2005_the history of social work and gender in hungary 1900-1960
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Sweep Project, History of Social Work and GenderFinal report, 2005
The History of Social Work and Gender in Hungary, 1900-1960
By the Hungarian team: Borbla Juhsz, Dorottya Szikr a, Eszter Varsa
Abstract
After a short methodological note the final report starts with the description of state welfare policies
in Hungary between 1900 and 1960. Welfare policies and social work have been closely connectedin the early years, but state organised social policy gradually developed into a system. The second
chapter draws up the main changes in the structures of non-governmental organizations with a
special focus on womens associations. It points to main turning points and provides information on
the connection between non-governmental organizations and governmental institutions. Our first
case study, about theKozma street settlementin the outskirts of Budapest, which started in 1935, is
placed here. It is a good example of how religion- inspired volunteer work gets co-opted into the
official social policy system of the capital city. Specific attention is paid to the role women playedin its formation and daily work. The next part reflects on the altering forms of professionalization of
social work that can be placed to the first half of the 20 th century. Details concerning altering
definitions of social activities, debates about the goals and methods of welfare work, as well as
educational sites and material in the teaching of social work are examined. Important biographies of
women active in social work follow, supplemented by the second case study, the detailed life stories
ofKatalin Gero andIlona Fldy. Gero was the directress of the Jewish Orphanage for Girls from
1898 until her death, Ilona Fldy was the leader of the Kozma street settlement between the two
world wars.
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Table of Contents
Chapter Page
1. Methodology and Sources 4
2. The Development of State Welfare Between 1900-1960 5
2.1. Main themes and variables 5
2.2. Main periods 7
2.3. Most important arrangements 8
2.3.1.First period: 1900-1920 8
2.3.2. Second period: 1920-1948 10
2.3.3. Third period: 1945-1960 12
3. Social Activities of Non-Governmental Organizations 14
3.1. Introduction 14
3.2. Historical Overview 15
3.2.1. 1900-1920 15
3.2.2 1920-1945 16
3.2.3. 1945-1960 17
3.3. War-Time Activities 18
3.4.Target Groups and Types of Organizations 18
3.5. Organizations for the Poor 19
3.5.1. The Hungarian Red Cross 19
3.5.2. The Association of General Public Charity 20
3.5.3. The Green Cross Movement 21
3.5.4.. The Norm of Eger 23
3.6. Organizations for Child Protection: The National League for Child Protection 23
3.7. Workers Organizations 24
3.8. The Hungarian Settlement Movement 25
3.9. Womens Organizations 26
3.9.1. The Charitable Womens Association 26
3.9.2. The Izraelite Womens Association of Pest 27
3.9.3. The Social Mission Society and the Society of Social Sisters 27
3.9.4. The National Stefnia Association 28
3.9.5. Foundation for Helping the Poor 29
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4. Gender, Class and Ethnicity-Based Differentiation in the Practice of
Hungarian Social Work -A Case Study of the Kozma-Street Settlement, 1935-1945 30
4.1.Introduction 30
4.2.The Settlement Movement Worldwide 31
4.3.The Hungarian Settlement Movement 334.4. Kozma Street: A Case for Womens Settlement 33
4.4.1. Accentuating Womens Gender- and Class-Based Difference 33
4.4.2. The Presence of Gender-Based Difference Making in the
Interaction of Social Workers 35
4.4.3. Differentiation along Racial Terms in the Practice of Social Work 37
5. The Professionalization and Institutionalization of Social Work in Hungary 39
5.1. Definitions of Social Work 39
5.1.1.The Beginnings of Social Work in the 19th Century 40
5.1.2.The Specialisation of Social Work in the First Decade of the 20th Century 41
5.1.3.Guardians of the Public in the Years of the First World War 42
5.1.4. New Terminology in Child Protection in 1919 43
5.1.5. Assistants of the Poor in the 1920s 43
5.1.6. Productive Social Policy 44
5.1.7. The Disappearance of Social Work after 1948-49 45
5.2. Social Work Education - The History of Social Courses 46
5.3. The Disappearance of Social Work Education after the Second World War 50
5.4. Practical Guidelines for Doing Social Work 50
6. Important biographies in the field 52
6.1. Introduction 52
6.2. Where do women appear? 53
6.3. Detailed biographies 54
6.3.1.Terz Brunszvik 54
6.3.2.Johanna Bischitz 54
6.3.3.Edith Farkas 55
6.3.4.Margit Schlachta 55
6.3.5.Rza Bdy-Scwimmer 56
6.3.6. Katalin Gero 56
6.3.7.Ilona Fldy 56
6.3.8. Jlia Gyrgy 576.4. Short biographies 57
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7. The Biographies of Katalin Gero and Ilona Fldy a Case study 58
7.1.Introduction 58
7.2.Katalin Gero 58
7.3.Ilona Fldy 62
7.5. Conclusion 64
Bibliography 66
Appendix:
Appendix A: Translation of documents
Appendix B: Photos
1. Methodology and Sources
All chapters of the research were written in cooperation among the three members of the Hungarian
research team: Borbla Juhsz, Dorottya Szikra and Eszter Varsa. Borbla Juhsz worked
extensively on the overview chapter about Important Biographies in the Field and the case study
on Parallel Biographies: Religious Social Work in Hungary through the Lives of Katalin Gero and
Ilona Fldy. Dorottya Szikra authored the chapter on The Development of Hungarian Social
Policy between 1900-1960. Eszter Varsa co-authored with Borbla Juhsz the chapter on Social
Activities of Non-Governmental Organizations and with Dorottya Szikra The Professionalization
and Institutionalization of Social Work in Hungary and Gender, Class and Ethnicity-Based
Differentiation in the Practice of Hungarian Social Work, A Case Study of the Kozma-Street
Settlement, 1935-1945.
The translation of documents was completed by Borbla Juhsz and translator and interpreter,
Gbor Karsai.
Sources contacted were available primary materials, both written and oral and secondary literature
on the history of social work in Hungary. Written primary sources come from journals,
publications, ministerial decrees and personal memories of social workers located in the HungarianNational Archives, the Jewish Museum and Archives of Hungary, the Archives of the Political
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History Institute, the National Szchenyi Library, and the Ervin Szab Library of Budapest. It must
be noted that available references were often difficult to trace down, such as in case of the
biographical studies.
Four oral history interviews were conducted with Zsuzsanna Gncz, Eta Vranovich and IstvnKroly, among whom Ms Gncz was a former student of the first university-run social work
education course in 1942, and all participated in professional social work in one of the Hungarian
Settlements before the Second World War. The interviews conducted by Dorottya Szikra and Eszter
Varsa between December 2004 and April 2005 served basis to the case study about the work at the
Kozma Street Settlement in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
All interviews were transcribed by Andrea Herndvlgyi.
Secondary sources, although scarce, were mostly review studies about the practice and history of
social work. Central among these were Katalin Piks valuable and path-breaking work on The
History of Social Work in Hungary, 1817-1990 [A szocilis munka trtnete Magyarorszgon
(1817-1990.)]. Budapest: Hilscher Rezso Szocilpolitikai Egyeslet, 2001, and an earlier but central
work by Csizmadia, Andor on Changes in Social Care in Hungary [A szocilis gondoskods
vltozsai Magyarorszgon]. Budapest: MTA llam- s Jogtudomnyi Intzet, 1977. Further
sources were general historical and social history overviews about the period in concern,
biographical collections and information gained from conferences and exhibitions.
2. The Development of State Welfare Between 1900-1960
2.1 Main themes and variables
Welfare policies and social work have been closely connected to each other in the early years of
their formation. In the case of poor policies carried out by civil organizations it has actually been
overlapping for a long time. In this chapter we describe state-organized social policies typical for
Hungary in the given period.
According to the simplest definition of social policy (the descriptive definition) all institutions
that deal with the physical and mental welfare of people make up social policy. 1 Talking about the
1 In this text social policy is used as a synonym of welfare policies.
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history of state-run social policy the following themes must be mentioned (more or less according
to their time of appearance):
Poor relief, dealing with vagrants and beggars Creation of hospitals and almshouses Regulation of working conditions Public health: compulsory vaccination, prevention and education Insurance companies and workers associations Child care Public housing Compulsory social insurance: injury, sickness, old age and widows, later
unemployment Separate institutions for people with disabilities and psychiatric problems Family policies
These arrangements appeared in all European countries from the mid 19 th to the mid 20th century.
