Номер объектаM2012/020:001a
ОписаниеHandwritten letter and envelope from William (Willy) Soor in Sydney, Australia, to his mother Franciska Soor and sister Klara Baneth in a displaced persons camp in Leipheim, Germany. The letter is dated 24 November 1946 and written in Hungarian; it is three pages long, with the third page cut to roughly one quarter its original size. The envelope is stamped to show that the letter passed US Civil Censorship in Germany, and one end is covered with censor's tape. The back is stamped ‘Berlin 3rd December 1946’.
He writes that he was the "Soor family’s disgrace (black sheep), whose only sin was that he opposed the social order, a regime who mothered a society whose basic law was mass murder, war and barbarism, shaming even wild animals, whose laws denied basic human rights, and the right to exist." He is happy to hear news of the family and promises to do everything that is possible to send parcels of chocolate, tinned meat, or tinned fruit, "just ask what you wish for."
Jacov Béla Baneth, born in 1914 in Ujpest, Hungary, was apprenticed as a textile dyer, a job which took him to Budapest where he met and married Klara Baneth (nee Soor) born in 1910, Budpest. They had one child, a daughter, Judy, born in 1942. When Judy was about 10 months old he was taken to do forced labour (Zwangarbeit) in Russia. Judy knows nothing about his time because he never spoke of it. He escaped several times back to Hungary but was always taken back, until 1944 when he was released after about two years back to the ghetto where Judy and her mother and grandmother (maternal – Franciska Soor) had been living. After receiving permits from Raoul Wallenberg, they left and wandered without destination, always traveling at night. Judy remembers sleeping in a castle in Austria for a bit. They were stopped by US Army troops and taken by trucks to a DP camp in Leipheim, Germany, which was guarded mainly by the Russians and contained mostly Hungarian and Polish Jews.
The family lived in the DP camp for three years, from 1945 to 1948. They lived in a small room in a three-story house with a garden. The family received many parcels in the camp from the Jewish community in the United States, some of them personalized from people they didn’t know. They received pansy seeds in one of their parcels and planted them there. They had mattresses and a table that wouldn’t fit at the same time. She went to kindergarten [see photo of kindergarten children celebrating Israel’s independence]. They had practically nothing when they left Hungary, thus the parcels were much appreciated.
Judy remembers her father being busy – he had an official role in the camp administration. He organized a soccer team that played at nearby camps. He had a knack for languages; he spoke German, Hungarian, and English (he taught himself from a book before leaving Hungary), and later he picked up some Russian (from the guards) and Hebrew. Jacov obtained permission to go to the US, but he insisted that a Jew’s place was in Israel, so they waited to go there instead. They finally sailed via Marseilles, arriving in Israel just after independence was declared in 1948. They lived in Israel for 9 years. Jacov worked as a purser on a cruise ship, going away for up to 3 months at a time. But it was hard to make ends meet, and when Judy’s grandmother died, and Judy was 16, they decided to immigrate to Australia, where Klara had relatives, arriving 19 March 1957. Judy’s father was one of four children and her mother was one of 12 children – all survived the Holocaust.
He writes that he was the "Soor family’s disgrace (black sheep), whose only sin was that he opposed the social order, a regime who mothered a society whose basic law was mass murder, war and barbarism, shaming even wild animals, whose laws denied basic human rights, and the right to exist." He is happy to hear news of the family and promises to do everything that is possible to send parcels of chocolate, tinned meat, or tinned fruit, "just ask what you wish for."
Jacov Béla Baneth, born in 1914 in Ujpest, Hungary, was apprenticed as a textile dyer, a job which took him to Budapest where he met and married Klara Baneth (nee Soor) born in 1910, Budpest. They had one child, a daughter, Judy, born in 1942. When Judy was about 10 months old he was taken to do forced labour (Zwangarbeit) in Russia. Judy knows nothing about his time because he never spoke of it. He escaped several times back to Hungary but was always taken back, until 1944 when he was released after about two years back to the ghetto where Judy and her mother and grandmother (maternal – Franciska Soor) had been living. After receiving permits from Raoul Wallenberg, they left and wandered without destination, always traveling at night. Judy remembers sleeping in a castle in Austria for a bit. They were stopped by US Army troops and taken by trucks to a DP camp in Leipheim, Germany, which was guarded mainly by the Russians and contained mostly Hungarian and Polish Jews.
