It was one of Europe's greatest and longest lasting empires. By 1914 its emperor had ruled for more than six decades. And under the reign of Franz Joseph I, Jews throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire had come out of the ghetto and into society. His picture adorned their living room walls; prayers for his health were in every siddur (prayer book). And the Empire's Jews hoped that the rising tide of nationalism would be kept at bay. But history had other plans. This film was produced in Vienna by Wolfgang Els and narrated by Morley Safer.
Study Guides
Historical Links
This short movie covers Hungarian history from the time of the Dual Monarchy (1867-1914) to Communism.
To learn more about Hungarian history, take a look at this time-line from the BBC and read about the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy.
JEWS IN HUNGARY
This short movie tells the story of Jews living in Hungary during the twentieth century.
Read about the Jewish history of Hungary from the middle ages to nowadays in this article, taken from the private website of the Porges family.
FAMOUS HUNGARIANS
The film mentions the Hungarian winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, Robert Barany as well as the Hungarian author Pap Karoly. Read the biographies of Robert Barany and Pap Karoly.
Learn about the winner of the 2002 Nobel prize for Literature, Imre Kertesz.