Collection of documentation used in Paul Citer's restitution claim
Object numberM2021/034:022
TitleCollection of documentation used in Paul Citer's restitution claim
DescriptionDocuments used as evidence and related material collected by Paul Czitter (Citer) in his claim for Restitution in 1992. This collection includes a variety of documents including the certified copies of Paul's birth certificate, copies of application forms for compensation detailing his experiences during the war, a hand-drawn layout of the Bergen Belsen camp, correspondence with the Claims Conference and a copy of the Claims Conference compensation cheque.
Paul began his restitution claim after reading a Canberra Times article, published in 1992 (also in collection). From this he began a claims process that lasted until September 1996, where his claim was approved. Paul never lived to see the compensation completed, passing away in August 1996.
Part of a collection of birth, death and medical certificates, travel permits and restitution claims relating to Paul (also known as Pál/Pavel) Eugen Czitter (Citer) and his experiences during World War II.
Paul Citer was born in Vienna on 16 June 1921 to Zoltán and Alice Czitter (nee Fürst). Zoltán (born 1893) owned a large business enterprise with his brothers, manufacturing, importing, wholesaling and retailing a variety of goods in Oradea (formerly Nagyvarad), Transylvania, Romania. Paul was expelled from school at the Bundesrealgymnasium as a non-Aryan in 1938 and left to study engineering at Kings College, London. During this period, antisemitic sentiment and restrictive measures grew through the National Legionary State and the Iron Guard. On 30 August 1940, Romania was forced to cede Northern Transylvania (including Oradea) to Hungary.
By 1941, Paul had returned to Oradea at the request of his father but found himself unable to leave again due to the political climate and border closures. He apprenticed as a leather worker and eventually worked within the family's business. By 1942, he was conscripted into the Hungarian Army Forced Labour Battalion IX/3. In his account, he describes building a mountain road with hand tools; being subjected to beatings and was strung by his wrists on a tree by army guards. He was saved by a Jewish doctor within the camp.
Upon completion of the road, his unit was transferred to Vác, Hungary where Paul attempted to escape during a Russian advance. He was captured in August 1944 by German soldiers and taken to a ghetto in Budapest before he was transported to Bergen Belsen in September 1944. He describes the camp conditions as extremely dire with little food, no heating with a constant stench and daily roll calls. Paul relates he was due to be shot however was saved by a guard who was an ex-employee of his father. He and three friends; Rudolf Rosza, Edmund Margithi and Paul Silber, were instead transported to Theresienstadt in March 1945.
In Theresienstadt, he reunited with his aunt, Martha Weiner. He was assigned to a work unit until Russian liberation on 9 May 1945. With rumours of a strict quarantine due to typhus, Paul and his three friends decided to escape before these introduced restrictions. He recalls; "[We] decided not to wait... and skipped camp by marching through the front gate with picks and shovels on our shoulders at 2.00 a.m. shouting "Goodnight" to the Czech guard, who opened the boom and winked at us whilst the Russian guard never suspected a thing." During their travels back to their homes, Paul and his friends interacted with relief committees and organisations such as the Czech Red Cross who provided food and permits to travel back to Oradea, Romania.
Paul returned to his father's apartment, only to be told by the housekeeper of his fathers and extended family's deportation from the Oradea ghetto. Zoltán was deported to Auschwitz with all nine of his siblings and their extended families. He worked as a labourer and continued until he was transported to Ebensee, a sub-camp of Mauthausen in March 1945 where he was murdered. Of 128 Czitter family members, Paul was one of only seven to survive.
Paul reunited with his fiancée, Ekatarina (Kathleen) Biro who had escaped Auschwitz and had hid in Meissen, Germany. They married on 30 July 1945. As the family business was forcibly signed over to the Government, they decided to immigrate and moved to Prague for their eventual transit to Australia and there welcomed a son, George, born in June 1946. The family travelled via ship to Tahiti, then to New Zealand before flying by sea plane in to Rose Bay on 4 December 1946. They were reunited with Paul's mother, Alice, who had immigrated to Australia in 1940. Paul and his family lived with her before moving to a Neutral Bay boarding house. Paul initially supported his family working as a cleaner at Coles before establishing various businesses. He would eventually work as a manager for Lend Lease.
In 1992, he began investigations into a restitution claim, and he was required to supply evidence to support his application. This included physical evidence such as his Yellow Star of David badge, Terezin currency, a written testimony of his persecution and a hand-drawn map of Bergen-Belsen. He also included documents relating to his military service and post liberation ID papers. The process would take over three years to complete with his claim approved for compensation on 9 September 1996, he passed away shortly before, on 30 August 1996.
