Overview
- Description
- Excursions and leisure time for the Schiffer family, including the locations (in reverse order) of Hűvösvölgy (park-like suburb in Buda hills), Kevely Nyereg, Janoshegy (tallest mountain in Buda), Margit Island, the Tatra mountains, and Zabar (a village where a Berkes cousin had a farm). According to the label, shots include friends: the Berkes family, the Brody family, Laci Fodor, and Jancsi Straus, among others.
(00:14) Cousin Andris Berkes rides horse in pasture in Zabar showing off his riding skills. (02:23) Family gathers outdoors at a table at a restaurant in Margit Island, posing and waving to camera. Dog. CUs, children, they speak directly to the camera. Children run and play. (03:34) Andris poses for the camera in a courtyard of home, mother Margit with sunglasses, and Andris on father Sanyi's shoulder. Elegantly dressed family members walk to the camera before a columned building. (04:53) The family group plays a game with a ball in a park outdoors. (05:11) Brief view of photographer with camera on tripod. (06:00) A younger Andris runs outside and is joined by a nurse-maid. The boy plays with the camera case in the park, picks flowers, kisses his parents, poses for camera, runs around, plays ball, possibly in Hűvösvölgy. (09:58) Excursion in grassy field, summertime. Girl picks flowers and runs around. Child rides a bicycle at a vacation residence (villa?). Couple rides horses. Man performs various acrobatic moves. (12:00) The family begins a performance, child with accordion. (12:15) EXTs, family in courtyard of home. Adults and children pose for the camera. (13:18) The family group hikes along a cobbled trail and stop at an outdoor restaurant in Buda: “Balázs Antal Restaurant Dreher Sörök Vendeglö”. Quick shots, they walk along a street, automobiles. HAS, tram 83. (14:10) Large toad. Dog jumps and plays. (14:27) CUs, newborn (possibly cousin Zsuzsi Schiffer) with grandparents. - Film Title
-
Untitled -- Ernö Schiffer -- home movies
- Duration
- 00:15:36
- Date
-
Event:
1930-1933
- Locale
-
Budapest,
Hungary
Hungary
Zabar, Hungary
- Credit
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of John Schiffer
- Contributor
-
Camera Operator:
Ernö Schiffer
- Biography
-
Ernö (Ernest) Schiffer, born in Námesztó in 1893, studied medicine at university in Budapest. He enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I and was in charge of a medical unit on the Russian Front. In the 1920s, he worked at the Jewish Hospital in Budapest and specialized in the new field of radiology, developing techniques for the X-ray apparatus, various shutters, and cooling devices, and diagnostic dyes and methods. He also found time to study the new field in Vienna, Zurich, and Stockholm. The severe exposure to X-rays he received during this period likely later resulted in his early death from leukemia. He met Erzsébet while interning at the Jewish Hospital in Budapest. They married in 1928 and had János (John) in 1930. The family lived in Budapest next to City Park (Városliget). Ernö bought a car (an Opel) and learned to drive in the mid-1930s. Their daughter Éva was born in 1933.
By about 1941 the Nazi threat was becoming more serious in Hungary. Ernö had a patient who was a Unitarian minister who agreed to baptize the Schiffers into the Unitarian church. Initially, Ernö was partly protected from the changing laws against Jews because of his military service and that he treated many influential persons (including the regent) as patients; there was also a minor distinction between Jews who had recently settled in Hungary and those whose families had lived there a long time. After March 19, 1944 yellow stars had to be worn and the family moved into a designated Jewish apartment. Ernö was able to obtain protective passports for the family from the Swedish embassy (through the Wallenberg initiative). Ernö was taken in a labor brigade in summer 1944 to dig trenches for the defense of the city; many of his family members went into hiding. In October 1944, the Schiffers were briefly moved into a house under Swedish embassy protection, and then back to their apartment at Katona Jozsef utca 23/a where they had kept a hidden store of food. Ernö had been marching with the labor brigade towards Germany but simply walked away from them one day and crossed the Danube by foot back to Budapest where he reunited with his family. The Schiffers remained together in the apartment during the Russian siege of the city until they were liberated in January 1945.
Physical Details
- Language
- Silent
- Genre/Form
- Amateur.
