Miklos Kanitz
Encyclopedia
Miklos Samual Kanitz was a Hungarian-Canadian Holocaust
survivor living in Saskatoon
, Saskatchewan
. He narrowly escaped being transported to the German
death camp at Auschwitz
in June 1944 at the age of six, because a neighbor, whose son was a member of the Hungarian fascist
Arrow Cross Party
, risked her life to hide Kanitz, his mother, and his brother in her potato cellar for seven months until the end of the war.
In 1946, Kanitz's father became secretary of his local Communist Party
and later still, deputy-minister of industry for Hungary
. In his role as party secretary, his job was to oversee the post-war judicial system in his area. The neighbor who had saved his family appealed to him for the life of her own son, who was due to be hanged for his activities with the Arrow Cross Party. Kanitz's father refused to spare him, because, he said, "saving three Jews does not wash the blood off someone who has probably killed hundreds."
with his parents, Miklos and Tereza Kanitz, and his older brother, Julius, when the Nazis invaded Hungary in March 1944. His father had already been taken to a labor camp when his mother, brother, and himself were told to pack small bags, and make their way with 500 other Jews to an abandoned brick factory outside Budapest, where they would soon be transported, they were told, to a "safer place," which Kanitz later learned was the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz
in Poland
. Between May 15 and July 9, 1944, 437,000 Jews were deported from Hungary, all but 15,000 of whom were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The disused factory was a muddy field the size of a football pitch containing thousands of people, with no facilities of any kind and no shelter. Kanitz and his family spent two weeks there, waiting for the trucks to take them to the camp. "It was raining and we had absolutely no cover, no blankets, no shelter, nothing to sit or to lie down on. Just the mud," Kanitz said in an interview with The StarPhoenix. There was one barrel of water a day, and meals consisted of a cup of hot water with some rotting vegetables in it.
"All around, children were so afraid they were defecating. Babies were screaming. Soldiers were going around beating people for being 'pigs.' You're living in mud, and they call you a dirty goddamn Jew because you're covered in mud."
Every night, a group of Jews was made to gather up the bodies of those who had died during the day. Kanitz watched as people lost their minds, as old people died, and as children were killed. "There was this family about 10 feet away from us, a mother with four children, three boys and a little girl. She was a very cute little girl, maybe two years old, curly blonde hair. But she was sick and she was crying a lot, and one afternoon I saw this guard shouting to the mother to keep this dirty little Jew quiet. But she kept on crying, so he came over and he just smashed the little girl's head in with his rifle butt."
She took them to her home for a bath and clean clothes, and then the family descended into Mrs. Nagy's potato cellar, where they were to spend the next seven months. The cellar measured eight by eight by five feet, built at the side of the house and mostly underground except for the top 18 inches, with no windows, just some light coming through wooden slats overhead.
The family had to be careful that Mrs. Nagy's son, János, did not notice their presence. János was a member of the Arrow Cross Party
, the Hungarian fascist
party that collaborated with the Nazis, and might have turned the family in.
They slept on sand, using a bucket for a toilet. Mrs. Nagy gave them what food she could, but was reluctant to draw attention to herself by buying and preparing more than she needed for herself, so the family lived mostly on potatoes and cabbage. Most of Kanitz's teeth fell out from lack of nutrition
. "It was very cold and damp, and we were sick all the time with colds. And always, always hungry. You know how they say when your stomach
touches your backbone
. I became listless and every movement was an effort. My belly started to swell and my arms got very thin. At a certain point, I lost the hunger and became resigned to it, almost catatonic
."
His mother kept them going with stories, prayers, and talk of what became Kanitz's favorite food, liver paté. In January 1945, they began to hear bombs falling all around them, and planes flying overhead as the Allies
arrived to liberate Hungary. "We didn't know who was dropping the bombs — English
, American
or Russia
n. But my mother told us, 'Don't worry about them. They are here to help us.'
One day, the trap door of the cellar opened, and a Romania
n soldier looked in. "We came out of the cellar and there was a group of soldiers on horses, and they were patting us on the shoulder, giving us food and chocolates, and I was sicker than a dog. And that was the end of the war."
In December 1945, Kanitz's father came home and joined the Communist Party
, becoming party secretary for their part of the city, and later deputy minister of industry for Hungary. János Nagy was arrested along with other Arrow Cross
members. The local party secretaries acted as judge
and jury
, and so Mrs. Nagy approached Kanitz's father to beg for her son's life, but he refused to help, and János Nagy was hanged
.
