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Photo: portrait of Alfred Fischer from 1933 (private collection of Darko Fischer)
The story of Alfred Fischer, a lawyer from Osijek, confirms that migration is often neither nice nor pleasant, and that in many cases it happens out of extreme necessity - as an escape from poverty, a search for a better future, and unfortunately, as a way to save one's life.
As a Jew who had the misfortune to live during the Second World War, Alfred Fischer and his family moved around Croatia, Bosnia and Hungary due to persecution. Throughout this time, Alfred kept a diary, a poignant testimony of the agony of war.
Alfred Fischer, son of Bela Fischer and Emilija née Bihaly, was born in Osijek on May 28, 1904. He comes from a merchant family that was able to provide him with a quality education - he graduated from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb, after which he was promoted to a doctor of law, and studied philosophy in Vienna.
As young, educated and, in all likelihood, wealthy man with a law degree in hand Alfred Fischer returned form Zagreb to Osijek. In Osijek he started working as a trainee in the office of dr. Mosin Klein, a famous lawyer from Osijek, with whom Alfred later ran a joint office.
Having a profound knowledge of civil law, he wrote a number of discussions that were published in the legal periodical of the time. In addition, he spoke five world languages. In 1931, he married Margita Szőke in Zagreb. Alfred and Margita had two children, Lelja and Darko.
However, the bright future that began at that time was not realized. The Second World War began, and in 1941 the Independent State of Croatia was proclaimed, which was by no means good news for the Jewish family.
Photo: picture of young Alfred Fischer, taken in Osijek, 1925 (private collection of Darko Fischer)
Photo: tennis partners Franjo Pašer and Alfred Fischer, Osijek, 1933 – picture taken on tennis court in Osijek (private collection of Darko Fischer)
Photo: Alfred Fischer's diploma
The Independent State of Croatia (NDH), created under the influence of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy implemented Nazi and fascist policies in Croatia. As was to be expected, as a Jew, Alfred Fischer was removed from the address book of the Zagreb Bar Association by the Decision of the Bar Association on June 30, 1942. He was 37 years old. His family, wife Margita and two children, seven-year-old Lelja and three-year-old Darko, shared the fate of other Jews from Osijek. The first measure against the Jews in Osijek, taken so as to preserve the culture and the spirit of the Croatian people, was the relocation of local Jews from the city center to the outskirts. The Fischers were lucky in this regard as they exchanged houses with some distant relatives. After Alfred found out that the newly installed authorities intended to "pick him up", he decided to feign illness and hide in the hospital where his brother, Oto, worked as a doctor. That was the beginning of life of constant moving, running away and hiding.
Although the Fischer family quickly moved to the outskirts of Osijek after the declaration of the NDH policy, it quickly became clear that they were not safe there either. As early as August 1942, the family's paths diverged. Alfred went to Hungary, where a former client helped him in Budapest, and his wife and children went to Bosnia. In both countries, they had help and support from both family and friends, who continued to help them even in the later years of hiding.
Photo: cover of Alfred's diary "A few more days", which he wrote in 1944 in Budapest - the diary records the agony of war, which for Alfred had already begun in 1942.
Alfred's arrival and life in Hungary was possible due to old business connections. He was able to find sanctuary in Budapest owing to a case he had handled for the Count Pejačević family, or, rather, against them. Gabrijela Pejačević, the sister of the famous pianist Dora Pejačević, married the Hungarian count of Polish descent József Kochanovszky against the will of her family and was thus disinherited. As the countess's lawyer, Alfred handled the case, which resulted in Gabrijela winning the lawsuit. Although this had happened in the 1930s, Alfred remained on good terms with Gabrijela ever since, which is why she helped him in Hungary.
Photo: countess Gabrijela Pejačević (Našice Local History Museum)
In spring 1941, shortly after the declaration of the NDH, a decision was made to send doctors of Jewish origin to Bosnia. In the fall of 1941, Alfred's brother Oto went to Bosnia with his wife. Alfred's wife and children joined them as part of the family in 1942. In March 1943, the situation in Bosnia rapidly worsened for the Jews and the Fischer family took refuge in Hungary that same month. In order to enter Hungary, they had received crucial help from Kamilo Firinger, a lawyer from Osijek, earning him the Righteous Among the Nations award.
The Fischer family was eventually reunited in Budapest. They were able to stay there thanks to the aforementioned relationship with Countess Gabrijela Pejačević and a business deal with her husband, Count Kochanovszky. Count Kochanovszky was interested in the family estates that Alfred owned in Vojvodina. The two made an agreement that the count would finance Alfred in Budapest, and that Alfred would in turn give him the estates after the crisis had abated. In Budapest, Alfred had a fictitious job in a company run by Count Kochanovszky, while the Fischer family lived on the Count's Cserepes estate.
A peaceful life in Hungary and waiting for the end of the war in relative safety was not destined for the Fischer family. When the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944, the situation considerably worsened for the Jews hiding there. A peasant from the Cserepes estate hated the Fischer family and denounced them to the authorities, forcing them to flee and hide elsewhere. The family came to Budapest, as they believed that it would be easier to hide in a big city. They hid in various places, especially during night, when they often changed apartments, rooms and hiding places. They continued to do so until the very end of the war, when the Hungarian fascists, members of the Arrow Cross Party, dragged Alfred out of his apartment on January 8, 1945, and shot him in the street just ten days before the Red Army entered Budapest.
Photo: manuscript of Alfred's diary "A few more days", which he wrote in 1944 in Budapest - the diary records the agony of war, which for Alfred and his family already begun much earlier.
Alfred's life path is largely known thanks to his diary "A few more days", which he wrote during his refuge in Budapest in 1944. He explained why he kept a diary, which he wrote in the evenings, sitting in a cold room, wrapped in a blanket, in the calm of another day that he had managed to survive - he wanted to write about the period and the people of WW2 once the conflict ended, so he kept the diary as a mere reminder of the events that had happened and the thoughts he had had. Nevertheless, he managed to write a wonderful text about the agony of the war-ravaged Budapest, about the world and people, a poignant testimony about human evil and human kindness.
Prepared by: Siniša Bjedov
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