My mother Eva Neuman (nee Preusz), photographed before her wedding. My father kept this photo on his desk. This photo was taken in Uzhgorod in 1919, it was in the house during World War II, and when I returned from my work battalion in 1944, I found it in our house.
My grandfather was married twice. His first wife died leaving six sons. They were all born in Uzhgorod, but I don’t know the years of their birth, except for Moricz Preusz, who was born in 1880. As for the others, I will just tell their names: Andor, Lajos, Marton, Jakab and Viktor Preusz.
My grandfather remarried. His second wife was Roza, my grandmother, nee Gorowitz. They had four daughters. My mother, Eva Neuman, nee Preusz, was born in 1894. After my mother her sisters Romola and Magda were born.
My mother Eva Preusz was born in 1894. In my mother’s family they spoke Yiddish at home and knew German and Hungarian well. All children received a Jewish education. I don’t know for sure, but I think the boys studied in cheder and the girls had visiting teachers at home. My grandfather also believed that secular education was important. My mother and her sisters finished a Hungarian grammar school for girls in Uzhgorod.
My father worked as an editor of the social democratic newspaper ‘Nepszava’ in Budapest. The newspaper propagated for new power without national segregation and suppression, a democratic state, kind relations between people and friendship of people. This was a revolutionary newspaper, one can say. When he worked for the newspaper, my father met the commissar of printing business of Budapest, Moricz Preusz. His Jewish name was Moisey. They were both the same age and both had been fighting in the war. This probably brought them together, and their acquaintance grew into friendship.
Moisey came from Uzhgorod. He told my father that his family was in Uzhgorod, and his younger sister Eva Preusz was single. Moisey invited Eva to Budapest where my father met her. They fell in love with each other and got married in 1919. They had a traditional Jewish wedding – the Preusz family was religious and observed Jewish traditions.
