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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Volume 9c Pal Romer Letter to Agi published by the Copyright © Pal Romer, 2000 Key Words Aranyida (town in Hungary), Arrow Cross gang, Auschwitz, cattle cars, collaborators, death camps, Debrecen, dental office and laboratory, forged papers, Hungary, Hungarian soldiers, Karputalja (town in Hungary), Kassa (town in Hungary), Kecskemet (town in Hungary), kosher, labor camps, liberation, lice, Nyiregyhaza (town in Hungary), Orthodox Community, People’s Court, Protected Houses, refugees (post-war), revenge, Russian soldiers, Siberia, Swiss Safe Conduct Papers, Szabolcs County, Ujfeherto, Varpulota (town in Hungary), yellow star armbands Abstract Pal Romer was raised in an Orthodox family in Nyiregyhaza, Hungary. His family was under severe financial difficulties and he worked to help his family survive. His family became very dependent on his financial assistance. Romer did not receive a religious education, but one rabbi did teach him about Zionism. Many of his friends were interned for their political beliefs in 1943-44. After the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944, Romer was drafted into a Labor Camp in Kassa, Hungary, although he was taken to various places to work. On one of these days of forced labor when he was working at a railway yard, he witnessed rows of cattle cars full of desperate people he could hear yelling and screaming. A letter thrown from one of these cars was from his mother telling him she was being deported somewhere. It was only after the war that he learned the destination of those cattle cars was Auschwitz. Romer and four others were given Swiss Safe Conduct papers and allowed to go into Budapest to stay in a so-called "Protected House". This house was then raided by the members of the Arrow Cross Gang who ignored their papers and forced everyone in the house on a march heading eastward. Romer and his friends escaped by sleeping in a woodpile and were forgotten the following morning when the march resumed. After walking toward the Danube, Romer and his friends were liberated by Russian soldiers. He eventually made his way back to Nyiregyhaza, arriving exhausted and in poor physical condition. While hoping for some relatives to return, he worked for Russian Headquarters by finding collaborators and sending them to Siberia. He later became a member of the People’s Court and tried people for collaborating or for participating in deporting Jews. He also helped set up a dental office and laboratory and helped set up a soup kitchen for returning refugees. It was during the time that he met his wife. None of his relatives survived the Holocaust. The memoir is in the form of a letter to his child, Agi. |
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