The family lived in the DP camp for three years, from 1945 to 1948. They lived in a small room in a three-story house with a garden. The family received many parcels in the camp from the Jewish community in the United States, some of them personalized from people they didn’t know. They received pansy seeds in one of their parcels and planted them there. They had mattresses and a table that wouldn’t fit at the same time. She went to kindergarten [see photo of kindergarten children celebrating Israel’s independence]. They had practically nothing when they left Hungary, thus the parcels were much appreciated.
Judy remembers her father being busy – he had an official role in the camp administration. He organized a soccer team that played at nearby camps. He had a knack for languages; he spoke German, Hungarian, and English (he taught himself from a book before leaving Hungary), and later he picked up some Russian (from the guards) and Hebrew. Jacov obtained permission to go to the US, but he insisted that a Jew’s place was in Israel, so they waited to go there instead. They finally sailed via Marseilles, arriving in Israel just after independence was declared in 1948. They lived in Israel for 9 years. Jacov worked as a purser on a cruise ship, going away for up to 3 months at a time. But it was hard to make ends meet, and when Judy’s grandmother died, and Judy was 16, they decided to immigrate to Australia, where Klara had relatives, arriving 19 March 1957. Judy’s father was one of four children and her mother was one of 12 children – all survived the Holocaust.
Место изготовленияSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Дата 1946-11-24
Наименованиеletters
Материалpaper
Размерность
- a width: 250.00 mm
a height: 200.00 mm
b width: 90.00 mm
b height: 145.00 mm
Язык
- Hungarian Letter sent from Willy Soor in Sydney to his mother, Franciska Soor (nee Epstein) and sister Klara Baneth (nee Soor) in a DP camp in Leipheim, German.
Sunday 24 November 1946
Page 1
Dearest Muter (Mum)! Klari and dear family
Today the biggest surprise happened with the arrival of a letter from you, written by an unknown person, in contents and from where it originated, but what surprised me the most was, me, who left 25 years ago (a quarter of a century), left a Fascist beautiful Hungarian homeland border, and I haven’t forgotten to write in Hungarian, whereas you who only left Hungary approx. 3-4 years ago, have forgotten to write in Hungarian (because if not, you would have written in Hungarian).
Secondly, you could have got my address from Jozsa. Thirdly, you could have at least written to me where you were, which city, under whose control and jurisdiction – English, American or Russian.
But the biggest surprise was that you asked for ‘permits’, that is, emigration permits – and you don’t even write what names these permits should be in, so I don’t know about the documents, your husband’s name, the child’s name, profession, and length of time in this profession, place city, country, time etc etc, as well as your and Muter’s documents, I don’t know.
Dear Muter, I will start procedures immediately but first I need documents, so please write them immediately, and so when the documents are here, I am nearly sure that you will get it.
Dear Klari, you write that you do not yearn for materialism (financially), for this I am very grateful, because since Jozsa and her family’s coming here, completely cleared me out financially, but I hope you won’t take this in a way that I don’t want to support you financially, but the opposite, whatever I did for Jozsa and her family, I will do for you also.
Page 2
I don’t want to blame myself but even if I didn’t see, I can imagine all that you went through, but I expected at least a sign of life from you and my dearest Mother, who was so good to me, I haven’t heard any news, except a comment from Jozsa that she went to Palestine, now I would like to ask you to write in detail about yourselves and about Muter.
Dearest Mother!
A grey haired man is writing these lines, who was in the Soor family, the ‘family’s disgrace’ (black sheep), whose only sin was that he opposed the social order, a regime who mothered a society whose basic law was mass murder, war and barbarism, shaming even wild animals, whose laws denied basic human rights, and the right to exist.
I am very happy to hear news of you, and now I only ask that in the next letter, please write in your own hand writing, whether in Hungarian or German, write everything, write anything that you need. I will do everything that is possible, write if it is possible to send you parcels to where you are, and what you wish to eat, chocolate or tinned meat or drink, or tinned fruit, just ask what you wish for.
I now close this letter in the hope that you will get it in hand. I ask for a reply immediately (here are International stamps which can be cashed in at the German Post Office).
Lot to all of you,
Your son Willi, Piri, George, Eva and Peter.
Page 3
Piroska has an 8 months old son, and a daughter who is 6 years old, Peter and Eva. They are healthy and we speak a lot about you, when we get the addresses they too will write immediately.
Piroska’s Mum was murdered in Germany, in a Nazi camp.
Willi
Кредитная линияSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Mrs Judy Solomon