Rescue by Churches

LARGE SCALE ATTEMPT AT ESCAPE WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.

Lévai, 1948, pp. 291-293

“The other large scale attempt at escape of the capital's Jews was that they tried to place themselves under the protection of the Christian Churches.’’

“By the beginning of July the position taken up by the Christian Churches, as well as their various interventions was widely known and the rumour circulated "that the baptized Jews would not be deported." (We have seen that this rumour had some foundation!) As a result of this a veritable "fever of conversion" broke out among the Jews of the capital. According to Budapest official records altogether no more than 4,770 conversions were registered, experts, however, declare that at least 80,000 certificates of baptism - the greater part of these faked ones - were held.’’

“First of all a run was made on the parish office of Tereyvaros, as this quarter was the one most densely inhabited by Jews. As they did later on for bread, so those who wished to be baptized formed a queue on both sides of Nagyinezo and Profeta Streets. Order was soon disturbed as - mainly under the influence of the yellow press, for which this occasion was too good to miss, - members of the Nyilas (Arrow-Cross) organisation appeared between the Church and the parish office, picked a quarrel with the waiting crowd, entered the Church and beat up those waiting there. After several similar events, some of the parish offices exhibited posters saying: "Conversions are no longer taking place".

“Under the influence of the extremist attacks the following statement was, on July 24th, issued to the press by the Primate's chancellery through the Catholic news-agency, "Magyar Kurir":

‘With regard to the recurrent desire for conversion to the Catholic Church, which nowadays is widespread and rife, it is pointed out to the heads of parishes and ecclesiastic offices by the competent ecclesiastic authority, that in this question it is necessary to observe most conscientiously the standpoint o! the Church. The rites connected with the sacrament of baptism are to be strictly adhered to. The term of dogmatic instruction laid down is to be prolonged, as it is now, in view of the growing number of candidates for conversion, more necessary than ever for the priest responsible for the baptism or his deputy to ensure that the applicant not only possesses the dogmatic knowledge required, but also yearns for the Church of Christ from the (292) bottom of his heart and has sincere intentions. The sacrament of baptism can only be administered after the conscientious observance of a term of probation, and only to those, of whom it can be taken for granted that they seek not only the possession of a certificate of baptism, but mainly the regenerating force and redeeming grace of Christ, that is to say to those, who will not only augment the number of so-called register-Christians, but who wish to be a part of the community of the Church of Christ. Furthermore it is only natural that neither the sanctity of the church nor the fervour of the faithful should be allowed to suffer as a result of the instruction of the applicants."

“Similar statements were issued by the Lutheran and Calvinist Churches.’’

“These statements emanating from ecclesiastic quarters lulled the conversion fever for a little while. It flared up again, when posters were exhibited requesting all converts baptized before August 1st, 1941, to report this fact to the competent parish offices, so that a list could be prepared and forwarded to Section IV of the Municipality. The Union of Christian Jews in Hungary was established by a decree and, under the leadership of Gyorgy Auer and Sandor Torok, began its function by asking all Jews holding a valid certificate of baptism to report. The applicants were required to complete printed forms. More than 70,000 persons reported, paid 15 pengos and in return received a small cardboard certificate.’’

“An appeal was made to the baptized Jews, asking them to report their personal particulars. It had become known that crowds of people, who had only the "intention" of being converted, had registered with the new Union. (Not very much later, on October 15th, the functions and activities of the Union of Christian Jews ceased.)

“A number of those Jews, who wished to be baptized, were instructed by serious religious teachers, mostly in the shelters of certain houses marked with the Star of David. A good many, however, fell into the clutches of impostors, "pseudo-priests", who swindled their victims of more or less substantial sums under the pretext of collecting "fees". The three months' term of instruction prior to conversion would in most cases just about have expired at the time when the "Nyilas" seized power, and for this reason a considerable part of the baptisms were never carried out.’’ (293)

Lévai, Jenö. Grey Book on the Rescuing of Hungarian Jews. Budapest: Officina, 1946, Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948.)