Jews from satu mare in the service of health by Gyuri Elefant

Szatmar Jews in the service of health

Introduction The author of this little work must admit his highly ambitious goals. He won’t settle for a mere presentation of the Szatmárnémeti Jews’ historic tragedy, not even for a further evocation of its consequences. More than this, he wishes to make the reader see the very intellectual and spiritual power that is able to turn a minority into something really great. He won’t have his reader’s eye fixed solely onto the rear-view mirror; he should also look ahead, to the death curves and twisting steep slopes of our present life. Everyone can find something to learn from the past. However, provided one wants to live on, man has to learn from it. Drawing the correct lessons by acknowledging the outcries of the past might also make the future look less insecure. And as a moral conclusion: the posterity needs to learn about historic tragedies in order to avoid making the same mistakes and committing the same sins again, but it is highly inappropriate to turn the memory of the victims into capital of any kind, be it moral, political, or economic. When searching for traces of Jews working for the health of the people of Szatmárnémeti, we first recall a passage from the novel entitled “The Siege of Jericho” by Ilyés Kaczér, who was one of the greatest local writers. According to Kaczér, Sándor Shaja Ösztreicher, originally from Nagykároly, completes his medical studies in Vienna. However, emergency calls him home: cholera is ravaging in Szatmárnémeti! As a specialist who graduated in Vienna, he takes on an important part in fighting the disease and saving the lives of the still healthy. Could it be possible that Sándor Ösztreicher has been the first Jewish medical doctor in Szatmárnémeti? Like many other questions, this one also remains unanswered in the present work.

At the Level of Principles The Szatmárnémeti Group of the National Association of Transylvanian Jews listed the aim to join the Zionist world movement as one of its top priorities. Founded in 1920, it claimed to be the continuer and developer within the newly established country borders, in Romania, of the spirituality that had emerged at the already 20 year-old Makkabea Zionist University of Budapest. The Szatmárnémeti Group of the Keren Hayesod - United Jewish Appeal (the Foundation Fund) was led by a 17-member advisory board presided over by Ármin Princz, Mór Reiter Jr, Ignác Sámuel, József Princz. In line with the Palestine reconstruction programme, the association also promoted maintaining the conscience of self identity among the Jews of Szatmarnemeti, as well as economic support for the community. Accordingly, it had special departments for sports, culture, religion, etc, and it also took responsibility for supporting and improving the local Jews’ social condition. The social department of the Szatmárnémeti Group of The National Association of Transylvanian Jews, due to the generosity of local benefactors, as well as the help coming from “Joint”, set up The Jewish Orphans’ Dressmaker’s Shop, The Jewish Craftsman Apprentice School, and a bank for Jews with low income. In addition, the construction and operation of the Jewish Hospital in Szatmárnémeti came as the very culmination of the association’s work.

The idea to found a Jewish hospital had been preoccupying the Jewish community of Szatmárnémeti since the second half of the 19th century. No wonder since the Jewish hospital of Nagyvárad was already operating at that time. Later, in 1928, a prestigious Jewish hospital was established in Kolozsvár. Following the foundation of the Jewish Hospital in Kolozsvár, in 1930 the Paul Erlich Medical Doctors’ Association was established, a scientific and professional organisation of Jewish doctors. Chronologically it was the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital’s turn to be set up, which eventually occurred in 1937, after a whole decade of struggle. Lipót Benedikt, an illustrious Israelite teacher, was the president of the committee which in 1881 set itself as a goal to establish a Jewish hospital in Szatmárnémeti. At that time it seemed that the size of the community’s dream surpassed the frame of reality. However, time proved that if people faithfully stick to their dreams and many dream of the same thing at the same time, sooner or later dreams do come true. Prior to the establishment of the hospital, within the Jewish community of Szatmárnémeti several smaller institutions had appeared, performing nursing and social activities, but the hope for a Jewish hospital was never abandoned by the Szatmárnémeti Jews.

Social Institutions On September 4, 1881, in the conference room of the Israelite community, the Szatmárnémeti Israelite Sick People’s Self-help Institution was founded. Its aim was to grant medical assistance to sick members and offer financial support to their income-deprived families. The Sick People’s Self-help Institution would cover its expenses from membership fees, by organising different tea and dance parties, and from money coming from donations. In the year 1920 a Jewish Boy Orphanage was set up in the Hunyadi Street, where orphans would be taught and educated in the spirit of the Jewish mentality and traditions. The Israelite Women’s Society and Soup-kitchen Association, one of the most active volunteer organisations dealing with social matters in Szatmárnémeti, was founded in 1890. The events they organised were advertised almost weekly in the local press. Often would they invite the socialization-hungry inhabitants of the city to high-standard art performances. The money they raised from such events was used for charity actions of various kinds. A social work of great importance was carried out by the Association of Jewish Handicraftsmen and the Old People’s Asylum, one of whose managers was the rather popular and well-known lawyer, Dr József Fisher. Most of the city’s wealthy Jewish personalities were active members of the Szatmárnémeti branch of the National Israelite Patronage Association, which primarily offered moral and financial support to orphans and poor children. Between the two world wars Mrs Miksa Frischmann came up with the initiative to found the Nursing Association for Hidden Poor and Sick, whose aim is obvious from the very name of the association. They would go from house to house, searching for families who were unable to buy medicine for their ailing members and

who, due to the lack of money, could not afford to go and see a doctor. For such people this organisation proved to be a real help. The Debora Girls’ Society’s noble goal was to educate girls in accordance with the Jewish mentality. Next to general culture topics the society also dealt with the roles assumed by Jewish women in the family and society. Girls were acquainted with the rules of Israelite married life, the sacred marriage laws imposed by the Torah, the laws of seclusion and purification. The ritual bath is one of the basic regulations of the Jewish healthcare. Sexual intercourse must always be preceded by purification through ritual bath. As in the name, the ritual bath is a religious ceremony which is by far not the same as bathing in the tub. Yet they do have one thing in common, they both serve as ways of purification. According to the Jewish religion cleanliness, as the fundamental condition for a healthy body and mind, plays a decisive role in the ritual and way of thinking.

The Jewish Hospital The idea to establish a Jewish hospital in Szatmárnémeti to meet all demands came up again in the 1920s. The initiators assigned the landowner Sándor Csengeri Májer to be the president of the Jewish hospital’s committee. This committee played a major role within the advisory board of the Chevra Kadisha or the Holy Society, which functioned next to the Autonomous Orthodox Israelite Community of Szatmárnémeti. The two communities, the Orthodox and the Status quo, came to an agreement over the topic of the hospital, which was considered to be a huge feat of arms at that time. Within the hospital’s board the representation of the Orthodox to that of the Status quo was 2 to 1. This is why the all-time president of the hospital’s board could only be an Orthodox Jew. The names of the 132 sponsors who contributed to the establishment of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital have been engraved on a marble plate initially placed on the wall of the institution, nowadays found in the memorial house of the Orthodox cemetery. Among the donators’ names we come across the pharmacist Adolf Beráll, the Borgida family, Dr. Samu Fekete - head doctor, the Princz family, Dr. Béla Guttmann - pharmacist, Dr. Gusztav Rooz, József Melchner, Dr. Lipót Fried, etc. The new hospital satisfied an urgent need. Let’s not forget that the “Vorbiţi romaneste!” (Speak Romanian!)-kind of inscriptions soon appeared all over the city while Romanian anti-Semitism was visibly gaining power. How should Hungarian and Jewish patients say what hurts them if what hurts is only allowed to hurt in Romanian? Nothing proved better the anti-Semitism of those in power than the very fact that there was not one Jewish doctor, nurse, midwife, or clerk in any state-managed medical institution of Szatmár county. According to the statutes of the Chevra Kadisha (the Holy Society), the hospital’s advisory board was responsible for the institution’s smooth operation. Without the board’s approval no doctor, pharmacist or nurse could be employed. The board would administer all the money donated to the hospital, could affiliate sponsors in case they were not already members of the Holy Society, and had the right to accept donations from them, exclusively for the institution’s establishment. As we can see, the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital stood under the authority of the Holy Society’s hospital board, which supervised and administered the institution’s property, as well as maintained and provided the necessary financial sources for keeping it in operation. Paying regular visits and offering sick-relief to Israelite patients was also the responsibility of the Holy Society’s hospital board. Furthermore, it also belonged to its duties to ensure free medical attendance and treatment to poor Israelite people.

Although it isn’t directly linked to the history of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital, it ought to be mentioned as an important event in the history of local healthcare, that 1936 was a year of great grief for the population of Szatmárnémeti and its surroundings due to the death of the famous surgeon and head doctor Dr. Béla Lükő. An official delegation represented the Jewish community at his funeral. According to a report published in the March 16th, 1929 issue of the Samos newspaper the future of the Jewish hospital looked quite promising. However, the rather difficult economic situation delayed the completion of the entire building, although work on its execution had been going on for 4 years already. “The giant building of the hospital is completely finished. The introduction of blood vessels into the hospital’s body has already started: plumbing, central heating, electricity will be followed by furniture and equipment”, states the report. Inner fitting was carried out by the Lörincz-Gyárfás “Instalátor” firm from Nagyvárad and by the Katz brothers from Szatmárnémeti. However, the new enthusiasm was still not enough for the work’s complete achievement. Meanwhile, the Szatmárnémeti Jewish doctors stirred international reverberation in March 1933 by launching an appeal to their fellow doctors asking them not to prescribe German medicine to their patients until the Jewish population of Germany have fully regained their citizen rights. In 1935 work on the completion of the hospital building was taken up again. Money continued being raised for this goal. A step forward in the matter of inner fitting had been made by the spring of 1937. On September 25, 1937, after the hospital’s opening ceremony, hospital manager and head doctor Dr. Samu Fekete showed all guests, officials and members of the medical society, around the newly built institution. Thus in autumn 1937 the new Jewish Hospital of Szatmárnémeti festively opened its doors to the public. Above its entrance the following inscription could be read: “Spitalul Evreiesc”; under it the Jewish name “Beth Hacholim Haivri”. The Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital’s first manager was the well known and prestigious ophthalmologist Dr. Samu Fekete, while Aladár Jungreis became its first administrator. Among the hospital clerks only one name could be identified: Lili Goldenstein, who worked for the institution around the year 1943.

In the courtyard of the Jewish Hospital, Dr Markovit Edit is not identified, Dr Jakab Lajos, Glück (Görög) Klári microbiologist, Goldstein Lili clerk.

One year later a journalist from the “Reggeli Újság” wrote the following in one of his articles: “Let’s stop for a minute at the door of a ten-bed ward where issues like wealth, majority and minority, racism, and world politics cease to exist; there are mere people here, and prayers, in whatever language they might be said, all sound the same: ‘God help me, please!’” In a time when people were humiliated and persecuted in the press, on the street, in offices, in shops, the dweller of this building was spoken to with human and healing words. It was a time when even to become a street sweeper one needed to pass a Romanian language competence test. According to a report published on September 25, 1938, by the end of the first year of activity, there had been 810 patients hospitalized for shorter or longer periods in the Jewish Hospital. These people came not only from Szatmárnémeti and its surroundings but from all over the country. Furthermore 300 surgeries had been carried out, 30 per cent of the patients being of non-Jewish origin. The Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital functioned quite well; the institution’s activity broadened and improved year after year until March 19, 1944, when the German fascist troops entered into the country bringing along one of the greatest tragedies in the history of mankind. Prior to this, the 1st anti-Jewish law (May 29, 1929) had already reduced the proportion of Jews in domains of intellectual and freelance activities to 20 per cent, further reduced by the 2nd anti-Jewish law to 6 per cent. In March 1942 the Hungarian government signed the 4th anti-Jewish law, whose greatest victims were Jewish pharmacy owners and doctors with private surgeries, deprived of their right to property. Consequently they were forced to take in Christians as co-owners of their businesses. The need for establishing independent public health institutions was mirrored by shameful events. One such example was a regulation introduced by the mayor of Szatmárnémeti, László Csóka, on June 25, 1942, forbidding Jews to use the town lido. The other degrading example was the regulation No 10860 of April 1943, which, starting with the 16th of May 1943, deprived all Jews of the right to use the local steam and tub bath, and the town swimming pool as well. For several months in 1944 the Nazis used the Jewish Hospital for military purposes. In the city which had by then become “clean” of Jews a Jewish hospital became useless, therefore in June of the same year it ceased to serve its initial purpose. Historical works dealing with this period hardly ever mention the great community loss brought about by the forced labour service and the deportation that Jewish doctors were subjected to.

Shortage of Doctors Calling in Jewish doctors for labour service caused an irreparable shortage of local doctors. As soon as 1943 the manager and head-doctor of the Szatmárnémeti public hospital had already complained about the shortage of professional medical staff. In a letter dated November 3, 1943, addressed to the State Secretary for Home Affairs, he described the actual state of the hospital, revealing the fact that he had been left the only doctor within the surgery department, making it almost impossible for him to perform both surgical and hospital management activities at the same time. In the letter he expressed therefore the following request: “Please detach to the surgical department an experienced surgeon recruited for labour service, as I find myself unable to attend to it all by myself.”

