We were not prepared for this Debrecen, day or night. People were well dressed, elegant. The stores were open and well stocked. There was no sign of destruction or war.
Our first stop was - cigarettes. The "Magyar" brand proved to be superb. Store windows glittered. There were pastry shops and restaurants. The Arany Bika (Golden Bull) Hotel and the Gabrinus Restaurant were in full operation...Need1ess to say, we honoured these places with our presence and gobbled up the milles feuilles and the pastries and gulped down the black coffee. We paid cash - we had plenty. This was a virtual Canaan. The locals seemed to have no idea what had been going on in Budapest!
I run into Pista Radó at the Arany Bika, a dear friend from labour camp - one of the first to make his escape. He jumped off the train and hid in a cornfield. They tried gunning him down, but he had disappeared. He is editor of the Néplap (the People's Press).
We talked about our squadron and wondered who was still with them and who had succeeded in making the break.
Pubi Blum lived in Debrecen - a young man, very tall, always willing to help. He was a medical student and stuck with the squadron till the very end. He is no more. Emil Werner never made it back and he so wanted to be with his little daughter again. I can still hear him grinding his teeth all night. He was a great guy. The Blayers are gone. Feri Fisch deserted - but no news about him. Dr. Zoltán Vitál can now be found at the House of Finance - consultant for the Ministry of Transport and the Postal department. Previously he had been employed by the Post Office, and in the Horthy era, he would have been addressed as "Your Honour."! Bandi Wiener is back at his old house the "Wiener Palace" - but he changed his name to a more Hungarian-sounding one - Kádár. Miska Erdei was lucky - he managed to get his shop back. After all this news, I set out to look up my buddies, but Bandi Wiener insisted that I stay for lunch.
Then I had my coffee with "His Honour" at the House of Finance. Zoli offered me a position as legal adviser at the Ministry of Justice. He showed me around. Each ministry was allotted only one room.
My next stop was the Erdei's. Miska was a very successful businessman, quite a bit older than I. His wife was not Jewish and therefore able to keep the business going with Miska's gentile partner. While we were stationed at Hajdúhadház, she took every opportunity to visit her husband. Miska was often given leave. On May 25 in 1944, before we were transferred from Hajdúhadház to Gödemesterháza, Miska offered to take my winter clothes, so that I would not have to drag them along with me. He brought them home and his wife put them away for safekeeping. I was most grateful and now I was looking forward to some change of clothes. She said I should have come much sooner (!) The Russians had ransacked their home and abscounded with everything. Oh, well! We're alive - that's what counts!
It was all very sociable. I was invited to be their guest during my Debrecen stay and I was delighted to accept their kind invitation. They hoped that I would not mind that the other room was occupied by a Russian captain who was a physician and shared his room with a nurse. "No problem"!