by Péter Krausz
Recently, my brother, Andrew, drew my attention to a large, ornate 1941 publication in his possession, entitled ‘The Golden Album of Hungarian Jews in Military Service’, which commemorates the First World War of 1914-18 and the Jewish soldiers who were called up for military service. [1] Browsing through the album, I am sharing a few excerpts in this short article, which I admit is not intended as a scholarly work. Where possible, I have highlighted details relevant to Győr. I supplement the book review with findings from a recent study on the same subject, which support the statements made in the publication more than 80 years ago.
The intention of the authors and editors of this ‘golden album’ in the 1940s was clear: to use the example of the First World War to show that the anti-Semitic accusations of Jewish disloyalty, which were growing at the time and later culminated in tragedy, were completely unfounded.
The First World War broke out 111 years ago. The album warns that ‘the list of losses in the world war in statistical terms remains an unsolved problem to this day’. [2] With this reservation, it states that 4.5% of the Hungarian Empire’s army of 3.5 million soldiers, a total of 160,519, were of Jewish origin. [3] (In 1910, the Jewish population of the entire Kingdom of Hungary was 932,458. The population of the Kingdom of Hungary, including Croatia, was 20,836,681 at that time. The Jewish diaspora thus represented 4.47% of society. [4] The number and percentage of Jews in the counties of Győr, Moson and Pozsony was 7,930, or 4.1%. [5])
Distribution of Jewish conscripts in 1918:
| Service | Number |
| on the front | 134 640 |
| sick and in military hospital | 25 879 |
| Total | 160 519 |
The proportions are similar on the victims’ side. The total number of heroic dead of the Hungarian Empire was 660,821 (prisoners of war: 734,316, wounded: 743,359), of which 29,936 were Jewish heroic dead (prisoners of war: 33,043, wounded: 33,448). [6]
Compared to the total male population, the proportion of Jews killed, wounded and disabled is relatively lower than that of other religious affiliations. At the same time, within the working male population (the examination of which the editor of the book, Márton Hegedüs [7], considers to be of paramount importance), the number of Jewish victims in certain occupational groups shows higher rates of death, injury and disability in relation to the Jewish population than in other confessions. [8]
Győr municipal register of frontline soldiers of the Jewish faith – source: The Golden Album of Hungarian Jews in the War, Budapest, 1941, pp. 248–249
The number of heroic dead in Győr is 85. [9]
Győr municipal register of Jewish war dead and disabled veterans – source: Golden Album of Hungarian Jews in the War, Budapest, 1941, pp. 250–251
The Hungarian officers of Jewish descent who served in World War I are definitely worth mentioning. I am not aware of any high-ranking officers with roots in Győr. Here are some of the highest-ranking individuals: [10]
| Name | Rank | Other sources |
| br. Simon Hazai | Lieutenant General ret, former Minister of Defence | link |
| Gyula Bauer of Krupiec | ret. General | link |
| Adolf Kornhaber of Pilis | Field Marshal | |
| Chevalier Schlesinger | Major General | link |
| Manó Inselt of Görle | ret. General | |
| Henrik Léderer of Borcsewszka | Lieutenant General in ret. | link |
| Chevalier Károly Schwartz | Major General | |
| Simon Vogl nobleman | Major General | |
| Márton Zöld of Sióagárd | General | link |
Sociologist Péter Róbert [11]addresses the same issue in his work entitled Equal Rights to a Heroic Death – Hungarian Jews in the First World War,[12] published on the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the war. I quote his thoughts below.
He writes that during the 1848-49 war of independence, Kossuth spoke highly of his 20,000 Jewish soldiers.
According to Róbert, 455,000 Jews from the countries of the Central Powers enlisted as soldiers during the World War, of whom 54,000 died heroically. Of the 320,000 Jewish soldiers from Austria-Hungary, one in eight fell (i.e. approx. 40,000). These figures are naturally higher than those published in the ‘golden album’ because they refer to the Monarchy and not just Hungary. In Germany, 12,000 out of 100,000 Jews remained on the battlefield, and their names were removed from memorial plaques barely 20 years later. Most Jews enlisted in the Russian army, 650,000 of them, but they could not become officers, and here the ratio of casualties was the highest, 100,000 people. The reason for this was the practice that Jews could only serve in the most dangerous posts.
The number of Jewish reserve officers rose steadily, writes Péter Róbert, while they were assigned more and more tasks. One in six of them was of the Jewish faith (and even more were of Jewish descent).
