Tag #151791 - Interview #84041 (Yacob Hollander)

Since 1941 the anti-Jewish laws grew stronger. [The Third Jewish Law, introduced in 1941, was based on the Nuremberg laws, and defined the term ’Jew’ on radical racist principles. It placed Hungarian Jewry in a most disadvantageous position in every sphere of political, economic, cultural, and social life.] Jews were recruited to work battalions to do the hardest work. [When Hungary entered WWII in 1941 Jews, together with others considered as political enemy, were recruited to special labor battalions that were not given arms.] Many work battalions were sent to the front line to dig trenches and construct defense facilities. There were hardly any survivors in such battalions. In 1943 Jews were ordered to wear yellow badges on the chest and the back. Shortly afterward they were replaced with yellow stars. It was not allowed to go out without them. Any soldier could shoot a Jews who were not wearing their badges. The Hungarians behaved outrageously. They could chase the Jews out of the synagogue or enter the mikveh and chase people away without letting them to get dressed.