Two concrete examples should picture the difficulty of the situation. The first is about the humiliation Jewish doctors were subjected to, whereas the second deals with the irreplaceable shortage of doctors in Szatmárnémeti as a result of the war and of the deportation. The Jewish doctors’ defencelessness is very well pictured in Dr. Lipót Stern’s story. The manager of the Szatmárnémeti Royal State Hospital, Dr. Nándor Schlagetter, head doctor of the surgery department, asked the Home Affairs minister’s to remit Dr. Lipót Leo Stern’s t salary starting with the day of his oath. In other words, beginning with February 1944, no Jewish doctor was paid any salary without being sworn in. The manager of the public hospital seemed to be attempting the impossible as exactly at that time the Medical Association was forwarding the following proposal: “In case the services of Jewish doctors recruited for labour service are still enlisted for public healthcare purposes, they shall turn in to the Medical Association all the income resulted from the medical practice at the assigned place.” Judging from this perspective, the letter sent by the director of the Szatmárnémeti public hospital to the Minister for Home Affairs has to be described as a revolutionarily courageous deed. Dr. Lipót Stern’s oath, taken in front of Dr. Nándor Schlagetter, sounded as follows: “I, Dr. Lipót Stern, swear to the almighty and all-knowing God to be always faithful to Hungary, its constitution and the Hungarian government, to respect Hungary’s laws, legal traditions and all the regulations of the constitutional government, to obey my hierarchic superiors, to keep the professional secret, and to accurately and conscientiously perform all my professional duties.” Whereas during the two World Wars no Jewish doctor had been allowed to work in any Romanian state-owned medical institution, after 1940 they could be employed. However, the situation soon turned worse as beginning with 1943 no Jewish doctor was allowed to be active in healthcare without taking a written and oral oath. The case of Dr. Ernő Fischer, ophthalmologist, was even more dramatic. Starting with April 5, 1944, all Jews were obliged to wear the yellow star, therefore Dr. Ernő Fischer would daily walk to his workplace in István Square, wearing the yellow star on his coat. As the only ophthalmologist in the hospital, he would treat children and adults of whatever nationality they were - Hungarian, German, or Romanian. On May 6, 1944, Jews in Szatmárnémeti and across the country started to be isolated in ghettos. The Jewish doctors and their families were sent to the death camps with the last transport on June 2, 1944. Dr. Ernő Fischer was also taken to the ghetto, which meant that from May on the hospital was left without an ophthalmologist. On May 11, 1944, the hospital manager turned once again to the Minister for Home Affairs with the following request: “I respectfully bring to your attention that Dr. Ernő Fischer, labour service ophthalmologist, assigned to the ophthalmology department of the hospital I am in command of, has been interned by the authorities into the Jewish collection camp of Mátészalka. As a result of his relocation the department has been left without ophthalmologist, therefore I kindly ask you to assign a new labour service doctor in his place.” The one who signed the petition was once again Professor Dr. Nándor Schlagetter, head doctor and manager of the hospital. There were many other cases similar to the situation brought about by Dr. Ernő Fischer’s deportation. If we consider that in most villages of the county the population was attended almost exclusively by Jewish doctors, it’s hardly imaginable how dramatic the situation became for the majority of the people living in Szatmár county.

The Ghetto Hospital

According to the initial plan, in May 1944 the Jews were supposed to be collected in camps specially designed for this purpose. Eventually it was decided that the ghetto would be set up in the Zrínyi, Petőfy, Báthory and Tompa Streets and their surroundings. As the campaign reached its climax, in the Szatmárnémeti ghetto there were 18,863 Jews coming from districts like Erdőd, Nagykároly and Szatmárnémeti. The Jewish communities affected were those of Apa, Krasznabéltek, Bikszád, Erdőd, Huta (Szelestyehuta), Kacs, Királydaróc, Nagykároly, Sarkad, Szamoskrassó, Szatmárhegy, Szinérváralja, Terep and Vámfalu. Medical attendance in the ghetto was organized and ensured by Jewish doctors. The ghetto hospital was established and managed by the famous ophthalmologist Dr. Samu Fekete, the very same person who, just some weeks before, was in command of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital. David Grosz’s straw hat factory had functioned at 37 Petőfy Street from 1920 till the deportation. It was in the rooms of this huge building where doctor Fekete accommodated the ghetto hospital. Nurses and secondary staff were not exclusively professionals, volunteers played a major role, too. All the best doctors of Szatmárnémeti, among whom Tibor Kőváry, László Sárkány, Ármin Fenyves were there in the ghetto performing their professional duties. The patients in the ghetto gospital can be grouped into three categories: 1. Patients taken over to the ghetto hospital directly from the Jewish Hospital, the Town Hospital, or the wards of some private hospital, respectively those recovering at home or still under treatment. There were plenty of such cases. People just operated on, women just before childbirth, or helpless old people in their last weeks of life were driven out of hospitals and their rooms at home and taken to the ghetto hospital where they were treated and supervised by volunteer doctors and non-medical staff until the final deportation. 2. Male and female members of wealthy families were put to unimaginable torture by the ghetto’s henchmen so as to disclose the place where they had hidden their valuables. Those picked out, both men and women, came out of ghetto commander Sárközi’s torture rooms with broken arms and legs, smashed ribs and bleeding wounds, while Strauss’ Blue Danube roared from all loudspeakers. Had doctor Fekete not set up the ghetto hospital, all these people with broken limbs and smashed organs, and full of bleeding wounds, would have received no medical treatment whatsoever. These were the cases when the ghetto hospital staff would perform life saving duties. Only one example in this respect: Mrs Delman was thrown out of the torture room in an almost unconscious state. With the treatment she received in the ghetto hospital she managed to pull round, was deported and eventually returned home from the deportation. Had it not been for the ghetto hospital, she would have bled to death already in the ghetto. 3. People in the ghetto lived in miserable conditions crammed in like sardines. Not all of them were lucky enough to get a roof over their heads. People sheltered in gardens or in yards, sleeping on the bare ground, or on the concrete floors of laundry rooms fell ill one after the other, needing immediate medical attendance. Until the beginning of the deportation one cannot speak about a great lack of medicine as everyone would take along into the ghetto their medication from home and even supplies to meet all possible demands. Like Szatmárnémeti hospitals nowadays, the ghetto hospital functioned with “brought in medication”, which means that they would smuggle into the hospital bandages, painkillers and other basic emergency articles from the outside. As we can see, the ghetto hospital meant not only human help to the suffering, but also a life-saving service for those completely helpless.

A Home and a Hospital During the first few years after the war the building of the Jewish Hospital played a double role. Jews returning home from their places of deportation with wrecked bodies and souls could not go back to their homes, into the loving arms of their families; what they came back to was the sad view of the bombed city, their burglarized and even burned down houses, a desolating image driving them to exasperation. In 1945 the Jewish Democratic Body Politic was founded, which took upon itself to help and support homeless survivors of the war. The building of the Jewish Hospital seemed to be the most suitable place for providing shelter to those deported and labour serving arriving back home from all directions, a place where they’d receive warm food, medical attendance, but also kind comforting words. Established by the Jewish Democratic Body Politic, the Deported Jews’ Asylum was also placed in the building of the Jewish Hospital, its administration being assigned to Henrik Frishmann (former editor of the Jewish Future magazine). According to a report by Dr. Sándor Grósz on the institution’s activity, published in the first issue of the Deportált Híradó newspaper, which appeared on July 8, 1945, during the early years of its existence the Deported Jews’ Asylum offered shelter to over 7,000 people. However, this doesn’t mean that the hospital had lost its main role of healing people as the institution was functioning as a hospital as well. In 1946, with the help of Joint and of local sponsors, the Jewish Hospital reopened its doors in the very same building. Basically it was the Joint organisation that provided for it the necessary equipment, sheets, blankets, coats, kosher canned food, etc. Medicine for the hospital’s patients was also ensured by Joint. At this time, until his emigration to Canada, president of the hospital board was the lawyer Dr. József Borgida. In 1948, along with the rest of the Romanian hospitals, the Jewish Hospital was nationalised. Ever since then the building has been housing the TBC hospital (pulmonary disease hospital).

The Years before the Expropriation The one who related the story of the Jewish Hospital’s last two years of activity was the Calvinist nurse Gisella Vágássy. She arrived in Szatmárnémeti on the last day of April 1946, by which time the hospital’s role of an asylum had ceased and was only functioning as a medical institution. She was met at the railway station by the hospital’s head nurse, Anna Apán, with a big bunch of flowers. The nurses’ flats were located inside the hospital building, on both the ground and the upper floors. Their work schedule was always the same, no matter if it was a week day or a holiday. At 6 a.m. they’d start bathing the children and then wash the other patients. Throughout the morning the doctors’ visits and the treatments would take place, while in the afternoon they’d continue to perform the prescribed treatments and attend patients. The work day ended at 8 p.m. While at duty, nurses were not allowed to leave the premises of the hospital. Beside accommodation, meals were also provided. On certain holidays, they would receive presents from the hospital board. Between 1946 and 1948 the nursing personnel was composed of Anna Apán, Irén Keresztesi, Ágnes Berger (the Szatmárhegy doctor’s daughter), Ilona Böm (who worked in the lab), Ilona Váncza and Gisella Vágássy. The hospital owned a horse carriage used for acquisition purposes, but it did not have an ambulance. In the institution there were also two cleaning women and a man responsible for heating the ceramic stoves,

keeping the yard clean, chopping wood, etc. In 1947 or 1948 the Princz brothers donated one of their houses to the hospital (at that time it was Dr. Ernő Klein who got in receipt of it), which nowadays serves as a building for outpatient treatments. When hospitalised, the patient would pay for the services received in the hospital (the doctor’s honorarium, electricity, heating, nurses, meals, medicine, bandages, etc.). In the Jewish Hospital only kosher food was available. The person in charge with the kitchen, the socalled “direktris”, would daily walk through the wards, going from bed to bed and taking the orders for next day’s lunch. For lunch every patient received what he had previously ordered. Except for the three main meals, patients could at any time request snacks or drinks that were in stock (e.g. cocoa milk, tea, etc). The kitchen was located in the basement. There were usually two beds is each ward, in some of them even three. Next to each bed there was a nightstand with a night lamp on it. Most of the time patients were accompanied in hospital by family members, thus each ward was usually occupied by the patient and his personal caregiver. This could very well explain the low number of nursing staff existing in the hospital. For keeping contact with the hospital staff, the ward bell was within easy reach. Upon hearing the bell, the nurse would immediately know where and by whom she was needed. Bed sheets were changed every day. On the same floor, to the left and to the right of the main entrance, there were wards for women and wards for men. The ground floor hosted the nursery, the cardiology and the internal medicine department. The surgery, the operating block, the x-ray, the gynaecology and the maternity ward were situated upstairs. In the building there were also a pharmacy, a dentist’s and a laboratory. The hospital’s equipment was good enough to meet all demands. On the hospital’s premises there was also a little chapel where doctors and patients, Jews and Christians would go and pray every day. In the chapel’s building a pharmacy functions nowadays. At that time the hospital was not yet surrounded by the huge stone fence visible today. The entrance gate is also not the same as back then. The old Jewish Hospital’s main entrance was the one which is nowadays used by cars, as the entrance into the building also falls onto this side. All patients in Szatmárnémeti were free to choose their own attending physician, irrespective of whether he was a Jew or a Christian. The hospital took on everyone, irrespective of their religious affiliation, nationality or race. Just like the Mercy Sisters’ Hospital, the Jewish Hospital didn’t discriminate people in any way. The Doctor’s fee was directly negotiated with the attending doctor, but in many cases the patient’s economic situation was taken into consideration. There were cases of wealthy patients who upon recovery, after leaving the hospital, expressed his gratitude with donations consisting of real fortunes. The Jewish Hospital had two secondary doctors: Dr. Lajos Herskovits and Dr. Tibor Scsok, a Christian doctor. The hospital’s most important departments and their chief doctors were: Dr. Gyula Lász – surgery, Dr. Sándor Grosszmann – Internal Medicine (according to Gisella Vágássy a very severe doctor), Dr. Sándor Grósz – gynaecology & obstetrics, Dr. Wilkovots, Dr. Béla Brown, Dr. Tibor Kőváry – x-ray department, Dr. Stern – paediatrics, Dr. Vasile Pop – ENT, Dr. Izidor Reich – cardiology, Dr. Márton Májer – dentistry, Dr. Lászlo Vámos – laboratory. Further names relevant to the topic can be found in the medical biographies included in the second part of the present work.

The process of nationalization in the domain of healthcare was completed between 1949 and 1953. By this time the Jews had realized that the socialist block was like cell of hopelessness. The nationalization proved to be the final stroke that successfully cleaned the city of Jews. Jewish families closed their small businesses with great disappointment and started packing. There were Jews who, led by the ideal of Zionism, fled into the newly formed country, Israel; others just set out to find a better life anywhere else in the world. Then there were those who stayed home, like the family of the pharmacist Sarudi; others hurried to sell all their valuables and left the country. All this in spite of the fact that the county pharmacological company, better known as Centrofarm, continued to help the Szatmárnémeti Jews until 1960 in an attempt to make them find the idea of staying in Romania more attractive. More details about this aspect will be given in what follows. The Szatmárnémeti Jewish community, represented by Jenő Farkas and Ármin Klein, made an agreement with the county pharmacological company, represented by the director Lászlo Sarudi and Vasile Lăcătuş, according to which the pharmacy no 7 was obliged to offer free medicine to Jewish citizens in difficult economic situation, respecting the following procedure: -

a copy of the duplicate prescription would remain in the pharmacy, the other was to be handed in to the Jewish Community on the basis of which the payment was going to be made. the patient or the person authorized by him would confirm by signature that he had received the medicine payment would be made at every 15 days

The Jews, who didn’t easily comply with the idea of going with the crowd, soon realized that within the socialist block all hope was lost for them. Therefore, the first wave of emigration after World War I started, which meant saying good bye for good to the homeland. The next and final wave of emigration took place during the dictator’s reign. As a result the Jewish community was not any longer considerably represented in either the medical, economic, or cultural life of Szatmár county.

Epilogue 11 years passed from the opening of the Jewish Hospital to its nationalization. Due to the Nazi regime almost one year fell out of the hospital’s existence. Beside the Jewish doctors, there were also a few Christian physicians working there, but those were quite isolated cases. The Jewish people who co-operated with this medical institution without interruption throughout its one-decade existence were Béla Brown, Samu Fekete, Klári Görög (Mrs Lajos Glück), Sándor Grosszmann, József Herskovits, Lajos Jakab, Viktor Jordán, Tibor Kővári, Gyula Lász, Márton Májer, Emil Markovits, Edit Eisenstaedter (Mrs Emil Markovits) , Izidor Reich, Péter Róth, Ignác Schtock, Béla Wilkovits. This list does not mean, however, that each of these Jewish doctors worked in the institution; most of them had their own private clinics; others earned their living from working in hospitals owned by either the church or the state. The presence of Jewish doctors in Szatmárnémeti was important not only from professional, but also from social point of view, as they were benefactors and active members of the city’s cultural life, they bought and read books, attended theatre and concert performances, and played music. There was also a buoyant cultural life within civil organizations, where doctors would be the standard-bearers. Moreover, many Jewish doctors were members of Christian cultural organizations and

scientific associations. The Kölcsey debating society and its presiding board, for example, had several Jewish members throughout the decades of its existence.

