Thirty-thousand to 40,000 aged men and women are all that remain of the 250,000 Jews who lived in Budapest up to recent months, it was revealed today by Haskel David Halberstam, brother of the famous “Bobov Rebbe,” who has just reached here after escaping from the Hungarian capital last week.
Mr. Halberstam told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the aged Jews, all over 60, are confined in a ghetto bounded by Vesseleyi, Kiraly and Dob Streets. All young people have been deported. During the last few weeks even those possessing protective passports issued by the Swedish, Swiss, Turkish and Vatican legations about 20,000 persons have been seized and sent from the country.
Large-scale deportations of Jews from Budapest began with the advent of Premier Ferenc Szalasi, who assumed office in mid-October, he said. Prior to that the only victims were individuals caught in the streets by roving squads of German S. S. men. Immediately after Szalasy became premier all Jews were conscripted, presumably for forced labor, but many thousands were deported instead. Some were sent to Vienna, while others were shipped to unknown destinations.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
