Epitaph

Subscribe on your favorite podcast catcher: Apple Podcasts [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/epitaph/id1448209030] | Android [http://subscribeonandroid.com/epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] | CastBox [https://castbox.fm/ch/1894939] | Google Podcasts [https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ik7avsc6tig3tbiyn6htai5uxsa?t%3DEpitaph%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16] | PocketCasts [https://pca.st/3yrp] | PodBean [https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/xcqwb-93aca/Epitaph-Podcast] | Stitcher [https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=352329&refid=stpr] | RadioPublic [https://radiopublic.com/epitaph-WR9RXq] | TuneIn [http://tun.in/pjgOx] | Blubrry [https://www.blubrry.com/epitaph/] | RSS [http://epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] In May of 1916, Martin Greschinsky arrived at his rental property at 9 Kossuth Street in the small, vacation town of Czinkota, Hungary just outside of Budapest to clean it out and see if any repairs needed to be made before it could be rented out again. His tenant had been killed in World War I. But, when Greschinsky pried open what he believed was a barrel of gasoline, he was met with the face of a woman who’d been dead for several years, perfectly preserved in wood alcohol. As more and more bodies were discovered, detectives determined that they were dealing with a serial killer who’d preyed on wealthy women and who, even after death, managed to stay one step ahead of them and evade capture for decades. On this episode, we discuss the gruesome crimes of the man who’d become known as the Vampire of Czinkota, Bela Kiss. [https://i1.wp.com/epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Bela-Kiss-1915.jpg][https://i0.wp.com/epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Katherine-Varga.jpg][https://i0.wp.com/epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Margaret-Toth.jpg][https://i2.wp.com/epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Bela-Kisss-Home-Left.jpg][https://i1.wp.com/epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/The-Barrels.jpg]Photos: (1) Bela Kiss, taken circa 1914. (Source: Miami News – August 31, 1930) (2) Katherine Varga, a dressmaker from Budapest who disappeared in 1912. (Source: New York Daily News – February 9, 2014) (3) Margaret Toth, who disappeared in 1904 after her mother received a letter claiming that Kiss had broken off their engagement and, heartbroken, she was leaving for America. (Source: New York Daily News – February 9, 2014) (4) The house (on left) that Kiss rented in Czinkota (Source: New York Daily News – February 9, 2014) (5) The barrels and trunk in which the first bodies and clothing were found (Source: New York Daily News – February 9, 2014) SUGGESTED READING * The Seven Tin Barrels – In the Footsteps of the First Hungarian Serial Killer [https://web.archive.org/web/20170406020109/http://ujkor.hu/content/het-badoghordo-az-elso-magyar-sorozatgyilkos-nyomaban] by Zsolt Viktor Maróti on Újkor.hu This page is where information on Bela Kiss’s “first wife,” Julia Peschadik, who is referenced on his Wikipedia entry can be found. It indicates that she had given their two children to the White Cross before moving to Czinkota to be with Kiss, and was later found in one of the barrels (specifically, the one on the far right in the photo above). It is entirely possible that this information — and, with it, the information on Wikipedia that I’ve questioned — is correct. But, I’ve been unable to find other sources to corroborate it and Julia Peschadik’s name does not appear in contemporaneous newspaper accounts that document Kiss’s victims. * When Cinkota was on the cover of the world press [https://elismondom.wordpress.com/2014/03/10/amikor-cinkota-a-vilagsajto-cimlapjara-kerult/] on The cloud above me Warning: This page includes photos not only of the barrels and of the detectives opening them, but of several of the victims pulled from the barrels. * The Crimes of Bela Kiss [https://web.archive.org/web/20150219061138/http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/history/bela_kiss/1.html] by Marilyn Bardsley and Denise Noe on CrimeLibrary.com (via Archive.org)

