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Behind God's Back

A look back at the case of the poisoning of 50 men in Nagyrev in Hungary, with archives from the trial, press reports and the memories of a resident of the town.

Nagyrev was a sleepy village in a remote part of Hungary - until a spate of mysterious poisonings made it big news. Nearly 50 of the town's men lay prematurely dead in the cemetery. Their bodies were found to be full of arsenic - and the suspects were their wives.

What caused the women of Nagyrev to poison their husbands? Was it, as commentators at the time suggested, the impact of World War I or of social change? Was it revenge for their husbands' drinking and violence?

The programme reconstructs the facts of a baffling mass-murder with archives from the trial, press reports and the memories of one Nagyrev resident still living who remembers the case.

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 5 Sep 2008 22:00

Broadcasts

  • Sat 26 Jan 2008 22:00
  • Fri 5 Sep 2008 22:00

Binaural sound

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