Desperate to leave Hungary after his experiences, Kanitz ran away from home when he was 13. He was picked up and brought back, but he left again, the second time with his mother's blessing. He walked to the Austria
n border, and from there traveled to Italy
and then to Sheffield
in England
, where he found a job polishing knives. "I love the English. They were the first people to treat me like I was a human being." The family was later reunited and emigrated to Canada
, where Tereza Kanitz was killed by a drunk driver in Terrace, British Columbia
in 1964.
Kanitz found he was unable to speak about his experiences for over fifty years. "I blamed myself for being alive when everybody else died ... What did I do wrong that I survived? ... It's totally illogical. But it's a very, very strong feeling and it's something I could not shake for a long, long time. ... It was only by starting to ask questions, to study the history of the Jewish people, to find out what madness led people to such a philosophy of murder. ... Those who survived must bear witness ..."
Kanitz gave many interviews and spoke about the Holocaust in schools and in the synagogue
on Yom HaShoah
or Holocaust Memorial Day. In 2005, he spoke at the Saskatoon opening of the Anne Frank in the World 1929–1945 exhibition, and on March 21, 2006, he received a Living in Harmony award from the government of Saskatchewan, which is given to people who have promoted intercultural harmony.
Kanitz has since died.
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivor living in Saskatoon
Saskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
. He narrowly escaped being transported to the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
death camp at Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
in June 1944 at the age of six, because a neighbor, whose son was a member of the Hungarian fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Arrow Cross Party
Arrow Cross Party
The Arrow Cross Party was a national socialist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which led in Hungary a government known as the Government of National Unity from October 15, 1944 to 28 March 1945...
, risked her life to hide Kanitz, his mother, and his brother in her potato cellar for seven months until the end of the war.
In 1946, Kanitz's father became secretary of his local Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
and later still, deputy-minister of industry for Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. In his role as party secretary, his job was to oversee the post-war judicial system in his area. The neighbor who had saved his family appealed to him for the life of her own son, who was due to be hanged for his activities with the Arrow Cross Party. Kanitz's father refused to spare him, because, he said, "saving three Jews does not wash the blood off someone who has probably killed hundreds."
Awaiting transport to Auschwitz
Kanitz was six years old and living in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
with his parents, Miklos and Tereza Kanitz, and his older brother, Julius, when the Nazis invaded Hungary in March 1944. His father had already been taken to a labor camp when his mother, brother, and himself were told to pack small bags, and make their way with 500 other Jews to an abandoned brick factory outside Budapest, where they would soon be transported, they were told, to a "safer place," which Kanitz later learned was the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Between May 15 and July 9, 1944, 437,000 Jews were deported from Hungary, all but 15,000 of whom were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The disused factory was a muddy field the size of a football pitch containing thousands of people, with no facilities of any kind and no shelter. Kanitz and his family spent two weeks there, waiting for the trucks to take them to the camp. "It was raining and we had absolutely no cover, no blankets, no shelter, nothing to sit or to lie down on. Just the mud," Kanitz said in an interview with The StarPhoenix. There was one barrel of water a day, and meals consisted of a cup of hot water with some rotting vegetables in it.
"All around, children were so afraid they were defecating. Babies were screaming. Soldiers were going around beating people for being 'pigs.' You're living in mud, and they call you a dirty goddamn Jew because you're covered in mud."
Every night, a group of Jews was made to gather up the bodies of those who had died during the day. Kanitz watched as people lost their minds, as old people died, and as children were killed. "There was this family about 10 feet away from us, a mother with four children, three boys and a little girl. She was a very cute little girl, maybe two years old, curly blonde hair. But she was sick and she was crying a lot, and one afternoon I saw this guard shouting to the mother to keep this dirty little Jew quiet. But she kept on crying, so he came over and he just smashed the little girl's head in with his rifle butt."
Life in the cellar
After spending around two weeks in the field, the Kanitzs heard their names being called by one of the guards. When they walked to the gate, they saw that their neighbor, Mrs. Nagy, had asked a guard to release them. Kanitz assumes she said she needed them to use as labor.She took them to her home for a bath and clean clothes, and then the family descended into Mrs. Nagy's potato cellar, where they were to spend the next seven months. The cellar measured eight by eight by five feet, built at the side of the house and mostly underground except for the top 18 inches, with no windows, just some light coming through wooden slats overhead.
The family had to be careful that Mrs. Nagy's son, János, did not notice their presence. János was a member of the Arrow Cross Party
Arrow Cross Party
The Arrow Cross Party was a national socialist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, which led in Hungary a government known as the Government of National Unity from October 15, 1944 to 28 March 1945...
, the Hungarian fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
party that collaborated with the Nazis, and might have turned the family in.
