“A Microhistory of the Hungarian Deportations in 1941 to Kamianets-Podilskyi: Lili Jacob and Her Village of Bilky”

Abstract In this article I describe the conditions for Jews and non-Jews living in Subcarpathia, especially in the village of Bilky, between the date when Hungary moved back into the region in 1939 and the deportation of Hungarian Jews to Kamianets-Podilskyi in 1941. My focus here is on Lili Jacob’s request for her birth certificate in 1939, on the comments that she and other Bilky survivors made concerning what happened in 1941, as well as on historical presentations by former residents of Bilky who were there or were personally affected by what happened in 1941. I describe conditions on a microhistorical level in the community of Bilky, and by doing this I hope to better portray how local people experienced what happened to them and their neighbors.