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At first, this wasn’t so terrible until Hungarian fascists, so called “Njilasi” came to power at the beginning of 1944 [6]. Until then, people were sent to forced labor, myself included, but in general we didn’t have any greater repercussions. When Hungarian fascists came to power, we were forced to wear a yellow star. Regardless of the fact that I was just a young boy, I also had to wear the star.
So did my sister and my parents. I don’t really remember how my father supported us financially after he was forced to close his store. He had a truck that he sold and that provided some money. We also had some savings. I know that I worked from 1943 to 1944 until they took us away to help support my family.
Around April 1944, most of the Jews in Cakovec were taken to the synagogue where the Hungarians held us captive for about two days. From there we were taken first to Velika Kanjiza (Nagykanjisza) and then to Auschwitz. We didn’t know what was really happening.
Of course, we were aware that terrible things were going on but we also heard that, by 1944 the Allies were coming forth and we assumed Germans were losing the war. I think it was unimaginable for us that all these horrors were happening to Jews. People didn’t know about concentration camps and murdering of Jews;
I assume that, had they known, they would have tried to run away or hide. Nobody really expected anything like this to happen. We thought we’d be captured somewhere for just a few days or weeks until the war is over and that all will be well again.
So did my sister and my parents. I don’t really remember how my father supported us financially after he was forced to close his store. He had a truck that he sold and that provided some money. We also had some savings. I know that I worked from 1943 to 1944 until they took us away to help support my family.
Around April 1944, most of the Jews in Cakovec were taken to the synagogue where the Hungarians held us captive for about two days. From there we were taken first to Velika Kanjiza (Nagykanjisza) and then to Auschwitz. We didn’t know what was really happening.
Of course, we were aware that terrible things were going on but we also heard that, by 1944 the Allies were coming forth and we assumed Germans were losing the war. I think it was unimaginable for us that all these horrors were happening to Jews. People didn’t know about concentration camps and murdering of Jews;
I assume that, had they known, they would have tried to run away or hide. Nobody really expected anything like this to happen. We thought we’d be captured somewhere for just a few days or weeks until the war is over and that all will be well again.
Period
Year
1944
Location
Croatia
Interview
Oto Konstein