER / ERNST HOFMANN PHOTOGRAPHERS.
Page 1 and 2: The Kallos FamilyAlways remember, a
Page 3 and 4: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • iDedi
Page 5 and 6: CHAPTER TITLE • iiiThe Kallos Fam
Page 7 and 8: • vContentsAcknowledgementsIntrod
Page 9 and 10: • 1IntroductionMAP RETRIEVED FROM
Page 11 and 12: INTRODUCTION • 3Famous since the
Page 13 and 14: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 5Part
Page 15 and 16: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 7Zolt
Page 17 and 18: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 9Zolt
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Page 21 and 22: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 13pro
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Page 27 and 28: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 19Abr
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Page 35 and 36: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 27May
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Page 41 and 42: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 33aba
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Page 45 and 46: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 37Lon
Page 47 and 48: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 39Etu
Page 49 and 50: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 41Par
Page 51 and 52: PART 2: THE LAZAROVICS FAMILY • 4
Page 53 and 54: PART 2: THE LAZAROVICS FAMILY • 4
Page 55 and 56: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 47Par
Page 57 and 58: PART 3: THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Page 59 and 60: PART 3: THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Page 61 and 62: PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • 53Epi
Page 63 and 64: APPENDIX 1 • 55Mengele used to ap
Page 65 and 66: APPENDIX 1 • 57[end of page 11 of
Page 67 and 68: APPENDIX 2 • 59Budapest’s contr
Page 69 and 70: APPENDIX 3 • 61Engraved on the me
Page 71 and 72: APPENDIX 3 • 63survived Birkenau,
Page 73 and 74: APPENDIX 3 • 65Below is an Englis
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PART 1: THE KALLOS FAMILY • III
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The Kallos Family Book 2022

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