Table
of Contents
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1.THE
EARLY YEARS.
I was
born on February 18, 1924, in a very small village, called Ajak, in the Eastern part of
Hungary. Prior to dwelling on the family history, I would like to jot down a few salient
points regarding Hungary, in order to support the time frame with a geographical
background.
Hungary
Hungary is a small country in Eastern Europe, bordering Austria,
Slovenia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia. The present population of ten million
live within her 93,000 square kilometers. The country is 528 kilometer long East-to-West
and only 280 kilometers wide.
She has major rivers: the Danube with the total length of 1750
kilometers, originating in the Black Forest of Germany, and ends in the Black Sea. Hungary
has only 580 kilometers of it. The river Tisza is 1240 kilometers long, but Hungary has
only 410 kilometers of it. The country has one sizable lake, called Balaton, with 70
kilometers of length. On both sides, there are nice hotels, motels, beaches and lots of
vineyards, producing good quality vines.
In the year of 1000, the country became an independent kingdom,
with Stephan (later Saint Stephan) the first king. In the 18th century, Hungary was part
of Austria as a satellite country, with Empress Maria Theresa.
On March 15 1848 there was a successful student revolution with
the leadership of Lajos Kossuth. Hungary gained independence again for a very short time.
One year later with the help of the Russian Army, Hungary became part of the
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. World War One ended in 1918 with the defeat of the monarchy. In
the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost 2/3rd of her territory.
The German culture and language had a great influence on the
higher and middle class population. Hungary was the "bread basket"and Austria
(and Germany) the major industrial centers. Later Hungary developed her own light and
heavy industry.
There are many museums, concert halls, and theaters in Hungary.
Her contribution to the global cultural and scientific environment has been noteworthy:
with many famous painters, artists and composers: Liszt, Kodaly, George Solti and many
others.
Before the War, the Jews were not allowed to own land, bank or
become a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or work in a Governmental department.
Slowly, they were able to establish small factories, buy small
parcels of land, and become artists, medical and law professionals. Many were and are in
the entertainment business. Anti-Semitism had deep, historical roots in the Hungarian
people, supported by the German influence. The official and unofficial discrimination was
visible in every field. The "irony" was: many, many Hungarian Jews tried to be
Hungarian, rather than a Jew.
The 1941 census registered 725,000 Jews and 100,000 converted
Jews. In 1946 the count was only 225,000, a third of it women. Budapest had 119,000
survivors. The total loss of Hungarian Jewry was 686,000 people. Presently, most of the
small cities have no Jews at all.
Relatives
on my Father's side
My father Alexander (Sandor) Winkler was born in 1902 March 15. He
was the second son in a large, poor family. His mother died at a very early age. His
father remarried. Out of his first marriage, he had sons: my father and Albert. Out of the
second marriage came three more boys, Samuel, Dezso and Frank. My grandfather died before
the last son Frank was born. The oldest son, Albert immigrated to USA around 1937 with his
wife and a young daughter.
My father had four sisters: Margit, Lena, Paula and Frida. Margit
never married and lived with a taxi driver until he died in 1966 from lung cancer. She was
also a heavy smoker and died the same way.
Frida was the youngest sister. She moved to Budapest before she
was 18 years old and worked in a factory. She earned good wages, but spent all of her
money on clothing and make-up. She loved parties and had many affairs. Interestingly, my
mother had a younger brother, Miklos, who married Frida in Budapest. She did not change
her way of life even after marriage: money was always in short supply, but not so for some
men around the corner. She died in Budapest in 1970.
Lena and Paula immigrated to USA in 1920. The youngest boy, Frank
spent his time in and out of school, also working as a kid in an ice cream factory for a
few pennies a day.
My step-grandmother raised the family mostly with the help of
Jewish charity organizations, and from the very little income earned by doing housework
for others. The firstborn son Albert left for America.
