us-005578-irn86103-irn85978
type: RecordSet
archival history: The Star of David badge was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2013 by Peter Dallos.
biographical history: Peter Deutsch (later Dallos) was born on November 26, 1934, in Budapest, Hungary, to Erno and Maria Klein Deutsch. Erno was born in 1903 to an Orthodox Jewish family and had three younger brothers, Otto, Miklos, and Sanyi, and a sister Ella, born circa 1920. Marie, born in January 1906, had a younger brother Endre, born in 1917, and a sister Klari. The couple married in 1932. Erno was an accountant for Karitex and Marie was a comptroller for Andrea Cementworks. Miklos and Sanyi left Hungary in the 1930s; Miklos for France and Sanyi for Palestine. The Hungarian government had radical fascist elements and was closely allied with Germany. Antisemitic measures based upon the Nuremberg racial laws in Germany were passed in the 1930s. Jews lost their citizenship and were barred from many professions. By 1940, Erno was released from his job, but was employed as an accountant by several Jewish owned factories. Forced labor service was required of all able-bodied male Jews. Marie’s brother Endre was drafted as a soldier in 1940, but a new ordinance mandated that Jews could serve only as conscripted laborers, not soldiers. Hungary joined the Axis Alliance with Nazi Germany in November and participated in the military invasions of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union in 1941. The labor brigades were placed under the command of the military and deployed on war-related construction work. In 1941, Erno and his brother Otto were mustered into a forced labor brigade. Erno was released after several months, but Otto was sent to Levocne in the Ukraine. In 1943, Erno was assigned to a forced labor camp, but again released after several months. The family received a Red Cross notice in February 1943 that Endre and his battalion had disappeared during the retreat from Russia following the battle of the Don. Peter’s paternal grandfather died of natural causes that year leaving Peter and his maternal grandfather as the only male relatives still in Budapest. There were frequent bombings and air…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Yellow cloth badge in the shape of a 6 pointed Star of David with the edges blanket stitched in yellow thread. The star is misshapen, with loose threads.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: 1944 April 06-1945
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn85978
is or was included in: us-005578-irn86103
record resource extent: overall: Height: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Width: 3.500 inches (8.89 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Star of David badge worn by 10 year old Peter Deutsch in German occupied Budapest, Hungary, beginning April 6, 1944. The wearing of this badge, required of all Jews, made Peter and his mother feel acutely ashamed. Hungary was a German ally, but after the defeat at Stalingrad, sought a separate truce with the western Allies. To thwart these efforts, Germany occupied Hungary in March 1944. Immediately after invading, the Germans began to systematically deport all the Jews of Hungary to concentration camps. Peter's father Erno was sent to a forced labor camp in Serbia. Peter and his mother had to move into a Jews only building. In August, Peter's mother Marie acquired two protective passes issued by the Swedish Red Cross which exempted them from deportation. By October, the Jews in Budapest were the last remaining Jews in Hungary. On October 15, a German orchestrated coup brought the antisemitic, fascist Arrow Cross Party to power and deportations increased. In November, Peter and Marie had to move into a Swedish protected house. The city was under almost constant bombing and they stayed in the cellar most of the time. In mid-January 1945, their section of the city, Pest, was liberated by the Soviet Army; Buda was freed on February 13. Peter's father did not return and they learned that he had been killed in the camp or during a forced march. Nearly all of Peter's relatives in Hungary when the war began perished.
title: Yellow cloth Star of David badge worn by a Jewish boy in Budapest