The timing of the arrangements differs from country to country just as the way these steps were
taken, i.e. the characteristics of the institutions (e.g. voluntary or compulsory arrangements,
centralised or decentralised institutions etc.). The third major variable that must be taken intoaccount when analysing welfare institutions is the number of people affected.
In the case of Hungary we can say that the timing of social policy legislation closely followed the
Western European and within this the Austrian and German trends. No wonder, as up until 1920
Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and had common interest and policies in a
number of major areas. Although the workers question and social policy were independently
directed in the two countries, Hungary closely followed and sometimes copied the Austrian andGerman legislation.
The development of welfare institutions between 1900 and 1960 can be characterised as gradually
moving to centralization in all the fields mentioned above. The main variable that makes Hungary
different from its Western counterparts is the number of people affected by welfare arrangements: it
lagged far behind until 1948 and slowly caught up by the late 1960s.
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2.2 Main periods
We have to distinguish four periods of Hungarian welfare development between 1900-1960. The
first period lasts until the First World War and is characterised by rapid industrial development and
urbanisation accompanied with the rise of the working class. For social policy this meant the firstgeneration of social insurance legislation (against sickness and injuries) and workers protection.
This is the time of introducing state-run child care.
The second period lasts until the end of Second World War and had seen the second generation of
social insurance legislation (old age, orphans and widows). In the late 1920s there had been an
interesting initiative to make civil organisation and local governments co-operate in the field of
poor relief ("Norm of Eger" - see later). In the 1930s Hungary was characterised by so-called
productive social policy having strong links to social work practice.
The end of WWII and the change of the regime is the third period we can distinguish. As in all
East-European countries Soviet invasion and the turn to one-party leadership in 1948 alongside with
the collectivisation of all estates reformed social policy and welfare institutions radically. But as
the most influential social policy expert in Hungary, Zsuzsa Ferge notes social policy as such
suffered less radical reforms during state-socialism than other sectors did. Indeed, much of the
inheritance of the pre WWII system can be found in state-socialist social policy.
The main reason for this is that the most essential part of social policy, that is social insurance, had
been fully centralised already by the 1930s. The essence of our bismarckian-type social insurance
system has been as everywhere in Europe - centralised coercion: the obligation to save money to
prevent oneself from future risks.2 The state-socialist system can be characterised as one that
extended social policy the most, taking care for all its citizens, covering all the risks of human life:
injuries, sickness, old age, unemployment (with the declared aim of full employment) maternity and
child care. Alongside with providing a socially secure environment paradoxically - the state
socialist system diminished social policy as such, stating that the new economical and political
organisation of society is going to solve social problems in itself. This had been partly successful:
the state-socialist system provided a wide range of social rights but in return it abolished basic
human rights. If we accept that civil and political rights form the basis of social rights, as T. H.
2 Swaan, Abram de: In Care of the State. Health Care, Education, and Welfare in Europe and the USA in the ModernEra. Cambridge, 1988.
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Marshall states3, and these together form the basis of welfare states, we can not claim that Hungary
created a welfare state this time.
2.3 Most important arrangements
2.3.1 First period: 1900-1920
Hungary was one of the first countries in the world to introduce compulsory social insurance for
workers. The 1891 Sickness Benefit Act closely followed the pioneering German legislation (1883,
1889) not only in time but also in content. This first piece of legislation is a mixture of the German
and Austrian sickness insurance acts. The reason for the early legislation is probably German and
Austrian cultural dissemination and - strongly connected to this - the rising working class
movements that frightened politicians of the time. 1893 had seen the first legislation on workers'
protection in dangerous industries. The Act for compulsory insurance against injuries was
introduced in 1907 and affected factories employing more than 20 workers.
Although the first piece of legislation made insurance against sickness compulsory in all industrial
companies (regardless of the number of workers employed) the percentage of insured persons
amongst the total population was only 3,5 % at the turn of the century. 4 It gradually increased but
had only reached 6% by 1920. This ratio is much higher in Western Europe this time: 9% in 1900
and almost 20% by 1920 were insured against sickness.5
The reason for this discrepancy is the relatively low number of industrial workers and the weakness
of implementation. It seems that the Ministry of Trade and Industry - being responsible for the
"social question" this time - did not devote enough resources for the collection of contributions and
for the disclosure of frauds by employers. Unlike in Austria, Hungarian civil servants were not
eager enough to make legislation work: it seems that most small ventures avoided social security
contribution.6
3 Marshall, Thomas, H.: Citizenship and Social Class. Cambridge, 1950.4 Szikra, Dorottya: Trsadalombiztosts s modernizci. (Social security and modernization.) In. Krkp reform utn.Tanulmnyok a nyugdjrendszerrol. Szerk. Augusztinovich, Mria. Kzgazdasgi Szemle Kiad, Budapest, 2000.
5 Szikra, Dorottya: The Thorny Path to Implementation: Bismarckian social insurance in Hungary in the late 19thcentury.European Journal of Social Security. Volume 6, Nr 3, September 2004.6 Zimmermann, Susan: Geschtzte und ungeschtzte Arbeitsverhaltnisse von der Hochindustrialisiereung bis zurWeltwirtschaftskrise. Frankfurt-Wien, 1997.
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The fact that the Hungarian social insurance system is Bismarckian means that it did not build on
the mutual-benefit societies or unions but forced employers and employees to devote part of their
income to social insurance. At the same time it strongly suppressed workers organisations and
partly drowned, partly pacified and integrated their societies of mutual-aid.
Hungary was one of the first countries introducing family allowance too, although only for civil
servants, in 1912. In all the welfare measures civil servants enjoyed a privileged position. This is
the reason why some calculations show a much higher ratio of welfare spending and population
coverage than others:7 These include the high level and rather expensive special schemes for civil
servants - by which governments "bought" their loyalty. 8
Another important feature is that although the creation of a special, compulsory social security
scheme for agricultural workers came up in discussions already at the turn of the century it has
never been realised. Thus those in biggest need - the landless agricultural day-labourers - did not
receive any benefits of the emerging modern social policy. A voluntary scheme against injuries and
disability had been created for them at the turn of the century (1900. XVI.). By 1905 12% of
agricultural workers and servants had been insured in this scheme.
The main reason for neglecting this groups severe social problems lies in the quasi-parliamentary
system of Hungary this time: The majority of MPs were landowners who strongly opposed any
compulsory social policy in the agrarian sector. Also, the movement of agricultural workers was not
as powerful and international as that of the industrial workers. No social arrangements followed
their rebels - these were forcefully suppressed.
The above described social insurance arrangements for industrial workers had been the first pieces
of modern social legislation also regarding gender. The Act of 1891 declared that every single
industrial worker - regardless of age, gender and religion - must be insured. Hungary was
pioneering also in providing medical treatment and access to medicines for the families of insured
employees. This included free access to midwife-assistance at the birth of an insured persons child.
Infant and child care was the task of charitable associations until the turn of the century. The child
protection act of 1901 declared that looking after foundlings is the task of the central state which
made the creation of state-run homes possible. There had been 16 such homes in Hungary by this
7 See for example: Tomka, Bla : Szocilpolitika Magyarorszgon eurpai perspektvban . (Social policy in Hungary ina European perspective.) Szzadvg, Budapest, 2003.8 This again is a typical feature of Bismarckian social policy. Building up different schemes for different social groupsis called "status-related" and "status-conserving" welfare policy in the terminology of historical social policy.
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time and the state-protection reached altogether 50.000 children - much less than the estimated
number of needy children. 9
From 1898 (the creation of National Fund for the Sick Poor) the state took up part of the costs of the
fight against contagious diseases, and also the care for the sick poor. At the same time preventionremained the task of non-governmental organisations. From the late 1910s these organisations
(especially "Stefnia Szvetsg" and "Zldkeresztes Mozgalom") received state-funding.
Under the short period (133 days) of the "Soviet Republic" when the revolutionary workers
committees (councils) ruled the country, salaries became centrally regulated, equal pay for men and
women were introduced. Working time was also regulated (maximum of 8 hours a day). Paid leave
and unemployment benefit was introduced too. Measures of child-protection were planned and new
institutions were set up. Because of the short period these measure could only partly be
implemented. After the suppression of the "Soviet Republic" left-wing ideas - also of social policy -
became discredited for a long time. A new political system and a new wave of social policy took
over.
