Photo exhibition and conversation with the authors András Lénárt & István Pál Ádám

Photo exhibition and conversation in English with the authors András Lénárt & István Pál Ádám, historians from the Budapest Holocaust Memorial Center, about their recently published Hungarian-language volume on the complex history of the forced labour service (MUSZ) during World War II.

The auxiliary forced labor service was introduced in Hungary primarily for Jews and Leftist activists, so for non-trusted male elements of the society. During the Second World War, they had to support the Hungarian army’s efforts without guns. Most forced laborers were sent to distant areas, because this way the government could eliminate these politically unreliable people. Therefore, the forced labor service took place in many different locations and in a quickly changing war environment. Consequently, forced labor service was radically different in 1942-43 in the occupied Soviet territories close to the Eastern Front than forced labor in the copper mines of Serbia (Bor), or in the area…