Jewish Medical Staff in Szatmárnémeti The following chapters represent an attempt to put together a list comprising the names of all Jewish medical staff either born or active in Szatmárnémeti. Many of the entries may differ in length from each other. The fact that we have written more about certain people and less about others, or occasionally even limited ourselves to the mere mentioning of their names, is not to be considered as a way of rating their professional merit, but as the result of how much information we succeeded in finding about them. We have managed to gather a total of 315 names of Jewish doctors, pharmacists, dentists, druggists, nurses, and opticians active in Szatmárnémeti during the 19th and 20th centuries. The majority of them are doctors, 233 people, to whom we have added one biochemist, one psychologist and one medical student, reaching a total of 236 people. Furthermore, we have found 38 pharmacists, 22 dentists, 3 druggists, 6 opticians, and 10 nurses. These numbers are proof that the Szatmár Jewish community had assumed a decisive role in the domain of local healthcare as early as the 19th century. The present list of Jewish doctors, pharmacists, dentists, druggists, opticians, and nurses aims to be as complete and thorough as possible; however, we cannot claim to be convinced to have succeeded in doing so. This is why we kindly ask for and happily accept any amendments and completions coming from our readers, hoping that together we can eventually achieve a really thorough account. It would also be important to scientifically analyse and evaluate the great loss that the town’s healthcare system suffered as a result of the Holocaust. There were 68 doctors, 12 pharmacists, 8 dentists, 1 druggists, 1 optician and 1 nurse executed in the Nazi death camps, which represented a loss of 91 people only in the domain of healthcare. This was a most cruel attempt not only against the Jewish race, but also against all the suffering, irrespective of their race and nationality, an attempt against the whole humanity! In the following we are going to enumerate the names of all Jewish professionals working in the service of health for the benefit of all the people of Szatmár county. Where the sources allowed, we completed the list with further detailed biographic information.

Medical Nurses 1. Mrs. Zwi Bar, Gabriella Grosz, medical nurse, was born on May 28, 1946, in Szatmárnémeti. She graduated from the Kölcsey Ferenc National College and later qualified as a medical nurse at the Technical College of Medicine. She worked for one year in the surgery department of the Nagysomkút hospital. She immigrated to Israel in 1967. Since then, for 42 years, she has been working in the surgery department of the Assaf Harofe Hospital of Rehovot, where for the last 30 years she’s filled the position of head nurse. She has three children, Jozefa, Jonit, and Janiv.

2. Mrs. Gary Brevoort, Judit Nove, medical nurse, specialized in dialysis, was born on November 5, 1947, in Szatmárnémeti. She studied at the Doamna Stanca and the Mihai Eminescu High Schools. For a year she was a student at the Szatmárnémeti Technical College of Medicine, then, in 1966, her family emigrated to the United States of America. Throughout her rough-and-tumble life she’s lived in Brooklyn, Detroit, Michigan, currently living in Cleartwater.

3. Mrs. Sándor Fábián, Magdolna Bleier, medical nurse, was born on August 20, 1922. She completed her studies at the Zárda church school in Szatmárnémeti. She spoke six languages. She was deported in 1944, but returned from Auschwitz. She worked as a nurse in the dermatology department of the Szatmárnémeti Hospital. After many years of gathering experience in the medical domain, in 1965,s he and her daughter enrolled at the Szatmárnémeti Technical College of Medicine. Once in possession of the medical nurse degree she worked in a circumscription surgery. In 2000, after her husband and her son-in-law, Willy Stein, died, she immigrated together with her daughter Rozi to Israel, where she died in 2001.

4. Hanna Májerovits, hospital nurse, was born in 1924. She lived at 71 Kinizsi Street. She was a victim of the deportation. 5. Mrs. György Schwartz, Éva Friedmann, medical nurse, was born in 1953 in Kolozsvár, as the daughter of Dr Zoltán Friedmann. She went to high school in Nagykároly, commuting by bike from Börvely every single morning. She was involved as a singer all school-organized musical activities and had successful performances in many Hungarian-populated Transylvanian localities, but also on the stage of the capital city. She began her medical studies at the Nagyvárad Technical College of Medicine, but completed her secondary medical studies in Kolozsvár. In 1973 she married György Schwartz, who was her brother-in-law’s, Ivan’s brother. Then she worked at the Psychiatric Clinic in Kolozsvár. In 1976 they left Romania and moved to Israel. She currently works as a nurse at the Petah Tikva Belinson Hospital, in the internal medicine department led by her husband. From what her father recalls, in 2007 ‘Évike and Gyuri were running a hotel in Hungary’.

6. Mrs. Willy Stein, Rozália Fábián, medical laboratory assistant, was born in Szatmárnémeti on July 23, 1947. She was the daughter of Sándor Fábián, the president of the local Jewish community. She completed her high-school studies in the Doamna Stanca High School. Together with her mother they enrolled at the Szatmárnémeti Technical College of Medicine and got a degree as a laboratory assistant in 1967. She worked in the haematology, pathology and chemical laboratory of the Dr Lükő Béla Hospital located in the Istvan Square. In 2000 she immigrated to Israel. At present she lives in Kiriat Bialik, but works in Haifa in one of the Carmel Hospital’s labs.

7. Mrs. Gábor Steinberger, Kató Rozenkranz, medical nurse, was born in Máramarossziget. After she obtained a medical nurse degree in Szatmárnémeti, she returned to her hometown and worked in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her family immigrated to Israel in 1976.

8. Mrs. Árpád Varga, Magdolna Sára Kővári, medical nurse, was born in Szatmárnémeti on May 21, 1950. She completed her high-school studies at the Mihai Eminescu High School and then she qualified as a medical nurse at the Szatmárnémeti Technical College of Medicine. She worked for 25 years in Szatmárnémeti in the IPSUIC factory’s surgery and later in the local polyclinic’s ENT surgery. She married Dr Árpád Varga in 1994. She retired from work in 2009.

9. Mrs. Zoltán Weisz, Ibolya (Csimbi) Király, x-ray technician, was born in Kismarja on January 14, 1920 as the daughter of Szerén Grünfeld and Sándor Király. Both parents died during deportation. Between 1945 and 1965 she was an x-ray technician at the Szatmárnémeti Hospital assisting doctor Bolgár. In 1965 she moved to the USA, but continued to practise her profession until 1982 when she retired. She passed

away on September 28, 2001. 10. Sarolta Weisz, midwife - after many years of working in Budapest, she eventually settled down in Szatmárnémeti in February 1911.

Dentists 1. Gabriella Alföldi. She learned dentistry from her father. 2. Móric Berger, dentist, was born in Nagysomkút on April 9, 1914. He worked as a dentist in Szinérváralja. In 1971, together with his wife Marika Klein, who was a pharmacist, he immigrated to Israel. He died in Ashdod on February 18, 1972.

3. Mrs. Siegfried Freiberger, Gabriella Havas, dental technician, was born in Szilágycseh, but later the family moved to Zilah and eventually arrived in Szatmárnémeti in 1950. She learned dentistry in Nagyvárad. Her father, Gyula Havas, is buried in Szatmárnémeti Status Quo cemetery. In 1984 the family moved to Israel. At present Gabriella lives with her daughter, three grandchildren and mother Olga in Kiriat Bialik. 4. József Glück, dental technician was born in Szatmárnémeti in 1911. He died during deportation. 5. Jenő Grosz, dentist, was born in 1905. He worked in Szatmárnémeti in the 1940s and was Major Sándor Grosz’s brother. He was married to Lili Herschkovits Lili and their son Gyuri, is a dental surgeon in Australia. . He was deported from Cluj (Kolozsvar). He died in 1946 following the illnesses acquired in the camps. He is buried in the Szatmárnémeti Orthodox cemetery.

6. Ignác Grünfeld was a dentist in Szatmárnémeti after World War II. He is buried in the local Status Quo Ante Cemetery. 7. Éliás Elijau Háger, dentist, worked in Szatmárnémeti after World War II. He was born in Felsővisó, Máramaros county, in 1911. As one of the family’s six children, he was only 17 when his father died and was forced to assume a major role in his brothers’ and sisters’ upbringing. The deportation started while he was performing labour service. His mother, his wife Milava Segal, and their only son Samuel were deported and killed. Elias Hager fled to Budapest and with the help of a certificate issued by the Swedish embassy he succeeded in saving his life. After World War II he settled down in Szatmárnémeti and married Etelka Berger, who had lost her whole family in the Holocaust. His private surgery was located in Batthyány Street. In 1961 he left the country and moved to Tel Aviv, where he opened another surgery. He passed away in 1976 at the age of

65. The information about Elias Hager has been provided by his daughter, Szonja Háger, who was born in Szatmárnémeti in 1951.

8. Ábrahám Bumi Hartstein, dentist, was born in 1905 in Szatmárnémeti. He died during deportation. 9. József Hirsch was a dentist in Tasnád. 10. Miklós Hold was a dentist between 1960 and 1970. He died in Szatmárnémeti. 11 Zoltán Dávid Holtzer, dentist, was born in 1923. He died during deportation. 12. Sándor Izrael, dentist, worked in Túrterebes and Szatmárnémeti in the 1940s. He died in Túrterebes and was buried in the local Roman-Catholic cemetery. 13. Sándor Klein, dentist, worked in Szatmárnémeti during the 1940s. 14 Ábrahám Andor Kővári, dentist, died during labour service. 15. Mrs. Lázár, Gabriella Rella Barabás, dentist, was born in 1912 in Szatmárnémeti. Her parents were Bertalan Barabás and Záli Herskovits. Mrs. Lázár worked as a dentist in Kolozsvár at 32 Széchényi Square, where she was deported from. She died during deportation. 16. Ármin Lefkovits, dentist, worked in Szatmárnémeti during the 1940s. 17. Manó Mandel purchased and commercialized dental equipment in Szatmárnémeti between the two world wars. 18. Sándor Smilu Mátyás, dentist, was born in 1914 in Máramarossziget and completed his high-school studies in his hometown. In the 1930s he moves to Szatmárnémeti. His wife, Piri Steinberger, gave birth to only one child, Ervin, in 1942. Both of them were deported and did not return from the death camp. Sándor Mátyás was taken to labour service, but returned in 1946. Then he married a lady from Máramarossziget, Sári Slimi Rézműves. They lived in Szatmárnémeti, where Sándor worked as a polyclinic dentist, but at an amateur level he was also preoccupied with painting. In 1973 they immigrated to Israel where he continued working as a dentist in Kiriat Yam. The couple had two daughters, Hédi, who is an engineer, and Lucsi, a clerk at the University of Jerusalem. He died in 2000.

19. Jenő Roth, dentist, was born in 1912 and died during deportation. 20. Leopold Lipót Sárkány, dentist, was born in 1882, at 13 Petőfi Sándor Street (Petru Rares Street). Between 1914 and 1918 he performed labour service on the Russian theatre of war. He returned from World War I as an army pensioner. He died in 1944 during deportation.

21. Sándor Sárkany, dentist, was born in 1909. He settled down in Australia and eventually died there.

22. Hugó Taub, dentist, commercialized dental equipment. He was born in 1912 at 13 Vardomb Street (at that time Dragos Teofil Street) and died during deportation.

Pharmacists 1. Mrs. Jenő Apfel, Erzébet Herskovits, pharmacist, born in 1905, worked in Nagykároly. She perished during deportation, in 1944. 2. Adolf Beráll, pharmacist, lived in Szatmárnémeti at 23 Böszörményi (Maniu) Street. He was born on December 19, 1880 in Rădăuţi next to the river Siret. He went to school in his hometown, but learned pharmacology and obtained a pharmacist degree in Cernăuţi in 1904 and then worked as a pharmacy assistant in Siret. In 1927 he founded the Caritas pharmacy in Szatmárnémeti at 1 Kölcsey Street. In 1933 he was member of the Szatmárnémeti Pharmacists’ Association. According to Gyuri Elefant’s records he lived at 3 Böszörmenyi Street. In 1944, when the deportation of the Jews took place, Árpád Jakab became owner of the pharmacy. Adolf Beráll was deported and never returned from Auschwitz. 3. Edit Beráll, pharmacist, was the pharmacist Adolf Beráll’s daughter. Following her return from Auschwitz, she learned pharmacology in Bucharest. After the nationalization she played an important role in establishing the Szatmárnémeti Pharmacological Company which was set up by drawing together all the local nationalized pharmacies. She wrote several books and papers on chemistry topics. Later she moved to Nagybánya and eventually immigrated to Israel. 4. Mrs. Móric Berger, Mária Klein, pharmacist, was born on July 6, 1926 in Szilágycseh. She got a pharmacist degree in 1951 at the Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy of Marosvásárhely. In 1971 she immigrated to Israel. She worked in Ashdod and died there on January 16, 1998. Her son and two grandchildren have been cherishing her memory ever since.

5. Dr. Artúr Berkovits, pharmacist, was born in Enyed on December 14, 1904. He completed his pharmacological studies in Bucharest, in 1930. In 1933 he was member of the Szatmarnemeti Pharmacists’ Association. In 1935 he purchased the Megválto pharmacy located in the Brăteanu Square (a.k.a. Deak Square, or starting with 1940 Horthy Miklós Square). Following his return from deportation he moved his pharmacy to the premises of the Szent Ferenc pharmacy owned by János Kovács. In 1958 he became manager of Pharmacy No 7 (at the corner of Kölcsey and Kazinczy Streets). In 1962 moved to Austria, where he eventually passed away.