2.3.2 Second period: 1920-1948
The First World War had an important effect on social policy everywhere in Europe. Care for war
veterans and widows became a central issue, alongside with orphans - many of them begging in the
streets. Also, after-war periods always give ground to widespread social solidarity. Maybe that is
the reason why social policy exceeded workers' insurance and expanded both regarding social
classes and the risks to be insured all over Europe. Still, Hungary has only seen this latter. It
introduced compulsory old age and widows insurance in 1928 but agricultural workers still
remained excluded. The social insurance system became completely centralised by this Act. The
coverage remained low: 10,2 % had sickness insurance and 7,6 % old age insurance by 1940. The
gap between Hungary and Western Europe widened in this period (30,8% and 42% respectively).
Not only agricultural workers but also domestic servants had been left out from compulsory
schemes. Although the Old Age Pension Act of 1928 introduced this latters insurance the
implementation did not come about. At the end of 1930s several measures were taken to insure the
agricultural population. First, a compulsory old-age insurance was created for farmers (1936.
9 Gyni, Gbor:A szocilpolitika mltja Magyarorszgon . (The past of social policy in Hungary.) Budapest, MTA,1994. p17.
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XXXVI.), then a voluntary scheme for agricultural workers was introduced (1938. XII.), but this
latter excluded those with less than one acre of land.
From the second half of the 1920's the "state tried to show its 'social face' more and more"- as
Andor Csizmadia put it.10
One of the first innovations in the field of poor relief was the "Norm ofEger" (Egri Norma). Its main aim was to prevent begging in the streets of Eger (a North-Eastern
city in Hungary). It succeeded to co-ordinate work among charitable organisations, the local
authority and citizens in order to create organised and documented relief for the old and disabled.
The experience was so successful that it was introduced in most of the towns of Hungary in 1936.
By the mid 1930s the "social state" - as it was called by the time - created the so called "productive
social policy". The idea came from Lajos Esztergl from the South of Hungary, where a dramatic
drop in birth rates took place. Because lands were very small and they would have been divided
between the children as an inheritance, having only one child became very common. The term for
this was "egykk" which means "little ones".
To solve both the social problems of agricultural workers and to increase fertility rates productive
social policy was found out. The essence of productive social policy was to make people able "to
stand on their own feet" on the one hand (males role) and to have more Hungarian children
(females role). Instead of free lunch or money it provided seeds to plant vegetables and loans to
start up own ventures.11 The peak of this experience was the creation of a state-fund in 1940 called
Orszgos Np- s Csaldvdelmi Alap = ONCSA (Fund for the Protection of the Nation and the
Families ). The Fund provided small lands and houses and loans plus benefits in nature for Christian
families with children - about 12 thousand small houses altogether, mainly in the countryside.
Another important measure of this nature was to expand family allowance to all industrial workers
working in factories of more than 20 employees in 1938. This was the second act of this type in
Europe (after France) and it did make the life of workers with families easier. It is also remarkable
that families with only one child received this benefit too. Still, the amount of this family allowance
was so small that it could only provide real help for the poorest workers and their families. At the
same time the allowance for civil servants was a considerable amount thus the division between
classes remained remarkable.
10 Csizmadia, Andor:A szocilis gondoskods vltozsai Magyrorszgon. (Changes in social care in Hungary) MTAllam s Jogtudomnyi Intzet, Budapest, 1977. p145.11 For the experience of productive social policy in Heves county see: Szab, Zoltn: Cifra nyomorsg. (Edornedmisery.), a sociographical work
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Public health was organised by the above mentioned non-governmental organisations, although
with extensive state-support. The two biggest charitable associations, Stefnia Szvetsg (Stefnia
Association) for the care for pregnant mothers and infants and public health care in the cities, and
Zldkeresztes Szolglat for hygiene and public health in villages created a national network by the
mid 1930s mainly financed by the state. These two were finally integrated into the NationalSanitary Service in 1940.
2.3.3 Third period: 1945-1960
There had been hopes between 1945 -1948 that a democratic political system would be created in
Hungary. Alongside this, a complex system of welfare policies was developed with liberal and
social-democratic elements. In 1949 a new political streamline became evident which stated that
"every act of the people's democracy is social policy". 12 One of the main ideas of the so called
"hidden turn" was that with the creation of socialism, (or, as it was also called: peoples
democracy) the major claims of the working class had been fulfilled. Major industries and services
were collectivised - the opposition between owners and employees diminished. In these
circumstances there was no need for social policy and social work any more - so the argumentation
went.
It is very important that official social policy, poor policy and social work were abolished at a time
when the majority of the population was poor. Also, free health care for the poor was stopped when
two thirds of the population was not eligible for health insurance. 13
Hungary changed its old-age insurance system after WWII (just like most European countries). The
previous capital-accumulated system collapsed under the war, and a "pay-as-you-go" system was
introduced (i.e. those paying contributions today finance provisions of today's pensioners). This
way those who paid contributions in the previous system could receive pensions in the new one.
Changes in the social security system affected certain social groups negatively: owners having
private insurance lost their past contributions, private clerks and public employees lost their
privileges in the centrally-run social insurance system. One of the major changes was that only
state-employees (e.g. those working in state-run factories) were eligible for full social insurance
provision. The above described Hungarian (and Bismarckian) tradition to have separate systems for
12 Ferge, Zsuzsa:Fejezetek a magyar szegnypolit ika trtnetbol. (Chapters from the History of Hungarian Poor-policy.) Magveto Kiad, Budapest, 1986. p157.
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industrial and agricultural workers and to provide less for the latter was continued under state
socialism. With much delay, in 1975 was the old-age pension system made equal for these two
social groups. This year has seen the introduction of a universal health-care system too, which made
access to health services and sick pay equal for all social groups.
The differences described above had political intentions. Social insurance - which, interestingly,
kept its name, unlike social policy - became the terrain of political "games". According to Julia
Szalai, sociologist, social insurance - among others - was used to make people work in the state-
sector. Thus it had a major role in the forceful collectivisation of agriculture between 1958 -1962.14
Because agricultural workers and the self-employed did not have equal rights to social insurance it
was one of the incentives to force people to join cooperatives, or, to leave the agricultural sector and
join the heavy industrial sector.
On the other hand, to give the administrative power to unions (later only one union) over social
insurance and to invite them to take part in the preparation of new pieces of legislation could make
unions loyal to the Party. This can also be interpreted as a continuation of Bismarckian,
"corporative" traditions, and also, as using social security for political purposes.
Financing social insurance became state-controlled. It became a sub-chapter of state-treasury. There
was no real link between contributions and provision, these decisions were made centrally and were
influenced by political intentions. The level of social provisions was relatively high. It actually
formed a "hidden salary" especially by the end of 1960s, when these reached 20% of the income of
an average Hungarian family. At the same time this had been a "controlled" part of the income: the
state could, if it wished, loosen or tighten the burdens of people.
It must be considered here, that the two most important features of state socialist welfare policies
were the high level of state-subsidy for basic goods, like milk, bread, books, childrens clothes,
culture etc. and full employment. These two factors contributed to the well-being of people at least
as much as did social insurance and other direct cash-transfers.
As a summary it can be said that on the one hand, social policy and social work did not exist in this
period. On the other hand it actually did develop, with, for instance, 85 % of the population being
insured against sickness and old-age by 1960. Peoples standard of living clearly increased, with the
13 Ferge, Zsuzsa:Magyar szocilpolitika 1945 utn. Jegyzetek. (Hungarian social policy after 1945. Notes.)14 Szalai, Jlia: A trsadalombiztosts rdekviszonyairl. Trtneti vzlat a hazai trsadalombiztosts funkciinakvltozsairl. (Stakes in social insurance. Historical Sketch of the Changing Functions of Hungarian Social Insurance.)Medvetnc, 1989.
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majority having reasonable housing conditions and income by the end of the 1960s. At the same
time, there was no democratic control over the institutions and no public and professional debate at
all. Decisions were more or less ad hoc and politically driven.
It was the 1980s when the image of full employment and continuous economical growth could notbe kept up any more that the germs of sociological research, social policy-discussion and various
forms of social work could start to come to the light.