Róbert’s research also confirms that a significant number of Jews attained high military ranks in the Austro-Hungarian army. He corroborates the compilation of the ‘Golden Album’ of high-ranking officers of Jewish origin. He mentions the following military leaders by name: chevalier Schlesinger, artillery engineer, general, head of department at the Ministry of War; Adolf Kornháber, field marshal from Pilis (baptised as a major); Ede Schweitzer, lieutenant general; Simon Vogl, major general (former Jewish theology student). The following achieved the rank of colonel: Gyula Bauer, commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment (the famous ‘rosebbakák’ of Somogy [13]), Alajos Eisenstädter, lieutenant colonel, Ármin Fischer, and János Mestitz. Márton Zöld of Sióagárd was commander of the 308th Honvéd Infantry Regiment, later becoming a general, retaining his rank in Horthy’s army and attending the synagogue on Nagyfuvaros Street in uniform. Lieutenant colonels: Jenő Balla, commander of the 3rd Honvéd Infantry Regiment in Debrecen, Weichert, chief engineer of the navy. The following became majors (retired as lieutenant colonels): Izidor Deutsch, Emánuel Krausz (killed in action), and Gusztáv Singer. We should also mention Baron Samu Hazai, born Sámuel Kohn (1851-1942), a colonel general who was baptised as a cadet and went on to have a distinguished career in the Hungarian army, serving as Minister of Defence from 1910 to 1917. As chief of the army’s logistics, he was second in command of the Monarchy after the chief of the general staff in 1917-18.
Despite the facts, the Jewish community was heavily criticised during the war. This criticism was based on the exaggeration and distortion of certain facts. It is true that a relatively large number of Jews were assigned to military supply, the artillery, clerical work, etc., but this was due to their usefulness and education. Of course, the economic knowledge of Jews was put to good use in the war. Jews ‘did not play as prominent a role in the operation of any war economy as they did in Hungary,’ writes Péter Bihari (Lövészárkok a hátországban [Trenches in the Home Front, Budapest, 2008]).
On 11 November 1914, the first call for war loans was issued. A significant amount was subscribed by financial institutions and insurance companies in the capital, which were known to be in Jewish hands.
Unfortunately, there were those who abused the situation (e.g. delivery of the so called “paper boots”), but this was not limited to Jewish entrepreneurs.
The temporary advance of the Tsarist Russian army caused masses of Jews to flee. Their appearance, although their modest provisions were generally provided by the Jewish communities, increased the already growing anti-Semitism. Dezső Kosztolányi wrote a beautiful article in Egyenlőség (Equality, a periodical), reminding readers of the basic principles of humanity, but to no avail. People considered the number of fallen Jews to be too low and the profits of the military suppliers too high – although the latter were not all Jews!
The hatred that flared up at the end of 1918, when the collapse and revolution brought about the end of order and public security, manifested itself in pogroms. Jews were looted and assaulted, mainly in ethnic regions. The need for a self-defence organisation arose. Volunteer armed units were formed from Jews who had served at the front, mostly reserve officers, and were also called Zionist guards. They went out to the villages where atrocities had been reported and restored order. Their disciplined, military-style arrival was usually enough to disperse the mobs.
Later, when individual settlements erected memorial columns in memory of their fallen heroes, there were villages where the names of the Jews who had died were not to be included.
To counteract anti-Jewish propaganda, the Jewish press devoted considerable space to keeping track of the number of war victims. A prominent, albeit rather late example of this is the “Golden Album” presented in the first half of this article.
Unfortunately, the self-sacrifice shown in the “Great War” did not save anyone from the terrible persecution of 1944! We recall the fate of Manó Adler from Győr, who fought throughout the First World War, attained the rank of lieutenant, received a silver medal for bravery and the Charles Cross. In 1942, he was summoned to the military command in Győr, where he was “ceremoniously” stripped of these honours. [14]
Footnotes and sources
[1] The Golden Album of Hungarian Jews in Military Service, In Memory of the World War of 1914-18; Edited by Márton Hegedüs, in cooperation with the Editorial Board of The Golden Album of Hungarian Jews in Military Service; 1941, Budapest, Publisher: Dr. József Fodor, Hungaria Nyomda R.T. Budapest
[2] The Golden Album … p129
[3] The Golden Album … p 137-139
[4] Jews in Hungary, Wikipedia
[5] The Golden Album … p 154
[6] The Golden Album … p 137-139
[7] Presumably: Márton Hegedüs (1982-1952), journalist, economic and statistical affairs
[8] The Golden Album … p 141-150
[9] The Golden Album … p 154
[10] The Golden Album … p 25
[11] Péter Róbert, sociologist
[12] Equal right to a heroic death – Hungarian Jews in the First World War, Bookline and Remény
[13] The Great War in Words and Pictures
[14] The history of my family, the Adlers until 1945, by György Adler, April 2025 – link
I would like to thank my brother, Andrew, for preserving and passing on The Golden Album of Hungarian Jews in Military Service for this publication.
English translation by Peter Krausz