American Jewish Welfare Society
Object numberM2007/068:014
TitleAmerican Jewish Welfare Society
DescriptionOfficial, typed letter from the Australian Jewish Welfare Society to George (Gyuri) Polgar, husband to Kathy (nee Kaldor) and son-in-law to Imre and Rose Kaldor. This letter dated 7 May 1952 regards the expense statement from the JOINT (the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) for Imre and Rose's fares from Hungary to Australia. At this time, the Australian Jewish Welfare Society was housed in the Maccabean Hall, Darlinghurst. This letter is part of a collection of objects and documents donated by Holocaust survivor Ivan Visontay relating to his family and that of his stepmother Rose (formerly Rose Kaldor).
Imre, Rose and Kathy lived in Debrecen, Hungary before the war. After the Germans’ entry into Hungary in 1944, the family was expelled from their home and confined to a ghetto. They were eventually placed on cattle cars and sent to a forced labour camp in Florisdorf. In February 1945 in the wake of the Allied advance, they were sent along with 200 others on a death march from the camp. They managed to escape and hide out in a nearby village until the end of the war. They discovered later that the Florisdorf prisoners who continued on the march were executed in the forest.
The Kaldors returned to Budapest only to find that their house had been destroyed. Kathy married George Polgar and migrated to Australia in 1949. Rose and Imre followed accordingly in 1951. The family was very happy in Sydney, but Imre was ill and died in 1952. In the following years, Rose married Paul Visontay, who had migrated from Hungary to Australia with his son, Ivan. It was a great coincidence that Rose and Paul crossed paths in Sydney as the two had briefly dated in Hungary in the 1920s when Rose was 16 and Paul was 20.
Imre, Rose and Kathy lived in Debrecen, Hungary before the war. After the Germans’ entry into Hungary in 1944, the family was expelled from their home and confined to a ghetto. They were eventually placed on cattle cars and sent to a forced labour camp in Florisdorf. In February 1945 in the wake of the Allied advance, they were sent along with 200 others on a death march from the camp. They managed to escape and hide out in a nearby village until the end of the war. They discovered later that the Florisdorf prisoners who continued on the march were executed in the forest.
The Kaldors returned to Budapest only to find that their house had been destroyed. Kathy married George Polgar and migrated to Australia in 1949. Rose and Imre followed accordingly in 1951. The family was very happy in Sydney, but Imre was ill and died in 1952. In the following years, Rose married Paul Visontay, who had migrated from Hungary to Australia with his son, Ivan. It was a great coincidence that Rose and Paul crossed paths in Sydney as the two had briefly dated in Hungary in the 1920s when Rose was 16 and Paul was 20.
Production placeSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Production date 1952-05-07
Subjectmigration, families, post World War II, survivors
Object nameofficial correspondence
Materialpaper
Dimensions
- width: 205.00 mm
height: 263.00 mm
Language
- English
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mr Ivan R Visontay
Documentation
Boutique300001629
Boutique300001629