In todays (2005) Hungary we can see the inheritance of the traditions described above. Following
the terminology of Gosta Esping-Andersen15, it can be shown that Bismarckian elements represent a
conservative type of welfare policy, the elements that remained with us from the 1960ies, like
universal family allowance, are social democratic elements and liberal tradition are very strong in
the local social assistance system.
3. Social Activities of Non-Governmental Organizations
3.1 Introduction
Besides changes in the structures of state formed social legislation the social activities of
associations and foundations, trying to organize structured help for the poor, ill, old and other
marginalized and disadvantaged social groups from much earlier on than the beginnings of state
welfare, are important areas of analysis. With the formation of a middle class, associations and
religious charitable groups were founded in Hungary as early as the 16th century and round the turn
of the 19th to the 20th century these were already numerous, working especially in the capital,
Budapest. In 1914 for example, there were 117 associations in Hungary working in the field of child
protection. 16 Data from 1915 mention 176 existing associations just in the capital and data from a
year later refers to 80 socially committed organizations.17 While between the 16th and 18th
centuries traces of planned charity work can be found in these associations it was only in the 19th
century that moving beyond charity work into complex social service structures was attempted.
15 Esping-Andersen, Gosta: The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge, 1990.16 Pik, Katalin:A szocilis munka trtnete Magyarorszgon (1817-1990). (The History of Social Work in Hungary,1817-1990.) Budapest: Hilscher Rezso Szocilpolitikai Egyeslet, 2001, p.155.
17 Csizmadia, Andor:A szocilis gondoskods vltozsai Magyarorszgon. (Changes in Social Care in Hungary.) Budapest: MTA llam- s Jogtudomnyi Intzet, 1977, p.134 and Pik, Katalin:A szocilis munka trtneteMagyarorszgon (1817-1990), p.156.
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The following overview aims to account for the efforts and results of non-governmental
organizations doing social work in Hungary between 1900 and 1960. First, a short historical
summary will point out the main turning points in changes of organizational structures within the
discussed time period, then along four target groups, the poor, children, workers and women, some
of the most typical and in some cases specifically Hungarian variations of social work in civilorganizations will be presented. While trying to refer to data covering both the countryside and the
capital it must be taken into account that most data focuses on the capital and basic research
concerning the countryside is often missing.
3.2 Historical Overview
3.2.1 1900-1920
Katalin Pik, sociologist, places the beginnings of social work in Hungary to the first half of the 19th
century with the foundation of the Charitable Womens Association (Jltvo Asszonyi Egyeslet) in
1816.18 Looking at the social activities of organizations between 1900 and 1960 the three main
periods established discussing the development of state social policy making can be followed.
The first borderline in the development of social activities organized by associations following 1900
can be drawn around 1920. The decades before the First World War are characterized by a growing
number of associations involved in social work. This development is broken by the war and the
following international financial crisis in the 1920s. While in the beginning of the 20th century most
organizations operated as foundations, usually established and supported by wealthy members of
the upper classes, in the 1920s financial reasons made the existence and long-term sustainability of
foundations impossible.19 Although more and more government involvement and support became
necessary, not even ten years after the end of the First World War was there a law regulating the
form of financial support given to organizations by local or national authorities. 20 In 1916
obligatory registration for organizations at the Mayors Office in Budapest and at the Department of
Social Policy was introduced. These authorities oversaw the legal existence and monitored the
annual income and spending of organizations.21 During and around the years of the First World War
18 Pik, Katalin:A szocilis munka trtnete Magyarorszgon (1817-1990), p.19.19 Ibid., pp.170, 177.20 Csizmadia, Andor.A szocilis gondoskods vltozsai Magyarorszgon , p.134.21 Csizmadia, Andor. Ibid., p.134.
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many civil organizations were involved in emergency social work. (About specific activities in this
time period see paragraph later.)
In 1919 the life of organizations involved in social work was interrupted by a short but until then
unknown centralized social system. During the Soviet Republic the state took over social facilitiesestablished and formerly run by civil organizations. After the fall of the Republic organizations, like
theIzraelite Womens Association of Pest(Pesti Izraelita Noegylet), had to deal with facilities they
were given back in ruins.
3.2.2 1920-1945
The second period that can be distinguished is the inter-war period that brought about more and
more centralization in the running of non-governmental organizations. In the capital civil
organizations received support from the municipality to carry out practical tasks connected to newly
established laws as early as the first years of the 1900s 22 but from the 1920s on most significant
national civil organizations were partly state sponsored and carried out state defined tasks. As a
result, by the 1930s, the state overtook organizations that were to execute state responsibility
nationally. Public health care for example, as mentioned earlier, was carried out by two non-
governmental organizations,National Stefnia Association (Orszgos Stefnia Szvetsg) and
Green Cross (Zldkeresztes Mozgalom) that became state run and formed the National Sanitary
Service from 1940 on.
The financial involvement of the state in the running of organizations carrying out social work also
brought about more support to organizations that fitted into the political ideology of the state. This
was especially relevant in an increasingly nationalist political context carrying racist and anti-
semitic undertones. The Social Mission Society, a Catholic organization, for example, managed to
receive increasing support from the state in the interwar period while the Israelite Womens
Association of Pest, a strong and structured social organization until the 1920s could not agree to
the terms of support by theNational League for Child Protection(Orszgos Gyermekvdo Liga),a
then fully state supported organization that offered to buy some of their facilities. Trying to
maintain their Jewish character theIzraelite Womens Association of Pest finally decided to merge
22 Zimmermann, Susan and Gerhard Melinz. Gyermek s ifjsgvdelem Budapesten s Bcsben a dualizmus
korban (Child and youth care in Budapest and Wiena during the Dualist Period), in: Gyermeksorsok sgyermekvdelem Budapesten a Monarchia idejn (The Fate of Children and Childprotection in Budapest under theMonarchy) . Budapest: A Fovrosi Szab Ervin Knyvtr Budapest Gyujtemnynek killtsa (Exhibition by theBudapest Collection of the National Ervin Szab Library), 1996, p.15.
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into theNational Alliance of Hungarian Jews in the 1920s.23 The position and role of organizations
in relation to nationalist socialist ideology is, however, an issue difficult to find research about.
3.2.3 1945-1960
1948 and 1949 brought about another change for the non-governmental sector. With the socialist
state declaring to take over all social tasks, organizations that managed to survive the Second World
War were forced to stop working as their role was declared to be redundant. Alongside with other
basic civil and political rights the right to form associations was banned in 1948. It was not until the
1970s that the first socially committed civil organizations managed to appear again, trying to re-
establish social work as a profession. 24 The organizations that were left to work on, like the
Hungarian Red Cross, had to embed the political ideological direction of the state or became Party-
directed puppet organizations, as it happened with the workers union and the Democratic
Association of Hungarian Women, the only womens organization allowed to exist.
3.3 War-Time Activities
Both world wars escalated social problems resulting in crisis situations where the role of social
organizations as crisis managers was important. Relief work and the distribution of support in kind
became one of their central tasks. War time social support of the families of soldiers, war veterans,
the injured and widows, however, was always distinguished from regular social support given to the
poor and marginalized.25 Between the two world wars there were still so-called help actions,
usually in times of famine, or for the families of war victims, initiated by private donators, such as
Mrs. Horthy, wife of the Governor26, that went hand in hand with the contribution of an established
association as well as local authorities.27
Besides organizing public charity, there were two initiatives, in the cities of Kalocsa and Ft, where
entire settlements were planned to be built to support those injured in the war and families of war
victims.28 The case of Ft is a good example of how such initiatives were aimed to offer help to a
23 Pik, Katalin: Ibid, pp.170-171 and 216.24 Pik, Katalin: Ibid, pp.318-324 and 338-352.25 Pik, Katalin: Ibid. p.143.26 Between 1920 and 1944 Hungary was led by a Governor Horthy, possessing wider rights than a Prime Minister and
contributing to a more centralized leadership of the country.27 Csizmadia, Andor. Ibid., p.130.28 Hmori, Pter. A fti Suum cuique-telep trtnete (History of the Suum Cuique Settlement at Ft),Honismeret.2001 (1). http://www.vjrktf.hu/carus/honisme/Ho000000.htm.