They slept on sand, using a bucket for a toilet. Mrs. Nagy gave them what food she could, but was reluctant to draw attention to herself by buying and preparing more than she needed for herself, so the family lived mostly on potatoes and cabbage. Most of Kanitz's teeth fell out from lack of nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
. "It was very cold and damp, and we were sick all the time with colds. And always, always hungry. You know how they say when your stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
touches your backbone
Backbone
Backbone may refer to:* Vertebral column, of a vertebrate organism* Backbone chain, in polymer chemistry, the framework of the molecule* Backbone Entertainment, a video game development company* Backbone network, the top level of a hierarchical network...
. I became listless and every movement was an effort. My belly started to swell and my arms got very thin. At a certain point, I lost the hunger and became resigned to it, almost catatonic
Catatonia
Catatonia is a state of neurogenic motor immobility, and behavioral abnormality manifested by stupor. It was first described in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein ....
."
His mother kept them going with stories, prayers, and talk of what became Kanitz's favorite food, liver paté. In January 1945, they began to hear bombs falling all around them, and planes flying overhead as the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
arrived to liberate Hungary. "We didn't know who was dropping the bombs — English
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
or Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n. But my mother told us, 'Don't worry about them. They are here to help us.'
One day, the trap door of the cellar opened, and a Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n soldier looked in. "We came out of the cellar and there was a group of soldiers on horses, and they were patting us on the shoulder, giving us food and chocolates, and I was sicker than a dog. And that was the end of the war."
After the war
The family went to Kanitz's paternal grandfather's home. His grandparents, Shamu and Gisella (Weiss) Kanitz, had been taken to Auschwitz and their home had been ransacked, so there was nothing inside, and no food available anywhere. "There were dead horses lying in the streets, and people were carving them up where they lay and taking the meat home. And that's what we lived on ... we ate horse, we ate donkey, we ate, I don't know what else we ate." The Kanitzs discovered that 100 members of the extended family had been killed.In December 1945, Kanitz's father came home and joined the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
, becoming party secretary for their part of the city, and later deputy minister of industry for Hungary. János Nagy was arrested along with other Arrow Cross
Arrow Cross
A cross whose arms end in arrowheads is called a "cross barby" or "cross barbee" in the traditional terminology of heraldry. In Christian use, the ends of this cross resemble the barbs of fish hooks, or fish spears...
members. The local party secretaries acted as judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
and jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
, and so Mrs. Nagy approached Kanitz's father to beg for her son's life, but he refused to help, and János Nagy was hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
.
She had saved my mother, brother and me, so now she asked my father to save her son in return. But my father refused. This caused a real family problem because my mother wanted him to do it, but he wouldn't. He said that saving three Jews does not wash the blood off someone who has probably killed hundreds.
Desperate to leave Hungary after his experiences, Kanitz ran away from home when he was 13. He was picked up and brought back, but he left again, the second time with his mother's blessing. He walked to the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n border, and from there traveled to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and then to Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where he found a job polishing knives. "I love the English. They were the first people to treat me like I was a human being." The family was later reunited and emigrated to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, where Tereza Kanitz was killed by a drunk driver in Terrace, British Columbia
Terrace, British Columbia
Terrace is a city on the Skeena River in British Columbia, Canada. The Kitselas people, a tribe of the Tsimshian Nation, have lived in the Terrace area for thousands of years. The community population fell between 2001 and 2006 from 12,109 with a regional population of 19,980 to 11,320 and...
in 1964.
Kanitz found he was unable to speak about his experiences for over fifty years. "I blamed myself for being alive when everybody else died ... What did I do wrong that I survived? ... It's totally illogical. But it's a very, very strong feeling and it's something I could not shake for a long, long time. ... It was only by starting to ask questions, to study the history of the Jewish people, to find out what madness led people to such a philosophy of murder. ... Those who survived must bear witness ..."
Kanitz gave many interviews and spoke about the Holocaust in schools and in the synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
on Yom HaShoah
Yom HaShoah
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah , known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews and five million others who perished in the...
or Holocaust Memorial Day. In 2005, he spoke at the Saskatoon opening of the Anne Frank in the World 1929–1945 exhibition, and on March 21, 2006, he received a Living in Harmony award from the government of Saskatchewan, which is given to people who have promoted intercultural harmony.
Kanitz has since died.
See also
- Auschwitz concentration campAuschwitz concentration campConcentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
- History of the Jews in HungaryHistory of the Jews in HungaryHungarian Jews have existed since at least the 11th century. After struggling against discrimination throughout the Middle Ages, by the early 20th century the community grew to be 5% of Hungary's population , and were prominent in science, the arts and business...
- Arrow CrossArrow CrossA cross whose arms end in arrowheads is called a "cross barby" or "cross barbee" in the traditional terminology of heraldry. In Christian use, the ends of this cross resemble the barbs of fish hooks, or fish spears...
- Survivor syndrome