We were There - The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

More documents

Recommendations

Info

passing, and he said he was going to Malinovsky’s 38 headquarters to get food, medicine, and provisions. He added that we should not to worry; he would be back in two days. I left Hungary in 1948 and moved to Brazil. There I manufactured screws. I have three sons; one heads a Staples outlet in the Boston region. I am married for a second time, as my first wife died from a cancer illness. In 1973 while on a business trip to Geneva, I met Mr. Lindberg, a business associate from Stockholm in a restaurant. He pointed Wallenberg’s sister out to me, as she was sitting at his table. I had a long talk with her. When I returned to Brazil, I sent her a copy of the Wallenberg note. 38 Rodion Malinovsky (1898-1967) was a Soviet military commander in WWII and later became Defense Minister of the Soviet Union. He was a leader of the Soviet liberation of Budapest, and widely testified to be the person who escorted Raoul Wallenberg to meet with the Soviets in Russia soon after the liberation of the city. 29
Joseph Reich Translated from Hebrew by Micki LaVine I was born in the Chech Republic and grew up in Budapest. I studied Torah at the Heder 39 . My mother died at a very young age, and my father remarried. I lived with my sister and a brother. I was sent to live with my grandmother. We were very poor, so for seven years until Hitler arrived, I would go to eat at a different house every day. From 1938-1944 we felt the anti-Semitism everywhere. Jews were not allowed to enter their schools. They cut our side locks. When the Germans entered Budapest in April 1944, my parents were sent to Auschwitz. My brother and I were placed in a labor camp in a brick factory in Budapest. We were separated because they did not want us to be together. I was sent to the town of Ketcka near the airport. Later in November we were taken and put on the transport train to be sent to Auschwitz. We crossed Budapest again, which was already bombed, and the communist commander told us that whoever can should escape. So a lot of us escaped, including my brother. My brother bribed the commander, who helped us find a job at the beer factory. All those who were able to escape were working there. A month later I entered the Ghetto. When I returned to the barracks there was no one there. It was empty. An old gentile man told me to run, so I ran back to the ghetto. My brother disappeared and I never heard from him again. He probably died on his way to Russia. In the Ghetto the Hungarian Militia was in charge. One day they ordered us to go out to the courtyard and started counting us. There I saw Wallenberg. He was nice and friendly, and he looked at us, pointed at me and said to get out of the line. How did he save me? He told me to return to the Ghetto, just like that, without knowing who I was. I was young, only 16 years old. He did not give me the Schutzpass. There were however a few Jews who were dressed as Germans who were able to give the Schutzpass. Wallenberg was not sitting alone. He was a pleasant man, dressed in a leather coat, handsome. He looked like a detective. In the ghetto I was always hungry, so I would go out to look for food. It was not kosher. Once the militia caught me. They hated the Jews like the Nazis did. They took me by the arm and asked if I was Jewish. I had a Hungarian and a Swedish passport, but I was afraid to tell them because I knew the Russians were coming. The Russians were bombing, and they were surrounding the city. I was caught, beaten, and tied up; my teeth were pulled out. I was thrown into a shelter that was filled with men, women, and children. They were all crying. In the evening we were ordered to go out and stand in line. Men and women were separated. We all wanted clothes. Men were told to step forward, women back, behind. 39 A traditional Jewish school that taught subjects such as Talmud and the Bible to young children. 30
Page 1 and 2: We were There A Collection of First
Page 3 and 4: Contributors Editors Andrea Cukier,
Page 5 and 6: Introduction This year marks the 10
Page 7 and 8: Judit Brody Swedish House Hungary,
Page 9 and 10: with their prayer shawls and with p
Page 11 and 12: Steven Erdos I was born in Budapest
Page 13 and 14: Erwin Forrester My life was saved b
Page 15 and 16: Paula and Erno Friedman I am a Holo
Page 17 and 18: “We are with the Swedish Embassy
Page 19 and 20: Eliezer Grinwald I was born in Buda
Page 21 and 22: Erwin K. Koranyi The Passport to De
Page 23 and 24: Ladislao Ladanyi The Diplomat Who S
Page 25 and 26: Lucia Laragione A Piece of Faded Ye
Page 27 and 28: And with that I concluded my story.
Page 29: In order to improve our cover we jo
Page 33 and 34: Juraj Szanto My worst memory from t
Page 35 and 36: I mentioned that my parents acquire
Page 37 and 38: Marianne Vaney “There but by the
Page 39 and 40: typists, were working sometimes lat
Page 41 and 42: persuasion of my fiancé were proba
Page 43 and 44: Glossary of Terms Allied Powers - A
Page 45 and 46: of lebensraum to claim that the Ger
Page 47 and 48: Tivadar Homonnay (1888-1964) was th

We were There - The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?