Selected text
When war broke out in 1941, my father was in the reserves and he managed to
make it to Subotica on foot where the Hungarian troops had already entered
on April 10, 1941. Shortly after that all Jewish males began to be taken
away for forced labor, at first near Subotica to build and fix roads and
train tracks. In 1941, after about two or three months, my father was sent
home for a short leave. At the beginning of 1942 he and all other males
over 18 were taken for forced labor. He went from camp to camp, changing
work camps 15 times. Most of these camps were in present-day Hungary.
Between 1941 and 1943, my father was in a work camp in Transylvania (today
in Romania) and that is where I saw him again. Until the arrival of the
Germans, the Hungarians allowed visits to the camps, and my mother and I
went to see him. In the autumn of 1943, my father had learned that he was
going to be sent someplace far away, and he asked my mother to bring me to
visit him. At that time most men were being sent to Ukraine to clean up the
ruins and to dig trenches. But they did not send him there.
On the 9th of November 1943, my mother and I started out on the visit to
the work camp in Miskolc. We traveled by train. There was an open section
in the wagon where there was a police officer with a feather in his hat-
these officers were well-known for their brutality. The train stood still
and my mother started to get off, not knowing that we had yet to arrive at
the station. At that moment, we suppose the officer pushed her, because she
lost her balance and, together with me, fell onto the tracks. The train
started moving and my left fist was on the track and was run over by the
train. I screamed and a railroad employee ran up to us and helped us get to
the station. Here they gave me first aid. An express train was stopped
which took us to Miskolc. They operated on me immediately. I also had a
concussion. My father found out what had happened to me from the Hungarian
commandant of the camp, and he got permission to come visit me in the
hospital. The last time we saw each other was November 19, 1943, when he
accompanied my mother and me to the station. We traveled to Budapest, where
we stayed with my father's sister, Serena, and from there we continued on
to Subotica. In Subotica, I went frequently to have my hand treated at the
Jewish hospital, which at that time had been forcibly relocated to the
basement of the building.
At the end of 1944, my father Lazar was sent to Mauthausen. He arrived
there on foot and met up with his sister Klara's husband and others from
Subotica, who relayed to us that he died there of typhoid.
make it to Subotica on foot where the Hungarian troops had already entered
on April 10, 1941. Shortly after that all Jewish males began to be taken
away for forced labor, at first near Subotica to build and fix roads and
train tracks. In 1941, after about two or three months, my father was sent
home for a short leave. At the beginning of 1942 he and all other males
over 18 were taken for forced labor. He went from camp to camp, changing
work camps 15 times. Most of these camps were in present-day Hungary.
Between 1941 and 1943, my father was in a work camp in Transylvania (today
in Romania) and that is where I saw him again. Until the arrival of the
Germans, the Hungarians allowed visits to the camps, and my mother and I
went to see him. In the autumn of 1943, my father had learned that he was
going to be sent someplace far away, and he asked my mother to bring me to
visit him. At that time most men were being sent to Ukraine to clean up the
ruins and to dig trenches. But they did not send him there.
On the 9th of November 1943, my mother and I started out on the visit to
the work camp in Miskolc. We traveled by train. There was an open section
in the wagon where there was a police officer with a feather in his hat-
these officers were well-known for their brutality. The train stood still
and my mother started to get off, not knowing that we had yet to arrive at
the station. At that moment, we suppose the officer pushed her, because she
lost her balance and, together with me, fell onto the tracks. The train
started moving and my left fist was on the track and was run over by the
train. I screamed and a railroad employee ran up to us and helped us get to
the station. Here they gave me first aid. An express train was stopped
which took us to Miskolc. They operated on me immediately. I also had a
concussion. My father found out what had happened to me from the Hungarian
commandant of the camp, and he got permission to come visit me in the
hospital. The last time we saw each other was November 19, 1943, when he
accompanied my mother and me to the station. We traveled to Budapest, where
we stayed with my father's sister, Serena, and from there we continued on
to Subotica. In Subotica, I went frequently to have my hand treated at the
Jewish hospital, which at that time had been forcibly relocated to the
basement of the building.
At the end of 1944, my father Lazar was sent to Mauthausen. He arrived
there on foot and met up with his sister Klara's husband and others from
Subotica, who relayed to us that he died there of typhoid.
Location
Serbia
Interview
Marika Krpez