Inadvertently Entangled: Day 7

Word Count: 42,024

Summary of Events:

The following day, Pierson was taken on a tour of Budapest by Mr. Nyilas, before being taken to a meeting of Hungarians who were committed to helping Hungarian Jews escape Hungary, where Pierson saw the beautiful young woman from the Swedish Embassy again, along with an even more beautiful young woman whose name he was unable to learn. Following the meeting, Pierson and Mr. Nyilas were given a ride home by Árpád, who'd also driven them to the meeting…

Excerpt of the Day:

“How many Jews are left in Hungary?” Pierson asked as Árpád drew away from the curb.

“I can’t say for all of Hungary, but for Budapest our estimates are over one hundred thousand,” Mr. Nyilas replied.

Pierson raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really?”

“Yes,” Mr. Nyilas replied. “Not all of them are native-born, as some actually fled to Hungary from other German-occupied territories.”

“But Hungary is an ally of Germany,” Pierson said. “Why would Jews be coming to Hungary?”

“Because even though Hungary has enacted repressive laws against Jews, they’ve not conducted any pogroms against them,” Mr. Nyilas replied.

“What are their laws?” Pierson asked.

“The First Jewish Law was passed five years ago, and restricted the number of Jews in commercial enterprises, the press, medicine, engineering, and law to twenty percent,” Mr. Nyilas replied. “The Second Jewish Law, passed nearly a year later, defined Jews as individuals with as few as two Jewish-born grandparents. The Third Jewish Law, enacted two years ago, prohibited intermarriage and penalised intimacy between Jews and nonJews.”

Pierson nodded.

“Prime Minister Kállay and Regent Horthy are resistant to German pressures to allow the deportation of Hungarian Jews to their facilities in Poland so far,” Mr. Nyilas added. “Which is heartening, except when it comes to wondering how long they’ll be able to hold out, especially seeing as they’re without an army.”

Part of Pierson wanted to stare at Mr. Nyilas like he had an extra head. Why were the Hungarians allies of Germany if they didn’t agree with the policy of Jewish elimination Uncle Ashford, in particular, had been almost adamant was a core policy of the Nazi regime?

“You don’t have confidence they will be able to hold out?” Pierson asked, even though that wasn’t the question on the forefront of his mind.

“They have no army,” Mr. Nyilas replied. “How can they?”

“Considering how much other fighting Germany has to do everywhere else, do you really think they would have the men to spare to go after their own allies?” Pierson asked.

“If their territory continues shrinking the possibility exists,” Mr. Nyilas replied. “And, like I said earlier, Hungary is technically the biggest ally they have left, even if it has no real army, outside of Japan, who are rather busy out in the Pacific, and can’t really spare anyone to help here, and I don’t know that Germany would really be all that inclined to try and sustain this war on their own. In fact, I don’t think they can.”

“You mean to say that you think Germany’s position is slipping?” Pierson asked.

“Undoubtedly,” Mr. Nyilas replied. “The Allies are gaining traction and the Germans are losing their footing. I don’t think the end of the war is by any means imminent, but I certainly do think that it’s nearer on the horizon than it may’ve once looked, and with an outcome more hopeful than once had seemed possible. At least, when it comes to Europe, I can’t say about the Pacific, I don’t hear much about it here.”

Pronunciations:

Kállay: kahlay

Horthy: hohrtee