Written Task 1: "A Vision of Budapest"

A Vision of Budapest
Józef Kossuth 
05/07/1944

Last month, our country was violently invaded by the Nazi Germany. The secret treatments between Hungary, the United States and Great Britain were discovered by Germany, which meant that the germans decided to end the relationship with Hungary and take control of it. We, the hungarian population, must be informed of the tough situation our country is going through. As our prime minister, Miklós Kállay said, things will never be the same in our country. The normal development of Hungary, specially Budapest, has been interrupted by the international problems that collided in the war, and we have to be aware of the changes it will create in our nation. To help people acknowledge how our country is changing, I'll state the main shifts that are taking place.

I. The first influence of the Nazi Regime in Hungary were the yellow stars that must be worn by every single jew in the country. This means that the jewish community is now separated from the rest of society (Let's consider this as an ideological division, not an actual physical one). In addition, the shortage of products caused by the war is now affecting jews the most, as the yellow star determines what someone can buy and can not buy. As for the last month, these restrictions have forced the organization of a huge black market in Budapest. Unfortunately, this way of getting products lacks of hygiene and it increases the diseases and health problems.

II. In the last month, we've also witnessed how little boys have been obliged to leave schools and start working at factories or industries to support war. Mainly jews, these boys are giving their education for the economical welfare of the Nazi Germany. In addition to the long hours of labour, this political measure is also separating Jewish families even more than before. The persecution against the Jewish community is now open and cruel.

III. The third change we've seen is the construction of Labor Camps in Hungary, following the model implemented in Germany some years ago. Not only jews, but gypsies and homosexuals have been taken to the Labor Camps to work. As for now, most of the workers are adult men. This means that many families all over the country have lost their leader and main economical support. The actual situation inside Labor Camps is rather unknown, because no one has come back from them yet, nor we the journalists have'd access to one of them. The general hope among the Jewish Community is that women are kept away from these camps.

In relation to the third point, last week I had the chance to see how immense groups of Jewish boys were taken from the factories they worked in to the grey Labor Camps. In this environment, I managed to run towards one of the groups to know more about the Nazis' objective. As one might have expected, all the boys wore a yellow star either in their jacket or in their arm. Also, some of them were holding ID cards in their hands. As I investigated a bit, I got to know that the ID cards allow the boys to go through the country to the factories they worked in, but they didn't operate any more. 

IV. Another result of the Nazi Invasion is the direct introduction of Hungary in what is starting to be called as the Second World War. This means that the air raids will increase in Budapest, as our capital city is now one of the targets of the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union and all their allies. For this reason, the Budapest population will have to be aware of the attacks and the bombs that will fall over the city. Expecting this problem to happen, the national authorities have recommended the hungarian population to hide in safe places, specially in the Subway. In addition, we also have to consider that several hungarian soldiers are now going to war and many of them will cruelly die. 

Regarding the Jewish community, they are scared and hoping for a better future. They are witnessing how their families are being separated and destroyed. In the same mood, we've to remember that gypsies, homosexuals and other minor groups are suffering just as the jews. We've to acknowledge the problems and changes stated above, because they might be just the beginning of a long and tough period of Nazi domination over Hungary. Soon, these problems will not only affect the jews, but they'll cause troubles to all the hungarians. However, it's sad to realize that there is nothing the inhabitants of our country can do to solve these problems; we can just wait and hope for the best. Finally, we have to be informed and know that this war could end up by the obliteration of our country, and perhaps, the world.


Rationale

For my written task, I thought a News Report would be the best option, because I wanted to show the setting of Fatelessness, and the Report's structure fulfilled my needs. Although the story itself offered me lots of options, I think that refering to the story setting was a wise choice. The report includes some historical facts to give it more credibility, as well as some details from Imre Kertész’s book, such as the ID cards, which create a strong relation between the report and the problems Georg Koves is going through.

Regarding the author, he is supposed to be a journalist who is witnessing what’s going on in Hungary, that's why the report was supposedly published in 1944. The narrator tells the facts in a non-jew Hungarian point of view, by using a negative tone. I decided to include words like “cruel”, “suffering”, “tough” and “obliteration” to show a pesimism and a cold view of Hungary’s reality. During the whole report, the reader receives a feeling of a problematic and hopelessness situation, which is the true intention of the report, due to the chaos and sadness that the war provocated in Europe in those times. Finally, it's important to highlight that when you reads the report it seems that the problems stated are just happening now, which I think is great.