The Writers, Artists, Singers, and Musicians of the National Hungarian Jewish Cultural Association (OMIKE), 1939–1944 , livre ebook

The Writers, Artists, Singers, and Musicians of the National Hungarian Jewish Cultural Association (OMIKE), 1939–1944
Shofar Supplements in Jewish Studies
Zev Garber, Editor
Los Angeles Valley College
The Writers, Artists, Singers, and Musicians of the National Hungarian Jewish Cultural Association (OMIKE), 1939–1944
Edited by Jenő Lévai
Expanded English edition edited by Frederick Bondy
Translated by Anna Etawo
Purdue University Press West Lafayette, Indiana
© Copyright 2017 by Purdue University Press. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
First edition published 1943 by Jenő Lévai.
Originally published as Írók, színészek, énekesek és zenészek regényes életútja a Goldmark-teremig: Az OMIKE színháza és művészei (The Illustrious Careers of Writers, Artists, Singers and Musicians Associated with Goldmark Hall: The Theater and Artists of the OMIKE [Orszagos Magyar Izraelita Kozmuvelodesi Egyesulet; National Hungarian Jewish Cultural Society]).
Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file at the Library of Congress
ISBN 9781557537645 (pbk.: alk. paper)
ISBN 9781612494807 (epdf)
ISBN 9781612494814 (epub)
Cover image: Photo of 1941 performance of A Denevér (The Bat). Courtesy of the Hungarian Theater Museum and Institute, Budapest.
Dedicated to the artists of the OMIKE Művészakció, their martyrs, members of the Bondy, Ráfáel (Raphael), Katona (Klein), Erényi, and Váradi families, and all of the 565,000 Hungarian Jews who perished in the Holocaust .
Also dedicated to my dear, kind, lovely, and recently departed wife, Joan M. Bondy, z”l, who patiently stood beside me with encouragement over the many years spent to create this book .
—Frederick Bondy, editor of the English edition
Contents
Foreword to the English Edition
Magda Horák
Foreword to the Hungarian Edition
Jenő Lévai
Editor’s Note to the English Edition
Frederick Bondy
Introduction to the English Edition
István Deák
Chapter 1. The OMIKE Theater in Goldmark Hall
Samu Stern, President of the Jewish Religious Community of Pest
“The Cultural Mission of Hungarian Jewry Is to Ensure the Existence of the Artistic Enterprise”
Géza Ribáry
“About Those Who Fulfill and Those Who Fail to Fulfill Their Obligations”
Hugó Csergő
Quoting Géza Ribáry
Chapter 2. The OMIKE Artistic Enterprise
The Leadership
The Director
Economic Structure of the Artistic Enterprise
Official Duties and Regulations
Artistic Duties
Programming
The OMIKE’s Company
Casting
Chapter 3. The Drama Company
The Artistic Director and Dramaturgist (Playwright)
OMIKE’s Most Successful Writers: Hugó Csergő , Dezső Kellér , Jenő Mohácsi , Ferenc Molnár , and Ernő Szép
The Artists Associated with the OMIKE Artistic Enterprise and Others Involved in Theatrical Operations
The Main Director of the Drama Company
Notable Members of the Drama Ensemble:
Gyula Bartos , Lajos Gárdonyi , Lajos Gellért , József Gonda , Klári Lakos , Béla Lénárd , György Nagy and Kató Bán , Béla Ormos , Erzsi Palotai , Judit Párdányi , Sándor Radó , Alíz Rajna , Imre Rádai (Ráday) , Magda Rosti (Rosty) , Sándor Rott , Béla Salamon , Aladár Sarkadi , Zsuzsa Simon , Ibolya Solt , Dr. Dezső Szabó , Kálmán Szentiványi , Vilmos Szirmai , Ferike Vidor , and Kálmán Zátony
Chapter 4. Musical Life in the OMIKE Artistic Enterprise
The List of Artists Performing in Musical Events (Opera, Concert, Operetta)
The Musical Direction of the OMIKE
Conductors of the OMIKE
The Vocal Artists of the OMIKE Artistic Enterprise:
Dezső Ernster , Sándor Farkas , Pál Fehér , Kató Gergely , Manci Herendi , Oszkár Kálmán , Ilona Ladányi , Andor Lendvay , The Ney Family , Erzsi Radnai , Gabriella Relle , Vera Rózsa , and Annie Spiegel
Known and Unknown Heroes of the Orchestra
Chapter 5. The Technical Operation of the OMIKE Artistic Enterprise
The Auditorium
The Stage
The Invisible Actors
Preparing for the Show
Chapter 6. A Few Interesting Statistical Data
Afterword to the English Edition
Péter Bársony
Acknowledgments to the English Edition
Frederick Bondy
Appendix 1. Photographs of Goldmark Hall, Performances, and OMIKE Artists
Appendix 2. Programs of Művészakció Plays, Concerts, Operas, Cabaret, and Operettas
Appendix 3. Announcements of Fine Arts Expositions for Painters, Graphic Artists, and Sculptors
Appendix 4. OMIKE Művészakció Victims of the Holocaust
Glossary to the English Edition
Zvi Erenyi
Contributors to the Hungarian Edition
Contributors to the English Edition
Bibliography
Index
Foreword to the English Edition
The writers of the book entitled Írók, színészek, énekesek és zenészek regényes életűtja a Goldmark-teremig: Az OMIKE színháza és művészei (The Illustrious Careers of Writers, Artists, Singers, and Musicians Associated with Goldmark Hall: The Theater and Artists of the OMIKE), edited by Jenő Lévai and published in the fall of 1943, couldn’t have known that only a few months later, on March 19, 1944, at the main rehearsal of one of Molière’s comedies, a few German soldiers led by a young director from Szeged, István Horváth, would end the almost five-year-long activity of the OMIKE Művészakció (Artistic Enterprise). This meant the end of Europe’s probably most significant Artistic Enterprise, working with the most people and consisting of different genres and which was operating during the fascist period in Budapest.