6. Ilona Bernáth, pharmacist, was born on March 23, 1912, or, according to other records, on December 12, 1893, in Batiz. She learned pharmacology in Kolozsvár. Between 1930 and 1932 we find her working in Szatmárnémeti in the Megválto pharmacy, in 1932 in Avasújváros, and in 1940 in Avasfelsöfalu, where she was in charge of István Nagy’s pharmacy. She was deported in 1944. In Auschwitz she broke rocks and was not spared of the torments of captivity. Later, however, she became the administrator of the concentration camp, a position that allowed her to help her fellow sufferers of Szatmár with food, medication and clothes. After she returned from deportation, making use of the possibilities ensured by the law no 804 she opened her own pharmacy, which was later nationalized. After the nationalization she continued to work in different pharmacies in Szatmárnémeti. 7. Móric Braun, pharmacist. 8. Zoltán Brüll, pharmacist, was born in Szilágysomlyó, in 1892. He went to primary school in his hometown, then completed his high-school studies in the Wesselényi gymnasium in Zilah, and eventually obtained a pharmacist degree in Kolozsvár. His first workplace was in Máramarossziget. Between 1914 and 1916 he served in the Hungarian Army’s 32nd Infantry Regiment. He returned from the war with a severe 60% invalidism. In 1918 he opened his private pharmacy in Borsa. He then married Franciska Lenobel, a primary school teacher, and had four children, Ella, Irén, Sándor and Béla. In 1920 he founded the Sas pharmacy, located in Felsővisó at 9 Rákóczi Street, which he was in charge of until the deportation. After the nationalization the pharmacy’s name was changed into Pharmacy No 24, but Zoltán Brüll continued to be its manager until his tragic sudden death. He died from a heart attack at his workplace and thus became the first deceased employee of the Szatmárnémeti Pharmaceutical Company’s Máramaros branch. The 190-cm tall man is dearly remembered by his fellow pharmacists. 9. Márton Búzási, pharmacist, was born on January 17, 1896 in Naprád. He obtained his pharmacist degree in 1916 in Budapest. In 1929 we find him working in Szatmárnémeti in the Erzsébet Királyné (Queen Elizabeth) pharmacy, and later, in 1932, in Nagybánya, in Miklós Fodor’s pharmacy. From 1941 to the day of his deportation he was in charge of the pharmacy in Érendréd. Unfortunately he never returned from Auschwitz. 10.Endre Epstein, pharmacist, was born on July 21, 1886 in Tiszafüred. He served his apprenticeship as a pharmacist and passed the final examination (the so-called “tirocinalis” exam) in 1908 in Kolozsvár. He graduated from university in 1910 in Budapest, then worked as a pharmacy assistant in Arad and later Budapest. On April 2, 1924 he moved to Szamoskrassó, where he purchased the Remény pharmacy. While

on labour service in Vörösmart, the famous Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti was a frequent guest in the hospitable pharmacist’s home in Szamoskrassó. 11. Margit Friedmann, pharmacist, was born on August 6, 1903 in Szatmárnémeti. She completed her apprenticeship period in 1927 in Kolozsvár, where she also graduated from university in 1932. She worked in Szatmárnémeti, in the Caritas pharmacy, until her deportation that she did not survive. 12. Gerendás Jenőné Goldenthal Mária, Pharmacist assistant. She was born in Oradea (Nagyvarad) on September 6th, 1911, to a family of 3 children. The deported Goldenthal family was sent to the camp towards the end of the transports. Two 9 years old twins were sent to the incinerators by Mengele. Marika who was two and a half years old, was hidden in her mother’s coat and wasn’t discovered. She survived and returned from the concentration camp. In Nagyvarad, her place of birth, she completed her studies and asked to be dispatched in Szatmárnémeti area where she married Geredas Jeno, a mechanical engineer. She gave birth to two daughters, Eva and Carmen and she has two grandchildren. In 1982, the family immigrated to Israel. Maria worked at the Kupat Holim in Jerusalem until the year 2000 then the family moved to Modiin. There she worked for one more year and retired. 13. Mrs. Geva, Diana Teichmann, pharmacist, was born on May 24, 1961 in Szatmárnémeti as the daughter of Dr Izsák Teichmann and the pharmacist Bella Altaras. The Teichmanns immigrated to Israel on April 2, 1970. After completing her high school studies in Netanya, she enrolled at the University of Jerusalem in 1981, where she studied pharmacy and eventually got a pharmacist degree in 1987. She is the mother of three children, Adam, Karen and Ben. Currently she is the Country Manager for PPD Israel (Institute of Pharmaceutical Clinical Research).

14. Anna Sarolta Gotulschi, born Jonás, pharmacist, lived between 1912 and 1984. She was assistant-manager of the Szatmárnémeti Pharmacological Company between 1952 and 1955, later administrator of Pharmacy No 4 (1955-1970) until the day of her retirement. She rests in the Szatmárnémeti Jewish cemetery, her memory being preserved there on a 72x59-cm marble plate.

15. Dr. Béla Guttmann, pharmacist, was born in on July 13, 1888 in Bodrogszerdahely. He completed his pharmacy apprenticeship prior to the university studies in the Magyar Korona pharmacy of Szatmárnémeti and in Budapest, where he eventually got a diploma in 1911. He worked in Szatmárnémeti in the Szent István pharmacy between 1912 and 1914. He got a doctor’s degree in pharmaceutical chemistry. During World War I, between 1914 and 1918 he served on the Russian theatre of war. In possession of several military decorations, he returned from war as a pharmacy lieutenant. In 1923 he purchased Sámuel Rohrlich’s Magyar Korona pharmacy located in Szatmárnémeti. He also offered financial support for the establishment of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital. In 1933 he was member of the Pharmacists’ Association. Furthermore, he was involved in public education activities and a member of the Szatmárnémeti Tarsaskor (Coterie) founded in 1933. In 1944, due to his military distinctions, he was spared from deportation, but he quickly packed and moved together with his family to Budapest, where he died at the age of 56, on November 25th. His widow and their daughter Katalin shortly returned home after the war, but then left Szatmárnémeti and the country again. In Szatmárnémeti there were three people altogether spared from deportation: the pharmacist Dr Béla Guttmann, the tailor Mr Kitájer, and the journalist, composer and violinist Dr Miklós Havas. Miklos Havas earned this privilege by the fact that he had not taken an oath in front of the Romanian authorities, but contrary to Béla Guttmann he took the authorities’ promise for granted and remained home in his István Square flat. This proved to be a huge mistake as it soon turned out that the fascists had set him up. He was deported to Auschwitz, where he eventually died.

16. Jónás Jenő György Kaufmann, pharmacist, was born on July 15, 1915 in Ákos, Szilágy county. He obtained a pharmacist degree in 1937 in Bucharest. Soon after that, he started working in János Ploszka’s pharmacy in Halmi. He died during deportation.

17. Pál Kellner, pharmacist, was born in Halmi. He had worked in Mihály Molnár’s St István pharmacy until 1944, when he was deported. He never returned from deportation. 18. Gerő Kiss, pharmacist, was born on August 28, 1895 in Fehér county. Between 1915 and 1918 he served as a machine-gunner in the Hungarian Army’s 22nd Infantry Regiment on the Russian theatre of war. He got a pharmacist degree in 1921 in Kolozsvár. In 1922 he was administering the Szentháromság pharmacy in Szilágysomlyó. In 1933 he was member of the Szatmár Pharmacists’ Association. He was in charge of the Aranykereszt pharmacy until his deportation in 1944. Gerő Kiss never returned from Auschwitz. 19. Dezső Klein worked as a pharmacist in Nagykároly in 1924-1925. 20. Miklós Klein, pharmacist, was born on October 17, 1904 in Sárkozújlak. He first did his apprenticeship in the Gránátalma pharmacy of the Mercy order and got a pharmacist degree in 1929 in Bucharest. Between 1930 and 1936 he worked in Sepsiszentgyörgy, then beginning with 1938 in Halmi in the Oroszlán pharmacy. 21. Anna Kolb, pharmacy assistant, got her degree towards the end of the 1960s. She worked in several pharmacies in Szatmárnémeti and Nagykároly. 22. István Lázár, pharmacist, was born in 1909 and died during deportation.

23. Ervin Lebovics, pharmacy assistant, was born on September18, 1946 in Szatmárnémeti. His parents were Ernő Lebovics and Klára Gelbstein. He graduated from Mihai Eminescu High School in 1963. From 1965 to 1967 he studied pharmacy at the Szatmárnémety Technical College of Medicine. At first he worked at the County Pharmaceutical Company (Centrofarm) then at the Public Health Department (Sanepid). In 1982 he immigrated to Israel. For three years he worked in the Soroka Hospital of Beer Sheva, then he moved over to the Kupat Holim where he’s been pursuing his profession until the present day. He and his wife, Mária Uszkai, have two children: Erika, who is also a pharmacist, and Erik, who is still a student.

24. Mrs. Löwenhos, Judit Fogel, pharmacist, graduated from Doamna Stanca High School in 1957 and got a pharmacist degree in 1963. Until her immigration to Israel in 1963, she had worked in Halmi. After practising pharmacy at the Kupat Holim for 38 years, she retired in 2003. She has a son and a daughter, both parents of further two children each. 25. József Markovits was born n 1901. Although a pharmacist, he had a perfumery called Fortuna in Kazinczy Street, Szatmárnémeti. In 1943 we find him working in Felsővisó. After the nationalization he mostly moved from one pharmacy to another filling in for colleagues who were either sick or on holiday. He emigrated to the United States of America at the beginning of the 1960s. 26. József Markovits, pharmacist, was born in 1902. He was taken to the ghetto in Szatmárnémeti together with his wife Róza Adlerstein and their little daughter Eta. All of them got killed by the fascists. Béla Ötvös met him in Matthausen. “He was worn out and for a second he put down his spade. The SSguardian dashed immediately over and with the stock of his rifle knocked him silly. Shortly after this incident he contracted a severe diarrhea, which, upon the second occurrence, killed him”, remembers Béla Ötvös. 27. Gábor Paneth, pharmacist, worked in Nagykároly in the so-called hospital pharmacy during the 1960s-1970s. 28. Jenő Paneth, pharmacist, as born in 1899 in Tasnád. His family settled down in Transylvania in 1720. Jenő Peth got his high-school diploma in Nagykaroly. He studied pharmacology at the universities of Paris and Strasbourg and got a degree in 1927. In 1928 he opened his own pharmacy in Margitta. His wife Sarolta Katz bore him two sons who were called Imre and György. In World War I he served as a cadet master sergeant. 29. Sámuel Rohrlich, pharmacist, was the owner of the Korona pharmacy located at 15 Deák Square between 1900 and 1923. 30. Vasile László Sarudi, pharmacist, was born on May 15, 1922 in Felsőbánya. His father Dr Farkas Vilmos Sarudi was a lawyer in Nagybánya, his mother Erzsébet Roth was a housewife. The old parents were hit by the tragedy of the deportation and neither of them returned from Auschwitz. Between 1943 and 1945 László Sarudi was detached for labour service to Russia. Following his return home he enrolled at the Chemistry Faculty in Kolozsvár. After three years spent there, he passed an equivalency exam and moved to Marosvásárhely to study at the Faculty of Pharmacy within the Marosvásárhely University of Medicine and Pharmacy. On December 31, 1948, in Dés, he married Lili Hárnik, a pharmacy student born in Dés. After

successfully passing his final exam and thus obtaining his pharmacist degree, he continued to work as an assistant lecturer at the Marosvásárhely University of Medicine and Pharmacy. In 1950 he was promoted to director of the Marosvásárhely Pharmaceutical Centre, a position that he filled until 1959. He then attended a professional course on drug evaluation in Bucharest and got a job at the Marosvásárhely Drug Evaluation Laboratory. Soon he became director of the Szatmárnémeti Pharmaceutical Centre, a position that he occupied between 1959 and 1966. Starting with 1966 he was in charge of Pharmacy No 8 in Szatmárnémeti. The energetic, smart and creative administrator soon turned Pharmacy No 8 into the city’s leading pharmacy. In 1987 Sarudi immigrated to Israel. Before departure he left valuable professional books to the author of the present work. Until 2003 he was a pharmacist at the Netanya policlinic (at Kupat Holim). He passed away on September 25, 2005 in Pardes Hanna, at the age of 83.

31. Mrs. László Sarudi, Lily Hárnik, pharmacist, was born on November 26, 1923 in Magyarlápos (Târgu Lăpuş). Her father Lajos Leopold Hárnik was a prolific lawyer in Dés, her mother’s name was Malvin Kertész. Lily Hárnik completed her high-school studies in Kolozsvár. It was there that she fell in love with the theatre. She regularly attended philharmonic and theatre performances in Kolozsvár and later in Marosvásárhely and Szatmárnémeti. In 1944 she and her family were deported to Auschwitz. Only Lily returned. She then enrolled at the Faculty of Pharmacy within the Bucharest University of Medicine and Pharmacy. On December 31, 1948 she married László Sarudi, at that time still a pharmacy student in Marosvásárhely. Mrs. László Sarudi, Lily Hárnik got her pharmacist degree in 1950. For a while she worked in Dés, then she became an assistant lecturer at the chemistry department of the Marosvásárhely University of Medicine and Pharmacy. Her first son, András, was born on February 18, 1951. He became a mechanical engineer but died at an early age, on September 10, 1988 in Israel. Her second son, Peter, was born on January 27, 1954; he became an architect and immigrated to Israel. Mrs. Sarudi was chief of the Szatmrnemeti Drug Evaluation Laboratory between from 1959 to 1971. Between 1971 and 1987 she was head pharmacist at the Szatmárnémeti TBC (pulmonary disease) Hospital’s pharmacy. In 1987 the family moved to Israel. In the period between 1988 and 2005 she worked in Netanya, in the pharmacy of the local polyclinic (at Kupat Holim). She died on February 9, 2008 in Pardes Hanna.

32. Sándor Steinfeld, pharmacist, was born in 1926. His father’s first name was Márton. They lived at 13 Báthory Street. He died in Mauthausen. 33. Janette Stern, pharmacist, obtained her pharmacist degree in Bucharest. In 1951 she became director of the Szatmárnémeti Pharmaceutical Company. However, her husband’s transfer to Nagybánya (he was a Securitate officer) soon forced her to resign from this position. For a short while she was in charge of a pharmacy in Nagybánya, but she soon committed suicide. 34. Mrs. Izsák Teichmann, Bella Altaras, pharmacist, was born in Moldavia, in Dorohoi, Botoşani county, on April 28, 1929. She graduated from high school in her hometown. During the war the family was deported to Transnistria, but her father did not make it back. She obtained her pharmacy degree in 1958 in Jászvásar (Iaşi). Life brought her to Szatmárnémeti and as soon as January 15th 1958 she married the physician Dr Izsák Teichmann. Their daughter Diana was born in 1961. She worked in the Szatmárnémeti Drug Evaluation Laboratory until the spring of 1970, when the Teichmanns immigrated to Israel. She continued to practise her profession in Netanya at the Kupat Holim. She currently lives in Tel Aviv.

