John Macsai

November 18th, 2011

John Macsai, one of many survivors that speak at the museum, is a labor camp survivor from Hungary.Unlike many of the survivors I have come in contact with, John was a matured young man when he first became effected by the Nazi regime. At the age of 18 John was already through his elementary and high school years and preparing to enter the world as a grown, educated man. Growing up he doesn't remember there being a lot of openly expressed anti-Semitism. Over time the laws made it more difficult for members of the Jewish communities. They couldn't become members of parliament, they weren't allowed into the army but were placed in labor units, and they couldn't own their own business without first acquiring a christian business partner.

By January 1944 the war was in full swing but John and his family believed they would survive until after the war. Jewish families in the countryside of Hungary were completely wiped out around them but they kept their optimism.

On a Sunday in March 1944 the Germany army arrived in Budapest, where John and his family lived, and took control of the entire city. All Jews were forced to turn in any motor vehicles in their possession, money and jewelry were turned over to the banks, their homes and any land they owned was taken from them, and they were forced to move out of their apartments. Everyone Jewish individual was recognizable by the Yellow Star of David they now wore and all men 18 years of age and older were sent into labor units.

From Summer to Fall of 1944 John worked in a labor camp alongside his father. The camps in Hungary weren't unbearable as the Germans allowed the Hungarians to control the Jewish population as they pleased.They were fed well and lived moderately comfortable. The men built airports and runways for German transport. At this time the German Airforce was incharge of the labor units, and being that they were much more elite than the SS guards they were also more humane.

From the Fall of 1944 until the end of the war Johns hope for survival began to dwindle. The labor camps were eventually taken over the German armies and they uprooted all the men and moved them the Austria-Hungarian border where their work and living conditions became almost unbearable. The men were forced to sleep in barn stales on hay with no roof covering. The temperature drop during the evenings caused them to awake under a blanket covered with snow. They were only served breakfast and dinner which consisted of coffee, veggies, bread, and horse meat. Each day men were shot publicly for little to no reason.

In January of 1945 Johns father broke his foot during the work day and was later left behind to die when the men were forced to retreat to Austria as the Russians swiftly approached the borders. The Germans forced the men to run and those who couldn't were shot and left to die on the side of the road. This ended up becoming the Death March to Mauthausen.

For five days they were unfed and forced to go through garbage cans to find anything edible. They dug veggies from the passing fields and ate snails for their protein. Upon their arrival to the concentration camp there was no room for them in the bunkers. They were forced to sit in formations in the yard and the SS randomnly shot men from high up in the towers.

They were then transported to a temporary camp where they stayed for three weeks up until liberation. There was no work for them then so they sat around all day without food or water. It was April in the Alps so conditions were brutal.

Americans finally arrived and by this time Frank was down to a mere 95 lbs. He was immediately hospitalized with Tiphus and placed in a recuperation camp for five days. He was then sent home to Budapest where he found that the train station had been bombed to ash forcing him to walk from the city borders to where his family apartment used to be located. Upon his arrival his mother greeted him at the door as she too had survived the war.

John studied Architecture at the University of Budapest. He was one of ten individuals that received a scholarship to travel to the United States to continue his education for outstanding grades. He retired in 1996 and it happily married today with four children and ten grandchildren.