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In 1938 Subcarpathia became Hungarian again. [According to the First Vienna Decision the predominantly ethnic Hungarian parts of Czechoslovakia – Southern Slovakia, including Uzhorod (Ungvar, Uzhgorod) and the rest of Southern Subcarpathia- were annexed to Hungary in 1938. The rest of Subcarpathia was occupied by Hungary in 1939, after the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia.] Many of the older residents of Subcarpathia had good memories about life during Austro-Hungary and looked forward to this change. They met the Hungarians like they would welcome dear guests. Nobody had an idea what fascism was like. Bercsenyi restaurant also prepared a welcome party. Only officers of the Hungarian army were allowed to go to restaurants and soldiers went to bars or taverns. The restaurant employees made dishes of Hungarian cuisine and prepared tables for officers.
The owner of the restaurant decided to engage more waiters so that guests didn’t have to wait. I was also told to stay in case they needed my assistance. In the evening about 15 Hungarian officers came to the restaurant. They were waited for: there were tables prepared for them, flowers and an orchestra was playing Hungarian tunes. The best waiter of the restaurant, a short Jewish man, waited on one of the tables. Officers drank a lot and at about 2 o’clock in the morning one of them, a handsome middle-aged man, called the waiter: Come here, you dirty little Jew!’ We all came to standstill. This was the first time we faced anything like this. We, waiters, were taught to avoid scandal by all means. This man went pale, but he looked calm on the outside. He came too the table and said: ‘I apologize, Mr. Officer, I will go home and get washed and won’t be dirty tomorrow’. Other officers began to calm down their comrade telling him that he was drunk and that there was nothing to make a fuss about. The incident hushed up, but there was a hard feeling about it. Later officers and gendarmes often came to our restaurant. Nothing of the kind happened again in the first year after Hungarians came to power, but every time Hungarian officers came to the restaurant this caused tension. There was no persecution of Jews in the first year.
The owner of the restaurant decided to engage more waiters so that guests didn’t have to wait. I was also told to stay in case they needed my assistance. In the evening about 15 Hungarian officers came to the restaurant. They were waited for: there were tables prepared for them, flowers and an orchestra was playing Hungarian tunes. The best waiter of the restaurant, a short Jewish man, waited on one of the tables. Officers drank a lot and at about 2 o’clock in the morning one of them, a handsome middle-aged man, called the waiter: Come here, you dirty little Jew!’ We all came to standstill. This was the first time we faced anything like this. We, waiters, were taught to avoid scandal by all means. This man went pale, but he looked calm on the outside. He came too the table and said: ‘I apologize, Mr. Officer, I will go home and get washed and won’t be dirty tomorrow’. Other officers began to calm down their comrade telling him that he was drunk and that there was nothing to make a fuss about. The incident hushed up, but there was a hard feeling about it. Later officers and gendarmes often came to our restaurant. Nothing of the kind happened again in the first year after Hungarians came to power, but every time Hungarian officers came to the restaurant this caused tension. There was no persecution of Jews in the first year.
Period
Location
Uzhgorod
Ukraine
Interview
Ladislav Roth Biography