Prewar Jewish life in Budapest

Peter Veres climbs the stairs and plays at an outdoor pool. His mother Kati Krausz Veres, in the dark jacket, drips water on Peter’s head. Father George fetches Peter’s toy from the pool.

Armin Veres, George’s father, plays with Peter and his cousin Andrew Jakab (the son of George's sister Agi; he was 5 months older than Peter) on Armin's apartment balcony at 15 Lipot Korut in Pest. Sari (George's mother) joins them and holds Peter and Andrew. Armin, toddler Andrew, mother Agi Jakab (George's sister), and Sari walk towards the camera outdoors on a dirt road. Kati and Peter sit on a balcony. Kati shells vegetables.

01:02:22 Sari, Kati, and the two boys play in a large backyard, likely in Buda, the residential district of Budapest. In 1941, Kati’s parents bought a villa in Buda at 125 Pasareti Street; Kati and George rented the house next door the following year. Peter, in a large patterned hat and gloves, plays outside, possibly at Agi Jakab's home. George carries Peter on his shoulders.

01:03:54 The Veres family and friends visit the zoo in the city park (Varosliget). Chimps perform tricks. Peter and a young girl run around the zoo’s paths and ride in a miniature carriage. Kati is wearing the dark suit.

01:04:41 In summer, Peter and some other children play in small tubs outdoors. Peter attempts to somersault. His mother Kati holds one of the white angora rabbits they raised at her mother’s villa in Buda. Peter attempts to pump the tires of his father’s Fiat Topolino with license plate "AP 854". He plays with a wheelbarrow and a smaller child, likely a cousin or family friend. The younger child and his parents walk towards the camera in front of Kati's parents' villa at 125 Pasareti St in Buda (where they lived during the summer of 1941 and from March 1942 until June 1944).

01:07:00 Peter and two other children walk with their grandparents Sari and Armin by a church, likely the Pasareti Church of St. Anthony, during winter of 1941. Peter plays in the snow with his grandfather Bela Krausz’s cane (Bela is Kati's father) in December 1943. Peter is pulled on a sled. In summer 1940, Peter plays with a wheelbarrow on a balcony.

01:08:01 Kati (wearing the black swimming suit) and Agi Jakab (wearing the cap, sunglasses and patterned swimsuit) play with Andrew and Peter at a public pool (possibly the spa/bath at the Hotel Gellert).

01:08:30 Edith, the Veres’s live-in babysitter, and Peter pick apples in Buda. Kati’s parents, Bela and Lenke, pose with Peter. Andrew and Peter play in the yard with Kati and another woman, likely Andrew's nursemaid.

01:10:03 The boys (older in this scene taken during summer 1943) play with a terrier outside in Buda. In the city streets, Peter sits on a bench with a Hungarian advertisement. The family stands in a street before a butcher shop.

01:10:26 Peter and a younger girl, the daughter of Bela and Lenke's caretaker, play by a large snowman in winter 1943. Kati and Karoly, the caretaker, play with the children. Back on the balcony, Grandpa Armin and baby Peter read a book (August 1940) and Armin talks on a toy telephone. Peter climbs on a chair.

St. Stephen's Day in Budapest

Film

A Catholic procession for St. Stephen's Day travels through Pest, the urban district of Budapest that lay east of the Danube River. An arrangement of troops stand at attention as the procession passes through an open square. The celebration probably takes place on August 20 when a case containing the relics of St. Stephen’s right hand is proceeded throughout the streets of Budapest.

Forced labor battalion of Hungarian Jews

Film

George Veres and other Hungarian Jews march at a forced labor group stationed in the Jewish Boys' Orphanage. Jews were forced by the Hungarian government into these battalions prior to the German invasion. George served several periods with the forced labor battalion, beginning in September 1940 and ending in December 1944 when he escaped from the camp. This was filmed by one of George's relatives who worked in the camp office. Jewish workers unload hay from a train and stack piles of chopped wood. George (the worker closest to the barn with the log on his shoulder) smiles at the camera. Scene also shows pianist and musical entertainer George Feyer (1908-2001) carrying a tiny log. LS, buildings in camp. Men dressed as soldiers in uniform walk beside stacks of wood. This sequence was most likely filmed during George's first series of forced labor before the it became much harsher.

Prewar Jewish life in Budapest

Film

Peter Veres plays in his playpen during summer 1939. He is pushed on a swing outdoors. Mother Kati holds Peter. Kati, Agi, Lenke, Bela, and another woman pose together. Kati and her father Bela Krausz walk towards the camera. Kati, Agi, and another woman, possibly a cousin or friend, pose by a large haystack. George and Kati hug. 01:13:15 Peter and his cousin Andrew (as infants) are posed on a blanket in the yard, probably in Summer 1939. They are joined by Kati and Agi Jakab (Andrew's mother). 01:15:09 Kati and another woman knit outdoors. A little girl and Peter play in a playground. 01:15:30 Baby Peter plays on the balcony and in a playpen. The nurse Edith (in the white headscarf) feeds Peter on the balcony of the apartment George and Kati had at 21 Tatra Street in Pest. 01:17:05 Peter and his cousin Judy Grunfeld play outdoors, likely on Margaret Island, as Kati and Nancy (Judy's mother) watch. Judy pushes Peter in his carriage. Quick CUs of Peter with a pacifier. Kati rows a boat (on the Island of Margaret?). Kati and George were both members of rowing clubs when they were growing up. Rowing was a popular extracurricular activity for families in Budapest. 01:18:43 Quick shot of Kati and an unknown couple walking towards the camera on a road lined by trees. Kati, the babies, Lenke, and Armin pose for the camera in their garden and on the balcony. VAR CUs of Peter at play indoors wtith a stuffed animal and eating. Peter plays outside in a winter coat and indoors with a toy accordion and a magazine in front of the built-in tile stove at Kati's parents' house at 125 Pasareti St.