Paul began his restitution claim after reading a Canberra Times article, published in 1992 (also in collection). From this he began a claims process that lasted until September 1996, where his claim was approved. Paul never lived to see the compensation completed, passing away in August 1996.
Part of a collection of birth, death and medical certificates, travel permits and restitution claims relating to Paul (also known as Pál/Pavel) Eugen Czitter (Citer) and his experiences during World War II.
Paul Citer was born in Vienna on 16 June 1921 to Zoltán and Alice Czitter (nee Fürst). Zoltán (born 1893) owned a large business enterprise with his brothers, manufacturing, importing, wholesaling and retailing a variety of goods in Oradea (formerly Nagyvarad), Transylvania, Romania. Paul was expelled from school at the Bundesrealgymnasium as a non-Aryan in 1938 and left to study engineering at Kings College, London. During this period, antisemitic sentiment and restrictive measures grew through the National Legionary State and the Iron Guard. On 30 August 1940, Romania was forced to cede Northern Transylvania (including Oradea) to Hungary.
By 1941, Paul had returned to Oradea at the request of his father but found himself unable to leave again due to the political climate and border closures. He apprenticed as a leather worker and eventually worked within the family's business. By 1942, he was conscripted into the Hungarian Army Forced Labour Battalion IX/3. In his account, he describes building a mountain road with hand tools; being subjected to beatings and was strung by his wrists on a tree by army guards. He was saved by a Jewish doctor within the camp.
Upon completion of the road, his unit was transferred to Vác, Hungary where Paul attempted to escape during a Russian advance. He was captured in August 1944 by German soldiers and taken to a ghetto in Budapest before he was transported to Bergen Belsen in September 1944. He describes the camp conditions as extremely dire with little food, no heating with a constant stench and daily roll calls. Paul relates he was due to be shot however was saved by a guard who was an ex-employee of his father. He and three friends; Rudolf Rosza, Edmund Margithi and Paul Silber, were instead transported to Theresienstadt in March 1945.
In Theresienstadt, he reunited with his aunt, Martha Weiner. He was assigned to a work unit until Russian liberation on 9 May 1945. With rumours of a strict quarantine due to typhus, Paul and his three friends decided to escape before these introduced restrictions. He recalls; "[We] decided not to wait... and skipped camp by marching through the front gate with picks and shovels on our shoulders at 2.00 a.m. shouting "Goodnight" to the Czech guard, who opened the boom and winked at us whilst the Russian guard never suspected a thing." During their travels back to their homes, Paul and his friends interacted with relief committees and organisations such as the Czech Red Cross who provided food and permits to travel back to Oradea, Romania.
Paul returned to his father's apartment, only to be told by the housekeeper of his fathers and extended family's deportation from the Oradea ghetto. Zoltán was deported to Auschwitz with all nine of his siblings and their extended families. He worked as a labourer and continued until he was transported to Ebensee, a sub-camp of Mauthausen in March 1945 where he was murdered. Of 128 Czitter family members, Paul was one of only seven to survive.
Paul reunited with his fiancée, Ekatarina (Kathleen) Biro who had escaped Auschwitz and had hid in Meissen, Germany. They married on 30 July 1945. As the family business was forcibly signed over to the Government, they decided to immigrate and moved to Prague for their eventual transit to Australia and there welcomed a son, George, born in June 1946. The family travelled via ship to Tahiti, then to New Zealand before flying by sea plane in to Rose Bay on 4 December 1946. They were reunited with Paul's mother, Alice, who had immigrated to Australia in 1940. Paul and his family lived with her before moving to a Neutral Bay boarding house. Paul initially supported his family working as a cleaner at Coles before establishing various businesses. He would eventually work as a manager for Lend Lease.
In 1992, he began investigations into a restitution claim, and he was required to supply evidence to support his application. This included physical evidence such as his Yellow Star of David badge, Terezin currency, a written testimony of his persecution and a hand-drawn map of Bergen-Belsen. He also included documents relating to his military service and post liberation ID papers. The process would take over three years to complete with his claim approved for compensation on 9 September 1996, he passed away shortly before, on 30 August 1996.
Production placeAustralia
Production date 1947-02 - 1996-09-18
Subjectdrawings, personal accounts, identity cards, Theresienstadt ghetto, Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, restitution, post World War II, restitution
Object nameofficial correspondence
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 210.00 mm
height: 335.00 mm
Language
- English
German
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by George Citer. This collection is donated in memory of Kathleen Biro, Paul Citer, Zoltan Czitter.
In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this archival project.