Metadata and title updated to omit the mention of Jews. The film itself and other records do not indicate the race, ethnicity, or religion of the forced laborers. While Hungary did use Jewish forced labor, other groups (politically unreliable ie Romani, socialists, political dissidents) were subject to forced labor as well. The following Illumin request provided information on four total films. 179211 USHMM Collections Search Feedback Submitted 04/08/2023 03:40:47 [Historical Film]
Hungarian conscripts forced to perform labor in Budapest, 1944
Hungarista Híradó 2. A long row of forced laborers in a field use pick-axes to dig away at the earth. Men in a deep trench dig, throwing the dirt up above, where other men shovel it away. Brief shot of two men in uniform surveying the activity. One looks through binoculars. The laboring men continue to hack away at the earth, with shovels and pick-axes. They sit by tables and pots, prepping food. CU of a bowl of onions and peppers. Men cut away at onions over a bowl and stir soup in large pots in the ground. A man serves others waiting in line for the soup. The Jewish forced laborers lounge on a blanket, eating their soup, surrounded by others eating in the background. Two men eat their soup separate from the group, one sits on a log and the other perches on a wooden box. Shot of the laborers walking in rows with their tools on their shoulders, following two soldiers. The laborers keep walking. They enter Budapest. More shots of this large group of men walking. Cable cars move alongside them.