Survival under Dictatorships: Life and Death in Nazi and Communist Regimes

László Borhi

Open Access Published by Central European University Press 2024

Survival under Dictatorships

Life and Death in Nazi and Communist Regimes

László Borhi
Funded by: Opening the Future

https://doi.org/10.1515/9789633867174

Overview
Contents

About this book

A complex array of individual responses to the abuse of power by the state is represented in this book in three horrific episodes in the history of East-Central Europe. The three events followed each other within a span of about ten years: the deportation and murder of Hungarian Jews in Nazi death and labor camps; the Arrow Cross terrorist rule in Budapest; and finally the Stalinist terror in Hungary and East-Central Europe. Through the prism of survival, László Borhi explores the relationship between the individual and power, attempting to understand the mechanism of oppression and terror produced by arbitrary, unbridled power through the experience of normal people.

Despite the obvious peculiarities of time and place, the Hungarian cases convey universal lessons about the Holocaust, Nazism, and Stalinism. In the author's conception, the National Socialist and Stalinist experiences are linked on several levels. Both regimes defended their visions of the future against social groups whom they saw as implacable enemies of those visions, and who therefore had to be destroyed for sake of social perfection. Furthermore, the social practices of National Socialism were passed on. And although Stalinism was imposed by a foreign power, some of the survival skills for coping with it were rehearsed under the previous hellish experience.

Author / Editor information

Borhi László :

László Borhi is the Peter A. Kadas Chair and associate professor in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Reviews

Gábor Gyáni:

"An important contribution to revealing the subjective side of the terror continuously practiced first by an authoritarian state, and distinctively by domestic fascists, and subsequently by the communist state in Hungary.”

Oldřich Tůma:

“Many books have been trying to explain modern dictatorships by focusing on techniques of control, repression, collaboration or, on the contrary, on resistance against dictatorship. The new book by László Borhi uses a broader perspective: ordinary life of ordinary people during dictatorial regimes. The author explores his topic on the example of the rule of the Arrow Cross party (Hungarian version of the Nazism) at the end of the World War II and of the Hungarian Stalinist régime before 1956. In an appealing and convincing way, he combines a thorough knowledge of the wide spectrum of relevant sources with the memory of his own family. This impressive volume is much more than a contribution to the history of Hungary in the 1940s and 1950s; it is an indispensable contribution to understanding the undemocratic regimes of the 20th century and life in them in general.”

Robert C. Austin:

“This superbly researched book meticulously documents three distinct periods in Hungary and the larger region of Central Europe in times of great precarity. With access to extraordinarily important personal testimonies, Borhi wants the reader to understand the behavior of individuals under extreme circumstances. By doing this, he also raises the wider notion of dictatorship by consent. Survival under Dictatorships is an incredibly important addition to our understanding of this period.”

Mark Kramer:

“This book is a splendid work of scholarship interspersed with moving reflections about the fates of certain individuals in Hungary during the years when the country was under the domination of first Nazi Germany and then Stalin’s Soviet Union. Among the people we encounter are relatives of the author, László Borhi, an eminent historian of East-Central European history (especially the history of Hungary) in the 20th century. Building in part on his earlier books, Borhi has produced an excellent, sobering account of the grim choices facing individuals who had to live under tyrannical regimes. The book is not strictly a history of Nazism and Stalinism, but it reveals a great deal about the ways people lived and died under these two abominable systems.”

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction Open Access Download PDF	1
Part I Hungarian Holocaust
Introduction Open Access Download PDF	14
Germany and the Hungarian Holocaust Open Access Download PDF	18
Antecedents Open Access Download PDF	33
Rounding Up Open Access Download PDF	37
Life in the Ghetto Open Access Download PDF	42
Journey by Livestock Cars Open Access Download PDF	54
What Did They Know? Open Access Download PDF	58
Disembarkment Open Access Download PDF	65
The First Hours Open Access Download PDF	68
What Did They See? Open Access Download PDF	72
Camp Life Open Access Download PDF	76
Nutrition: Barely Enough to Die Open Access Download PDF	84
Death by Labor Open Access Download PDF	87
Victim Behavior, Humanity Open Access Download PDF	95
Guards, Kapos, Fellow Prisoners, and Civilians Open Access Download PDF	98
Resistance Open Access Download PDF	108
Transfer, Evacuation Open Access Download PDF	113
Liberation Open Access Download PDF	121
Part II Arrow Cross Terror
Introduction Open Access Download PDF	132
Terrorist Spaces Open Access Download PDF	138
Numbers Open Access Download PDF	141
Rescue and Betrayal Open Access Download PDF	143
The Complexity of Rescue: The Sisters of Divine Love Open Access Download PDF	155
The Power of Housekeepers Open Access Download PDF	166
Torn Identities Open Access Download PDF	172
Execution, Torture, Robbery Open Access Download PDF	187
What Motivated Them? Open Access Download PDF	202
Who Were They? Open Access Download PDF	217
Annihilation Open Access Download PDF	229
Escape Open Access Download PDF	235
Survival of Humanity Open Access Download PDF	238
Between Political Extremes Open Access Download PDF	240
Part III Stalinism in Hungary
Soviet Occupation, Deportation Open Access Download PDF	244
New Dictatorship, Old Habits Open Access Download PDF	251
A New Elite Open Access Download PDF	259
Life under Repression Open Access Download PDF	260
Terror from Below Open Access Download PDF	264
Collaboration, Resistance Open Access Download PDF	269
Self-Policing or “Total Control”? Open Access Download PDF	274
The Scope of Repression Open Access Download PDF	289
The Top-Down, Bottom-Up Dynamic of Dictatorial Rule Open Access Download PDF	310
Conclusion Open Access Download PDF	340
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	360
Index of Personal Names Open Access Download PDF	369

Language: English
Publisher: Central European University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 386
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 5
Keywords: Survival; Holocaust; National Socialism; Stalinism; Hungarian

eBook

Published: March 31, 2024
ISBN: 9789633867174