Aurel Nikolau von Rákóczy - The trial of Aurel von Rakoczy

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Translation by Miles Rind of the article "Die 'Einstudenehen' des Urenkels der Rakoczys," *Ostdeutsche Rundschau*, 26 Jun 1931, p. 7 (https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=odr&datum=19310626&...)

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The “one-hour marriages” of the Great-Grandson of the Rakoczys.

A hilarious process before the juries of Vienna. — Aurel von Rakoczy under the accusation of bigamy. — He falls in love quickly and marries immediately.

Aurel von Rakoczy, 32 years old, Roman Catholic, without a profession, son of the senior judge Rakoczy, great-grandson of the famous Rakoczy after whom the famous Hungarian national march is named, appears, dressed very elegantly, before the Uhlmann jury senate to defend himself against a charge of the crime of bigamy. The prosecution is represented by public prosecutor Doctor Zöchling, the defense attorney is Dr. Kurt Ettinger.

In January 1922, Rakoczy married the Jewess Alice Kaufmann in the Protestant parish church in Vienna and the marriage ended in divorce by mutual consent. On November 25, 1924, he entered into another marriage with Amalie Pancz before the Catholic parish office in Rudolfsheim, which soon fell apart. Owing to a request for a divorce from the first wife, the authorities found out about the second marriage and charged him with bigamy.

Presiding judge: On January 23, 1922, at the age of 22, you entered into your first marriage, with Alice Kaufmann. Who was that? — Defendant: I don't know. (Noisy hilarity.) She was a very pretty young girl that I fell in love with on the street and that I married on a fortnight's acquaintance without even knowing who her parents were. I later found out that her father was a leather salesman. She was a Jewess and we were married in the Protestant church. I thought that I would be happy and that she would be a wife who would love me as much as I loved her. But unfortunately I was wrong. She ran away immediately after the wedding! — Pres.: What do you mean? Away from the church? — Def.: No, she was still at the wedding dinner. Then she said she wasn't feeling well, she would go to the hotel, change her clothes and expect me at 6 o'clock so that we can go on our honeymoon. But instead of going with me she went on a honeymoon with someone else. (Noisy hilarity.) — Pres.: That certainly went quickly. Why did she get married if she ran away from the altar? — Def.: She was the lover of the Romanian minister Seceanu, he was very rich and she ran away with him to Romania. — Pres.: But that still doesn't explain why she got married to you first. — Def.: Oh, well, that's very simple. She used to be Jewish. A minister can't keep a Jewish mistress, so she married me so that she could be socially acceptable in Bucharest. — Defense attorney: The defendant could have easily obtained a divorce on grounds of non-consummation instead of a separation. He will now have to pay so heavily for his ineptitude at that time. — Def.: Because of the marriage she was also one of the "Rakoczys," i.e., from the old nobility.

Pres.: Do you have any idea where your wife, I mean the first one, is now? —Def.: I think she lives in Paris. I definitely don't know. — Pres.: And how did your second marriage go? —Def.: Just as badly. — Pres.: You married an Amalie Pancz from Budapest in the Catholic parish church in Vienna. What was her father? — Def.: Hungarian. — Pres.: That's not enough for me as a job title. — Defense attorney: Don't be embarrassed. Go ahead and say that her father was a poor housekeeper. — Def.: Yes, she was a housekeeper's daughter, she was an incredibly beautiful girl, I fell madly in love with her and then married her. — Pres.: Well, if you have to marry all the girls you fall in love with, will things go any differently?

Def.: I lived with her for a long time anyway, but I had to marry her because she wanted to become a "von Rakoczy," and I would have lost her otherwise. — Pres.: What did you tell the priest? — Def.: At that time I still spoke German very poorly. I didn't yet know the fine points of the language and didn't understand the difference between divorced and separated. I understood "separated" to mean that everything is settled. — Pres.: Nothing is settled, you're just settled apart from your wife. (Noisy hilarity.) How long did the second marriage last? —Def.: Not quite a month. When my money ran out, she went to Budapest and abandoned me. — Pres.: Have you perhaps married again in the meantime? Let us preferably get that straight right now. — Def.: No, I'm not getting married any time soon. My parents had no idea about either marriage. My father was very strict, he would have disowned me. — Pres.: There was an extradition request pending against you from the Hungarian government because you had requested export certificates as secretary to the Archduchess Elisabeth of Bavaria, although such an Archduchess does not even exist. You were therefore held in custody for 35 days, but extradition was refused. Your father was under criminal investigation for counterfeiting francs. Your reputation is dismal. The police report that your only activity is playing cards at the Café Carlton. You are also a dancer for hire there. — Def. (standing up): Please look at me. I weigh one hundred and twenty-five kilos. Can I be a dancer for hire there? (Tremendous hilarity, in which even the court joins.) I've never been to the Carlton in my life. Who knows what impostor Rakoczy they're talking about! (Noisy hilarity.)

Eventually the defendant is sentenced conditionally, with leniency of legal consequences, to two months of strict confinement. The sentence has almost been served due to pre-trial detention.

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