Lila Denes - May 19, 1989
Introduction
Following is the interview with Mrs. Lila Denes, conducted on the morning of May 19, 1989 at her home in Southfield, Michigan. The interviewer is Sidney Bolkosky.
Can you tell me where you're from, please?
Yes, I'm from Budapest, Hungary.
You were, you were born in Budapest?
No, I wasn't. I just married somebody and then I moved to Budapest.
From where?
From uh, oh, that's a long Hungarian name.
What's, what's the name?
It's Jászárokszállás.
Jászárokszállás. Where is that near?
It's near Szolnok. It's not too far from Budapest. Two hours by train.
Um, before you were married, when you lived uh, is it, was it a village, a small town?
It's a small town. 18,000 people.
How many Jews were in that town?
Fifty families, about fifty families and slowly they moved. The younger people moved in, to bigger cities.
What do you remember about life in your town before you moved to Budapest, before the war?
Yeah, that before the war. Well, during the '30s, you know, when Hitler came to power, it started, the anti-Semitism started. They were writing on buildings, Jewish buildings, and, and um...
This was under Horthy?
It was under Horthy.
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