Self-financing Genocide
The Gold Train, the Becher Case and the Wealth of Hungarian Jews
Gábor Kádár, PhD Student at Debrecen University,
Hungary and
Zoltán Vági, PhD Student at the Eötvös Lóránd
University of Budapest
Discusses the process of the economic annihilation
of the Jews in Hungary, who- from the economic point
of view - were more influential than any other Jewish
community in Europe. Following the German occupation
in March 1944 the collaborating Hungarian government
attempted to assert its claim concerning the complete
confiscation of Jewish assets at all stages of the road
leading to the extermination camps. The cooperation
with the Germans proved to be the most problematic in
this area.
The story of the Jewish Gold Train is a relatively
small but all the more emblematic chapter of the economic
annihilation. The circumstances of the freight's assembling,
the German-Hungarian conflicts concerning the train,
the looting attempts, the fate of the assets seized
by the Allies (double victimization of the survivors)
provide the reader with an insight into the history
of the repeated looting of the Hungarian Jewry.
The book analyzes the role played by SS-Obersturmbannführer
Kurt Becher, one of the most controversial and mysterious
figures in the Hungarian and universal history of the
Holocaust. Becher, delegated to Hungary by Himmler,
administered and benefited from the confiscation of
an enormous amount of Jewish assets.
Contents
Introduction Economic and social position of
Hungarian Jewry before the German occupation Part
I The story of the Gold Train of Hungarian Jews
Part II Legend and truth about Kurt Becher Part
III The economic annihilation of Hungarian Jews
Bibliography Index
2004
440 pages, includes illustrations
ISBN: 978-963-9241-53-4 Cloth $54.95 / €46.95 / £37.00
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