Approaching the Holocaust, Communism, and Post-Communism in Eastern Europe from a Gender Perspective

Abstract The paper demonstrates the importance of memoirs written by Jewish women dealing with postwar experiences in communist countries; and thus responds to a lack of research dealing with postwar issues connected to gender, the Holocaust and communism. Using the example of Györgyi Vándor’s memoirs Mehr als eine Stimme im Chor. Erinnerungen einer Frau an Ungarn 1948–1956 (More than one voice in a choir. Memoirs of a Hungarian woman of 1948–1956), it shows how women faced multiple discriminations: as a Jew, as a woman and as a victim of communism. In 1949, Györgyi became the youngest victim of the show trial of László Rajk; Vándor was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy and espionage. The paper analyzes how she described the female prison society and inmates she had to live with under extremely difficult conditions and how she portrayed herself in relation to the others. Her most famous cellmate was Júlia Rajk.