Magda Erdelyiova’s student ID

Magda Erdelyiova’s student ID

This is a photo of my sister Magda Erdelyiova’s student ID from 1938.

They still accepted my sister into university, back in 1938. She was very talented. She attended the State Music Conservatory in Prague. Besides music she also studied English. Right when the Germans occupied Prague in 1939 she had to stop her studies. By coincidence, our mother was visiting her at the time. When she was returning home, at Kuty, to the great surprise of the train passengers, there was a customs check. My sister returned, and made use of her music and English studies to give lessons. One of her pupils was the son of a highly placed Guardist, so he looked the other way and she didn’t need any documents.

In 1940, around Christmas, an epidemic of meningitis broke out, an infection of the brain’s membranes. My sister didn’t survive. She died on 26th December 1940. She couldn’t go to the hospital, but we were getting serum from Berlin, because my father had contacts. It didn’t help, even though many doctors were taking care of her. I know that it was a huge funeral. They buried her at the Jewish cemetery in Piestany.

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