The writing of what would become a memorial book by Lévai and his companions was done partially by the necessity for the artists to earn a living and partially with the aim of encouraging people to attend the “ghettoized” theater. Thus, because of the theater’s abrupt end, Lévai’s book cannot be expected to give a full picture of its subject, the OMIKE ( Országos Magyar Izraelita Közművelődési Egyesület; National Hungarian Jewish Cultural Society), or of its versatile activities. In spite of this, the work is of great importance from a cultural and a historical point of view.
Lipót Lőw (Leopold Low, 1811–1875), a rabbi and a scholar, who called for the emancipation of the Jews, was the first to urge the establishment of a Jewish cultural society in 1865. Despite several attempts, however, the society was only organized in 1909, following the emancipation of the Jews as individuals by the Habsburgs (1867), the Hungarian Law of Reception of Judaism (1895), and finally the firm intervention by the rabbi and philosopher of religion, Simon Hevesi. Wealthier Jews took an active part in establishing and running the OMIKE. It was also supported morally, and even financially, by numerous non-Jews in Budapest such as Mari Jászai, a prominent personality from Hungarian theater.
The OMIKE, mainly meant to serve a cultural purpose, had to also put significant efforts into social activity because of compelling circumstances (e.g., WWI, Numerus Clausus, anti-Jewish Laws). During its 35-year history, it ran language courses, a library, a cultural institution, a cafeteria, an army kitchen, a free school of fine arts, and summer holidays for children.
From the beginning of Admiral Miklós Horthy’s regency in the spring of 1920, the development of Hungarian culture was soon affected by the government’s intentions to divide intellectuals based on their political views and their origins, and by the forced exile of a part of the intelligentsia. Although the best of the Christian intelligentsia, for example, Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, and other Hungarian writers and painters, protested against the First Jewish Law (1938), their protests proved futile. Hungarian cultural life was already influenced by the irredentism of official politics, racism, and the extreme right’s violent rallies. With politics shifting more and more to the right, individual protests against segregation also proved to be pointless (Pál Jávor, one of the most popular and best-known actors of all time, was arrested by the Gestapo in 1944 and taken to Sopronkőhida because he protested at the Theater and Film Chamber [Actors’ Guild] against the denigration of his colleagues and fellow actors). Members of the press, who took action against fascism, were also silenced and often imprisoned. Following the German occupation, anti-Nazi newspapers were banned.
The new government cultural policy in the declared interest of “enforcing and ensuring the requirements of national spirit and Christian morality,” in other words, “the elimination of Jews,” was carried out within a short period of time. At the same time, the quality of theatrical programs and public interest in them kept declining.
From 1938, theatrical programs, especially performances of lighter genre pieces, were characterized by avoidance of social problems. The audience sought entertainment and not intellectual stimulation. For example, certain Church celebrations and the twenty-year anniversary of Horthy’s ascendance became theatrical programs. In spite of the avoidance of social issues, the extreme right and the Catholic press felt that the performances of the pieces expressed decadence and blasphemy, even in the most harmless comedy. The country’s number one theater, the Nemzeti Színház (National Theater), was also affected by daily politics.
The situation of the opera was more complicated than that of the theaters. Not only were excellent artists affected by the anti-Jewish laws, but so were lesser-known persons, as were the previously solid guarantees of quality. While the Nemzeti Színház had already started to dismiss “half-Jews” on its staff, the then director of the opera, László Márkus, was able to protect the jobs of 21 Jewish staffers, until the German occupation, by inviting the Arrow Cross leader Ferenc Szálasi to his home for coffee. By doing so, he managed to take Szalasi’s mind off the artists of the opera for a while.
As a result of the First (1938) and Second (1939) Jewish Laws, hundreds of people from all cultural areas lost their jobs. The majority of painte