András Lénárt (Holocaust Memorial Centre, Budapest)
Photography of the Hungarian Labour Service
Video Presentation

10th GENEALOGIES OF MEMORY
International Online Conference
Session 2
Translation and Travel of Holocaust Memory between Europe and Israel

Abstract:
Although the Holocaust in Hungary has a long historiography and does not lack literary adaptations, we have lagged behind in the analyses of visual representations. Holokausztfoto.hu ([ Ссылка ]), a portal launched in 2019 on a private initiative, is trying to change this situation. We have no knowledge of photos of antisemitic symbols, street discrimination during the utterly anti-Semitic Horthy era. Anti-semitism was among the motives for persecution against communists or people considered left wing in 1919-20, but the victims of the terror remained unidentified in the photos which were taken in a small number. The impact of the anti-Jewish decrees that became massive from 1938 fundamentally changed the lives of its sufferers, but visible signs of discrimination – as yellow star-bearing, marking houses with the yellow-star, ghettoization and deportation – only appeared after the German occupation of Hungary in spring 1944. Also, from the year between Springer 1944 and liberation in April 1945, very few photos, not more than 1,000 pieces have survived. There is only one exception: the labour service, the forced labour of Jewish men – introduced in 1939. We know relatively many of them, approx. a few thousand pictures and film frames. It is not only the early (between 1939 and 1942) visual documentation of the persecution of Jews that makes them an invaluable resource, but because many of the images attest cheerfulness or even the honour of physical work. The relatively large number of photos is due to the fact that in these early years, middle-class hobby photographers were able to take their cameras with them and take photos during their service. In good circumstances, one worker could take hundreds of images. We do not know how careful they were, most of the remaining photos show a serene and peaceful vibe. These (sometimes monotonous) sequences of images, can be misleading as they do not represent the difficulties of forced labour and the humiliation of the workers. The problem is that victims and perpetrators are fraternisating in the same picture, yet their antagonistic roles are not obvious. They are cooperating smoothly, even having fun together. Are these images are fake or were the protagonists, especially the guards, not aware of their oppressing role? Or are the jolly pictures in a similar vein to making victims dig their own graves before shooting them? Without studying the history of the Holocaust we would draw distorted conclusions about the persecution of Jews on the basis of these pictures, so here too it is important to give a narrative and analysis of the photos. In my presentation, I will give an overview of the photos taken during the labour service, and then I will present a series of two photographers, where we also have textual material that provides us with a more complex and nuanced understanding of the conditions of the forced labour service.

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