Private Papers of J Dobai

Collection

Scope and content:: Memoir (70pp ts) of his family's recent history in Hungary during the first half of the 20th century, his childhood in Budapest in the 1930s, early encounters with antisemitism, the family's conversion to Roman Catholicism and attempts to emigrate to Britain, the deteriorating situation during the Second World War, when his father was forced to join a 'labour battalion' for Jewish men and his wife and children were moved into a 'Jewish house' in Budapest, the author's evacuation to the country to avoid deportation, the increasingly desperate situation of the Jews of Budapest during 1944 and early 1945 following the removal of the Horthy government and the installation of a Hungarian Fascist regime, the family's acquisition of 'Wallenberg passports' and notional Swedish diplomatic protection, the approach of Soviet forces, house-to-house fighting and last-minute German atrocities against the city's Jewish population, life in the ruins of Budapest after the war, continuation of his education at a boarding school in Sarospatak, and emigration to Britain in 1948; also three postcards (6pp ms, in Hungarian and German) written during the war by various family members, with a partial translation by Mr Dobai.

Subject terms:: Antisemitism; Holocaust; Holocaust--Rescue and resistance; Memoirs; Migration; Migration--Emigration

Access, restrictions:: Visit IWM website for Research Room access provisions see https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/research-facilities

Links to finding aids:: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1030013096