Subscribe on your favorite podcast catcher: Apple Podcasts [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/epitaph/id1448209030] | Android [http://subscribeonandroid.com/epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] | CastBox [https://castbox.fm/ch/1894939] | Google Podcasts [https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ik7avsc6tig3tbiyn6htai5uxsa?t%3DEpitaph%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16] | PocketCasts [https://pca.st/3yrp] | PodBean [https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/xcqwb-93aca/Epitaph-Podcast] | Stitcher [https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=352329&refid=stpr] | RadioPublic [https://radiopublic.com/epitaph-WR9RXq] | TuneIn [http://tun.in/pjgOx] | Blubrry [https://www.blubrry.com/epitaph/] | RSS [http://epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] The mythology of the vampire dates back millennia. As early as 4,000 BC, the Sumerians and Babylonians had stories about those who’d not been buried properly returning to suck life out of the living. Ancient Mesopotamians had stories of the Lamastu, a female demon who appeared at night to steal or kill babies, and sucked the blood from adults. In 2018, archaeologists found the remains of a 10-year-old child buried in a 4th Century Roman cemetery in Umbria, Italy that had been buried with a stone the size of an egg inserted — and then cemented — into its mouth to prevent it rising from the dead and harming the living. Locals call it the “Vampire of Lugnano.” [https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/15/archaeologists-find-vampire-burial-site-child-feared-capable-rising-dead/] Nothing has survived that tells us anything about these burials. We don’t know who these people were and we can only guess at why they’d died. But, in the 16th and 17th centuries, in the mountains of southeastern Europe, these sorts of legends — stories of the dead who’d come back to harm and kill the living — started having names attached. These stories — and the legends and beliefs that fed them — would become the folklore for the creatures that we know as Vampires today. In this episode, we begin our exploration of “real vampires” with the stories of three of these men — Giure Grando, Petar Blagojevic, and Arnod Paole — and, when possible, those that became their victims. > This is no romancer’s dream. It is a succinct account of a superstition, which to this day survives in the east of Europe where little more than a century ago it was frightfully prevalent. At that period, Vampyrism spread like a pestilence through Servia and Wallachia, causing numerous deaths, and disturbing all the land with fear of the mysterious visitation, against which no one felt himself secure. Dr. Herbert Mayo, in “Letters on the truths contained in popular superstitions [https://archive.org/details/lettersontruths00mayogoog/page/n26]” (1849) Gothic Castle with Moon [http://epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Vampires-Cover-1024x576.jpg] SUGGESTED READING * Valvasor on Vampires [http://www.shroudeater.com/avalvaso.htm]from Shroudeater.com * A letter from the Gradisker District [https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Copia_eines_Schreibens_aus_dem_Gradisker_District]by Austrian physician Frombold, sent to the Emperor of Kisolova in 1725. * Visum et repertum [https://web.archive.org/web/20060315125133/http://www.vampgirl.com/visum.html]by Johann Flückinger, written in 1732. (A translation of the original document at VampGirl.com, and retrieved via Archive.org) * Treatise on the Apparitions of Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants of Hungary, Moravia, et. al. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trait%C3%A9_sur_les_apparitions_des_esprits_et_sur_les_vampires_ou_les_revenans_de_Hongrie,_de_Moravie,_%26c.]at Wikipedia * Visum et repertum [https://magiaposthuma.blogspot.com/2008/09/visum-et-repertum.html]by Niels K. Petersen on Magia Posthuma * Archaeologists find ‘vampire burial’ site of a child feared capable of rising from the dead [https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2018/10/15/archaeologists-find-vampire-burial-site-child-feared-capable-rising-dead/]from the Washington Post * Vampires: Fact, Fiction and Folklore [https://www.livescience.com/24374-vampires-real-history.html]by Benjamin Radford at LiveScience.com

