A story from Hungary unlike any other in our collection. Miksa Domonkos was a decorated soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army in the First World War. During the Second World War, he acted as the de facto mayor of the infamous Budapest ghetto, bringing in food and medicine to save lives, and working closely with Raoul Wallenberg to protect even more. In the 1950s, the Communist secret police arrested Miksa Domonkos and accused him of murdering Wallenberg. A story of remarkable bravery, and of tragedy.
Location: Hungary
Jewish Soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian Army
It was one of Europe’s greatest and longest lasting empires. By 1914 its emperor had ruled for more than six decades. And under the reign of Franz Joseph I, Jews throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire had come out of the ghetto and into society. His picture adorned their living room walls; prayers for his health were in every siddur (prayer book). And the Empire’s Jews hoped that the rising tide of nationalism would be kept at bay. But history had other plans. This film was produced in Vienna by Wolfgang Els and narrated by Morley Safer.