35. Mrs. Velicsek, Sára Darvas, pharmacist, was born on March 7, 1916 in Szatmárnémeti. During the 1940s she was registered in Nagysomkút by her first husband’s name as Mrs. Blumenfeld, Sára Darvas. She died on April 4, 1958 in Szatmárnémeti, at the age of 42. In Szatmárnémeti she first worked in Pharmacy No 8, later in Pharmacy No 58, the TBC hospital’s pharmacy, until the end of her life. She rests in the local Status Quo Cemetery. 36. Tibor Wertheimer, pharmacist, was born on October 4, 1918 in Szatmárnémeti as the son of a timber-merchant. His father had moved from Kolozsvár to Szatmárnémeti in 1908 and married Mihaly Markovits’s daughter, who was a leather- and spirit-merchant. His son, Tibor, completed his high-school studies

at the Szatmárnémeti Mihai Eminescu High School. He started studying pharmacy in Vienna, and did so until the Anschluss of Austria. The next stop was the Sorbonne University of Paris, but Hitler seemed to be following him there, too. In 1939 he returned to Romania and continued his studies in Bucharest, meanwhile doing his apprenticeship in the Szatmárnémeti Caritas pharmacy. The final destination of his study journey was Szeged, where he eventually obtained a pharmacist degree. In 1944 he was taken away for labour service, but he returned to Szatmárnémeti one year later. Between 1949 and 1951 he administered the City Hospital’s pharmacy. In 1951, in the chapel of the Jewish Hospital he founded the TBC hospital’s pharmacy, which he was in charge of until 1953. In 1953 we find him working in Agigea as the keeper of the TBC Sanatorium’s pharmacy. In 1961 he was working in Brassó. Still that year he immigrated to Israel and opened his own pharmacy in the locality called Zaft. Having fallen victim to a severe eye disease, he was forced to give up his job and close down his business.

37. Widder László, pharmacist born in 1909, Widder Peter’s son. Victim of the Holocaust. 38. Widder Péter, pharmacist. Like the dentist Gorog Miksa, Wiedder Peter was also born in Szobrancon, near Kassa on July 23 rd, 1879. He finished his earlier studies in Ungvar and in 1901 in Kolozsvar, was accredited as a pharmacist. He worked as an apprentice in Hajdúböszörmény then in Hajdúdorog. In 1911, April 16th he bought the Aranysas (Golden Eagle) pharmacy in Baia Mare. His wife Ester was born in 1883. Documents dated 1941 show that 62 years old Widder Peter manages the Golden eagle pharmacy. In 1944 he was deported and never returned.

Druggists 1. Béla Bródy, druggist, was born in 1882 in Budapest. His mother was Mrs Vilmos Bródy, Regina Weinberger. He settled down in Szatmárnémeti between the two world wars and got married. His daughter Éva was born in Szatmárnémeti in 1920 and his wife also died here. He was the owner of the Diánna drugstore in Kazinczy Street. Both Béla Bródy and his daughter were deported, but they both returned from the death camp. 2. Zoltán Lebovics, druggist, was born in 1895. He owned a drugstore called Royal. He died during deportation.

3. Sárkány Miklós, druggist. He was born in 1914 in Szatmárnémeti. At first, on the Ham Janos Street then on the Kazinczy Street he had a drugstore. During the war he was in labor camp. He took part in the city cultural life and was a successful concert performer. He died in 1997 in San Francisco.

Opticians 1. József Katz, optician, was born in 1921 and died during deportation. 2. Artúr Markovits, optician, was born in 1909. He got acquainted with this profession in 1923, at the age of 14, while he was still a secondary school student. When in possession of an optician degree, he opened his own business. After the nationalization he became manager of the Kazinczy Street pharmacy belonging to the Máramaros Pharmaceutical Company, a position that he filled until the day of his retirement (The Máramaros Pharmaceutical Company comprised all pharmacies and optical stores of both Szatmár and Máramaros counties). Artúr Markovits’s workshop offered optician qualification to many young people, Jewish or Christian. Several members of the Markovits family learned the profession from him: his younger sister, Lili Markovits, his brother-in-law, Ali Marksamer, their daughter, Zsuzsa Meerbaum, his younger brother, Ernő Markovits and the latter’s wife. Artúr Markovits died on April 14, 1982 and was buried in the Szatmárnémeti Orthodox Cemetery. His son, Péter, is an active member of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Community, and his daughter, Ani, lives in Israel.

3. Ernő Markovits, optician, learned the profession from his elder brother, Artúr Markovits. He immigrated to Israel and died in Herzlia.

4. Mrs. Ilan Meerbaum, Zsuzsa Merksamer, optician, was Dr Tibor Kővari’s niece. She qualified as an optician in Artúr Markovits’s workshop. She still practises the profession in Haifa, on side of her husband Ilan Meerbaum, who is also an optician. One of their two sons, Oren (born 1973), is an optician in Haifa, carrying on the family tradition.

5. Mrs. Ali Merksamer, Lili Lea Markovits, optician, was another one of Artur Markovits’s pupils. During the time of the deportation she worked in the Ghetto hospital. In 1960 she was called as witness in the commandant Sárkozi’s Budapest trial. She immigrated to Israel, and lived and worked in Haifa. She passed away in 1997. 6. Ali Merksamer, optician, currently lives in Israel.

In the service of health 1. Klári Görög (Mrs. Lajos Glück,), microbiologist, was the dentist Dr. Miksa Görög’s daughter. She was born in April 1914 in Szobránc near Kassa (Kosice), in today’s Slovakia. The Görügs moved to Szatmárnémeti the same year. Klári Görög graduated from the Zárda School. Then she continued her university studies in Kolozsvár, where she specialized in microbiology. After completeting her studies she worked as a microbiologist in the laboratory of the Szatárnémeti Jewish Hospital. She returned sick from Auschwitz in 1945. Then she worked for a while in the laboratory of the hospital situated in the István Square, later in the local polyclinic. In 1958 she retired because of ill health. In 1962 she immigrated to Israel. There she worked in Ashkelon in several Kupat Holim laboratories until her death in 1979.

2. László Izsák- the young man born in Királydaróc was a medical student in Paris. During the time of the deportation he came home, but was soon taken away and never returned again. 3. Éva Nove, psychologist, was born in Szatmárnémeti as the daughter of Hermann and Rózsi Nove. She was also Judit Nove’s cousin. Éva completed her high-school studies in her hometown, at the MIhai Eminescu High School. In 1966 she emigrated to the United States of America, choosing to settle down in New York. During the day she would work and at night she’d study. She got a degree in computer science in 1971, in marketing and management in 1975, and a further diploma in international business relationships in 1976. In 1989 she moved to Charlotte and six years later she got another degree at the UNCC, this time in psychology. She opened her own psychology cabinet, but after 10 years she switched again. At present she is performing psychological counselling at different military bases in Europe and Asia as an employee of the United States Department of Defence.

Doctors 1. Dr. Miklós Altmann, medical doctor, was born in 1907 in Szatmárnémeti. After he graduated from high school in 1925 in Nagyvarad, he enrolled at the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry of the University of Kolozsvár. The new and popular shovinistic and anti-Semite movement, whose spiritual leader was professor Cuza from Iasi, made the Jewish students’ situation, especially within universities, almost unbearable. Thus, after only one year of study, he was forced to leave Kolozsvár and went to Prague where he continued his medical studies and eventually got a medical degree. Miklós Altmann settled down in Avasfelsőfalu, Szatmár county, where he opened a private surgery. In 1944 he was deported. According to József Herskovits’

recallings, at one point Altmann could no longer bear the torments of the camp life and reported to the infirmary. Like other thousands of prisoners, he never made it back from there, being a further victim of the deportation. 2. Mrs. Dr Kornél Antal, Dr. Judit Schilinger, laboratory doctor and ophthalmologist, was the surgeon Dr Kornél Antal’s wife. She was born in Szinérváralja on September 29, 1926. Her father Lajos Schilinger was a well known doctor in Szinérváralja. In 1939 the Schillingers moved to Kolozsvár and Judit completed her high-school studies at the Jewish High School of Kolozsvár. In World War II she was deported to Auschwitz and sent to work in the local weapon factory. She survived the war, returned home and in 1950 she succeded in completing her medical studies, which she had been forced to interrupt. She worked for two years in Felsővisó together with her husband. Then, for one year, she was director of the Szatmárnémeti Blood Centre, but was soon transferred to the laboratory of the István Square hospital. In 1964 she immigrated to Israel. First she specialized in ophthalmology at the Rambam hospital in Haifa, then she went on to work at the Petah Tikva Belinson Hospital, and eventually at the Meyir Hospital in Kvar Saba, where she practised her profession until 1975. The family then moved to Haifa, where she worked at the Kupat Holim (ambulatory service) until the day of her death on February 27, 2005.

3. Dr. Kornél Shaul Antal, surgeon, was born on February 17, 1927 in Nagyszeben. He began high school at the Jewish High School of Temesvár, but due to the prosecution Jews were beginning to be subjected to, he was forced to leave school and opt for postal tuition. He completed his last high-school year at the “Jewish Culture” High School of Bucharest, where he passed his final exam in 1945. He then studied medicine in Kolozsvár, where he got a medical degree in 1950, together with his wife Judit Schilinger, whom he had married in 1948. His first place of work was in Felsővisó. For one year he worked as a district doctor, then as a surgeon in the local hospital. The next stop in his life was Szatmárnémeti, where he worked as a surgeon in the István Square hospital. In 1964 the Antals immigrated to Israel. For one year he was a doctor at the Rambam hospital in Haifa, then, between 1965 and 1976, he worked in the surgery department of the Meyir hospital in Kvar Saba. Becoming a senior professor at the Tel Aviv University added a new shade to his professional life. Being a head surgeon at the Carmel Hospital of Haifa (1976-1992) represented the last part of his career. In 1992 he retired to spend his days in his marvellous home situated in the very centre of Haifa.

4. Dr. Margit Antal, MD, lived at 12 Bányai Road, in a house that was later nationalized. 5. Dr. Michael Antal, dental surgeon, was born in 1951 in Felsővisó as Kornél Antal and Judit Schlinger’s son. His parents, both doctors who had just graduated from medical school, worked in Felsővisó between 1950 and 1952. By the time Michael reached school age, his parents had already been healing people in Szatmárnémeti, consequently he attended Primary School No 1 located in the Rákóczi Street. The family immigrated to Israel in 1964. Michael graduated from high school in Kvar Saba and carried on the family tradition choosing to study medicine. He completed his dentistry studies at the Hadassah University Medical Centre Jerusalem and opened a dental clinic, where he worked with three other dental surgeons. His wife Jolánda studied painting and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna between 1973 and 1976, and after her return to Israel, history of arts. She became a mother in 1976 and four years later, in 1980, her second

son was born. 6. Dr. Jenő Apfel, MD, was born in 1899 in Nagybánya as Sarolta Friedmann and Márton Apfel’s son. He lived and worked in Nagykároly, from where he was drafted into labour service unit 110/114 KMSZ. In January 1943 he disappeared without a trace and never returned again. 7 Dr. Laszló Barna, cardiologist, was born in 1916. His mother’s name was Margit Kolb. Dr Barna lived at 43 Ferencz József Street. He died during deportation, in 1944. 8. Dr. Irén Bécski, MD and special education teacher, was born on December 2, 1900 in Sárközújlak. She was the wife of the poet Viktor Brassai. Irén studied at the Marianum High School in Kolozsvár and obtained a medical degree at the University of Kolozsvár. She first practised her profession at the Lazarus clinic in Vienna, then at the Budapest National Institute of Special Education, assisting head doctor Szondi. She published several educational articles in the Brassói Lapok weekly newspaper and in other publications. She also became an assistant lecturer at the Pediatric Neurology Clinic and wrote several papers on child

psychology. Her first poems appeared in the Nagyváradi Tavasz and in the Magyar Szó, later in the Keleti Újsag, the Napkelet, the Vasárnapi Újsag and the Nyugat. She was also actively involved in organising antifascist recitation evenings along with her husband, the poet and performer Viktor Brassai. 9. Dr. Vilmos Benedikt, MD, was born in Szatmárnémeti. In 1890 we find him serving as a royal regimental doctor in Szolnok. 10. Dr. Henriette Beráll (Keller), laboratory physician and internist, was born in 1892. She was the pharmacist Adolf Beráll’s wife. She was deported together with her husband and perished in Auschwitz. 11. Dr. Dezső Berger, dental surgeon, was born in 1905 as Hanna and Jehoshua’s son. Between the two world wars he practised dental surgery in Szatmárnémeti. His house was at 1 Károlyi Street (then Horea Street). According to Gyuri Elefánt’s records, his domicile was at 3 Petőfi Street. Dr Berger died during deportation. 12. Dr. József Berger, internal specialist, lived at 14 Árpád Street (Regele Ferdinand Street). He died during deportation. 13. Dr. Tóbiás Berger, MD– all we know about him is that he worked in Szatmárnémeti and died on August 4, 1873, at the age of 29, in Mikola. 14. Dr. György Berkovits, x-ray specialist, was born in Szatmárnémeti as the pharmacist Arthur Berkovits’s son. He completed his high-school studies at the Mihai Eminescu and Kölcsey Ferenc High Schools. In 1962 he settled down in Vienna, where he studied medicine, graduating from university in 1973. Between 1973 and 1979 he worked in a medical institute performing radiation and nuclear therapies, then between 1979 and 1989 in a hospital. Since 1989 he is co-owner of a radiology and MRI institute in Zurich.

15. Dr. Jenő Berkovits, x-ray spcialist, lived at 22 Árpád (Regele Ferdinand) Street. Gyuri Elefánt came across his name while he was searching for victims of the Holocaust. 16 Dr. József Bernáth, paediatrician, was an employee of Hungarian Railways and lived at 1 Teleki Street. He was the pharmacist Ilona Bernáth’s brother. His wife, Mrs. József Bernáth, Borbála Korai, physical education teacher, also died during deportation. 17. Dr. Lázár Binder, MD, was born on August 29, 1899 in Maladé (Maladia), Szilágy county. After studying medicine in Vienna he returned home in 1925. In 1926 he was employed as a military doctor in the Romanian army. After demobilization he worked for two years (1927-1928) in Zilah as a hospital doctor, then opened his own surgery, which he administered until the nationalization. The next stop in Dr Lázár Binder’s life

was Szatmárnémeti. At first he worked as an internist. Realizing the severe shortage of nurses that occured as a result of the mercy sisters’ persecution, in 1948-1949 he organized a class of public health education and nurse training and started teaching. For a while, from September 1, 1952 until November 1954, he was the director of the Szatmarnemeti Blood Centre. He left the country in 1962 and settled down in Israel. He worked as a generalist in Ashdod, at the National Health Insurance Institute for fourteen years. He also spent six months in the United States, in White Plants near New York, where he had the opportunity to learn English. He spoke Hungarian, Romanian, German and Hebrew. His widow, Lili Binder, is now 90 years old. Their daughter Vera also lives in Ashdod, Israel.