My
Father
When my father passed second grade, his stepmother became ill. He
had no choice, but to go to work. He learned the shoemaking trade, how to repair and how
to make new footwear. He started to work in the village of Ajak. He was a very handsome
man, with good singing voice and he was a good dancer, too, especially after a few glasses
of drink. My father was a very organized, clean-cut man. His working area was spotless and
we all had to follow suit. With his work and his clothing, he was a perfectionist. I
learned a lot from him.
During mealtime, my mother served the food to everybody. This was
the meal, never any "second" or asking for more. Interestingly, even today I
would never ask for second serving. Whatever my wife, or anybody else puts on my plate:
that is my portion!
He married my mother in March 1923. When I was born 11 months
later, they moved to the city of Kisvrda to have more customers, and to make a
better living. He was a good tradesman, and in a short time, he was able to make new
ladies shoes and small boots for a large store.
The owner of the store was a religious Jew -called Reisman- who
was a believer of his faith and someone else's money. He paid my father's first shipment
in cash, the next shipment in 10 days and then 30 days, later 60 days. He was a crook; he
started to pay with I.O.U. (I Owe You) papers. My father had to sell those papers with 20
or 30 % discount to pay his suppliers, and to buy grocery, pay the overhead. One day Mr.
Reisman declared bankruptcy, and did not pay his debt. My father lost almost everything.
One month later, the store was reopened with a new owner: Mrs.
Reisman, and the whole game started all over again. The same system, the same method of
non-payment, and shortly the same bankruptcy.- My father lost everything again. Having no
other choice, he sold his belongings, and we moved to Budapest in 1937. I will write about
it later.
Relatives
on my Mother's side
My mother, Ilona Weinberger was born in 1903 in a city, which was
part of Romania at that time. This gave us lots of problems later, when my father applied
for the Hungarian citizenship for the whole family.
-My Mother had an older brother, Victor. He was a decorated hero
of the 1914-1918 war. He emigrated to the USA in 1919, and died of polio in 1954.
-Another brother, Alex married in Kisvarda, and also emigrated to
the USA in the summer of 1936. He died in 1993; he was almost 90 years old.
-Miklos, who married my father's sister Frida was working in our
factory until 1942. He was sent to a forced labour camp, then to the Eastern front, where
he died.
-Erno was the youngest kid in the Weinberger family. He learned a
certain operation of shoe making. He was in and out of the army, then labour camps. He was
engaged to Annus for eight years. After the war, they were living in Kisvarda, and had
their own shop. He died in Hungary in 1991.
My
Mother
My mother was twenty years old, when she married my father. They
lived in the village of Ajak, having a hard time to start a new life perhaps because of
insufficient income, or my father's violent nature. It was a very stormy beginning.
When I was six months old, the relation between them was so
impossible, my mother ran back with me to her mother, never to return.
Three days later my father showed up at the front door, claiming
back the family. The answer was no. He said -and was ready- to burn the whole house, if my
mother did not return with him. Back in Ajak for another six month, then we moved to
Kisvarda, there was more opportunity, more customers.
My mother loved to read. When she had a few free minutes, she
opened a book. Thanks to her influence, I have been reading throughout my life. Even, when
we were short of money, we bought second-hand books. I remember, when my father closed the
light around 9 pm to save on the electricity bill, my mother lit a candle, put it on the
floor, and leaned over from the bed to read. I joined her, sitting on the floor and
reading. This way we did not disturb the "Boss."
Even now I love reading, so do my wife, my son and his family.
Personal
history
I finished four elementary grades in Kisvarda; I was first in
mathematics, arts, literature, last in gym, and history. With great financial effort, and
with my mother's help I continued my studies in the Bessenyei Gyorgy gymnasium, also in
Kisvarda. This is like high school in North America. I completed three years there. With
diligence and hard work, I became a good student, again on top in mathematics, science and
arts, not so good in Latin. I was very good in the art classes, my instructor asked me to
join his after-school private courses. I told him I would like to, but do not have money
for extra studies. The instructor seeing my potentials, offered free supply, and waived
the fees for the courses. I really appreciated his generous and unusual gesture.