- B&W / Color
- Black & White
- Image Quality
- Excellent
- Film Format
- Master
Master 4385 Film: positive - 9.5 mm - b&w - camera original
Master 4385 Film: positive - 9.5 mm - b&w - camera original
Master 4385 Film: positive - 9.5 mm - b&w - camera original
Master 4385 Film: positive - 9.5 mm - b&w - camera original
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- You do not require further permission from the Museum to access this archival media.
- Copyright
- John (János) Schiffer
- Conditions on Use
- The Museum does not own the copyright for this material and does not have authority to authorize third party use. For permission, please contact the rights holder, Mr. John Schiffer.
- Copyright Holder
- John (János) Schiffer
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Film Provenance
- John Schiffer, who appears in the home movies as a young boy (János), donated digital copies of the films to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2019.
- Note
- Reels compiled in reverse order. Refer to film reel label describing contents in Hungarian. Rough translation of Big Reel 3: "1930 – Zsuzsi Schiffer, 1931 Excursion to Hüvösvölgy, Dorith Brody and Laci Fodor, summer 1931, Jancsi Strauss, spring 1930 Kevély Nyereg, 1930 Margit Island with Berkes’, etc. Tátra with Berkes’, excursion to Jánoshegy, Zabar 1933."
- Copied From
- Pathé 9.5mm transferred at 16 fps
- Film Source
- John (János) Schiffer
- File Number
- Source Archive Number: Big Reel Three
- Special Collection
-
Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive
- Record last modified:
- 2024-02-21 08:06:36
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn708132
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Also in Schiffer Family Collection
Family films of the Schiffer family and their friends in Hungary from 1929 to 1937. The pre-war 9.5mm films document everyday life and vacations of non-religious, upper middle-class Jewish families in Budapest and other locations, such as Mohács and New York City. The films were recorded by Ernö Schiffer and his brother, László (Laci). John Schiffer, who appears in the home movies as a young boy (János), donated digital copies of the films to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2019.
Schiffer family posing for the camera in City Park
Film
“Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest” A continuation of Film ID 4402, adults pose for the camera in a park. (02:02) Gyuri playfully photographs the cameraman, Ernö. Jonas and Jenny Schiffer. “Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest”
Budapest city sights
Film
“Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest” Various scenes in Budapest filmed from a streetcar, possibly made by when Laci when he visited from New York in 1930. Street scenes, bridge crossing Danube river, Streetcar #9, Gellért Hill, people hike up the hill. (01:18) Children at the playground, slides. Views of Budapest city from the overlook point on Gellert Hill. (01:40) CU, Erzsébet (just pregnant with János). CU, Ernö poses and waves. Citadel. Pan of the Danube river. “Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest”
Baby János in Budapest
Film
CUs of baby János with mother Erzsébet in patterned dress in June 1931 (7 months old) in Budapest. Baby in stroller, picked up by mother, placed on table, nurse-maid Tete hands him a toy. “Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest”
Friends in Budapest City Park
Film
“Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest” Schiffer family and relatives walk through the park and pose for the camera. Gyuri Pinter lights cigarette, Alice and Erzsébet in funny hats. Gyuri at left (01:45) kisses his wife Alice (Ernö’s youngest sister). Ernö briefly appears at the right (01:58) (he must have handed the camera over to Gyuri). “Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest”
Family in park in Budapest
Film
“Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest” A continuation of Film ID 4401, where a group of Schiffer family members walks toward the camera, posing for the camera. Ernö gestures at the cameraman, and waves/sends kisses (possibly to the NY branch of the family). Jonas Schiffer with a cane sits on a bench and smokes his pipe. More shots of the Schiffers walking in the park, posing, probably in 1929 or 1930. “Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest”
Schiffer family relatives in a village in Slovakia
Film
Goats walk through village of Gelnica, Slovakia. (00:44) Three adults (including Ernö and Laci Schiffer’s sister Lola and her husband Nathan Engel) walk on the street. (00:59) Boats in a lake. Golnic River nearby. “Danubius r.t. Budapest Pathé 9.5”
Jewish family in Slovakia
Film
Pan, fenced estate in Gelnica, Slovakia. (01:00) Lola Engel (nee Schiffer) calls on a dog outside the estate. Three people (including Ernö’s sister Lola and her husband Nathan Engel) walk along the sidewalk and wave. Pan, steeple, and other buildings in the small town. “Danubius r.t. Budapest Pathé 9.5”
Laci Schiffer returns to Budapest for a visit
Film
Laci Schiffer visits home in Budapest around 1930 for the first time since emigrating to US in 1921. His father, Jonas, is in the garden. He walks with a cane and sits with his wife, Jenny, in garden chairs. Laci kisses them both. Erzsébet prepares to serve them cakes. Ernö helps his father stand; he waves. Trademark Pathex logo.
