Hertzler Outpost

One of the pleasures of living here is getting to know people whose lives are far more interesting than ours. Last night was one of those occasions.

The neighbor who owns the house next to ours lives with her mom and sister’s family in another part of Budapest. Along with our landlord, Peter, we went to dinner at this other house where one of the first people we met was her mom, Nora. Nora spoke excellent English and had amazing things to tell us.

Their beautiful house has a history. Purchased before WWII by Nora’s parents, its current ownership by her family is a miracle. Her father died when she was young, so she and her mother managed the property for most of its history this century. During the Nazi occupation of Budapest they turned it into a shelter for Jewish refugees at great risk to their own safety. Then, during the Siege of Budapest (November through February, 1944-45) by the Soviets, they survived in the house and kept many others safe until it ended.

One of the most interesting turns came shortly after the Soviet occupation of Hungary and the subsequent Communist government. Since all houses with more than 6 rooms became national property, they subdivided their house into three apartments, each with less than 6 rooms. The unfortunate consequence of this move was that anyone was now free to declare themselves renters in their house, and a prostitute availed herself of this opportunity. For 25 years she lived there, and at one point she sold her apartment to another family! Eventually the family abandoned the place, and Nora and her two daughters (one of whom is our neighbor) saw this as a chance to re-aquire the apartments. The whole house has been in their ownership since.

Events such as these, had they occurred in an American house, would qualify it as a signficant point of historical interest. In Budapest, this is just another house like most of the rest, and the history we learned only covered half the house’s life!

[This site (http://www.osa.ceu.hu/galeria/sites/siege/framee.html) has a great history, with photos, of the Seige of Budapest and what the city looked like during those days. Click "Sections" on the left first, rather than "Photos."]