Mira Kovacs: Prayerbook and petticoat

The following abbreviations mark the type of processing and field of knowledge these listed questions correspond to, as specified by the methodologic guide.

Some of these questions can be worked on individually, others are for group work. This is indicated by the usage of the singular and plural, respectively.

Abbreviations:

Hh = holocaust history

Sh = Social history

JS = Judaic Studies

E = Ethical and moral discussion

Hb = Historical background

In twenty-four hours they put us over the border

Check where the towns Temesvár, Babarc, Pancsova, Arad are located. Mark them on the map along with the main stations of Mira and her family. ( Hb )

The Trianon peace treaty resulted in what Hungarian territorial losses? Check how this affected the Jewish community, what size were the Jewish communities in the detached territories? ( Hb )

What main social groups were distinguishable in contemporary Hungary? What were the living conditions of the middle and upper class? ( Sh )

Discuss the concepts of assimilation and integration. Which of these are most applicable to Mira's family? ( Sh , Hb )

Why did Mira's father insist on keeping his Hungarian citizenship despite the ordeal it inflicted on his family? (E)

I jumped one-oh-five high

What types of school were prevalent in Hungary during the Horthy-period? What was taught in a civil school? What further education was available to its students? ( Hb )

What were the Anti-Jewish laws? ( Hb, Hh )

What was the aim of the Scouts movement? Check if there were any Jewish Scouts. ( Hb )

Compare the conduct of Mira's teachers. Were they typical of Hungary in the 1930's? Discuss whether more might have been done for Mira under the circumstances. ( E )

Why was it especially painful for Mira to be excluded from the Scouts? ( E)

Come to the synagogue for the long day

Which Jewish festival is the Long Day a part of? ( J )

Check what the Jewish high festivals are. ( J )

What is a kipa? Who wears it? ( J )

Mother

What sort of work would "adjusting" mean? ( Sh )

What schools gave economics certificates? How did this differ from regular high school graduation? ( Hb )

Where was the Bristol Hotel located? ( Hb )

My eccentric father

Why does Mira describe her father as eccentric? What does the expression mean?

Check who Oszkár Ascher was. What role did his family have in Hungarian culture? ( Hb )

Who was Kamill Feleki? Check which movies he played in. ( Hb )

Why did Mira have to abandon her studies? Which Anti-Jewish law made further studies impossible? ( Hh )

Discuss what might have prompted Mira's father to write a political poem. (E)

My every wish was a bicycle

What did her bicycle mean to Mira? Why was she devastated by its loss? (E))

Discuss why Jews were required by law to hand in their radios. ( Hh , E)

What were the starred houses? Who ordered their separation? What was the authority's aim with these regulations? ( Hb , Hh )

When did the Arrowcross Party come to power, and under what circumstances? ( Hb )

Why did the starred house inmates insist on staging a cultural performance? Why did the police prohibit this performance? (E)

What was the point of labour service? Who were obliged to serve it? Check which famous Hungarian authors were killed during labour service. (H h )

Discuss the situation Mira was facing after her mother died and her father was taken to labour service. How did she manage to survive and come through? (E)

My prayerbook and lace petticoat

Check where the KISOK sports facility was located. What was its role in the history of the Holocaust during the war? (H h )

How did the Arrowcross Party regulate labour and war service obligations in 1944? ( Hb )

Why was Mira so attached to her lace petticoat? What did it symbolize? (E)

List the towns where Mira had attended her labour service. Draw the route on a map. How many kilometers was she forced to walk? (H h )

What was the gendarmerie's role under the Horthy regime? How did it differ from the police force? What was its role in the history of the Holocaust ? (Hh, Hb )

Then I said this really is the end of the world

Who were the overseers? What was their role in the history of the Holocaust? ( Hb , H h )

Why did the overseer tel Mira's group to pretend not to speak German? (E)

Why did Mira think the end was near when she saw the rail wagons at Rákoskeresztúr? (H h )

Discuss what could lead to a situation where onlookers spit on the vulnerable persecuted as they are marched before them? (E)