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selected section of society and how that was received by the general public. It was in 1921 that
Countess Krolyi initiated the idea of the Ft settlement. As a result of her financial support and the
Krolyi familys land donation a year later Governor Horthy could open the settlement with 18
houses. In 1939 the settlement possessed already 81 houses, in the early 1940s almost 100. While
being within the borders of the town the settlement had its own facilities, such as a primary schoolextended in the 1920s by an employment centre and in the 1930s by a health and a cultural centre.
Inhabitants could only be, in order of preference, those injured in the war, war widows, grown up
war orphans, war veterans and lastly others in need. At both Kalocsa and Ft strong rules
regulated the lives of inhabitants. They could become house owners only after having paid the
interest-free loan within 25 years and having passed a three year probation time. Readiness to find
employment, loyalty to the nation, a moral life style and neediness (having at least three young
children to support) had to be proved too.
The case of the Ft settlement illustrates well the character of social work in the 1930s and 1940s.
Built on a strongly selective system of acceptance clients had to demonstrate their worthiness for
support. While placing facilities such as the health centre within the borders of the settlement meant
daily contact between the population of Ft and that of the settlement, antagonism expressed
towards the crippled remained strong. Nationalist ideology behind social initiatives at the times
could be suffused by covert racism. Lack of financial support coming from local authorities, placing
German and Hungarian soldiers residence in an unusually high proportion to settlement lodgings in
1944 and wanting to convert it into a work camp as a solution to the Roma question in 1942 are
some of the cases in point.
3.4 Target Groups and Types of Organizations
Taking the target groups of non-governmental social care as basis for analysis four different sorts of
organizations will be presented: organizations for the poor, organizations for the protection of
children, workers organizations and womens organizations. While there could be many more
target groups established, social work directed at the poor and children, were among the most
important areas of social activity in the discussed period and thus will be discussed in detail. Being
among the most significant organizations doing social work in the field of poor relief and child
protection the social activities of the workers socialist movements and those of women will be
mentioned separately. Workers and womens organizations were among the most powerfulinitiators of social change in the 20th century. Some organizations exemplify typical forms of
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social work execution in Hungary while others show exceptionality in their structure and target
group choice.
3.5 Organizations for the Poor
All the four following organizations, chosen from the numerous ones active in the period of 1900-
1960 in the field of poor relief, exemplify different forms of cooperation between a non-
governmental organization and local or national authorities.
3.5.1 The Hungarian Red Cross
TheHungarian Red Cross (Magyar Vrskereszt), officially registered as theHungarian Saint
Crowns Counties Association of Red Cross (Magyar Szent Korona Orszgai Vrskereszt
Egylete) in 188229, dates back to the earliest among these four organizations. It is also the most
solid one since it has always belonged to an international network of Red Cross organizations, and
since 1921 theLeague of Red Cross Societies.30 As it is the one that survived historical and political
changes throughout all the decades in discussion its history provides a cross section of the
alterations, developments as well as backlashes in the history of non-governmental organizations
doing social work in Hungary. The organization, like many at the end of the 19th and beginning of
the 20th centuries, started to operate as a foundation with wealthy and professional members and
supporters such as Mrs. Veres, Hermina Beniczky, fighter for womens rights in education or
Professor Kornyi, a well-known doctor of the times.31 The first main activities of the association,
in harmony with the goals of the international Red Cross, were related to wartime care for the
injured and their families. Some data show the strength of the organization under the First World
War: it operated 1922 temporary hospitals with 1.400 professional and 10.000 voluntary nurses. 32
The organization established its social department in 1922. Aiming to work out a structured poor
relief system with the involvement of both civil organizations and state bodies it took up social
work in the field of poor relief in coordination with local authorities of the capital. In 1927 there
were 151 nurses working at district authorities in Budapest.33 The Ministry of Welfare and
29 Psztor, Imre. Honnan indult, merre tart a Vrskereszt? (Where did the Red Cross start from and where does it headto?) Budapest: A Magyar Vrskereszt Orszgos Vgrehajt Bizottsgnak Szervezsi s Ifjsgi Osztlya, 1979, p.19.
30 Psztor, Imre. Ibid. p.19.31 Psztor, Imre. Ibid., p.19.32 Psztor, Imre. Ibid., p.20.33 Csizmadia, Andor. Ibid., p.135.
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Employment sponsored the organization to collect national data on deserving and undeserving
poor in 1927, and their registry system, the so-called cataster of the poor, was taken over by the
capital in 1930.34 During the Soviet Republic and from 1949 on the organization was taken over by
the socialist state. In the 1950s theHungarian Red Cross was made to take part in state-run public
health programs, especially in the countryside, and had to narrow its international professionalcontact to Red Cross organizations from mainly Soviet-type states. 35
The history of the Hungarian Red Cross also sheds light on how the leadership of womens
initiatives and work could be taken over by men. Because of the existence of a Red Cross member
association in the Monarchy established by Austrians in 1867 the Hungarian organization was not
registered for three years as Red Cross. Meanwhile, it operated as a womens organization, named
Hungarian General Charity Womens Association (Magyar ltalnos Seglyezo Noegylet).
Interestingly, however, after having received authorization to establish an official Hungarian
branch, instead of the Womens Association, Emperor Francis Joseph asked Count Gyula Krolyi to
start a maleHungarian Red Cross association. 36 Also worth noticing is the fact, that female
leadership was given to the organization under the Soviet Republic in 1919 with Countess Krolyi,
wife to Mihly Krolyi, head of the Republic. 37
3.5.2 The Association of General Public Charity
TheAssociation of General Public Charity (ltalnos Kzjtkonysgi Egyeslet) established as
early as 1904 was also specifically targeted towards organized help for the poor. While in the
beginning it operated branches in each district of the capital its main activity focused on the
operation of the 5th District Public House (Nphz) opened in 1908.38 The facilities of the House
were financed jointly by the capital and the organization and thus could be used by the poor of the
entire capital. The association not only tried to harmonize its work with district authorities, manifest
in the fact that the director of the district council was the director of the association at the same
time, but it also tried to network with other civil organizations.39 It provided employment for the
unemployed old and alcoholics as well as those temporarily away from the labour market, such as
34 Csizmadia, Andor.Ibid p.135..35 Psztor, Imre. Ibid.pp.20-21.36 Psztor, Imre. A magyar s a nemzetkzi Vrskereszt mltjbl. (About the Past of the Hungarian and theInternational Red Cross). Budapest: A Magyar Vrskereszt Orszgos Kzpont Klgyi Osztlya, 1969, p.28.
Count Gyula Krolyi was member of the Upper House of the Hungarian Parliament.37 Psztor, Imre. Ibid. p.37.38 Pik, Katalin: Ibid., pp.103 and105-109.39 Csizmadia, Andor. Ibid., p.136.
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pregnant women or young mothers. The employment of these women was further supported by
child day-care and a shelter for mothers. The House also had a public shelter, kitchen and a library.
An interesting fact about the organization is its highly democratic leadership structure. Positions in
its general assembly that functioned as the highest forum of the organization and in the directoratewere divided by men and women in a strictly equal manner with 60 men and 60 women in the
assembly and 10 men and 10 women in the directorate. The first director of the organization was a
woman, Countess Csky. 40
3.5.3 The Green Cross Movement
The Green Cross Movement (Zldkeresztes Mozgalom) provides a typical
example of how a civil initiative was taken over by the government and their facilities nationally
implemented.41 The Green Cross was established in 1925 with the support of the Rockefeller
Foundation to introduce the American system of public health demonstration districts42 in Hungary.
This system aimed to build a network of health centres in the countryside based on the English
model43. The first Hungarian health centres were set up in 1928 and 1929 in Mogyord and
Gdllo. The centres were supplied by a doctor, a district nurse and a so-called health guard who
was responsible for contagious diseases. Soon after the education of qualified district nurses started
theNational Public Health Institution (Orszgos Kzegszsggyi Intzet) was set up in 1927. Two
years later, Bla Johan, director of the Institution was authorised by the Ministry of Interior Affairs
to organize public health nationally. The Ministry ordered by decree the introduction of health
centres nation-wide in 1933. In 1934 there were 57 operating districts. The state initiated the
foundation of a Village Social Fund to support the work of health centres that financed homes for
district doctors, day-care centres and village dentistries. Doctors and nurses were employed by the
state. Although it was not a non-governmental organisation but a nationwide state program, it also
employed district nurses (300 by the end of the 1930s)44. Part of their task was social work, to take
up cases, to investigate claims towards the authorities. The nurses had a home-made journal, the
Zld kereszt [Green Cross], written by themselves.
