Statue of Miklós Radnóti by Imre Varga (2009) in Nagymező Street, Budapest District VI

Miklós Radnóti (1909–1944) was a Hungarian poet who was murdered in the Holocaust. His poetry mingles avant-garde and expressionist themes with a new classical style, a good example being his eclogues. His romantic love poetry is notable as well. Radnóti was born in Budapest into an assimilated Jewish family. Radnóti converted to Catholicism in 1943. Numerous Jewish writers converted to Christianity at that time due to the antisemitism that was pervasive in Hungarian society at the time. In the early forties Radnóti was conscripted by the Hungarian Army, but being a Jew he was assigned to an unarmed “labour battalion”. The battalion was force-marched to central Hungary in August 1944. On the march most of the 3,200 Hungarian Jews were murdered or died due to exhaustion, including Radnóti.

Photo
Budapest 2014