Conscripted Slaves: Hungarian Jewish Forced Laborers on the Eastern Front during the Second World War

by Robert Rozett

From the spring of 1942 until the summer of 1944, some 45,000 Jewish men were forced to accompany Hungarian troops to the battle zone of the Soviet Union. Some 80% of the Jewish forced laborers never returned home. They fell prey to battle, starvation, disease, and grinding labor, aggravated immensely by brutality and even outleft murder at the hands of the Hungarian soldiers responsible for them. This study constitutes a unique and invaluable chapter in the mosaic of Holocaust history. The laborers' personal accounts speak powerfully to every Jewish family that lived under Hungarian rule during the Holocaust years, because it is their own personal story. But it is not one to be kept in the family alone, since it is profoundly relevant to all people.

Genres: World War II, Holocaust

288 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This aspect of Jewish persecution during WWII doesn't get much attention, so this book is quite worthwhile for those interested in the subject and/or Hungary's role during the war. The book's organization, abiding strictly to what seemed like a formula (topic introduced/anecdotes/conclusion; topic introduced/anecdotes/conclusion ... etc) detracted from the overall impression, however.