The “housing dictator” (Testimony of Rezső Müller)

Testimony of Rezső Müller from 1945. Müller was an important figure in the 1944 Budapest events. Born in 1894, the World War I veteran played a leading role in the Jewish community relief effort organised for labour servicemen even before the German invasion. In the summer of 1944, in preparation for the deportations from the capital, the Hungarian and German authorities ordered the Jewish leadership to move the Jews of Budapest into so-called "yellow star houses" within a few days. This was organised by the Housing Office of the Jewish Council, which was headed by Müller. Although the deportation of Budapest Jews was temporarily off the agenda, the influential Müller became a hated figure, a “housing dictator” in the eyes of many Jews. After the Arrow Cross takeover, detectives of the collaborationist Hungarian secret police arrested and tortured Müller, who survived the ordeal only with great luck. During the ghetto era (November 1944 - January 1945), he worked for Raoul Wallenberg, organising the care of Jews under Swedish diplomatic protection.

Cover image: sign reading "Jews do not live here". In some buildings marked as yellow star houses, non-Jewish residents were not moved out, but stayed in their flats. They put these signs on their front doors.