A baby boy was born after me, but died when he was only four
months old. Barbara, my only sister was born in 1927, she lives in Israel now, with a
large family, having four children, twelve grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
After Barbara, three more babies came, but they died before they
were six months old. I was unable to find out why they died, my mother never wanted to
talk about it, and my father said, that it wasn't my business.
A few
events to remember
I would like to write about a few incidents, to demonstrate the
family relation, the way my father was shaping his future, and that of every member of his
family.
The
lake:
I had a good friend; his name was John Klein, son of a farmers'
merchant. He had a sister; we were of the same age. We played together most of the time.
One Saturday afternoon, we started to build a small river, and a lake. We took the water
from a big barrel, full of rainwater. Lots of water started flowing in the front yard, and
out to the street.
Their grandmother came home, and she kept on not just yelling, but
also chasing us away with a broomstick. To avoid the punishment, John and me ran to the
back of the yard, and started climbing over the fence. He had lots of experience how to
avoid the rows of barbwire. He made it all right, but on the way down, I ripped open my
palm, and one of my fingers. Seeing lots of blood, we ran to the grandmother's house for a
white towel. She almost fainted to see me, and we ran to the hospital emergency room.
I was lucky in a way, because there was a surgeon on call, and he
closed the wounds with a few metal staples. (That time it was something new). I lost a lot
of blood. They walked me home. My mother almost fainted to see my hand, blood all over me
and the bandages. The second worry of hers was: What my father will say about the
situation. Her worry was justified!
Very soon, my father came home. The first thing he did; he landed
a big slap on my face. The second: took out his belt, and started one of his many
punishments. My mother was yelling at him, my sister peed in her dress, I was crying for
his pardon, but of no avail. In one minute, I was able to free myself, ran outside and hid
in a shed. During the next hours of hiding, I heard arguments, my mother's crying,
begging, and the sound of slapping.
These hours are still etched very deeply in my memory.
Responding to my mother's call, I went back to the house to say a
big SORRY to my father. He accepted it, but that evening I could not have supper, and for
days I was not allowed to attend school.
The ice
cream
One more event will stay with me forever, too:
It was a hot summer. I was about nine years old, when I went
somewhere.
Along the way, I was looking into a candy store, and wished to
have a few pennies to buy an ice cream. Very seldom we had this kind of luxury. As I was
looking in, a man stopped beside me, watching for a while. I started to walk away, but he
asked me if I would like to have an ice cream. With a red face I said 'Yes, but I do not
have any money'. He took my hand, walked into the store, and paid for a chocolate ice
cream. He was a stranger with a warm heart, unlike my father.
I shall always remember it, and will never stop to repay it with
my help to other people.
The
disease, I could not catch
I told a sad story about my friend John and myself. Now, I would
like to recall a funny one:
He had every type of children diseases: chickenpox, rubella, and
the whole gamut of it. If not him, then his sister had it. My mother asked me not to visit
him, for being in close contact; I might catch it, too. You do not believe it: I was not
only visiting him, or her, but I climbed into his bed, playing games, and not one of his
diseases I was ever able to catch. Since then, I have never had any child disease, but my
sister Barbara had the whole array of it.
My friend John and the whole family died during the war.
The
violin
Another anecdote from my picture gallery:
There was a worker in the factory; his name was Paul, a devout
Baptist. Whenever he had a few minutes' free time, lunch or coffee break, he played
the violin. I liked the instrument, and many times, I listened to
the music, not knowing these were religious songs.
He asked me if I would like to learn playing the violin. I was
very eager to do so. After a few trials, he gave me another violin; a smaller one and I
started learning it by the ear, following his notes. A few months later, he asked my
father's permission to take me on Sunday morning to the church and join the small
orchestra. My father was laughing, not believing that I would be able to play in front of
so many people. However, I did, and was the only Jewish person in the congregation to play
a Jesus song.
Paul was teaching me some other music too; some Schubert, Liszt,
and Strauss. Presumably, I was playing well enough, but when my father was approached to
buy the violin, he not only refused to buy one, but forbade me also to play it again. He
also fired Paul for his 'misdeed.'
