The following text is not a historical study. It is a retelling of the witness’s life story based on the memories recorded in the interview. The story was processed by external collaborators of the Memory of Nations. In some cases, the short biography draws on documents made available by the Security Forces Archives, State District Archives, National Archives, or other institutions. These are used merely to complement the witness’s testimony. The referenced pages of such files are saved in the Documents section.

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Józsefné Hajdu (* 1926)

The life of a reminiscer, in his own summary

„I finished the four civil service exams, then I went to a commercial school, then I was an accountant at a German company (Rövidárú Rt.). The siege came, and then I ended up in the hospital (Szent László Hospital) as a little ink sucker. (...) I met a lot of big skulls.”

 

Memories of the bombings

“We lived in a family house with a garden in Erzsébet and we went down to the basement when the shelling happened. It was terrible. (...) I was already working then. (...) The anti-aircraft guns were not far from us and we could see the shells going, it was bad even to watch.” “We were hit by shelling too. Thank God our house was not hit. But the bombings, the air raids, were terrible.” “When the radio said that our program would be interrupted for an indefinite period, then the siren started whistling, then we went to the basement. (...) It didn’t offer much protection, but still. When we heard the bomb whistling, whistling, we heard it hitting nearby, then we always ran up afterwards to see where we needed help, to lift the rubble off someone, which neighbor was in trouble. It was a terrible time. May it never come back, God forbid.” “My father was working, my mother was at home, my brothers were working. (...) We were also always afraid because they worked in Csepel that the Csepel factory would be bombed.” “They bombed us all around, we always got some.” At the end of the street there was a huge sand hill (Juta-domb) and the anti-aircraft guns were placed there. “What does 15-20 houses mean as the crow flies, nothing.” “There was a weapons factory on the Soroksár road, it was further away from us, but if you look at it as the crow flies.” “The first major air raid wason April 3rd. I was in the downtown area in the 5th district where I worked at the Rövidárú Rt., and I walked home to Erzsébet. And the roads were torn up all the way, bomb craters, and human remains on the fence. It was something horrible. I was a complete mental patient by the time I got home. Why would I go home at all? I was 17, 18.”

 

Meeting with the soldiers

„Then the Russians came. Then we had to hide from them.” „I didn’t go out to talk to them. But there were those who went out to talk to them, and then they were surprised that they were being looked for at night. It was better to hide at home, not to seek their company. But there were those who liked the German soldiers, then the Russians, well, that’s the type of bitch. There were those too.” „Once, there was this girl in our neighborhood who was making friends with the soldiers, she tried to escape to us through the shelter, the Russians came after her, they shot through the ceiling in the kitchen, I was so scared, I hid under the bed. It was such a bad experience. Then they left. It was already night, they beat you up and shoot you through the ceiling. It was horrible. As long as I live, I will never forget that panic. But suddenly I didn’t know where to hide. They lit up the room with flashlights. My mother lived there, and the neighbor, and my grandmother. They were looking for a young woman. (...) They were drunk. She was a young Hebrew girl, reckless, a little crazy. Only then did her poor head get scared.”

 

Life after the war

“It was quite difficult. My father and his family went to the countryside to exchange things, wall clocks, to exchange for food, they bartered, that’s how they got food. Those were difficult times. And the vegetables that grew in the garden.”