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I can’t tell you any details about my grandparents. I only remember my father’s mother. Her name was Roza Stern. She was born in 1856, as Roza Reiner. She died when I was still very young. Around 1926, or something like that. I was still very small; they didn’t even take me to the funeral. My grandma had high blood pressure, and back then they didn’t treat that yet. The only treatment was just the application of leeches. Up to when I was six, I was raised by my mother’s sister, Aunt Irena Ambrozs, née Braun. My mother [Ilona Stern, née Braun] was very ill. They removed one of her kidneys. She wasn’t able to take care of all three children, and so her sister helped raise us. We had a hard life already from childhood.
My father’s parents, Mor Stern and Roza Stern, originally lived in the town of Kiskovesd [in Slovak: Maly Kamenec, a town in eastern Slovakia]. From what I heard I know that my grandfather was a businessman. I don’t know anything more about him. After Grandfather died, my grandma moved to Lucenec to live with us. My father [Andor Stern] was one of six children. Three boys: Ignac, Sandor and Andor, and three girls: Blanka, Regina and Jozefina.
Ignac Stern was married twice. I didn’t know his first wife. The second one was named Licike Stern, née Braun. Aunt Licike was my mother’s sister. Uncle Ignac had three children from his first marriage. They all lived together in the Hungarian town of Miskolc. The boys were named Bela and Jozsef. In our family we called Jozsef Jozska. The daughter’s name was Ilona, or familiarly Ilonka. Before the war [World War II] the boys graduated from university. Both of them worked as engineers. Ilonka was a secretary. He [Uncle Ignac] didn’t have any children with his second wife. Uncle Ignac had a workshop where they sewed bedding and things like that. He was my father’s oldest brother. He was a beautiful person with white, curly hair. They murdered this entire family during the Holocaust. None of them survived.
The wife of my father’s second brother, Sandor Stern, was named Gizella Stern, née Sacher. They were childless. Sandor was a partner in the Sachers’ store in Lucenec. Both were murdered during the Holocaust.
My father’s parents, Mor Stern and Roza Stern, originally lived in the town of Kiskovesd [in Slovak: Maly Kamenec, a town in eastern Slovakia]. From what I heard I know that my grandfather was a businessman. I don’t know anything more about him. After Grandfather died, my grandma moved to Lucenec to live with us. My father [Andor Stern] was one of six children. Three boys: Ignac, Sandor and Andor, and three girls: Blanka, Regina and Jozefina.
Ignac Stern was married twice. I didn’t know his first wife. The second one was named Licike Stern, née Braun. Aunt Licike was my mother’s sister. Uncle Ignac had three children from his first marriage. They all lived together in the Hungarian town of Miskolc. The boys were named Bela and Jozsef. In our family we called Jozsef Jozska. The daughter’s name was Ilona, or familiarly Ilonka. Before the war [World War II] the boys graduated from university. Both of them worked as engineers. Ilonka was a secretary. He [Uncle Ignac] didn’t have any children with his second wife. Uncle Ignac had a workshop where they sewed bedding and things like that. He was my father’s oldest brother. He was a beautiful person with white, curly hair. They murdered this entire family during the Holocaust. None of them survived.
The wife of my father’s second brother, Sandor Stern, was named Gizella Stern, née Sacher. They were childless. Sandor was a partner in the Sachers’ store in Lucenec. Both were murdered during the Holocaust.
Location
Slovakia
Interview
Viola Rozalia Fischerova