The vast majority of humans alive today were not alive during World War II or the ethnic cleansing that targeted Jews - and so many other groups of people- intellectuals, Polish Catholics - priests-called The Holocaust.
That includes me.
As one of the most horrible stories of the man's inhumanity to man, however, it seems the documentaries and films about this war and Naziism continue to be made. I feel this is partly because as Americans we think we won that war and, in a sense, it was a popular war that ancestors fought, and veterans were honored for. It's also because Hollywood film making has so many Jewish people working in it and they refuse to forget their people, their ancestors, and don't want anyone else to forget either. *
There is strong participation in Jewish genealogy today. I've met a few people who never knew the family was Jewish at some point until they did their genealogy.
We can read around the subject of Jews in Hungary before and during and since the Holocaust, and there are diverse opinions as to how or why or by whom there was cooperation. When I hear Hungarians were all anti-Semites, I don't believe it. I think good people get caught in war.
I've heard stories of friendships between Jews and Christians before the invasion of Hungary as well.
I've heard the Esterházy estates were quite favorable for Jews, about wine business in Tokaj as welcoming.
Jews were vital participants in the economy.
I believe Hollywood films serve to inform us of the WWII era, but if you think it was impossible to be Jewish and be noble in the Kingdom of Hungary, you're wrong. Imporant and influential Jewish bankers, businessmen, and industrialists, were elevated to noble status. Franz Joseph I of Austria was responsible for elevating some important and wealthy people; that would be people living in the Austrian Empire living in Hungary. According to a paper on JSTORE, 346 Jewish families were elevated to nobility in Hungary in the late 19th and early 20th century. **
Frances I of the Holy Roman Empire also elevated Jews.
Some Jewish families did way back convert to Christianity by choice (or participate in it no matter what their true feelings). Some moved into the country and kept the German-Jewish names we associate with Jewish people in America. Some changed their names to Hungarian ones, equivalent in meaning or otherwise.
Although my personal research has not taken me in this direction, I can say there's hope in finding Jewish nobility!
Here are negatives:
I haven't found any lists of converts to Christianity in the many church microfilms or databases I've looked at. Nor have I seen Confirmations. I feel this could be telling. But maybe the scenarios I have in mind are too complicated. Maybe a person just walked into a church and talked to a priest or nun or minister.
There was a war for souls, nobles who were Evangelical (Lutheran) or Calvinist Protestant or Catholic. During fuedal times if the owner of an estate converted, so did the serfs - anyone living on that estate would want to obey or please.
I'm hoping to find some documents through The National Archives of Hungary about conversion.
I've seen two records of non noble Jewish men in Catholic baptism of a child they begot, in one case a town pharmacist noted as "Moses" who married. In another case a Catholic woman had her child baptized and it's illegitimate. But the priest wrote in the name of a Jewish man and the word "Israel" indicating he was "father unknown." Perhaps the two were not allowed to marry. Perhaps he showed up.
I once used the library at the Simon Wiesenthal in Los Angeles and a librarian? there told me Christians and Jews did not even speak to each other in the Old Country villages in which they are known to have co-habitated and traded. I do not believe this. Separate cultures and religions yes but not even speak? And we have the play, musical, and film Fiddler on The Roof, about those maidens with modern minds of their own who want to forget the village matchmaker and marry for love, even marry a Christian man.
Let us not forget the film singer and actress Barbra Streisand made and stared in, the musical called Yentle about the Jewish daughter who learns to read when women are not taught and must immigrate to America to be free of village mentalities.
Of surnames associated with Hungarian Jewish nobility are Lukacs, Fischer, Polany, Hatvany-Duetsch, Ronai...
**William O McCagg, author. I was unable to read the whole paper since the library where I use JSTOR is closed.
*Let us not forget the Armenian Holocaust.
It can be said that Hungarians were Holocausted by invading Mongols and Turks.
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This post is part of a series about Hungarian Nobility Research To pull up all the posts in the series, click on the tag Pro Tips - Hungarian Nobility in the Family