Visiting family in Budapest
Film
Pathex logo. Jonas Schiffer is seated in front of the camera smoking a pipe, indoors. Marcsa (the new wife of Laci who visited the family in Budapest from New York) joins him. Trademark Pathex logo.
An American relative visits Schiffer family in Budapest
Film
“Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest.” Family group sits at a table for a meal on a hillside overlooking city of Budapest (could be Janoshegy). Laci Schiffer’s wife, Marcsa (nee Fried), on a visit to Budapest to meet the family (in 1933?). She waves from an upper level of a building. Two groups walk down the sidewalk past a building (sign with “... Adolf Fiai…” is barely visible) in Budapest and wave to the camera, including Marcsa, János, Ernö, Bözske, Gyuri, and Alice. Nice LS of city street with this building. CUs the group walks in the cobbled street and waves. Pathé 9.5mm logo with rooster.
Schiffer children in Budapest
Film
Snowy, Schiffer family walks toward the camera, including János and Éva (ages 5 and 2 in 1935), and their grandmother. (01:19) Different season, shots of children outdoors on a grassy knoll, some people laying on the ground and others walking. (02:30) Group gathered around a table outside, including grandmother, Bözske, Gyuri, and others. János shows off his sunglasses, others pose for the camera. Leisure time in the wooded area, the children poke at their mother Bözske resting on blanket. (05:06) Dark shots of a car (could be the family car, an Opel purchased around 1937). (05:31) At Szechenyi, the popular public bath with sandpit. Swimming. Éva with her father Ernö. János with an Austrian nanny. (06:18) János and Éva run and play (probably in 1936 at ages 6 and 3) in City Park. (07:31) Ice skating at the rink, good CUs. Girl with pigtails. Boy with a cap indicating he attends a gimnazium secondary school.
Jewish children in Budapest; Skiing road trip; City Park
Film
Éva (János’s sister) plays with a shovel in City Park in summer. Excursion to the country, on a hillside. János carries the camera bag. (01:15) János, Andris Berkes, and Gyuri Quittner race each other on the park pathway and play-wrestle. Along with fathers Sandor Berkes and Emi Quittner in knickerbockers, they hike in the hills and play tag in the grass. (03:52) János, Éva, mother Erzsébet, and the nurse-maid walk along the street in Budapest. János rides a pony at the zoo. (04:30) HAS mountains and countryside. The Schiffers and relatives sit outside overlooking the mountains. (05:06) Ski hut (“Kekesi Segelyhelye”) in Kekes in the Matra mountains with the Czukors and Prof. Rosenthal (friends of Ernö’s). The group convenes by this hut near several automobiles, a woman smokes a cigarette, CUs of man in bowler hat, John Czukor. A woman and child (János) play hopscotch. Man photographs the posed friends. (07:07) Area filmed from inside a moving car (driving on the left side of the road). The group again takes a rest (young János was car-sick). Young girl winds camera affixed to tripod. CU, János in cap, explores a snow-filled pool. It appears to be autumn with fallen leaves on grass. (09:28) In City Park, János and his sister Éva smile and pose for the camera; locals seated on bench, various CUs of the children, playing with hoop, picking flowers (some problems with how the film is loaded in the camera). (11:35) EXTs, family seated at tables, hiking in hills. Kids play in the park with nurse-maids. CUs, János and Éva.
Schiffer family life before the Holocaust
Film
Scenes may include Laci Czukor, Gyuri Brody (friend of Erzsébet’s with two daughters) and Sanyi Berkes and his son Andris (cousin of Ernö’s). Éva Schiffer holds her crib and walks around in her room. (01:33) János sits in his bed. (02:36) János learns how to ice skate, and skates with his father. The skating rink in City Park crowded with people, spectators from the bridge. (05:01) János and Erzsébet enter the gate to 33 Pasareti ut. (possibly the home of a great-aunt after grandfather died). CUs, women in courtyard, looking at photographs/letter with János. (06:15) János and his mother picnic on a hillside. Shots of a glider plane above. Large family meal with the Czukors takes place outside - CUs of women preparing the food, men cooking meat, and eating. (07:55) Children play outdoors and wave to the camera. They hike. (10:19) View of the villa in the hills where the gathering takes place. They set up furniture and prepare the meal. Others play. Various, nice CUs. (11:30) A boy eats as a younger child sits in the playpen, smiling. (12:41) At park, Bözske pushes baby Éva in a stroller while János plays with his red toy car, baby Éva trys it, too. Another excursion with the Brody family, the Berkes family, and the Quittner family. Several of them observe the mountains from a viewpoint they’ve hiked to. Children play/somersaults in grass; adults watch and eventually begin to play as well. (15:04) Several people deboard a bus, including the Schiffers, Brodys, and Berkes. They picnic and wave to the camera. (16:09) János and mother leave the gate to house at number 71 with sign. János rides in his beloved toy car and eats. They put the Éva in the toy car and play with other children in City Park.