18. Dr. Jenő Biró (1882-1941), paediatrician, lived at 21, Bercsényi (Mircea cel Batran) Street. In World War I, during 1914-1918, he served on the Russian front, in the 63rd infantry regiment, first as a regimental doctor, later as head doctor of the war camp hospital. After the war he returned home with numerous decorations. A 81 x 85cm tombstone in the Status Quo cemetery still cherishes his memory.

19. Dr. Mátyás Bíró was a family doctor in Szinérváralja. He was born on July 17, 1904 in Bethlen, Beszterce-Naszód county. He began his medical studies in 1924 in Padova. In 1944 he was deported to Auschwitz, but managed to return alive. He married Rozália Alter and had only one child, a daughter called Zsuzsanna. In 1965 he moved to Ashkelon, Israel where he worked at Kupat Holim. Dr. Bíró passed away on April 11, 1979.

20. Dr. Ede Blum, dermatology specialist, was born in 1888. He lived at 3 Könyök (Episcop Atanasiu) Street. During World War I he spent two years on the Russian front, being a lieutenant in the 5th infantry regiment. In 1918 he was injured and discharged from military service. He returned home with numerous decorations. He was 56 years old when he was deported. Dr Blum died in Auschwitz in 1944. 21 Dr. József Blum was a medical doctor in Nagykároly. 22. Dr. Alajos Bodonyi (1872-1935), hospital head doctor, was considered to be the father of gynaecology in Szatmár. He completed his medical studies in Budapest in 1906. For four years he worked at the No 1 Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic in Budapest. In 1911 he moved to Szatmárnémeti, into Herman Teitelbaum’s house situated at 7 Batthyány Street. He was head doctor of the obstetrics and gynaecology department within the Sztmárnémeti State Hospital. After the Treaty of Trianon, being Jew he was forced to give up his leading position, and later was not even allowed to be an employee of the state any longer. He also had an obstetrics sanatorium in Szatmárnémeti which was said to have been the town’s best equipped healthcare institution. Alajos Bodonyi published numerous articles in German science magazines. Furthermore he was actively involved in the city’s cultural and educational life as a member of the Szatmárnémeti Társaskör. He died in 1935, at the age of 63. A 153 x 59 cm black marble headstone solemnly stands on his grave. 23. Dr. Borgida József, gastroenterologist. Son of Borgida Lajos and Reiter Zelma was born in 1905. He completed his medical studies in 1937 in Paris and became a French citizen. He worked as a gastroenterologist in the Rothschild hospital in Paris. He married Lancery Lucienne in 1942 and they had a son Patrick and a daughter Catherine 24. Mrs. Zoltán Borgida, Dr. Kató Neuman, MD, was born in 1916 in Szinérváralja. Victim of the deportation, she died in the Stutthof concentration camp. Her name appears enlisted in the Szatmárnémeti Orthodox cemetery among those members of the Borgida family who perished during deportation.

25. Dr. Béla Braun, gynaecologist, studied medicine in Turin. For a short while he worked as an assistant doctor in the Budapest Szent István Hospital, where he specialized in gynaecology. Several articles signed by him appeared in Italian medical magazines. In 1906 he moved to Szatmárnémeti, where he lived at 2 Kossuth Lajos Street, and later at 26 Deák Square (P Bratianu). As his first wife had not returned from deportation, he married again, choosing the Reformed pastor Bertalan Kiss’s wife to become his spouse. As a doctor teacher he was actively involved in the doctor assistant and nurse training courses that were organized at that time in Szatmárnémeti. He also worked in the Jewish Hospital. Dr Béla Braun died by suicide. 26. Dr. Dezső Braun, dermatologist, lived at 9 Rákóczi (M. Vitazul) Street. Between 1953 and 1960 he worked in the Szatmárnémeti Public Hospital, then he was transferred to the dermatology department of the local contagious disease hospital. He was also highly valued for his work at the dermatology department of the local polyclinic. Dr Dezső Braun died in Budapest.

27. Dr. Péter Braun, gynaecologist, lived between 1924 and 1979.

28. Dr. Róbert Braun, dental surgeon, was born on August 13, 1951 in Szatmárnémeti in a family in which he was surrounded by uncles who were either doctors (Béla Braun, Dezső Braun) or pharmacists (Móric Braun). He completed his high-school studies in Szatmárnémeti and his university studies in Iaşi. During the first half of the 1970s he practised his profession in Kányaháza (Călineşti Oaş), later worked as a denitist for the Munca Co-operative Society in Szatmarnemeti. He eventually immigrated to Israel.

29. Dr. Tamás Zvika Braun, physiotherapy specialist, was born on April 14, 1947 in Szatmárnémeti. His father, Lajos Braun, was a tailor. After completing primary school, he was enrolled at the local Mihai Eminescu High School, but soon the family moved to Israel. Thus he attended high-school there and passed his graduation exam in 1963. He then studied physiotherapy in Bologna and became a physiotherapy specialist. In 1970 he married his colleague Dr Éva Berkovits. The couple had three children: Daniel, Ronir and Lirana. In a letter he writes the following about his profession: “The most beautiful thing in life is working with people and healing them. The most painful thing is losing a patient. In my hospital there are people suffering from chronic diseases, in severe state after cerebral haemorrhages, severely injured in car accidents, patients with spine problems, or with traumatic cerebral injuries, etc. The specialist diagnoses the disease and evaluates the patient’s state, then, together with the treating team (physiotherapist, psychologist, neuro-psychologist, occupational therapist), they choose the most efficient type of treatment. Throughout the treatment we continuously check on the patient’s state of health, discuss further steps, and if the situation requires, we even change the treatment. Our patients spend at least three months in hospital.”Next to his practice, Dr Tamás Zvika Braun also performs an important scientific work.

30. Dr. Albert Búzási was born in 1890 in Kiskolcs. His parents were Mária Lázár and Fülöp Búzási. After obtaining an internal specialist degree in Kolozsvár, Albert Búzási settled down in Szatmárnémeti and opened his own surgery at 30 Rákóczi (M. Viteazul) Street. He died during deportation. 31. Mrs. Jacob Cohen, Dr. Vera Rosenfeld, MD, was born in May 1951 in Szatmárnémeti. Her parents were Miklós Rosenfeld and Ibolya Izrael. She started secondary school in Szatmárnémeti at High School No 5, in a Romanian class. Still in 1966, at the age of 15, in the middle of the school year the teenager girl left the country. She finished her 8th year of study in Vienna, then, the very same year, she moved to Israel, where she managed to complete her high-school studies in 1968. She was immediately recruited for the army and served 18 months of military duty. Following this, she enrolled at the Florence University of Medicine, but completed her medical studies in Bologna in the summer of 1978. In 1980, after the required hospital internship period, she specialized in internal medicine and worked as an internist until 1986. In 1981 she married Jacob Cohen. They had two children: Mika, born in 1984, and Aya, born in 1987. She worked in several medical institutions throughout her career. At first she worked in the Asaf Harofe Hospital in Rishon Letzion, later in the Shmuel Harofe Geriatric Institute of Beer Jakov. Between 1994 and 2000 she was director at the Geriatric Insitute of Pardes Hanna. Meanwhile, in 1997, she attended a high-level training course in controlling medical systems (MSI). In 2001 she returned to the Shmuel Harofe Institute where she was director until 2004. Since 2005 she’s been working for the Ministry of Health, being responsible for the sustenance of all geriatric institutes and hospitals of the country.

32. Mrs. Radu Coman, Vera Steinberger, veterinary doctor, was born in 1954 in Szatmárnémeti. Her parents were Márton Steinberger and Irén Lázár. She graduated from the Mihai Eminescu High School in 1973 and got a veterinary doctor degree in Kolozsvár in 1979. In 1982 she married the engineer Radu Coman with whom she had two children, Mihael and Anna. She worked in the Szatmárnémeti State Hospital and in Vámfalu

until 1994, when she immigrated to Israel. There she continued to practise her profession in the Sheba Medical Centre at Tel Hashomer. 33. Dr. Lajos Czukor, MD, worked for a while in Nagykároly, but in 1911 we find him working in Szatmárnémeti. He was a barony and honorific head doctor. His daughter Irénke married Dr Sándor Szende, lawyer, on December 23, 1902 in Nagykároly in the presence of Chief Rabbi Ferenc Fürth. 34. Dr. Jakab Csányi (Schwarz) (1832-1891) was a royal court doctor, district doctor in Szatmár, honorary head doctor of the city, and member of the Epidemic Committee in 1884. He was also a respected and appreciated member of the Szatmárnémeti society. “Dr Jakab Schwartz, our excellent doctor known for his efficient treatments, lives in Nemes Street in the widow Mrs Peter Nuricsak’s house”, writes the first issue of the Szamos Közlönye newspaper, on January 9, 1870. Dr Schwarz had his name translated into Hungarian, thus becoming Csányi. He died on November 13, 1891 in Szatmárnémeti and was buried in the Orthodox Jewish Cemetery. Laura Katz (b. October 19, 1846 – d. June 26, 1884) was only 16 when she married the prestigious doctor. The couple had four children: Aladár, Zoltán, Jolán (Jolán was born in 1866 in Tasnád and married in 1885 Dr. Adolf Reich, a lawyer from Rozgony), and Jenő (born on September 7, 1878, when the family was already living in the Kőhid a.k.a Kazinczy Street). The doctor’s wife, Laura, was an enthusiastic member of the Jewish Women’s Club. She died from heart attack at the age of 39, after 23 years of marriage. The Reformed pastor Lajos Tabajdi, secretary of the Jewish Women’s Club, also gave a speech on the occasion of Laura Katz’s funeral. 35. Dr. Márton Deutsch, pulmonary specialist, was born on February 17, 1905 in Nagykároly. His father Sándor Deutsch married twice as his first wife, Zseni Blúm, had died in 1914. His second wife brought three children into the marriage, who bore the surname Wieder: Imre, András, László. Sándor Deutsch had four children from his first marriage, all bearing the surname Deutsch: László, Imre, Márton, Kati. Imre Wieder fled from captivity over to the partisans and together with them returned to Budapest and settled down there. Imre’s second wife Lydia, born in Vienna, interpreted one of the main characters in the very first German soundpicture on Heinz Ruehmann’s side. Bandi (András) Wieder had a pharmacy in the centre of Marosvasarhely. He died in 1968. Laszló Wieder never returned from deportation. Most probably due to the persecution of Jewish students in Romanian Universities (starting 1922 physical aggression against Jewish students had become a matter of routine, moreover, in 1926 the notorious anti semite university teacher Alexandru C. Cuza and the popular Romanian poet Octavian Goga stood up for the Jewish student David Fallik’s murderer), four children of the Deutsch-Wieder family left for Paris for higher education: Márton Deutsch opted for medicine, Imre Deutsch for commerce, and two of the Wierder boys studied pharmacy, one of them in Paris, the other one in Strasbourg. Márton Deutsch attended the Piarist High School of Nagykároly. Then he spent one month studying medicine in Kolozsvár. Starting with October 24, 1924 he was enrolled at the Faculté de Medicine de l’Université de Paris, where he managed to get a doctor’s degree in 1929. His final thesis presented on January 30, 1930 was called “Contribution à l'étude de la primo-infection tuberculeuse par inoculation cutanée”. He came back home to Nagykároly with a solid professional knowledge. From 1930 to 1944 he worked as a pulmonary specialist in the private surgery accommodated in his father-house. In 1944 he was taken to labour service to Russia with the 101/25 TMSZ company. In January 1944 the more than 200, 000- soldier Hungarian

army was torn to pieces. As they were fighting without proper winter clothes and many soldiers tried to flee, but were decimated by either the enemy’s bullets or the merciless frost. Among those who perished in this disaster were also the Jewish forced labourers. According to Júlia Deutsch, the chances to stay alive in such an environment were less than minimal. “Miraculous as it may seem, as a result of a fortunate misunderstanding, he returned home in January 1944.” The sick doctor suffering from lung abscess was operated in Budapest and managed to stay alive. No sooner had he recovered from the illness, than he was deported to Auschwitz. Suffering from typhoid fever and in a state of unconsciousness, he was thrown onto a train. This is how he managed to come back home from hell once again. His wife, Rózsi Ignácz (b. 1907), his son, Péter (b.1935), his father, Sándor, and step mother, Janka, his brothers László (died in 1942 during labour service) and Imre (survived the deportation, returned home and worked as an accountant until his death) are all buried in Nagykároly. His sister Kató died in Auschwitz. For a short while he continued to work in his native town, in the surgery accomodated in his domed-gated father-house that was next to the caserne. In 1946 he was elected president of the Nagykároly Jewish Democratic Community. In 1950 he was invited to Szatmárnémeti as director head doctor of the TBC (pulmonary disease) hospital. He accepted the invitation and filled the position until the day of his retirement in December 1975. One of the most successful periods in the fight against tuberculosis in Szatmárnémeti is connected to his name. He was also involved as a teacher in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. Dr. Márton Deutsch died on December 10, 1977 and was buried in the Nagykároly Status Quo Cemetery.

36. Dr. Gyula Ehrenberg, MD, was born in 1914 in Szatmárnémeti. His mother was Hermina Blass, his father’s name was Mór Ehringer. He lived and worked as a doctor in Eger. From there he was recruited into the 101/52 labour service company. He disappeared on January 18, 1943, thus becoming another victim of the Fascists’ persecution of Jews. 37. Dr.

Engelstein András was a surgeon in Szatmárnémeti.

38. Dr. Engelstein Andrásné Magdolna, was an ophthalmologist in Szatmárnémeti. She was born in

Nagyvarad (Oradea). They have a daughter, Erika. They lived for a short time in Israel then moved permanently to Germany 39. Dr. Miksa Erdélyi, dental surgeon, lived between 1865 and 1931. His surgery was located in his own house at 24 Rákóczi Street. In the Status Quo Cemetery there is a 47x47 cm marble tombstone standing on his grave. 40. Dr. Oszkár Farmati, ophthalmologist, lived in Rákóczi Street. After World War II he left the country and settled down in the United States.

41. Dr. Béla Fay, dermatologist, lived in Szatmárnémeti at 19 Deák (P. Brătianu) Square. During World War I he served as a regimental doctor on the Russian, Romanian, Italian, and Montenegrin fronts, from where he returned home with numerous decorations. Dr. Béla Fay practised his profession in Szatmárnémeti. In 1944 he was deported along with his family. They all died in Auschwitz.

