main@groups.jewishgen.org | Yellow Star houses

judyyoung@...

#84418

(I am replying to the list as I think this may be of interest to some other=
s as well, or some others can provide additional information that would be =
useful to others.)

Dear Michele,

You make a statement that is not quite correct: "this is not a Yellow Star =
house, but rather, Jews who are required to wear the Yellow Star are not pe=
rmitted to live here"=20

It's a little more complicated than that: it appears that Jews who had to w=
ear the yellow star were in fact allowed to live in there. The document lis=
ts all residents in the house by ownership or whether they are the main ren=
ters of the apartment. There is only one owner (who it seems owns the build=
ing) and she is not required to wear the yellow star. But of the renters, t=
here are two (including your grandfather)  who are required to wear the yel=
low star (ie. they are Jews).  (And two apartments are empty because the ow=
ners have been "removed" - either forcibly moved out or had been asked/told=
 to leave.) =20

There is no date that I can see on the document (just the year 1944) or any=
 mention of whether the house was designated a yellow star house or not. As=
 far as I know, >from about the middle of June 1944 the city of Budapest des=
ignated certain apartment buildings in which only Jews were supposed to liv=
e and these became known as Yellow Star houses because a yellow star had to=
 be fixed on the outside of the building. (This was part of an effort to co=
ncentrate Jews for an eventual further deportation after the countryside wa=
s emptied of its Jews - this of course did not happen anymore as the Allies=
 were beginning to win the war).  But there were other buildings  in which =
 Jews lived and some of these also became known as Yellow Star houses. Obvi=
ously it was a complicated thing to check and supervise all buildings as to=
 how many Jews lived in them and some could "hide" their Jewishness; althou=
gh the authorities made an effort to find out -  and that is why such forms=
 as this one had to be filled in (interesting that they did not have to wri=
te on the form "Jew" but instead whether they had to wear the star or not..=
.). The concierges had the role of declaring  if the tenants were required =
to wear the yellow star (all Jews had to) or not. So some Jews were able to=
 avoid being "detected" as Jews; they could bribe the concierge, etc.  Your=
 grandfather and family may have been able to hide for the remainder of the=
 war (and of course it made little difference that they had converted...).

There is a fair amount of information about the Yellow Star houses (and som=
e has been shared on this list, eg the Open Society Archives had a project =
in 2014 with a list, map, and the history of these houses. )   By the way, =
Jews living in Yellow Star houses had to move into the Budapest ghetto in N=
ovember of 1944 (the Hungarian Arrow Cross government which came to power i=
n mid October 1944 was still hoping to get rid of the remaining Jews and  k=
illed many thousands of them between October and the liberation of Budapest=
 in Feb 1945).

Hope you find more information...
Best,
Judy

Judy Young Drache,
Ottawa

ritamandl@...

#84421

Dear Judy and Susan I have recently received electronically >from Hungary th=
e following book.

Ingrid Carlberg Raoul Wallenberg The biography With an Introduction by Kofi=
 a. annan
Translated >from the Swedish by=C2=A0 Ebba Segerberg.

In it the subject of the Yellow Star houses as well as the "protected" (ved=
et) houses are clearly explained, how they were organized and by whom. My c=
ousin Gabor Forgacs colaborated with the author and he had personal knowled=
ge and experience about this time in history. I highly recommend the book t=
o anyone who would like to understand "what went on" in 1944 as well as how=
 Ralph Wallenberg organized and rescued many, including my parents, myself.

Rita Mandl

Show quoted text

-----Original Message-----From: Judy Young-Drache judyyoung@... To: H=
-SIG Sent: Wed, Jul 18, 2018 12:15 amSubject: RE:[h-sig] Yellow Star houses=
 -  h-sig digest: July 16, 2018(I am replying to the list as I think this m=
ay be of interest to some others as well, or some others can provide additi=
onal information that would be useful to others.)Dear Michele,You make a st=
atement that is not quite correct: "this is not a Yellow Star house, but ra=
ther, Jews who are required to wear the Yellow Star are not permitted to li=
ve here" It's a little more complicated than that: it appears that Jews who=
 had to wear the yellow star were in fact allowed to live in there. The doc=
ument lists all residents in the house by ownership or whether they are the=
 main renters of the apartment. There is only one owner (who it seems owns =
the building) and she is not required to wear the yellow star. But of the r=
enters, there are two (including your grandfather)  who are required to wea=
r the yellow star (ie. they are Jews).  (And two apartments are empty becau=
se the owners have been "removed" - either forcibly moved out or had been a=
sked/told to leave.)  There is no date that I can see on the document (just=
 the year 1944) or any mention of whether the house was designated a yellow=
 star house or not. As far as I know, >from about the middle of June 1944 th=
e city of Budapest designated certain apartment buildings in which only Jew=
s were supposed to live and these became known as Yellow Star houses becaus=
e a yellow star had to be fixed on the outside of the building. (This was p=
art of an effort to concentrate Jews for an eventual further deportation af=
ter the countryside was emptied of its Jews - this of course did not happen=
 anymore as the Allies were beginning to win the war).  But there were othe=
r buildings  in which  Jews lived and some of these also became known as Ye=
llow Star houses. Obviously it was a complicated thing to check and supervi=
se all buildings as to how many Jews lived in them and some could "hide" th=
eir Jewishness; although the authorities made an effort to find out -  and =
that is why such forms as this one had to be filled in (interesting that th=
ey did not have to write on the form "Jew" but instead whether they had to =
wear the star or not...). The concierges had the role of declaring  if the =
tenants were required to wear the yellow star (all Jews had to) or not. So =
some Jews were able to avoid being "detected" as Jews; they could bribe the=
 concierge, etc.  Your grandfather and family may have been able to hide fo=
r the remainder of the war (and of course it made little difference that th=
ey had converted...).There is a fair amount of information about the Yellow=
 Star houses (and some has been shared on this list, eg the Open Society Ar=
chives had a project in 2014 with a list, map, and the history of these hou=
ses. )   By the way, Jews living in Yellow Star houses had to move into the=
 Budapest ghetto in November of 1944 (the Hungarian Arrow Cross government =
which came to power in mid October 1944 was still hoping to get rid of the =
remaining Jews and  killed many thousands of them between October and the l=
iberation of Budapest in Feb 1945).Hope you find more information...Best,Ju=
dyJudy Young Drache,Ottawa

Yellow Star houses - h-sig digest: July 16, 2018 #hungary

Yellow Star houses - h-sig digest: July 16, 2018
#hungary