The women of Nagyrev were desperate. In this small Hungarian farming village, around the time of the First World War, many of them were struggling to survive. They were suffering at the hands of their violent husbands, some of whom were war veterans, some traumatised or unable to work due to injury, and often addicted to alcohol.
These were mostly poor farming families and the women saw no way out. On top of looking after children, elderly relatives and their homes, the women had also taken over managing the farms. The community was used to violence: it was generally condoned as a way for men to keep women “in their place” — “A wife is good when beaten,” went a local proverb. But their patience and tolerance was at breaking point.