Subscribe on your favorite podcast catcher: Apple Podcasts [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/epitaph/id1448209030] | Android [http://subscribeonandroid.com/epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] | CastBox [https://castbox.fm/ch/1894939] | Google Podcasts [https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ik7avsc6tig3tbiyn6htai5uxsa?t%3DEpitaph%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16] | PocketCasts [https://pca.st/3yrp] | PodBean [https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/xcqwb-93aca/Epitaph-Podcast] | Stitcher [https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=352329&refid=stpr] | RadioPublic [https://radiopublic.com/epitaph-WR9RXq] | TuneIn [http://tun.in/pjgOx] | Blubrry [https://www.blubrry.com/epitaph/] | RSS [http://epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] Resurrection Mary is one of Chicago‘s most famous ghosts. And, having been featured on paranormal shows like Unsolved Mysteries, In Search Of, and Arthur C. Clarke’s World of Strange Powers, she might just be the most famous Vanishing Hitchhiker in the world. Jerry Palus is said to have been, perhaps, the first person to have met the ghost who’d become known as Resurrection Mary face to face back in 1939. At the Liberty Grove and Hall, a ballroom near 47th and Mozart, Palus saw a beautiful, young, blonde woman without a dance partner and decided to take a chance on asking her to dance. They spent the evening together, dancing and talking until the ballroom closed. Jerry offered her a ride home but she didn’t ask to go to the address on Damen Avenue where she’d told him she lived earlier in the evening. Instead, she asked him to drive out Archer Avenue. And, as they approached Resurrection Cemetery, she asked him to pull over. According to Palus, Mary told him that that’s where she had to get out and, where she was going, he couldn’t follow. And, then, she crossed the street and vanished as she approached the cemetery gates. For decades, people fascinated with the story have been trying to answer the question: Who was she? Over the years, a number of “candidates” have been put forth. And, in researching the history of the legend and the community it came from, we found one of our own: Mary Kovac. She grew up in the same immigrant community on Damen Avenue as two other young women commonly associated with the Resurrection Mary legend, going to school and church with both Mary Mizkowski [http://epitaphpod.com/2019/05/07/resurrection-mary-part-1-mary-miskowski/] and Mary Bregovy [http://epitaphpod.com/2019/05/14/resurrection-mary-part-2-mary-bregovy/]. She fit the same descriptions that were given of Mary Mizkowski. And, her cause of death fits that of the “third girl” that Richard T. Crowe often referred to and, because of that, we think that he may have actually identified this Mary himself. On this episode, we present the story of Mary Kovac who, we believe, may have been the young woman whose ghost Jerry Palus met at the Liberty Grove and Hall in 1939: The original Resurrection Mary. Photo: Mary Kovac, circa 1930. (Reuse or reproduction of any part of this photo without express written permission from Epitaph is prohibited.) [http://epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Photo-Mary-Kovac-Approx-1930.jpg]Photo: Mary Kovac, circa 1930. (Reuse or reproduction of any part of this photo without express written permission from Epitaph is prohibited.) OUR OTHER PODCASTS IN THIS SERIES * Resurrection Mary, Part 1: Mary Miskowski [http://epitaphpod.com/2019/05/07/resurrection-mary-part-1-mary-miskowski/] (Patreon Exclusive) * Resurrection Mary, Part 2: Mary Bregovy [http://epitaphpod.com/2019/05/14/resurrection-mary-part-2-mary-bregovy/] * Resurrection Mary, Part 3: Anna Marija Norkus [http://epitaphpod.com/2019/05/21/resurrection-mary-part-3-anna-marija-norkus/] (Patreon Exclusive) SUGGESTED READING * Chicago’s Street Guide to the Supernatural: A Guide to Haunted and Legendary Places in and near the Windy City [https://amzn.to/2VAGNuD] by Richard T. Crowe OTHER SUGGESTED PODCASTS ON THIS STORY * Ep 102: Resurrection Mary Part 1 [https://audioboom.com/posts/6749070-resurrection-mary-part-1] by Astonishing Legends * Ep 103: Resurrection Mary Part 2 [https://audioboom.com/posts/6786849-resurrection-mary-part-2] by Astonishing Legends * Ep 104: Resurrection Mary Part 3 [https://audioboom.com/posts/6806988-resurrection-mary-part-3] by Astonishing Legends * Ep 105: Resurrection Mary Part 4 [https://audioboom.com/posts/6822391-resurrection-mary-part-4] by Astonishing Legends * Resurrection Mary Roundtable [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resurrection-mary-roundtable/id660783565?i=1000160916432] by Chicago Unbelievable AUDIO EXCERPT CREDITS Audio from interviews with Richard T. Crowe appears with the written permission of his family and his estate. Audio from interviews with Jerry Palus appears with the written permission of his family and his estate. Epitaph makes no claims of ownership to this audio.

