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David O'Flaherty
Inspector
Username: Oberlin
Post Number: 302
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 3:42 pm: | 
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Today's issue of The Wall Street journal has an interesting article by Andrew Higgins about the town of Nagyrev, Hungary coming to terms with its past. I hadn't heard about this before, but apparently a group of women there spent about twenty years slipping the men lethal doses of arsenic. The town has an entry in The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers and a movie called "Hiccup" was loosely based on what happened there.
Citing the likelihood of the local school closing, the current mayor is urging the village to cash in on the crimes ("It would be nice if we could take some profit out of this misery").
Here's my favorite quote from the article: "I'm proud to be from Nagyrev. I'm a feminist."
Anybody else familiar with this case? It seems like a lot has been written about it.
Cheers,
Dave |
Michael Raney
Inspector
Username: Mikey559
Post Number: 387
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 5:22 pm: |
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I remember hearing something about it, but not enough to provide any details. Anyone else know anything about it? Come on gang, chime in here.
Mikey |
Jeffrey Bloomfied
Inspector
Username: Mayerling
Post Number: 347
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 9:28 pm: |
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If you have a copy of Joseph Gollomb's book CRIMES OF THE YEAR (New York: Horace Liveright, Inc., 1931) there is a chapter/essay called "Susi Olah's Flypaper". It is also in the anthology volume THE INDISPENSIBLE MURDER BOOK (ed. Joseph Henry Jackson) (New York: THE BOOK SOCIETY, 1951), pp. 526 - 541. Olah, a midwife in the towns of Nagyrev and Tiszakurt in the late 1920s, first built up a sideline of killing unwanted babies she helped bring into the world with arsenic. Later she extended it to rival midwives, and then (with a wink from some of her patients) unwanted husbands. Eventually the authorities noticed the huge number of deaths in the villages. It led to the arrest and questioning of the taciturn Olah, who hanged herself. But still enough evidence emerged implicating many others (some men as well). Twenty five women and three men were tried. Five committed suicide, but others were hanged and many got prison sentences. The trials occurred in 1930.
Jeff |
David O'Flaherty
Inspector
Username: Oberlin
Post Number: 303
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 9:41 pm: |
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Thanks for taking the time to share that background, Jeffrey.
It looks like today the village is torn between letting the crimes stay in the past or acknowledging them.
If they decide to cash in on the tourism potential, I don't suppose it would be much different than what we see with some other places where notable crimes have taken place.
Best,
Dave
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Laura James
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 7:36 am: |
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As an historical true crime buff, I've read a lot of very brief references to Nagyrev in old true crime paperbacks and newspapers. A lot of the old essays are partly fable, particularly when they point to a nearby prisoner of war camp as providing lovers and motivation to the women poisoners of Nagyrev. There's a book out now about the murders by a Hungarian-American historian that's very hard to find. I wrote a review on my true crime blog, http://laurajames.typepad.com/clews/2005/04/nagyrev_a_murde.html
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