DOCTORAL (PHD) DISSERTATION by ANNA LUJZA SZÁSZ 2015
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DOCTORAL (PHD) DISSERTATION by ANNA LUJZA SZÁSZ 2015 EMANCIPÁLT EMLÉKEZET KÉPES TÖRTÉNETEK A MAGYARORSZÁGI ROMA HOLOKAUSZT EMLÉKEZETRŐL írta SZÁSZ ANNA LUJZA KONZULENS: habil Dr. KOVÁCS ÉVA CSc EÖTVÖS LÓRÁND TUDOMÁNY EGYETEM, BUDAPEST TÁRSADALOMTUDOMÁNYI KAR SZOCIOLÓGIA TANSZÉK INTERDISZCIPLINÁRIS TÁRSADALOMKUTATÁSOK DOKTORI PROGRAM 2015 MEMORY EMANCIPATED EXPLORING THE MEMORY OF THE NAZI GENOCIDE OF ROMA IN HUNGARY by ANNA LUJZA SZÁSZ TUTOR: habil Dr. ÉVA KOVÁCS CSc EÖTVÖS LÓRÁND UNIVERSITY BUDAPEST FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY INTERDISCIPLINARY SOCIAL STUDIES PROGRAM 2015 Acknowledgements As the submission of my dissertation was approaching I started getting emotional about it. It was the realization that this text is not only about the exploration of the memory of the Nazi genocide of Roma but it is also a context which made me possible to meet great people, to gain incredibly meaningful experience and knowledge academically, socially and personally, and to learn to be aware of the position from where I am speaking. It was a little bit more than four years of my life, and this project was developed, nurtured and completed together with many people whom I am thankful to and whom I shall keep in my memories. This research would have never begun if I had not met Júlia Szalai at a course titled “Sociological Approaches to Race and Ethnicity: The Roma in Post-communist Central Europe” at the Central European University in 2008. A year later I had the chance to be her research assistant in an FP7 research project on ethnic differences in education. I was in that privileged position that Júlia paved my way for many years and I immersed myself in the realm of her knowledge and enjoyed every bits and pieces of the work we did together. I learned an exemplary discipline and that no matter how tired I am only high-quality work should be produced. Thank you for being my tutor, Éva Kovács. I had butterflies in my stomach every time I received your comments on my chapters. You constantly challenged my ideas and provided new insights throughout the discussions; your questions and suggestions were invaluable. I have learned from you an elemental and fundamental sensitivity to the interviewee and to the text: an approach which brings along a certain theoretical and methodological rigor as well as an ambition to read across the lines and understand the depths. You have taught me to always look for and see the human behind the subject of analysis as well as have emphasised the importance of belonging and preserving an intellectual community in which knowledge can be shared. I am grateful that I can be your colleague at the Voices of the 20th Century Archive. The backbone of my research is contemporary art. Art has become a fundamental pillar of my life, a kind of lens through which I wish to understand processes and problems. Being a colleague of Tímea Junghaus meant to experience her creativity and endless ideas. Tímea introduced me to Roma contemporary art. I have been working with her in the European i Roma Cultural Foundation (ERCF) and had the chance to be involved in projects such as the 7th Berlin Biennale or in exhibitions at the Gallery 8 – Roma Contemporary Art Space. I was fortunate to write this text in a number of stimulating institutions. I owe a great thank you to the wonderful people at the Wiener Wiesenthal Institute für Holocaust-Studien for having me as a junior fellow at their base for ten months. Béla Rásky, Éva Kovács, Greta Anderl, Barbara Grzelaková, Jana Starek, Sandro Fashing and Philipp Rohrbach thank you for your hospitality and the academic, technical and financial support you provided. My colleagues, Zoe Roth, Katharina Friedla, Elisabeth Gallas, Eva Waibel, Patrice G. Poutrus, Raul Carstocea, Robby van Eetvelde and Gerhard Baumgartner, I enjoyed every moment there with you: the glasses of wine at Giorgina, Saltzamt or Philosoph, the flatparties and lunchbreaks, or the sad and sweet farewell picnic at Augarten. I would also like to thank the support of Henriette Asséo, Dominique Trimbur and of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah which institute generously financed my research with a one-year long doctoral scholarship in 2013/2014. I had the opportunity to travel around the world and challenge my ideas, thus the summer schools in both Ohrid titled “The Diverse Survival Strategies of Jewish and Roma Communities in Macedonia: From Resistance to Memorialization” and Brno titled “Memory, Culture and Identity” as well as the workshop of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum titled “New Research on Roma and the Holocaust” contributed to the betterment of my thesis. I am utterly grateful for the comments, guidance, editing and unconditional help