That was the end of my musical career.
The dog
Let me bark once more:
I am afraid of dogs, any dog. Why?
On the way to school, there was a very large estate with a special
fence around it. When I touched different parts of the fence during my walk, the metal
made a very funny noise, like a drum. I liked it.
It was a very quiet day, when I "let my fingers do the
walking," or I should say the noise. Suddenly big dogs jumped on the fence and bit my
hand very badly. The bigger damage was not the bleeding palm, but the shock I experienced.
Since then, when I see a dog I cross the street, even if the dog is small. If suddenly a
dog barks behind me I sweat, my face becomes pale. Nevertheless, when I am in the company
of a dog in the same room for a while, I can relax, and get friendly with the dog.
The
hazelnut
As you can see, times made me a tough nut, but this is not the
real reason why I do not eat hazelnuts.
I know it is not nice just to take a bite out of a cake and leave
the rest on my plate saying, "I am sorry! I do not eat hazelnuts."
Here is my related story:
When I was about seven, or eight years old I was playing in my
grandmother's garden with my friend, Andrew, climbing on the trees. There were lots of
fruit, and many hazelnut trees. My grandmother told us not to eat any fruit, or hazelnut,
because they were not ripe yet. We would become sick, if we ate any of them.
Did we listen? Of course, we did, but we started to take down some
hazelnuts, still in a green shell. We opened some, and inside we found a soft shell. When
we opened it, there was a grown hazelnut. We ate a few with a bit of after-taste.
In the evening my face blew up, getting big, bloody blisters,
mouth and tongue were red and swollen. For three days I was unable to eat and for days to
sit; guess why?
For me, no more hazelnut! (My son, George does not like it
either).
Where
motherly advice has failed
My mother told me many times to watch other people's good table
manners; to use the fork in the left, knife in the right hand, to be polite and always
greet people the nicest way possible. These things are still in my mind. But she did not
tell me about women when I was 13-14 years old. I learned it the hard way.
I always had infections in my throat in the springtime. One day my
Mother took me to a hospital in Nyiregyhaza - about an hour train ride from our home - to
remove my tonsils. That time it took a full week's stay in the hospital. The end of the
fifth day the evening nurse came in. She leaned over me to adjust the bed sheet on the
other side of the bed. I grabbed her with my hands in the wrong place. She yelled at me
and reported my outburst in my chart. Next day my mother had to take me home, because the
director of the hospital kicked me out.
For a week, I had a hard time to talk, and thanks to my father's
punishment, to sit either.
Vision
with a future
I was 8 years old, and a student in second grade. Sitting in the
middle of the classroom, I had problems reading the blackboard. My teacher realized my
difficulties, and many times moved me to the front row. She suggested to my father to see
an eye specialist, who prescribed corrective glasses to wear. Since then, I am wearing
them.
The school had an active, good soccer team, in which I played
defense. One day we played against another team, when the ball hit me hard between my
eyes, and broke my glasses. I was lucky; it did not damage my eyes. This was another end
to my soccer career.
The last
chapter of Preteen
The early years ended in Kisvarda, and then we moved to Budapest.
I did not have many friends. I do not know why I do not even remember my teachers', or any
of my schoolmates' names. I never visited the house, where I was born. I did not want to
see it, or visit any of the places where we were living in Kisvarda. I never attended any
Class reunion.
The Jewish population of Kisvarda numbered 3770 in 1941, In 1945
only 804. The survivors slowly moved away to larger cities, or other countries. In 1953
there were 355 people and in 1999 no Jews in the city.
My father applied for Hungarian Citizenship, but ran into
difficulties: my mother was born in Nagykaroly. At that time, the region was part of
Hungary, but in 1920 became Rumanian territory. The Hungarian Government tried every trick
not to grant citizenship to Jews. This was a good reason to reject my mother's and the
children's application.
It took some money and three years waiting to become the citizen
of Hungary.
Was it worth it?
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