Szidonia Erdos

My uncle Jozsef´s wife Szidi. The photo was made for their 35th wedding anniversary. At that time she must have been in her early 50s. My father's eldest brother was Jozsef Erdos, who was 17 years older than my father. My father was 10 years old when they magyarized from Deutsch to Erdos. Only the brothers magyarized their names, their father, my grandfather didn't. Jozsef was a skilled mechanic, and he began as a mechanic in the Rock's engineering works, then he became a car mechanic, and opened a car repair shop in Budapest. They were rather wealthy. He died peacefully in the '190s, while his wife became ill and died during the siege. He had three children. His eldest child, Rozsi, got married in Vienna; her husband was a wine-merchant. The second child, Miklos, worked with his father, then he took over the shop. Miklos didn't have to go into the forced labor service, because German and Hungarian soldiers repaired their cars in his shop, so he enjoyed immunity. And when the Russians came in, on the first day, he said, 'I haven't been out in the street for two months, I'm going to see what's going on!' He left and nobody ever saw him after that. The youngest child was Laszlo. He also worked in the shop. He was a very quiet boy and he died in the forced labor service.

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