42. Dr. Samu Fekete (1876-1944), ophthalmologist, was born in Szatmárnémeti as Albert Schwarz’s son. After graduating from medical university in Budapest, he went on to specialize in ophthalmology in Dresden and Berlin. He worked as an ophthalmologist at the Budapest Ophthalmology Clinic and at Szent Istvan Hospital. In 1904 he returned to Szatmárnémeti for good. Here he lived at 17 Árpad (Ferdinand) Street, his surgery being accommodated in his own house. During World War I, for four years until 1918, he served as a regimental doctor on the Russian front in the Hungarian Army’s 12th Infantry Regiment. He returned from war with several decorations and distinctions. Once back home he immediately started working again and filled leading positions within several social and cultural institutions. He was a founder member of the Szatmárnémeti Társaskör, head doctor of the work insurance company, president of the Szatmar County Doctors’ Chamber, vice president of the Doctors’Association. In 1909 he married Jakab Reiter’s daughter, Rózsi. They had a daughter, Zsuzska, who later married Zoltán Boros. He also had a foster-child, a boy, who later became known as Dr. Jenő Fekete. He was also a member of great merit of the status quo community. Meanwhile he was preoccupied with continuously improving his professional knowledge. He had numerous medical articles published in prestigious national and international scientific magazines. He also gave scientific and educational lectures. As director head doctor of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital he got a great deal of recognition by the fact that the institution he was in charge of had become famous at national level. Moreover, he was the one who in 1944 set up the Ghetto hospital in Dávid Grosz’s straw hat factory situated in the Petofi Street. Unfortunately the hospital’s first deceased was Dr. Samu Fekete himself. In spring 1944, at the age of 68, he decided to end his life, but he is considered a victim of fascism, as his fatal move was motivated by the desire to escape the atrocities of the deportation. He was accompanied on his last journey to the Status Quo Cemetery under police surveillance by his wife, two daughters and son-in law. To the family’s request he was not buried next to his father Albert Schwartz, but to his father-in-law Jakab Reiter’s grave. His wife, daughters, son-in-law and grandchild, all perished in Auschwitz.

43. Dr. Pál János Fényes was born in 1923 in Nagykároly. He died during deportation. 44. Dr. Ármin Fényes, head surgeon, was born on July 10, 1901 in Nagyvárad, as the son of Tevel Klein and Linka Lébi. After graduating with honours from the German University of Prague, he returned to his home town. When the Szatmárnémeti Mercy Order invited applications for the post of head surgeon at their hospital, Dr Fényes immediately responded. He got the job and was assigned to fill the position by the Vatican itself. In 1944 he was deported together with his family in spite of the acquittal that he had previously received from the Vatican. His wife and two children died in Auschwitz, but he miraculously escaped when the American army arrived to liberate the camp. He came home exhausted and ill, but immediately returned to the Mercy Order’s hospital. At the end of January 1948 the 46-year old doctor, whose house was at 15 Romana Street, married the 39-year old Ilona Klein, a divorced Israelite house wife, born on August 2, 1908 in Guraszáda. The two witnesses at the wedding ceremony, the lawyer Dr. József Borgida and the factory manager Ferdinánd Princz, lived at 1 Papp Géza Street. After the nationalization Dr. Fényves was appointed director of the state hospital and as such he initiated the building of the corridor joining the hospital’s two wings. However, he decided to resign from this position because of political reasons becoming a forensic doctor. He was also involved as a teacher in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. In 1964 an unrighteous attack directed against him upset him so much that he suffered a stroke and one side of his body was left paralyzed. Driven by an extraordinary ambition, he learned to walk and started to work again, but soon got diabetes and lost his eyesight. He died two years later, on December 26, 1969.

45. Dr. József Fischer, internist, was born in 1899 in Szatmárnémeti and died in 1979 in Nagyárad. He graduated from the Szatmárnémeti Mihai Eminescu High School, and then studied medicine in France. He

worked as an internist in Pecska, Arad and Temesvár. After his retirement, the family settled down in Nagyvárad, where his son continued the tradition working as a doctor. 46. Dr. Ernő Fischer worked as an ophthalmologist at the Royal State Hospital. In 1944 he was deported. 47. Dr. Miklós Fischer, pediatrician, was the brother of the parliament deputy Dr. József Fischer. Between 1914 and 1918 he served as head doctor in the 82nd infantry regiment. For his service during the war, he was decorated with the Ferenc József Cross. After his return to Szatmárnémeti he started to work as a pediatrician. His house was situated at 1 Kazinczy (Ştefan cel Mare) Street. In 1944 he was deported. Both he and his wife died at Auschwitz.

48. Dr Mór Fischer was a medical doctor in Szamoskrassó. His wife Fáni Fried gave birth to a baby boy on June 14, 1870, whom they called Jenő. 49. Dr. Ede Fodor, balneotherapist, was the son of Dávid Fodor. He also worked in Austria as a balneotherapist. 50. Dr. Ferenc Fodor, dental surgeon (b.1871-d.February1, 1942), was the son of Dávid Fodor, a well respected person in the Szatmárnémeti society. He had three sons: Dr. István Fodor, secretary of foreign affairs in Sarajevo, Dr. Ede Fodor, balneotherapist, and Dr. Ferenc Fodor, dental surgeon. In 1910 Dávid Fodor, the father, died and was buried with great grief in the Status Quo Ante Cemetery. The funeral service was held by Dr. Sándor Jordán. Dr. Ferenc Fodor was a well-reputed dental surgeon in Szatmárnémeti. After completing his medical studies and returning from his study trip abroad, he settled down in his hometown. He opened his first surgery in his own house situated in Deák Square. In 1904 he had a surgery at 6 Hám János Street. In the period between the two world wars the family lived in a house situated at 1 Petőfi Sándor (Petru Rareş) Street. His widow, Emma, had the following inscription placed on his tomb stone: “Your dear and kind soul will stay with me forever!” 51. Dr. Lipót Fried was a generalist. His name appears in a 1912 issue of the Északkelet local newspaper, as one of the doctors practising in Szatmárnémeti. His wife, Hermin Burger, died quite early, in 1923. In 1913 Dr. Fried was elected member of the Status Quo Ante community board. In 1923, as an eager member of the Szatmárnémeti Társaskör, he donated a significant amount (400 lei) to the coterie’s library. He died on March 17, 1926.

52. Dr. Zoltán Friedmann, head doctor, was born on October 12, 1920 in Egerhát, Szilágy county, as the son Fáni and Éliás Friedmann. He attended the high school Angelescu High School in Kolozsvár. During World War II he performed labour service in Hungary, the Serbian Bor and Germany. The Friedmann family suffered great loss at the time of the Jewish persecution. His mother, Fáni Friedmann, his brother, Dr. Bumi Friedmann, and three of his sisters-in-law, all died in this period. On December 3, 1945, in Budapest, Zoltán Friedmann married Erzsébet Zilberg. Just before the war, he started studying medicine at the József Ferenc University, but being taken away for labour service, he was forced to interrupt his studies. He took them up again in 1946 at the Faculty of Medicine of the Kolozsvár Babeş-Bólyai University, obtaining a doctor’s degree in 1950. From 1950 to his retirement in 1982 he was continuously in the service of the people of Börvely, next to Nagykároly. However, this should only be considered a theoretical fact, as in reality lots of people from Nagykároly and its surroundings trusted his professionalism and chose to be his patients, knowing they’d receive the very best of his knowledge. Later the family moved to Nagykároly. In his memoirs he writes: “We bought a house in a beautiful part of Nagykároly. It had almost the same layout as the house we had had in Börvely. In 1975 I also managed to get a job in Nagykároly. After having our house nicely renovated and a garage built in the yard, we moved in.“ The Friedmanns would weekly play rummy with the Lindenfelds, the Géczys and the Róths. In the meantime Dr. Zoltán Friedmann was appointed head doctor of the Public Health Office. In spite of the numerous duties connected to his new position, he never gave up healing people or visiting and offering consolation to those bed-ridden. Be it a weekday or Sunday, the doctor would jump onto his bike and just pop in to check on his patients. In 1982 he applied for retirement and still in that year, on June 30, he immigrated to Israel settling down in Rannana-Kfar Saba, where he continued to practise until 2007. He currently spends his days in the bosom of his beautiful family, to the joy of his two daughters, four grand children and 8 great-grand children.

53. Dr. Dávid Dezső Frischmann, internist, was born in 1896. He lived with his wife, Judit Jolán Katz, at 3 Bem (Closşca) Street. As a doctor he considered himself responsible not only for healing the sick, but also for helping the poor. In 1929 he founded the Zsidó Jövő social and cultural monthly paper, which he edited together with his brother, Henrik, until 1940. He died during deportation in 1944. 54. Dr. Jakab Frommer, MD, lived together with his wife, Róza Stern, in a house located next to the so-called Fehérház (White House) at 7 Nagy Piac Street. Their first son, Lajos, was born on February 26, 1963, Hermann, the second child, on June 11, 1966, the third son, Béla, on May 21, 1968, and their youngest child, Elemér, on May 13, 1969. Dr. Jakab Frommer closed his career as a regimental doctor in the Hungarian army. He was taken to Budapest in severe state in an attempt to be put back on his feet again, but without success. He

died in June 1892 following a long illness, after spending more than 25 years in the service of the Szatmár people’s health. 55. Dr. Jenő Fuchs, MD, was born in 1878. In 1944 he was deported and died in Auschwitz together with his wife, Sári Groszmann. 56. Dr. Jenő Gál, MD, was born on April 12, 1895 in Nyíregyháza. The 53-year old Jewish widower married on June 12, 1948 in Szatmárnémeti the Greek-Catholic widow Mária Ilona Teszlovics (b. Noverber 21, 1903 in Budapest). 57. Dr. Garai, dental surgeon – at the end of the 19th century he had a surgery accommodated in the socalled Guth-House. 58. Dr. János Gergely, MD, served during World War I in the 74th infantry regiment. He was demobilized in October 1918 holding the rank of First Lieutenant and returned from war with several decorations. In 1944 he was deported and never came back home again. 59. Dr. Emil Giurgiu, MD, lived in 1950 at 28 Republicii Street. 60. Dr. Henrik Glück was a pulmonary specialist in the Szatmárnémeti TBC (pulmonary disease) hospital. He was born on August 21, 1921 in Szatmárnémeti. He obtained a medical degree in 1951 in Marosvásárhely. On March 11, 1952 he married Edit Klein. They lived in the Várdomb Street. Dr. Henrik Glück was also involved as a teacher in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. On November 9, 1961 the family immigrated to Israel. There they lived in Tiberias and he worked in the Poriya hospital. His son, Tomi, is a dentist and has three children. Dr. Henrik Glück died on April 13, 1995.

64. Dr. Tamás Glück, dental surgeon, was born on October 11, 1953 in Szatmárnémeti. The family lived in the Várdomb Street. His father was the pulmonary specialist Dr. Henrik Glück, his mother’s name was Edit Klein. In 1961 the family moved to Israel. Tamás Glück graduated from high school in Tiberias and studied dental medicine at the Hadassa University of Jerusalem. His wife Edit Zoltán gave birth to three chidren. At present he works as a dental surgeon in Ashdod. 65. Dr. Jenó Goldglanz, MD, was born in 1886 in Krasznabéltek and died in 1971 in the same village. His funeral was held by the Krasznabéltek Roman-Catholic parish priest, Mihály Tyukodi.

66. Dr. Miklós Gonda, MD, rests in the Szatmárnémeti Status Quo cemetery. 67. Dr. Ignác Gottfried, surgeon and obstetrician, lived in 1882 at 175 Nagyhíd (Kossúth) Street, in the second house from the corner with Kápolna (Eötvös) Street. 68. Dr. Ignác Gönczy (b.1847-d.December 7, 1900), MD, was described as a “fair man with great performing talent” by the senior editor of the Szatmár social and literary weekly magazine on January 24, 1891. His lectures on the occasion of different cultural ceremonies were usually the ones that impressed the audience the most. Such was the speech he made on the March 15, 1891 commemoration, which was constructed around the idea of freedom-brotherhood-equality. The highly active, very talented and cultivated doctor was only 53 when he died. His grave can be found in the Szatmárnémeti Orthodox cemetery. 69. Dr. Laszló Görög, MD, was born in 1913. His parents were Ella Krahl and the well known dentist Dr. Miksa Görög. He was a victim of the Jewish persecution and died during forced labour service in the Ukraine. 70. Dr. Miksa Görög, dental surgeon, was born on June 4, 1885 in Szobránc. From Szobránc near Kassa (Kosice) the family moved to Szatmárnémeti in 1914. Miksa married Ella Krahl and they had three children, Klári, Lívia and László. During World War I he served on the Albanian front. He returned home with several decorations. His Szatmárnémeti house was situated in Vajay (Salcâmilor) Street and his cabinet at 28 Rákóczi (Mihai Viteazul) Street. His contemporaries would often laugh whenever they recalled the following funny story connected to Miksa Görög. The doctor was known as a Sabbath keeping man. Upon finishing a dental treatment for Ella Fisher, the wife of the lawyer and parliamentary deputy Dr. József Fisher, he told her she should call if in pain. The next day, on Sabbath, his phone rang. It was Ella asking him ‘Doctor, it does not hurt at all, what should I do?’ In 1944 the doctor and his family were deported to Auschwitz. He died on December 12, 1944. Only his daughters, Mrs. Glück, (Klári Görög) and Lívia managed to return. Klari immigrated to Israel and died in Ashkelon.Livia died in 1984 in Nagybanya.

71. Dr. Ádám Grimberg, MD, worked in Szatmárnémeti and Szelestyehuta. He was born on October 15, 1959 and died on November 24, 2011. 72. Dr. Ernő János Groón, pulmonary specialist. 73. Mrs. Hermann Grosz, Dr. Helén Lea Gerschkó, MD, was born in 1905 and died during deportation.

74. Dr. Sándor Grossmann (1897-1984), internal specialist, was an outstanding figure in the history of the Jewish Hospital’s second period of existence. He lived at 22 (now 10) Rákóczi (Mihai Viteazul) Street. At present the fomer Grossmann house accommodates the headquarters of the RMDSZ (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania) Szatmár county organization. As a teacher he was actively involved in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. The hospital staff considered him a very strict chief and the patients spoke about him with great appreciation. His first wife died in Auschwitz at the age of 34 together with their son Gyurka. His second wife, Ibolya Kárász, outlived her husband with two years, dying in 1986.

