The Kallos Family Book 2022

30 • THE KALLOS FAMILY
Captain
Ernyei
Biri
Kallos
Barbara Kallos (second from right) in Hamburg, c. July 1945. The Jewish survivors mingled with
British officers. Captain J Ernyei (third from right) is wearing British army uniform. The other two
soldiers are wearing Czech army uniform. PHOTO PROVIDED BY BARBARA KALLOS.
tary office in Haffkrug, where she assisted Captain
J Ernyei, a British officer in charge of the Czechoslovak
reparations and who, by coincidence, was
originally from Slovakia. One day Captain Ernyei
took Biri and a small group of others to Hamburg
where she saw how the city had been razed in
Operation Gomorrah, the code name for the air
raids conducted by British and US forces in July
and August 1943.
Finding Iren Tabak
Biri cried when she related this story to me.
The Kallos survivors were wondering how
to locate Iren Tabak, who they knew had
managed to escape from Belgium to safety in
London during the war. By chance there was a
Jewish British corporal who from time to time
visited Haffkrug military office where Biri was
volunteering. He also often travelled to and
from London to see his family there. One day,
when he came to say goodbye to Biri before
once again returning to London, Biri asked
him if he would visit the Czech and Hungarian
clubs in London to try to find out if anyone
knew the whereabouts of Iren Tabak, Babi and
Ernst’s mother. The last time Iren had seen
her children was on the Ťačovo train station
platform when she departed for Belgium about
ten years earlier. At the time Biri made this
request of the corporal, Iren would not have
known if her children or any other family
member had survived.
The story goes that at the very first club the
corporal visited he was told that Iren had just
left for another club. At the next club Iren was
pointed out to him. He introduced himself and
said, ‘Are you Iren Tabak? I have a message
from your daughter.’ [here, Biri cried]. Iren
replied, ‘And what do you know about my son?’
Ernst was the apple of her eye. At that stage
no one knew if Ernst had survived, although it