Children in Budapest before the Holocaust
Film
Babies in carriages, János and cousin Zsuzsi Schiffer, in 1932. An adult hands a mirror (or Pathé 9.5mm canister?) to the babies. CUs (dark shot) of mothers. Mothers with babies in carriages in the park, they congregate in front of building. Several views of the babies. One plays with a lipstick case. Nurse-maid strolls baby to elegantly dressed parents on a sidewalk, they ogle over the baby and pose for the camera [the man in the bowler hat is probably a colleague of Ernö’s, Dr Hetènyi, with his son]. (06:15) Cousin Peter Molnar plays with János in stroller outside a home in Budapest. Nurse-maid Tete. (08:29) INTs (tinted or color film?), János at six months takes a bath. (09:40) Outdoors, János sits on a blanket, eating a cookie. Sleeping in a stroller at five months. Bözske and nurse-maid Tete stop along their walk along the river in the city (buildings, traffic and pedestrians above) and hold János. “Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest”
Prewar Jewish family life in Budapest
Film
Boy and girl (the Szondi children?) play in a park, with a child’s harness and toys, probably in October 1933 [Dr. Szondi was a famous psychiatrist and friend of Ernö Schiffer’s]. (02:34) Toddlers (János and friend from Mohacs, Zsuzsi Sarvari) play in City Park (Városliget) and pose with their moms for the camera. Boy digs in the dirt. The toddlers run in the grass. János embraces and kisses Zsuzsi; they continue to play in park, dog. (06:26) Marcsa Schiffer (visiting from NY) and other women walking along a path in the park in August 1933 in Janoshegy. Brief view of Gyuri Pinter, the photographer, taking a snapshot of the group. János plays with legs of a tripod, climbs on a bench. (08:44) In the winter 1932-1933, János is at a park playing with the camera case. Nice CU of Erzsébet. They walk in the city streets and put debris in a trash bin. (09:51) Older couple (Ernö’s parents, Jonas and Jenny Schiffer) step off streetcar and entertain János. (10:40) INTs, Marcsa and others riding the cog railway going up the mountain Janoshegy. HAS overlooking people on a bench from the lookout tower. The family and relatives have a meal with a view overlooking town, includes shots of cameraman Ernö as well as his sister Alice and her husband Gyuri. (12:00) Grandparents with János and other family members at City Park in September 1932. Brief shot of Gyuri Pinter fiddling with his camera while Jonas takes a seat on the bench, smoking pipe. A balloon man is visible in the distance. Pathé 9.5mm logo with rooster.
Schiffer family in Budapest
Film
János plays with a bucket of water in yard of vacation home in Viranyos in June 1932. Dressed in a suit, Ernö kicks the ball with his boy. (01:55) Nurse-maid coaxes János to walk toward the camera. (03:00) János walks up and down steps to the door of his house in Budapest, and continues water-play. (05:15) János and cousin Anni play in a trough of water. Freshly dressed, they greet a newborn baby in carriage, providing a pacifier. (08:13) At the city park, János plays ball with a small bucket and ball. (10:27) In January 1932, people in winter clothing gather in the park with babies in strollers. (12:49) Two women help baby János to walk on city sidewalk (possibly in front of a museum) in January 1932. Various CUs of János in winter hat taking first steps, he smiles for the camera and gets a balloon.