Where is Tolbuchin hall? What is its name today? Why was the name changed? ( Hb )

Why does Mira abandon her backpack and her favourite piece of clothing when she sees the wagons? What does this gesture mean to her? (E)

Consider the different types of behaviour Mira reports from her overseers. What could the explanation be? (E)

Consider all the lucky accidents that helped Mira escape. Discuss who actively helped the persecuted. (E)

List the humane acts imparted on the persecuted. (E)

What was the Óbuda Brickworks' role in the history of the Holocaust? (H h )

When did the "death marches" head out West? How many people died in these marches? (H h )

Wallenberg appeared

Who was Wallenberg? What was his role during the Holocaust? What became of him after the war? (H h , Hb )

Who were the greatest humanitarians at the time of the Hungarian Holocaust? (H h , Hb )

Where we go every year to remember

What was the TODT organization, and what did it do? (H h )

Where were concentration camps located in Austria, and where is Lichtenwörth? (H h )

What were conditions like in the camp? What caused the greatest number of deaths? (H h )

What sort of plant is a turnip, and what is it mainly used for? (H h )

I had my eighteenth birthday there

Why did the Scharführer make prisoners dance and sing ? (E)

What disposed the prisoners to perform for the Scharführer? Why does Mira write that when she couldn't get in, " I swear I was glad for it "? (E)

How did they celebrate Mira's 18th birthday? (E)

Then Klári and Rózsi cooked potato paprikás

What sort of condition is typhoid fever? Why did it claim such a mass of fatalities during the war?

What change was brought by the arrival of the Russians on the 2nd of April? Check where the battles continued afterward. ( Th )

Why did Mira and her sister insist on going home? (E)

There came a man with a two-wheeled barrow

Discuss the circumstances of Mira's journey home. How did they finally arrive? (H h )

Why didn't her neighbors recognize Mira? (H h )

Where was the Budapest Ghetto located? (H h )

It was no good by myself

How did Mira manage to restart her life? Who had helped her? (E)

Why is dancing no longer important for Mira after the war? (E)

From number 38 István út, nobody made it back

What was DEGOB? What did it do, how did it operate? (H h )

Check how many Holocaust victims died during labour service, and in what conditions. (H h )

The home on Bácskai utca

What is a madricha? ( J )

What did the Dror Habonim organization do? ( Hb , J )

What was the aim of the Zionist movement? When was it started? How did it change after the Holocaust? ( Hb , J )

What is aaliyah? ( J )

What were the circumstances of the founding of the Israeli State? Which power controlled the territory of Palestine at the time? How were immigrant Jews received there after the war? ( Hb )

What is a chupe? What are the main customs associated with a Jewish wedding? ( J )

Nobody said anything

Why didn't the survivors discuss what happened? Why does Mira write " We were so stupid "? (E)

The Dobogókő camp

Who were the sliach? What was their task? ( Hb )

Why was migrating to Palestine illegal in 1945? ( Hb )

Why were the children instructed what to do in case the boat couldn't dock at Haifa? What would have prevented docking? ( Hb )

Who were the mizrachites? What does the word mean? ( J )

What sort of training did youth receive at Dobogókő? For what possible reasons? ( Hb )

Why were illegal immigrants taken to Cyprus? ( Hb )

I considered an aliyah

Why did Mira decide against travelling to Palestine? Discuss how the experience may have affected the survivors in their later life. ( Hb , E)

I started to live

Why did Mira feel an outsider with her second husband's friends?

He would make up for what had been taken away from me

Why did Mira's second husband embrace Mira's Jewish traditions? In what way did this help her? (E)

Why did Mira contribute to the maintenance of the Jewish cemetery at Tiszafüred? (E)

The child should never know the word scared

What impact did the Holocaust make on Mira in her later life?

Why did Mira and her husband decide their daughter should never know the meaning of fear? (E)

That is how I turned the family back again

Discuss how Mira's family returns to their Jewish identity. traditions. Evaluate the social process, does it enrich or deprive Hungarian society? ( Sh )