Object numberM1999/026:008
DescriptionLetter (copy of a translated letter) from Elizabeth Goldsmith to her uncles Bela & Pali and brother George telling of her and her sister's experiences in Hungary during World War II. The letter is 15 pages typed in English. It details her life from March 1944 to March 1945. She mentions air raids starting in March 1944 (sometimes from 1am to 8am) and how Jews were evacuated and relocated when their homes were requisitioned by the Germans. Soon food became scarce and there were curfews put in place. She mentions the Arrowcross, the Hungarian Nazis, who were cruel, instigated house arrest and killed Jews without question. On 22 October 1944, Elizabeth and her sister Kato were forced to assemble with other Jewish women and spent the next 6 weeks being marched around Hungary - sleeping in the rain in fields with barely anything to eat enduring appalling sanitary conditions. Finally one evening Elizabeth and Kato escaped near Budapest and made their way back to their family. She mentions a particularly harrowing experience had by Kato who was interrogated for a whole day by the Arrowcross, forced to undress and answer a barrage of questions. Throughout this ordeal she did not once admit that she was Jewish. She was lucky to be released alive. Finally the family were allowed back into their family home although there was minimal food supplies, minimal fuel for warmth and no glass in the windows. At the conclusion Elizabeth writes, "As far as our trip to Australia is concerned ... I would be ready to go at once."
Part of a collection of identity documents, Schutz Pass from the Swedish Embassy in Budapest, protection certificates from the Nunzio Apostolico (ecclesiastical diplomat) and other documents and letters donated by Elizabeth Goldsmith (nee Nandor).
Elizabeth Goldsmith (nee Neuscholsz – changed to Nandor), was born on 13 July 1918 in Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary. She was one of four children: an older sister Kato (Katherine), older brother Gyuri (George) who migrated to Sydney in 1939, and younger brother Palko (Paul) who perished on the Eastern Front while serving in the Hungarian army 1941/2. Like many Hungarian Jews, she and her parents were baptised in 1919 when she was one year old. Baptism enabled her father to keep his job. In October 1944 Elizabeth and her sister were forced to assemble with other woman, and marched to do forced labour, digging trenches. They escaped, made their way back to Budapest and were hidden in the cellear of an apartment the family originally owned. Elizabeth’s mother had meanwhile obtained protective passports (Schutz Pass), identifying the bearers as Swedish subjects awaiting repatriation and thus prevented their deportation. Elizabeth moved into a building that Wallenberg rented in Budapest, protected by diplomatic immunity. In December 1944, during the Soviet siege of Budapest, she was forced to move into a ghetto near they Dohany Street synagogue, short-lived suffering until on 16 January 1945 when the Russians liberated them. Her father, dying of cancer, committed suicide. Her brother in Australia organised permits for the family. Elizabeth arrived in Sydney in 1948; her mother, Irma, followed in 1949. Irma did housekeeping for a while; Elizabeth worked in a deli in Kings Cross then as a book keeper and typist. She met Georg Goldschmid (George Goldsmith), an engineer, who had come to Australia from Austria before the war. George’s father, Siegried, had been murdered in a concentration camp. They married on 3 April 1952.
Part of a collection of identity documents, Schutz Pass from the Swedish Embassy in Budapest, protection certificates from the Nunzio Apostolico (ecclesiastical diplomat) and other documents and letters donated by Elizabeth Goldsmith (nee Nandor).
Elizabeth Goldsmith (nee Neuscholsz – changed to Nandor), was born on 13 July 1918 in Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary. She was one of four children: an older sister Kato (Katherine), older brother Gyuri (George) who migrated to Sydney in 1939, and younger brother Palko (Paul) who perished on the Eastern Front while serving in the Hungarian army 1941/2. Like many Hungarian Jews, she and her parents were baptised in 1919 when she was one year old. Baptism enabled her father to keep his job. In October 1944 Elizabeth and her sister were forced to assemble with other woman, and marched to do forced labour, digging trenches. They escaped, made their way back to Budapest and were hidden in the cellear of an apartment the family originally owned. Elizabeth’s mother had meanwhile obtained protective passports (Schutz Pass), identifying the bearers as Swedish subjects awaiting repatriation and thus prevented their deportation. Elizabeth moved into a building that Wallenberg rented in Budapest, protected by diplomatic immunity. In December 1944, during the Soviet siege of Budapest, she was forced to move into a ghetto near they Dohany Street synagogue, short-lived suffering until on 16 January 1945 when the Russians liberated them. Her father, dying of cancer, committed suicide. Her brother in Australia organised permits for the family. Elizabeth arrived in Sydney in 1948; her mother, Irma, followed in 1949. Irma did housekeeping for a while; Elizabeth worked in a deli in Kings Cross then as a book keeper and typist. She met Georg Goldschmid (George Goldsmith), an engineer, who had come to Australia from Austria before the war. George’s father, Siegried, had been murdered in a concentration camp. They married on 3 April 1952.
Production date 1945 - 1945
Subjectescape, , testimonials, survivors, signs of life, liberation
Object nameletters
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 210.00 mm
height: 297.00 mm
Language
- English
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Elizabeth Goldsmith