John Hajdu was born in 1937 in Budapest, Hungary, into a well-to-do Jewish family. His parents were Gyorgy Hajdu and Livia Farago. His grandfather and father both worked as directors in the insurance business, and his mother was a bookkeeper.
In 1941, Hungary entered the war, allied to Nazi Germany. However, the persecution of the Jews of Hungary began a few years before, in 1938. Jews were unable to marry non-Jews and were excluded from working various professions. Forced labour camps were also established, and in 1943 John’s father was sent to one of them.
In March 1944, Nazi Germany occupied Hungary and marched into Budapest. A decree was issued in April, which ordered all Jews to wear a six-pointed yellow-star on their clothing, as a mark of identification. John, his mother and his aunt, and were ordered to leave their home and had to move into a designated yellow-star house. These houses were designated specifically for the Jews of Budapest. They were only allowed out of the house for a short time each day and were not allowed to buy essential items such as butter, eggs or rice. In addition, there was no medical care available. Jewish bank accounts were frozen. John also remembers that the Jews were not allowed to visit swimming pools, parks or cinemas.
Under the orders of SS officer Adolf Eichmann, the deportation of Hungarian Jews began in May 1944 with assistance from the Hungarian government. John’s mother was deported in October that year, first to Kópháza, Hungary, and then to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. In the end, over 440,000 Jews in Hungary were killed or deported.
John fled with his aunt Iby and was forced to hide in a cupboard, in the flat of a non-Jewish neighbour. This saved his life. Soon after this, searches for Jews in Budapest increased. John and his aunt were forced to come out of hiding and move into the Budapest ghetto, in horrendous conditions. The ghetto consisted of a small area, surrounded by walls and guarded by members of the Arrow Cross, a Hungarian fascist party which was governing the country at that time. There was rubbish on the streets, little food and people died in great numbers. Their bodies were not collected. Approx. 65.000 people lived in cramped quarters, with 15 or so people to a flat.
On 17th January 1945, the Soviet troops entered the ghetto and liberated the remaining residents. John and his aunt had nowhere to go and didn’t know if anyone else from their family had survived. John’s father was released from the camp and joined him in Budapest. The family decided to leave for Romania.
John’s mother had survived and was liberated at Mauthausen concentration camp by American soldiers in May 1945. John was reunited with her and they tried to rebuild their lives, returning to Budapest. They lived under Soviet rule, witnessing the Hungarian Revolution in October 1956, before escaping and arriving in England in 1957.
In the UK, John completed his studies and went on to have a successful career in the hotel business. He married and now lives in London near his two children and four grandchildren. John’s contributions to Holocaust education were honoured with the award of MBE in 2020.