of the following people in various phases of the project: Ágnes Daróczi, Andrea Pócsik, Antal Örkény, Borbála Varga, Enikő Bódis, Erna Sághy, Ethel Brooks, Gábor Bernáth, Gábor Sárközi, György Csepeli, Henrik Kállai, János Bársony, Máté Zombory, Nadine Blumer, Péter Szuhay, Slawomir Kapralski, Tibor Balogh, Titanilla Fiáth and Zoltán Kékesi. Furthermore, I am grateful for the artists who talked about their work to me. Dear Vera Vaspál, thank you for generously reading through every chapter I sent you. I am deeply grateful for the challenging arguments and comments you gave me in both study and life and for your enthusiasm towards this project which breathed life into it in times when I was frustrated or lacking self-confidence. My dearest friends, Klári, Juli, Andi, Mariann, ii Bukky, Eszter, Szonja and Nóra, thank you for your encouragement. Dear Doris, Márk and Masha, you taught me what it means to nurture a friendship across the borders. I thank for my parents and my brothers, Gergely, Jakab and Vince. One of the greatest highlights of each day is the moment when I take on my running shoes and set off to run. Running is exact, meditative and mentally as well as physically challenging however it would be empty and boring without the people at BEAC. I am pleased that I have the opportunity to run with all of you every day. Ádám Richárd Hőrich, my friend and love. I started this challenge with you and I am glad that we can finish it together. You helped me evolve this project and I would not have been able to accomplish it without your sense of humour, patience and calmness. iii Abbreviations and translations Association of Sociology and Ethnography of the Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge – Tudományos Ismeretterjesztő Társaság Szociológiai és Néprajzi Csoportja Bank Centre – Pénzintézeti Központ Committee of Roma Professionals – Roma Szakértői Tanács vagy Roma Integrációs Tanács European Roma Cultural Foundation (ERCF) – Európai Roma Kulturális Alapítvány General Bank and Trust Co. Ltd – Általános Értékforgalmi Bank Hungarian Gypsy Cultural Association (HGCA) – Magyarországi Cigányok Kulturális Szövetsége Music Workers Trade Union – Zenei Dolgozók Szakszervezete National Association of Persecuted by Nazism – Nácizmus Magyarországi Üldözötteinek Országos Érdekvédelmi Szervezete Roma Educational and Cultural Centre of Budapest – Fővárosi Roma Oktatási és Kulturális Központ Social Review – Társadalmi Szemle iv Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL ORIENTATIONS .............................................. 1 Contextualization and theoretical remarks .......................................................................................... 3 Concise History of the Nazi genocide of Roma, with a focus on Hungary ......................................... 9 Debates on the genocide .................................................................................................................... 12 Whom does the Holocaust belong to? The difficult case of naming the event ............................. 12 What kind of memory is this? ....................................................................................................... 18 Role of the researcher, Methodology and data .................................................................................. 24 Structure of my thesis ........................................................................................................................ 27 II. UNFOLDING THE DISCOURSE ON THE ROMA GENOCIDE .................................... 30 The immediate post-war period ......................................................................................................... 31 The operation of the Hungarian Gypsy Cultural Association ........................................................... 34 Decree of the Political Committee (June 20, 1961)........................................................................... 41 The role of Sociology in unfolding the history of the Nazi genocide ............................................... 41 The biography of Györgyné Kolompár ......................................................................................... 44 The biography of János Nyári ....................................................................................................... 45 The narratives ................................................................................................................................ 47 The role of the Roma Movement....................................................................................................... 49 Menyhért Lakatos – The Colour of Smoke ................................................................................... 50 Tamás Péli’s Birth ........................................................................................................................