40 Pik, Katalin: Ibid. p.134.41 Data in this passage is taken from Johan, Bla Dr.. Gygyul a magyar falu. (Healing Hungarian Villages).Budapest:Magyar Kirlyi Orszgos Kzegszsggyi Intzet, 1939.42 Public health demonstration districts provided local health care in the United States.
43 Health centres aimed to introduce public health care in the countryside. They not only dealt with clients healthproblems but collected information on their socia l circumstances as well and offered both medical and social assistance.44 Johan, Bla Dr: Gygyul a magyar falu. (The healing of the Hungarian countryside) Magyar Kirlyi OrszgosKzegszsggyi Intzet, Budapest, 1939, p.66.
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By 1939 when the entire health care system came under state control there were 246 operating
districts. Finally, in 1941 the health care work of the state-runNational Public Health Institution
was by state decree further supplemented by the work of theNational Association for Health
Protection, a civil organization also operated by the Green Cross and focused on social work.45
Bla Johan, writing about the work and history of the National Public Health Institution in 1939
devotes a passage to the discussion of the proper lifestyle for district nurses. 46 The pieces of advice
given are revealing about the gender norms weighing on professional women in the countryside.
According to Johan, nurses were to pay special attention not to lose villagers trust by causing
rumours about their lifestyle. To achieve this, single nurses were to live in simply decorated, white-
washed houses, preferably together with their mother. They were allowed to get married but could
retain their job only in case the couple was not able to live on the husbands salary.
A publication by theNational Association for Health Protection from 1942,47 providing directions
for the operation of district health protection offices, describes the purpose of each facility at the
Association. References to women and race in these descriptions give an impression of the
intersections and implications of gender and race in wartime Hungary. Besides a kindergarten and
day-care the Association had two facilities for pregnant women: a home to give birth and a mothers
shelter for homeless women with babies and unwanted babies. Guidelines concerning the treatment
of women at these latter facilities had a strong focus on the so-called legalization of the newly
born. This work, helped by a legal aid office as well, meant different ways of finding parents for the
child; either by adoption or by pressuring unmarried women to find the father of the child and get
married. The legal aid office and the mothers shelter were to find out about unmarried couples and
do everything to avoid children to be born out of wedlock, even by arranging official exceptions
from the ten-month waiting period between two marriages. These rules, however, did not apply in
case of Jewish women, since the Association was not to be involved in the marriage cases between
Jews and non-Jews. 48
45 Molnr, kos (ed).Zldkereszt s a trsadalom. Mukdsi tmutat az orszgos egszsgvdelmi szvetsgfikszvetsgei rszre.(Green Cross and Society. Guide for the Branch Offices of the National Association for Health
Protection). Budapest: Orszgos Egszsgvdelmi Szvetsg, 1942, p.11.46 Johan, Bla Dr.. Gygyul a magyar falu, p.69-70.47 Molnr, kos (ed).Zldkereszt s a trsadalom.48 Molnr, kos (ed).Ibid., p. 56.
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3.5.4 The Norm of Eger
Finally, theNorm of Eger (Egri Norma), established in 1927 in the provincial town of Eger,
provides a specific Hungarian example of cooperation between a non-governmental organization
and the state.49
Its initiator was a Franciscan priest, Oswald Oslay, who wanted to go beyond charityand find a structured solution to the problem of increasing number of beggars in the streets of Eger.
The city set up a complex system of social work bodies focused on the poor and old. A Committee
for the Assistance of the Poor was set up at the local council, whose director was the mayor and its
members were the following: The head of the local Welfare Office, five representatives of the local
council, representatives of the local religious and non-religious charity organizations, the head of
the local police station, doctors, and donors of bigger sums. Further support came from the
Franciscan Sisters Association for the Assistance of the Poor (Szent Ferenc rendi
Szegnygondoz Novrek Trsulata) founded by six sisters in 1930. They were also helped by lay
members, the so-calledLadies for the Treatment of the PoorandLadies for Charity Collection.
Through the collective work of the city and non-governmental organizations an old peoples home,
a shelter, and a womens hospital were set up. Within a few years this system was introduced in
almost all major Hungarian cities, like Szombathely, Esztergom, Kecskemt, Szolnok, jpest and
Pcs. As the Norm of Eger was thus extended, its name became the Hungarian Norm.
3.6 Organizations for Child Protection : The National League for Child Protection
In the 20th century child protection became one of the major and first professional branches of
social work in Hungary. 50 There were numerous organizations working in this field specialized on
various issues, such as child work, criminality, health or education. The strongest among them was
the National League for Child Protection (Orszgos Gyermekvdo Liga), established in 1906 with
the support of the Ministry of Interior Affairs. It was founded by Sndor Karsai, a civil servant of
public welfare and of associations and Count Lipt Edelstein-Gyulai, director of the White Cross
Association, offering free medical care for poor pregnant women. 51 The aim of the new organization
was to gain strength by establishing ties with the state and start a national fund for the support of
child protection run by non-governmental organizations. Among their most common services was
placing children into foster homes instead of giving financial support to families. Susan
Zimmermann, historian, points out that the League soon became a strong supporter of the
49 Pik, Katalin: Ibid., pp. 216-222.50 Pik, Katalin:, Ibid. p.123.
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authorities fight against child criminality.52 The League was authorized to take young offenders
into so-called correction institutes. They could also get police support for such actions whereby
the League soon gained a dubious name among the poor. During the First World War, by when the
League operated 50 institutions in the country, it tried to further expand its facilities. In 1913
together with other organizations they received a piece of land to create a Child Protection Centreoffering differentiated help to children of all ages. Unfortunately, this could not be carried out
because of war preparations in the country. 53 Always in cooperation with ministries, such as the
Ministry of Welfare, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Justice, the
League operated five nurseries, four foster homes, four correction institutes for children, a day-care,
two vocational schools and three medical centres.54 Between 1920 and 1930 they organized
holidays for more than 60 thousand children to Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and England.
During these vacation trips 120 female voluntary workers were employed to take care of the
children. In 1924 it was the League that organised the 4th International Child Protection Conference
in Budapest.55 In the 1920s finding financial support for foundations became impossible for even
such strong organizations as the League. In 1934 the organization was thus integrated into the state-
run child protection services.56
3.7 Workers Organizations
Workers organizations and self-help movements formed a steadily growing presence among
associations at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. While not a workers
initiative the Settlement movement in Hungary provides the case of a specific local adaptation of an
international workers rights and welfare support movement.
51 Pik, Katalin:, Ibid. p.115.52 Zimmermann, Susan and Gerhard Melinz. Gyermek- s ifjsgvdelem Budapesten s Bcsben a dualizmuskorban, p.22.
53 Pik, Katalin:Ibid. pp.165-167.54 Pik, Katalin: Ibid. pp. 194-196.55 Pik, Katalin: Ibid. pp.194-196.56 Pik, Katalin: Ibid. p.237.
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3.8 The Hungarian Settlement Movement
The first Settlement program in Hungary57, aiming to support workers employment, legal rights,
social security and education, was created in 1905 in Cluj (Kolozsvr), Transylvania. The central
administration from Cluj was moved to the Hungarian capital in 1909 and a settlement project forindustrial workers was launched at the jpest slum area in 1912. The initiative, built on the English
Settlement pattern of Samuel Barnett and started by lawyers and social scientists in Transylvania,
provided the foundations for the Social Policy Institute at the University of Economics in Budapest
that was formed in autumn 1920. This also meant a special focus on the involvement of university
youth in active social work. Besides the social education of university youth the goals of the
settlement project in Hungary were threefold: 1.) to carry out practical social work among workers
in their own settlement areas, 2.) to gather experience through this work and influence the formation
of social laws as well as social work practice, and 3.) to influence positively the general public
opinion about workers.
The jpest Settlement had three main service bodies: The General Community Protection
Department observed the effects of social laws and organized family patronage. 58 This meant a
close observance and support of usually three worker families by a social worker of the
organization. The Public Education Department organized educational programs and seminars for
both workers and those supporting workers, for example, in the patronage groups and operated a
public library. There was a shelter for unemployed workers as well as daycare and a legal aid and
employment office. The third service was that of the Social and Health Department that ran a free
medical center and worked in close contact with the National Stefnia Association as well as the
National League for Child Protection. By 1935 there were further Settlements opened at different
districts of Budapest inhabited by poor people, such as the Settlement at Kozma street 59 and the
Vrosszl (Suburban) Settlement.