Subscribe on your favorite podcast catcher: Apple Podcasts [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/epitaph/id1448209030] | Android [http://subscribeonandroid.com/epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] | CastBox [https://castbox.fm/ch/1894939] | Google Podcasts [https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ik7avsc6tig3tbiyn6htai5uxsa?t%3DEpitaph%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16] | PocketCasts [https://pca.st/3yrp] | PodBean [https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/xcqwb-93aca/Epitaph-Podcast] | Stitcher [https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=352329&refid=stpr] | RadioPublic [https://radiopublic.com/epitaph-WR9RXq] | TuneIn [http://tun.in/pjgOx] | Blubrry [https://www.blubrry.com/epitaph/] | RSS [http://epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] Resurrection Mary is one of Chicago‘s most famous ghosts. And, having been featured on paranormal shows like Unsolved Mysteries, In Search Of, and Arthur C. Clarke’s World of Strange Powers, she might just be the most famous Vanishing Hitchhiker in the world. For decades, people fascinated with the story have been trying to answer the question: Who was she? And, over the years, a number of “candidates” have been put forth. Mary Bregovy was the daughter of Czechoslovakian immigrants who died in a car crash after a night at the Oh Henry Ballroom in the 1930s. And, like the girl in the Resurrection Mary legend, she had lived on Damen Avenue. But, despite people who knew her while she was alive having reported seeing her on Archer Avenue after her death, Mary Bregovy didn’t look like the girl who is normally described in Resurrection Mary sightings. On this episode, we discuss how she fits into the Resurrection Mary legend. Article: Chicago Tribune article from March 12, 1934 describing the accident which killed Mary Bregovy (Source: Newspapers.com). [http://epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Marie-Bregovy-Chicago-Tribune-12-Mar-1934.jpg]Article: Chicago Tribune article from March 12, 1934 describing the accident which killed Mary Bregovy (Source: Newspapers.com). OUR OTHER PODCASTS ON THIS STORY * Resurrection Mary, Part 1: Mary Miskowski [http://epitaphpod.com/2019/05/07/resurrection-mary-part-1-mary-miskowski/] (Patreon Exclusive) * Resurrection Mary, Part 3: Anna Marija Norkus [http://epitaphpod.com/2019/05/21/resurrection-mary-part-3-anna-marija-norkus/] (Patreon Exclusive) * Resurrection Mary, Part 4: Mary Kovac [http://epitaphpod.com/2019/05/28/resurrection-mary-part-4-mary-kovac/] SUGGESTED READING * The Ghosts of Chicago: The Windy City’s Most Famous Haunts [https://amzn.to/2JDRViT] by Adam Selzer * Chicago’s Street Guide to the Supernatural: A Guide to Haunted and Legendary Places in and near the Windy City [https://amzn.to/2VAGNuD] by Richard T. Crowe OTHER SUGGESTED PODCASTS ON THIS STORY * Ep 102: Resurrection Mary Part 1 [https://audioboom.com/posts/6749070-resurrection-mary-part-1] by Astonishing Legends * Ep 103: Resurrection Mary Part 2 [https://audioboom.com/posts/6786849-resurrection-mary-part-2] by Astonishing Legends * Ep 104: Resurrection Mary Part 3 [https://audioboom.com/posts/6806988-resurrection-mary-part-3] by Astonishing Legends * Ep 105: Resurrection Mary Part 4 [https://audioboom.com/posts/6822391-resurrection-mary-part-4] by Astonishing Legends * Resurrection Mary Roundtable [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/resurrection-mary-roundtable/id660783565?i=1000160916432] by Chicago Unbelievable ADDITIONAL RESOURCES * The Last Dance of Mary Bregovy [https://troytaylorbooks.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-last-dance-of-mary-bregovy.html] by Troy Taylor at American Hauntings * Resurrection Mary: The Queen of Chicago’s Haunted Archer Avenue [https://chicagohauntings.com/2019/04/08/resurrection-mary-the-queen-of-haunted-archer-avenue/] by Ursula Bielski at ChicagoHauntings.com * Resurrection Mary: Mary Bregovy? [http://mysteriouschicago.com/resurrection-mary-mary-bregovy/] by Adam Selzer at Mysterious Chicago * Possibly the “most loved” Ghost in Chicagoland [http://www.hauntdetective.com/hauntings-legends-folklore/chicago/westside/53-resurrection-mary] by Raymond Johnson at Chicago’s Haunt Detective

