Nagyrév is a small Hungarian village on the banks of the Tisza River. This seemingly peaceful and sparsely populated neighborhood hides the history of one of the greatest mass crimes committed outside of war, government terror, and racial hatred. Her ringleaders and executors were women - overworked, oppressed and ... dissatisfied with their husbands.
In 1911, when Nagyrév was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Zsuzsanna Olah moved to the village. The woman practiced folk medicine, gave births, and terminated unwanted pregnancies. The latter job had caused her problems with the law in the past, but in the end she was never convicted of performing an abortion as officials preferred to turn a blind eye to it.
Zsuzsanna quickly settled in the area, finding a wealthy husband, after whom she took the surname Fazekas. Two years after the wedding, the quack partner fell ill with a mysterious disease and died, securing the widow's existence with a large fortune. The woman very quickly developed a significant position in the local community. The villagers affectionately called her Aunt Zsuzsi, but this nickname had no real quickie nature.
Treatment was profitable for Fazekas, but sending patients to the other world turned out to be even better. Initially, helped the rural families to cope with the "burden" of feeding another offspring, preparing for unwanted newborns a poison from arsenic, obtained from flypaper. These were sporadic situations, resulting from desperation barely making ends meet. However, time has shown that the appetite for getting rid of "unnecessary ballast" in Nagyrév was to increase ...
War widows
The outbreak of World War I brought all physically fit men to the army. In this way, the women of Nagyrév became "ladies on the estate", but this title was followed by extraordinary work and caring for the remaining elders, children and people with disabilities in the village. The burden of these tasks began to overwhelm some of the residents. In search of a solution to their problems, they went to Aunt Zsuzsi, who handed them a bottle with a "helpful" substance. The number of deaths among the elderly and the sick began to increase.
Another significant event in the life of the local community was the establishment of a camp for Italian prisoners of war near Nagyrév. As Tomasz Borejza writes:"the image of the Habsburg army that we know from Good Soldier Szwejk and C.K. Deserters , it does not differ much from reality ", therefore prisoners from Italy enjoyed a lot of freedom, being able to leave the camp and fraternize with the local people .
Handsome, sophisticated, gallant soldiers did not need much time to win the hearts of local women, for whom such treatment was a novelty (illustrative illustration)
Handsome, sophisticated, gallant soldiers did not need much time to win the hearts of local women, for whom such treatment was a novelty. Their marriages were primarily contracts whereby farms were joined to ensure a better life for the family. Not only were they lacking love and tenderness, but they were often filled with violence, incl. caused by excessive alcohol consumption. Therefore, they eagerly entered into passionate romances with Italian suitors. And Aunt Zsuzsi "cared" about unwanted pregnancies.
However, this idyll could not last forever. The end of the Great War ended in 1918. The Italians left for their homeland, and the husbands returned home.
Dissatisfied Wives Club
The war left its mark on returnees, leaving both physical and psychological wounds. And better treatment of local women by southerners influenced their self-esteem and needs. They did not want to be victims in their own homes and the atmosphere in them was far from good.
Upon their return, the husbands began to hear rumors about what had happened in their absence. Fights broke out every now and then, often ending in fights. After their problems were resolved, the women turned to Aunt Zsuzsi, thereby again increasing the number of deaths in the area. It was not, however, arbitrary activity.
The widows had formed something like a club led by Esthera Sabo. They met at home visits, under the guise of working together. It was not entirely a lie, as they supported the Zsuzsi with their help in preparing a poisonous decoction of flypaper. They decided together who to administer the lethal substance to, listening to the complaints and grievances of their neighbors.
After selecting the victims, they gave future widows instructions to follow in order not to arouse anyone's suspicions. The poison was applied gradually by serving it in meals and wine. Thus, the symptoms of its consumption resembled disease more than poisoning. The crimes were also easy to hide from the world. The post-war crisis, poverty and poor living conditions provided the perfect backdrop for a higher than usual number of deaths. And these began to go beyond the borders of Nagyrév, because desperate women from nearby towns also came for help.
Balance sheet of the "activity" of the Nagyrév angel manufacturers
For over a decade, they got away with the activities of the widows of Nagyrév. With time, however, rumors began to circulate about the conspiracy, these turned into anonymous letters, and eventually the murderers' fate was sealed by an attempt to poison one of the men who, fortunately, quickly realized the situation.
His attention was drawn to the unusual behavior of his wife, when she, after his return from meeting the bottle, instead of having a brawl, greeted him with a broad smile on his face. After accidentally overhearing his wife's conversation with Esther, the man was sure of the fate they had planned for him - and as soon as possible went to the nearest police station. The exhumation of the corpse and the search for the truth have begun.
Accustomed to being treated better, women did not welcome their husbands prone to violence with open arms (illustration).
Initially, Aunt Zsuzsi reassured their charges, repeating that arsenic becomes undetectable after death. Her ignorance turned out to be their undoing.
The services arrested 80 women and one man, Esther Sabo's cousin, who, as an official, assisted in the forgery of death certificates. But by the time they entered the quack's house, she was already dead. She committed suicide. In the end, charges were brought against 26 manufacturer angels, 8 of whom were sentenced to death by hanging , 12 were sentenced to 7 years to life imprisonment, and 6 were acquitted. Only 3 executions were carried out, with the rest of the sentences replaced with life imprisonment.
The greatest newspapers around the world wrote about the history of the widows of Nagyrév. It is estimated that from the outbreak of World War I until 1929, they killed from 100 to even 300 people. However, the real picture of this tragedy is shown in the lists of victims of convicted women:
Balind Czordas - killed 20 adults and several children. Anna Cser - killed three of her own children because she was afraid that she would not be able to support them , and father-in-law. During the trial, she excused herself for drunkenness, idleness and her husband's infidelity. Maria Varga - killed her father-in-law and mother-in-law, as well as two husbands. She treated the poisoning of one as a Christmas present. In total, she got rid of seven family members. Marie Kardos - she killed her husband, lover and grown son because he preferred to drink than to work.