Swimming in Budapest; zoo visit
Film
The Schiffers put coats on and children play on a grassy hillside. (01:30) Anni and János swim with Ernö at Szecheny bath/pools in Budapest in July 1934. (02:42) At a restaurant on Lake Balaton. The family takes a boat trip, views of water, horizon, sailboat. (05:11) At Szecheny bath, swimming, including János, Anni, Bözske, Alice, Gyuri, and nurse-maid Tete. (06:20) Trip to the zoo that includes elephants, camels, zebras, and other animals. János and others ride ponies and horses at the zoo. (09:20) They greet more animals, including peacocks, tigers, and bears. (10:02) Newborn Éva (János’s sister, born in Dec 1933) in stroller. János in striped sweater and knit camp runs around at the city park in March 1934. Women with carriages. (11:27) János faces the camera, while grown-ups sit on the bench behind. Gyuri Pinter snaps a photograph of János and mother Bözske.
The Schiffer family visits Mohács
Film
The Schiffer family visits Mohács, Erzsébet’s hometown on the Danube, in summer 1932. (00:16) Adults and children in bathing suits. They swim in a wooden structure moored to the shore of the Danube. János and his mother, Erzsébet Schiffer. (01:29) János and his cousins play in Klári and János Molnar’s yard with a toy stroller and ball. (01:53) Nurse-maid (brief). The children play outdoors. (02:42) MS, Erzsébet's mother Jenny Tornai (nee Reicher) and Klári seated at an outdoor table, smile and nod for the camera. Three children sit at a table. The family group eats a meal. The three children sit on a bench with the nurse-maid. (04:14) More swimming in the Danube, children jump or dive into the water from the wooden rafts. (05:02) The children play on a swing in the Popper family’s yard, then play in the garden. Nice CUs of the children, kissing. (05:58) Erzsébet poses with her mother and sister Margit. Brief shot of János Schiffer (toddler) walking across yard. (06:14) Courtyard of the family home (earlier than previous sequence). Peter Molnar in a sailor suit and his sister Anni with a doll, in March 1930. The children from Mohács take turns and walk towards camera. (06:57) Peter climbs a tree. (07:13) The children greet their uncle János Molnar. (07:18) The Poppers stand on the street, outside the entrance to their home in Mohács. MS, Sandor holds his daughter, Anni. (07:49) Margit with Eva in a stroller. (08:05) WS, Peter comes home from school with satchel, runs to parents when he notices them filming. (08:20) Father János cleans Peter’s face. (08:25) Nurse-maid and Eva Popper play with ball, around 1929, on the street outside their home. They also play with a child-sized parasol. Anni sits in the window with her grandmother, and plays ball with cousin Eva. (09:37) János (elder) sits on a stool reading paper, walks towards the camera. The children and family continue to play on the street, and look at photographs. (10:28) Pan, landscape, filmed from train. City scenes and countryside. (11:36) Child Anni sits outside her home reading a book. An older girl plays ball. Grandmother looks out the window, and talks with the family. The three women look at photographs; children play ball. (13:45) MS, the young couple, Erzsébet and Ernö, on a steam-boat trip on the Danube, around 1929. Views from the boat, trees along shore. (15:00) Child in sailor uniform. (15:06) Margit Popper and Klári Molnar hold Margit’s daughter, Eva Popper (born 1927). Family members gather in the garden (quick shots), including Tornai grandmother Jenny, Ernö, and Sandor Popper. (15:51) End “Danubius Pathé Baby Budapest”
Baby János
Film
Various CUs, infant János Schiffer at 5 months, 3 months, 7 weeks, and 8 days (reels compiled in reverse chronological order). János in a stroller. Erzsébet holds her first baby. More CUs of baby János in his crib. (03:52) János is weighed. (05:05) János is bottle fed. (06:20) János is bathed, cleaned, and clothed. (09:12) János is breastfed. Various shots of baby. (11:30) INTs, sunlit room, János (8 days old) is held by his mother, Erzsébet, on November 30, 1930.
Prewar family life in Hungary
Film
Andris Berkes (the son of Ernö’s cousin) rides horse, probably in summer 1932 at family farm in Zabar. Includes shots of the town as well as other family members horseback riding and jumping. (08:33) Herding sheep, Andris assists the shepherds. Well with long pole hauling up bucket. (09:41) In Mohács, Béla Molnár, the father-in-law of Klári, poses outside their home. Children, Peter and Anni Molnár; Eva Popper rides a tricycle. (10:11) An elderly couple (grandparents) pose for camera. Eva plays with her father and the family’s fox terrier dog. (10:46) INTs, CUs, grandparents Jonas and Jenny (Haas) Schiffer sit in a dim lit room going through photographs (perhaps of relatives in America).