Subscribe on your favorite podcast catcher: Apple Podcasts [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/epitaph/id1448209030] | Android [http://subscribeonandroid.com/epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] | CastBox [https://castbox.fm/ch/1894939] | Google Podcasts [https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ik7avsc6tig3tbiyn6htai5uxsa?t%3DEpitaph%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16] | PocketCasts [https://pca.st/3yrp] | PodBean [https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/xcqwb-93aca/Epitaph-Podcast] | Stitcher [https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=352329&refid=stpr] | RadioPublic [https://radiopublic.com/epitaph-WR9RXq] | TuneIn [http://tun.in/pjgOx] | Blubrry [https://www.blubrry.com/epitaph/] | RSS [http://epitaphpod.com/feed/epitaph/] Chicago’s most famous Vanishing Hitchhiker is, without a doubt, the ghost of the young woman (or women) who has come to be called Resurrection Mary. But, Mary isn’t Chicago’s only hitchhiking spirit and her story is pre-dated by another ghost: The Waldheim Flapper. In some ways, their stories parallel each other. Mary haunts the stretch of Archer Avenue between the old Willowbrook Ballroom and Resurrection Cemetery, while the Waldheim Flapper was associated with Des Plaines Avenue between the Melody Mill Ballroom and Waldheim Jewish Cemetery. Both girls are thought to have come from communities of Eastern European immigrants. And, both represent important eras in Chicago history. The Flapper comes from the Roaring Twenties, an era known for prohibition, gangland violence and progressive social change. Mary comes from the 1930s, the decade not only of big bands and ballroom dancing, but also the Great Depression. In other ways, the girls in the story seem opposites. Where Resurrection Mary is a Catholic girl with long, blonde hair and a white gown, the Waldheim Flapper is Jewish, with short, dark curls and — as the name implies — a straight-waisted, knee-length, fringed flapper dress straight out of the 1920s. Together, they were two of the most commonly reported ghosts in Chicago. On this episode, we explore the story of Chicago’s other vanishing hitchhiker: The Waldheim Flapper. Barbara Stanwyck as a Ziegfeld girl (c. 1924) by Alfred Cheney Johnson (Source: Wikipedia Commons | Library of Congress). [http://epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/800px-Barbara_Stanwyck_Ziegfeld_girl_by_Alfred_Cheney_Johnston_ca._1924.jpg]Barbara Stanwyck as a Ziegfeld girl (c. 1924) by Alfred Cheney Johnson (Source: Wikipedia Commons [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Stanwyck#/media/File:Barbara_Stanwyck,_Ziegfeld_girl,_by_Alfred_Cheney_Johnston,_ca._1924.jpg] | Library of Congress [http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b20150/]) SUGGESTED READING * Chicago’s Street Guide to the Supernatural: A Guide to Haunted and Legendary Places in and near the Windy City [https://amzn.to/2H9VwDO] by Richard T. Crowe * The Ghosts of Chicago: The Windy City’s Most Famous Haunts [https://amzn.to/2VPMggh] by Adam Selzer * Just Kill Me [https://amzn.to/2HaltmH] by Adam Selzer * Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City [https://amzn.to/2YeDLJc] by Ursula Bielski ADDITIONAL RESOURCES * Posts about Lillian Collier [http://mysteriouschicago.com/tag/lillian-collier/] by Adam Selzer at Mysterious Chicago Tours * Jewish Waldheim Cemetery [http://www.ghostresearch.org/sites/jewish.html] by Dale Kaczmarek at the Ghost Research Society * Chicago’s Other Vanishing Hitchhikers [http://www.prairieghosts.com/flapper.html] by Troy Taylor at PrairieGhosts.com * Chicago’s Flapper Ghost of the Roaring Twenties [https://www.legendsofamerica.com/gh-chicagoflapperghost/] by Marlon Heimerl at Legends of America MUSIC * Moonlight on Melody Mill [https://archive.org/details/78_moonlight-on-melody-hill_bobby-freeman-cramer-tiny-hill-and-his-orchestra_gbia0000750a/Moonlight+On+Melody+Hill+-+Bobby+Freeman.flac] by Bobby Freeman, Cramer and Tiny Hill and his Orchestra at Internet Archive (archive.org) If you’re enjoying Epitaph, please consider becoming a Patreon patron. [http://epitaphpod.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/become-a-patron-button-250x83.png] [https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=11945639]