The speciality of the Hungarian settlement movement was that it aimed to support both industrial
and agrarian workers and thus developed two different branches. The Settlement project for
agrarian workers was started in the 1920s on farms around Szeged, in Southern Hungary. 60 The aim
of Gyrgy Budai61 and the university students of Szeged was to provide legal, social and basic
57 Ibid., pp.111-115.58 Pik, Katalin: Ibid. pp.199-203.
59 For a detailed description of the work and goals of the Kozma Street settlement see case study.60 Pik, Katalin: Ibid., pp.204-205 and Csizmadia, Andor. Ibid. pp.132-133.61 Gyrgy Budai was a student of humanities and an author, interested in people living on the Great Plain (Alfld) inSouth-East Hungary.
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health care services to the agrarian poor. In 1930, for example, they organized around 210 visits to
farms. They, however, faced much antagonism from society concerning the situation of agrarian
workers they made public. At the same time they had to go on inventing a unique form of the
Settlement program while practicing it. The small group therefore was unable to carry on its
pioneering work and was dissolved in 1933.
3.9 Womens Organizations
The history of charitable womens organizations originates from earlier than the starting time frame
of our research, but it is necessary to incorporate them into our overview as they represent a crucial
phase of development of social work. In the early 19th century Hungary, social work was initiated
by noble and bourgeois women.
3.9.1 The Charitable Womens Association
The earlier mentioned Charitable Womens Association (Jltevo Asszonyok) was founded in 1816
by Archduchess Hermina, who imported the constitution of a Viennese association, theKleine
Gesellschaft adeliger Frauen. Their initial aim was to help the impoverished wives and daughters
of the local bourgois society, consequently the target group and the circle of carers was from the
same social class.
The Association had two branches in the two, then still separate cities, Buda and Pest, but both
followed the same self-help principle, to provide work for those who could work (mainly in
embroidery and handicraft workshops and boutiques) in so called wage institutes following the
German institution of theErwerbhaus62. For the helpless little ones and the elderly the Associations
managed kindergartens (the first one was openedin Buda by countess Terz Brunszvik on a Swiss
example in 1828) and nursing homes. The foundation of the oldest Hungarian social institution still
functioning up to this date, theInstitute of the Blindis also connected to their name. Later they
moved into other territories as well, they took up the fight against begging by combining
administrative measures (first setting up a cataster of the beggars, then imprisoning or banning them
from a city) with social prevention (workhouses and aids). This work was not constricted any more
to women as a target group, but aimed at men as well.
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3.9.2 The Izraelite Womens Association of Pest
While the Charitable Womens Associations clientele was Christian, the Jewish community also
formed its own womens organization after the emancipation of the Jews in 1867. Charity, of
course, had been an important element of diaspora communal life much earlier than this date. TheIzraelite Womens Association of Pest(Pesti Izraelita Noegylet) was founded by Mrs. Johanna
Bischnitz. After collecting donations they handed out financial aid to the needy (mainly widows and
young girls), founded orphanages, a soup kitchen, a nursing home and helped the talented young
with grants, including one for Jewish midwives. Both associations shared similar qualities: their
members were volunteer women (although secretaries and patrons were influential men)
independent of the state, their financial means were based on donations, and the level of
institutionalisation (for example dividing the field to districts) and documentation grew with them.
After a while, however, the demands outgrew the scope of this initial stage of social work, and the
state began to take over its functions. At this point, the focus of power shifted and official men
became the leaders and theorists of social work.
3.9.3 The Social Mission Society and the Society of Social Sisters
There were exceptions to this rule: one important organization and a main theme in social work that
runs through time is child protection. To start with, the association we have to devote ample space
to, is the Social Mission Society (Szocilis Misszitrsulat) and its twin institution, theAssociation
for the Care of the Poor(Szegnygondoz Egyeslet). The Society was a strictly Catholic
organisation that grew to become one of the most important civil force in social work that
consciously called itself a collective of professional social workers. Its founder in 1908 was Edith
Farkas, who envisaged a double structure to her society: missionary sisters who belonged to the
Church and lay women as external members. Farkas spiritual leader was bishop Ottokr Prohszka,
a leading figure in the Catholic Hungary of the day. Their activities were planned and based on
professional principles. They at the same time took care of the future volunteers as well and
organised trainings in the first school for social work, the Social School (Szocilis Iskola) in
Budapest and in their House for noviciate sisters in the countryside. They founded homes for
destitute children and young girls, operated soup kitchens, spread their ideas by publishing a
journal, theBulletin (rtesto) and organised literary evenings and social meetings. During the First
World War they helped widows and soldier wives in the Office for the Protection of Women
62 Pik, Ibid. p. 41.
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(Novdelmi Hivatal). In the conservative interwar period they became very influential and got
ample support from government circles as well.
A famous member of the Society was sister Margit Sclachta, who became the first woman MP in
the Hungarian parliament in 1920. Following a split with her supervisor, the founder Edith Farkas,who opposed her second run for office, she founded her own religious organization, the Society of
Social Sisters (Szocilis TestvrekTrsasga). The Society also had missionary houses, and opened
a College for Social Work in Budapest in 1926. During her period in parliament Slachta proposed
the setting up of the institution of school nurses (that later became the institution of school doctors)
among other measures protecting women. 63
3.9.4 The National Stefnia Association
Identifying social work with child protection is an evident tendency in the history of Hungarian
social work, and a rewarding practice, as who would not agree that children are innocent and cannot
be blamed for their poverty (as opposed to the practice of selecting the true poor from the fake
ones). The second half of the 19th century saw the proliferation of ngos that were formed to deal
with social questions. Many of them set up kindergartens and day care for children of working
women (as theFrobel Womens Association, [Frobel Noegylet] or theHungarian Association of
Feminists, [Magyar Feministk Egyeslete]), orphanages or formed trainings for women. Out of all
these formations we must emphasize the role of theNational Stefnia64 Association [Orszgos
Stefnia Szvetsg] in Budapest, whose heir still functions in Hungary with very good results
(under the name: Vdonoi Szolglat District Nurse Care).
The Stefnia was formed in 1915 as an ngo for the protection of expectant and nursing mothers and
their infants. Although the founding fathers and main administrators were men, the heart of the
system, the district nurses were and still are women. While mother and infant welfare became a
state responsibility in 1917 by a Ministry of Interior decree, the organisation and the implentation of
the task was trusted to the Stefnia Association. Health and social care intermingled in their routine
and this forecasts a much later episode in the history of social work under socialism. The
Association trained infant care nurses, set up centres nationwide (several of them were financed by
the American Red Cross), to promote prevention and up-to-date infant care. Even a museum was
opened and propaganda materials were distributed. The number of nurses grew from the initial 117
63 Mona, Ilona: Slachta Margit. Budapest:Corvinus, 1997.64 It got its name from its patroness, Stephanie Belgian royal princess
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to 564 in 193065. Their scope of work was Budapest, and provincial towns and settlements with up
to 10.000 inhabitants and a few villages. Their greatest result was reducing the 19,54 % infant
mortality in villages to 13,47 % in a few years. The pronatalist policy of the age (and of all coming
ages) helped the Association get both state and other support.
The nurses had a complex view of family protection, as by visiting the clients it was impossible to
divide child, mother, family and society. They also served as a link to the authorities in legal,
childcare, employment and other cases. At the same time, they set up milk kitchens, home for
mothers, crches, day care centres and birth centres, and provided their clientele with free medical
services, legal advice, financial aid, layette loan, breast milk and formula supply. The countryside
equivalent of the Stefnia Association was the Green Cross Movement (Zldkeresztes Mozgalom),
detailed above under Organizations for the Poor.
3.9.5 Foundation for Helping the Poor
Finally, to finish our line of thought about the overlapping of health care and social work, and the
prevalence of childcare in social work, we have to leap several decades to the time of state
socialism. As it was pointed out earlier the communist take over in 1948 resulted in both banning
all non-governmental organizations in Hungary and eliminating social work. Health care and social
work were related already at the set up of the district nurse system, but in the 1950s social work was
simply merged into the former one. The institutions of social work became part of the health care or
educational system. However, it was also this set-up which opened a niche for the rebirth of social
work in the 1970s.
Social work, and the disciplines of sociology and social psychology were deemed undesirable under
socialism, but the infant age group in kindergartens and elementary school skipped the official eye.
Educational guidance centres were opened which used the methodology of social work and in 1972
these employed so called family care specialists to work with problem children (often meaning
poor, alcoholic or abusive family surroundings). This background of experts gave birth to the first
(still illegal and thus persecuted) social work non-governmental organization, SZETA (Szegnyeket
Tmogat Alap, [Foundation for Helping the Poor] ) in 1980. The main initiator was a woman,
Ottilia Solt, thus we include this organisation into our part on women organizations. SZETA was
part of the democratic political dissident movement, some of its members played a part in the
political changes after 1989. This small but influential Foundation collected donations, organised art
65 Pik, Katalin: Ibid., p.197.
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auctions to hand out aid, clothes and food to the needy, or provided them with free legal and
medical help. It was also Solt, who after the changes organised a practical social work department at
the Wesley Jnos College. That, however, goes much beyond the time limits of our research.
4. Gender, Class and Ethnicity-Based Differentiation in the Practice of Hungarian Social
WorkA Case Study of the Kozma-Street Settl ement, 1935-1945
4.1 Introduction
The main idea behind the settlement movement was to help the working classes in a so-called
democratic way by settling down social workers and volunteers in poor, working class residential
areas. In fact, settlement workers called the people they helped their friends and neighbours
since they thought that it was due to social disadvantages and lack of education that these people
happened to occupy an inferior position in society. Education and social care were seen to be the
means towards breaking down the walls between upper and working classes and towards lifting
up the latter group from their miserable position.
This case study aims to give an insight into the Hungarian settlement movement before the Second
World War with specific attention to the role women played in its formation and daily work. To see
the place and character of the Hungarian movement between 1935 and 1945 we first give an
overview of the beginnings of the international settlement movement and then turn to the Hungarian
case, the Kozma-Street Settlement, set up in the industrial outskirts of Budapest in 1935.
So as to provide a characterisation of the Kozma-Street Settlement Project this study addresses two
interconnected levels of social work practice: 1) the institutional and 2) the personal. To find out
how social work was defined on these two levels the investigation builds on two types of data:document analysis and oral history interviews.66
66 Document analysis includes reference to the work of the Kozma-Street Settlement and general descriptions about thegoals and strategies of settlement work. In particular, The Yearly Report of the Social Policy Department of Budapestfrom 1940 [A szkesfovros trsadalompolitikai gyosztlynak 1940. vi jelentse]. Budapest: BudapestSzkesfovros Hzinyomdja, 1941, an educational material about the settlement work Novgh,Gyula (ed.). TheSettlement: Training Material by the Public Education Committee of the Capital; [A Settlement: A Fovrosi
Npmuvels Vezetokpzo Tanfolyamnak eloadsai]. Budapest: Hollssy Jnos Knyvnyomtat, 1937, and apublication by the Kozma -Street Settlement describing their work to potential volunteers: The Social Working
Community of Kozma-Street [A Kozma-utcai Szocilis Munkakzssg Tagjai] (ed.). Is it Worth It? [rdemes?], 1942-44(?).
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4.2 The Settlement Movement Worldwide
The idea of settlement work dates back to the end of the 19 th-century in Britain. Social idealists,
like Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin and Arnold Toynbee together with their students, were the first
ones who took part in the everyday lives of industrial workers and tried to understand and help them
from within. The first settlement was set up by Samuel Barnett in 1884 in Whitechapel, a London
suburb, and was named Toynbee Hall after Arnold Toynbee.
The settlement movement had from the very beginning two parallel aims. First, middle- and upper
classes, and especially university students were to get to know the living conditions of working
class people by settling down in their neighbourhood. Their sensitivity to social problems would
grow for the benefit of the whole society in the future. The second goal of the settlement was to
provide education and social help for the given community.
Soon after the offset of the first settlements many others were formed in England and throughout
the world. Women took on a major role in this work. Jane Addams initiated, for example, the
American settlement movement, and set up Hull House in Chicago based on her impressions in
Toynbee Hall in 1888. The Austrian movement was founded by Else Federn in 1901 and took on
child protection as its major task. Many settlements focused on so-called motherly tasks:
organizing child-care for working mothers or courses in cooking and housekeeping for young
women. Based on this practice a special form of settlement, the womens settlement, was created.
It, in fact, became the major type of settlement in the British movement. According to Rezso
Hilscher, founder of the first Hungarian settlement in 1912, out of the 42 settlements in Britain, 32
were purely womens settlements in 1937.67
4.3 The Hungarian Settlement Movement
The settlement-movement is a logical consequence of the critique of the social conscience which
follows the endeavour of liberal economics only serving individual interest and trampling under
foot the interest of the society.68
The words of Rezso Hilscher demonstrate well the ideological foundations of the settlement67 Novgh, p.10.
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movement. Besides aiming at the betterment of capitalist society, the settlement movement had
strong links to Christianity. This can be witnessed already at Toynbee Hall in England and later in
the American and continental movements.69 It is especially true for the Hungarian settlement
movement and can be grasped in the social work practice of the Kozma-Street Settlement.
The first Hungarian settlement was founded in 1912 in one of the heavy-industrial areas of
Budapest [jpest], by Rezso Hilscher and his students from the University of Economics. Their
group consisted of mainly male social workers and they worked with male workers and their
families. The jpest Settlement later became the centre of all the Hungarian settlement projects.
The Hungarian settlement movement had a special agrarian branch as well, founded by Gyrgy
Budai in 1926 in the area of detached farms near the Southern Hungarian town of Szeged. Besides
providing medical care and legal advice for poor agrarian workers they also carried out
ethnographic research.
By the end of 1930s in Budapest there were altogether eight settlements. Three of them were
continuously financed by the Welfare Department of the City Council of Budapest (the so called
9th Department) while the other five received occasional financial support from the capital. One
of them, the Cegld-Street Settlement, was actually founded by the City Council. The Kozma-Street
Settlement was established in 1935 on the initiative of some members of the female youth section of
the Social Mission Society [Szocilis Misszi Trsulat]. By 1939 the settlement was part of the
state scheme of welfare, and its original name, Home for the Care and Education of the People
[Npgondoz s Npmuvelo Otthon] was amended by the name of the capital. According to the
yearbook of the capital on its welfare activities, the Kozma-Street Settlement received state funding
to operate a kindergarten, a legal aid and employment office, and a health care centre for mothers
and small children. These facilities were supplied by a nurse and a kindergarten teacher. Altogether,
there were five full-time state employees, six people received state funding for their travelling costs,
twelve workers received a salary from the Public Education Committee of the Capital [Budapest
Szkesfovros Npmuvelsi Bizottsga] and there were fifteen additional voluntary workers.70
These data show that in case of the Hungarian settlements there was a close cooperation between
civil and religious organisations, the City Council (the state) and the public. This operational
structure was a very important feature of social work in the 1930s in Hungary. 71
68 Novgh, p. 7. This and the following translations are done by the authors.69 Although our Hungarian source names a Jewish settlement in London, the leading ideology of the settlement
movement was Christian socialism. See Novgh, p.10.70 A szkesfovros, p.149.71The roots of such an arrangement in the field of welfare between the state and the civil sector go back to the 1920s.The first initiative to unite these sectors was the "Norm of Eger" [Egri Norma]..
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The Kozma-Street Settlement was thus in many ways very similar to other Hungarian settlements.
Like all settlements, it aimed to break down cultural walls between the proletariat and the upper
classes. Also, its long term, idealistic goal was to engage people in the building of a Christian
Hungary based on the principle of humane understanding, in line with the leading ideology of the
mid 1930s. The Kozma-Street Settlement, however, differed radically from other Hungariansettlements in that its leader and most of its workers were women, and they put a special stress on
working with female clients.
4.4 Kozma Street: A Case for Womens Settlement
Since the Kozma-Street Settlement was led by a group of female social workers, the following
analysis tries to answer in specific what status and position female social workers had in this
context, unique in the Hungarian scene of settlement work
4.4.1 Accentuating Womens Gender- and Class-Based Difference
Feminist research has drawn attention to the fact that from the beginnings womens movements
relied on gender difference as an argument to fight their way into fields of public activity previously
closed to them. They
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