75. Dr. Tibor Grün, MD, was born in Szatmárnémeti as Béla Grün and Ilona Roth’s son. They lived at 12 József Főherceg Street. Most of his family and relatives perished during deportation, only he managed to survive the Nazi ordeal. He eventually settled down in Mannheim, Germany. 76. Dr. Sándor Guttmann was a dentist in Tasnád. 77. Dr. Ede Günhut was born in 1816 and got married in 1862. In 1884 he was appointed Szatmár county’s honorific head doctor. He died on October 27, 1892. 78. Dr. Oszkár György (b.1895-d.May 4, 1944), MD, was highly appreciated for his professionalism. He had a well-equipped private surgery at 11 Hám János (then Lucaciu, now Horea) Street. Unfortunately he was not strong enough to face the forthcoming torments and poisoned himself on May 4, 1944. When they found him, he was still alive. He was immediately transported to the hospital in István Square (Dr. Lükő Béla Hospital) and saved his life by performing him gastric lavage. When he felt better, he asked one of the nurses to fetch him a pack of cigarettes. Meanwhile he detached one sleeve of his pyjama shirt and tucked it into his own throat asphyxiating himself. This is how he ended his days at the age of only 49. The news of Dr. György’s death spread like fire and several hundreds of people wearing mourning-dresses, flowers and girdles gathered to attend his funeral. Only after several summons did the crown eventually disperse. The body was taken to the Status Quo Cemetery and immediately buried. The event gave birth to a whole series of sudden demonstrations. Dr. György is thus considered victim of the Jewish deportation, just like his wife, Anna Buzasi, who lived about 47 years. 79. Dr. Albon Harnich, cardiologist, moved to Szatmárnémeti after World War II along with several other Jewish families from Csernovici. At first he worked in Daróc, later in the Dr. Lökő Béla Hospital. Eventually he moved to Jerusalem and died there.

80. Dr. Márta Heim, laboratory doctor in Szatmárnémeti, was born on March 22, 1938. Her professional activity can be restricted to 1965-1999. During the late years of this period she was chief of the county hospital’s biological laboratory. 81. Dr. Rezső Heimann, MD– in 1911 he was a district doctor in Mikola. In 1913 he was already living in Szatmárnémeti at 30 Árpád Street and working as a family doctor. 82. Mrs. András Held, Dr- Frida-Zoica Roth, MD, was born in 1954 in Nagykároly as the daughter of Emilia and Frigyes Roth. She graduated from high school in Nagykároly and completed her medical studies in 1980 in Temesvár. She practised her profession in the Nagykároly hospital and in a surgery in Tasnád until 1983. Since then she had been living in Israel and working as a family doctor in Karmiel. In 1979 she married András Held, an electrical engineer. She gave birth to twin daughters, Tali and Ronit. Ronit is following her mother’s track, at present she’s a medical student at the University of Jerusalem.

83. Dr. Gyula Heller, ENT specialist, lived in Petőfi Street and in 1913 he was an employee of the Medical Fund. He died on February 20, 1919 and rests in the Szatmárnémeti Orthodox cemetery. 84. Dr. Naftali Zwi Heller, MD, was born in1899. He worked in Avasfelsővisó. In 1944 he was deported and executed during deportation. 85. Dr. Ferenc Hermann was born in 1902. He worked as an internal specialist and psychiatrist at 24 Kölcsey (then Decebal) Street. His house was at 20 Arany János Street. In 1944 he was deported and never returned. 86. Dr. Farkas Herskovics was a medical doctor in Felsőbánya. 87. Dr. József Noel Herskovics, dental surgeon-his fater owned a soda-water factory in Szatmárnémeti. He was one of the family’s four children. His twin brother Henrik was a fellmonger in Daróc. József Herskovics began his studies in Szatmárnémeti, but graduated high school in Nagyvárad. Then he went to medical school in Prague and specialized in dentistry in Kolozsvár. He worked in Dr. Lengyel’s sanatorium, whose daughter he married, and later opened his own surgery in Kolozsvár. He was drafted for labour service and then deported together with his entire family. As the doctor himself confessed, neither his wife, nor their daughter Agota ever returned. In 1945 he worked in the Jewish Hospital as well. József Herskovics wrote a memoir about the Jewish community and martyrs of Királydaróc. 88. Dr. Imre Hirsch was a dental surgeon in Halmi.

89. Dr. Laszlo Hirsch , medical doctor was born in 1918. He perished in the Holocaust 90. Dr. Iancu Iordan, MD, was born on May 17, 1917 in Piatra Neamţ, Romania. He attended high school in his hometown during 1931-1935, then, in 1935, he enrolled at the Medical University of Padua, where he got medical degree in 1940. Between 1940 and 1945 he was a labour company doctor, then, during 19451948, he worked as a medical doctor in Bucharest. During that time he married Simelia Lazarovics, who worked as a chemist in the Szatmárnémeti town hospital until the end of the 1960s. Between 1948 and 1952 he was a hospital manager in Sebes, in 1952 he moved to Szatmárnémeti. Until 1955 he was a territorial head doctor, from 1955 until 1970 head doctor of Szatmárnémeti and during 1970-1985 inspector of the Szatmár Public Health District Authority. In 1989 he immigrated to Israel where he lived 10 more years. He died on April 13, 2009 in Bat Yam, at the age of 92. His only child Andrei is a mathematics professor and researcher at the Marie Curie University of Paris.

91. Dr. József Izsak, MD, was born on December 6, 1893 in Oroszfalu. He completed his high-school studies at the Szatmárnémeti Royal Catholic College. He attended university in Budapest, but eventually obtained a medical degree in Kolozsvár. In 1914 he was recruited to the 5th infantry regiment and fought during World War I on the Italian, Romanian and French fronts. After his return from French captivity, he worked as a doctor in Halmi. 92. Dr. Lajos Jakab, MD, worked in the Jewish Hospital before World War II. He was actively involved as a teacher in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. In the 1960s he moved to Budapest and died there in the 1990s. His daughter Jutka married the painter Kaba Adler’s nephew, Dodi Majer.

93. Dr. Ferenc Jászi (Jakubovits) was a medical doctor in Nagybánya. In his work entitled “A Retrospective on the Healthcare Supply of Nagykároly” Dr. János Németi writes the following about him: “After obtaining a medical degree in 1864 in Buda and completing the compulsory internship period, he settled down in Nagykároly. Doctor Jászi was the Nagykároly students’ free-of-charge teacher; he treated for a long period of time the Ady family of Érmindszent. He was not only a very conscientious district doctor, but also an excellent specialist; he published educational articles and medical papers and was also a very talented writer.” His scientific articles and medical essays appeared in the Orvosi Hetilap, the Ellenőr, the Wiener Mediz and different local newspapers. Furthermore, he wrote two books printed in the Nagykaroly typography: “The Devastating Diphteria and Its Treatment” and “Why to Disinfect during the Time of Cholera“. Being written in a very accessible language, the books appealed to a great number of readers. Dr. Ferenc Jászi passed away on November 24, 1910. 94. Dr. Bernát Jeremiás, MD, died during deportation. 95. Dr. Gyula Jeremias, surgeon, was born in 1894. After being a district doctor in Krasznabéltek, he moved to Szatmárnémeti where he lived at 17 Petőfi (Petru Rareş) Street. He perished during deportation. 96. Dr. Tamás Jordán, ENT specialist - in the 1930s he lived in a house situated just opposite to the Greek-Catholic church in Széchényi Street, next to Jenő Szabó’s house. He died during deportation. 97. Dr. Viktor Jordán was born in 1888 as the son of chief rabbi Sándor Jordán. After graduating from university he worked as an assistant doctor in the Jewish hospital of Budapest. He then specialized in ENT and moved to Szatmárnémeti, where he worked at 11 Széchényi Street (Bd. Regina Maria). He was the standardbearer of the Szatmárnémeti Zionist movement. He participated not only at events organized by the Jewish community, but also at those of the local Kölcsey Kör (Kölcsey Coterie). In April 1935, as a guest speaker of the Kölcsey Kör, he spoke about the Jews’ worldwide dispersion ever since the Roman Empire and the continuous decay of Palestine throughout the last 19 centuries. Moreover he underlined that it was time for the Jewish people to regain the land of their fathers. Dr. Jord’n, who had spent a few years in Palestine, also evoked some of his experiences there.

98. Dr. Mór Móric Judkovits, MD, lived in Vágóhíd Street. He died during deportation. 99. Dr. Géza Kahán (1931-1996) was a provincial district doctor. He rest in the Szatmárnémeti Status Quo cemetery. He died at the age of 65.

100. Dr. Zsigmond Kálmán, gynaecologist, later x-ray specialist, moved to Budapest in the 1960s and eventually died there.

101. Dr. Elemér Katona, MD, was born in 1883. He perished during deportation. 102. Dr. Sándor Katona, MD, was born in 1879. He died during deportation. 103. Dr. Andor Áron Katz, MD, was born in 1901 and lived at 7 Árpád Street. He did not survive deportation. 104. Dr. Béla Kaufman, dental surgeon in Nagykároly. 105. Dr. Imre Kaufman, dental surgeon, was born in 1897. During World War I he served in Nagykároly. Unfortunately he did not survive deportation. 106. Dr. Jenő Kaufman, dental surgeon, served between 1914 and 1918 at post hospital no 9. He also served as an epidemiologist on the Italian and Serbian fronts, but unfortunately he was injured. He returned home with several decorations. For a while he was also the administrator of the Status Quo Ante Jewish community. His house and surgery were located at 27 Petőfi (Petru Rareş) Street. In 1944 he was deported and killed in Ebensee.

107. Dr. Tamás Keller, urologist, was born in Szatmárnémeti, but spent his childhood in Szinérváralja. He got a medical degree in 1978 in Kolozsvár. The very next year he immigrated to Israel, where he specialized in urology. He currently works as chief urologist in Holon.

108. Dr. Sándor Kepecs was a dental surgeon, first in Tasnad, then in Nagykároly. In 1989, after his wife’s death, more than 80 years old, he emigrated to Argentina. 109. Dr. Ármin Kertész, medical doctor in Nagybánya. 110. Dr. Alfréd Klein, internist and neurologist, was born in 1886 in Nagykároly. He got a medical degree in Budapest. After 12 years of hospital activity in Budapest, he settled down in Szatmárnémeti and lived at 22 Eötvös (Cuza Vodă) Street. His scientific articles appeared in several magazines and annuals, among which the Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift and the Orvosi Hetilap. He was the doctor of the first transport to Auschwitz. Unfortunately he never returned. 111. Dezső Klein was a pharmacist in Nagykároly during 1924-1925. 112. Dr. Ernő Klein, MD, was born in 1915 in Szatmárnémeti. His mother Regina Hartmann was a primary school teacher. Dr. Ernő Klein died in Israel. 113. Dr. Miksa Klein, dental surgeon in Nagykároly. 114. Dr. László Raphael Kleinmann, medical doctor, was born in Szatmárnémeti in 1943. During the events of the WW lived in Budapest with his parents. He completed his junior high studies in 1961 in Szatmárnémeti at the Eminescu high school. While he was a medical student, his family applied for immigration to Israel. As in many similar cases he was dismissed from the university. He was unemployed for two years when the family finally got the approval to immigrate. They settled in Israel where he completed his medical studies in Tel Aviv. He is the deputy manager of the hospital in Eilat.

115. Dr. Otto Klepner was a district doctor in the Avas area. He first attended the Halász Ferenc Secondary School, then the Mihai Eminesch High School of Szatmárnémeti. After becoming a doctor, he returned to Avas to practise his profession. Around the middle of the 1980s he immigrated to Israel. 116. Dr. Tibor Klepner’s family moved from Szinérváralja to Szatmárnémeti. He studied at the Halász Ferenc School, then at the Szatmárnémeti Mihai Eminescu High School. After obtaining a medical degree he worked in the Avas area as a district doctor. Together with his brother Otto he immigrated to Israel in the 1980s. 117. Dr. Margit Kohn, pediatrician – her home and surgery was at 16 Attila (P. Traian) Street and later in the István Square. She was married to the prestigious gynaecoligist Dr. Lajos Schwartz. In 1944, during the confinement of the Jews in ghettos, they both committed suicide and are therefore considered victims of the deportation. 118. Dr. Nándor Kohn, dental surgeon, worked mostly in Budapest, but he occasionally practised in the province as well. This is probably we find him working in 1902 in Nagykároly, in a surgery accommodated in one of the Magyar Király Hotel’s suites. He died during deportation. 119. Dr. Gábor Komáromi, MD – his parents, Márton Schön and Ilona Zeisler, were deported from Szatmárnémeti and never returned. In a letter sent to Gyuri Elefant he writes the following about himself: “My original name is Gábor Schön, but I had it translated into Hungarian (Komáromi) from well known reasons. After the war I lived in Budapest, where I got a doctor’s degree and practiced as an internist. After the events of 1956 I emigrated to Montreal, Canada, together with my wife and two children. I have been living here ever since then. I am now 86 and have already retired. Our last address in Szatmárnémeti was 40 Kisfaludy Street. This is the address that was written on the last three postcards I received from my mother while on labour service, from which the last one was dated April 27, 1944.” 120. Dr. János Korányi (Kornfeld), surgeon, was the uncle of the world famous pulmonary specialist Frigyes Korányi. János Korányi was born in Nagykálló. He worked in Szatmárnémeti as amedical doctor at the end of the 19th century. Most probably due to the family’s close relationship to the Szatmárnémeti bishopric, János had his name changed, and so did the other doctors in the family, like Frigyes, his father Sebald, or Viktor Korányi, then head doctor of Máramaros county. 121. Dr. Viktor Korányi, MD, worked in Máramarossziget and was head doctor of Máramaros county. 122. Mrs. Kósa, Dr Zsuzsa Maior, MD, was born on July 23, 1946 in Szatmárnémeti as Sándor Grosz Maior’s daughter. She graduated from high school in her hometown and studied medicine in Kolozsvár and

Bucharest obtaining a medical degree in 1970. At first she was a pediatrician in Szatmárudvari, then she worked as a factory doctor at the Tricotex factory and as a geriatric specialist at the local polyclinic. Since 1982 she has been living in Israel and working as a family doctor in Karmiel. In 1968 she married the mechanical engineer István Kósa. Their son Gábor, born in 1972, is a professor and researcher engineer at the University of Tel Aviv, working in the domain of medical micro-robotics. Gábor is married and has two children, Alexander (named after his grandfather), 8 years old, and the one-year old Daniel-Zvi.

123. Dr. Dezső Kővári, pulmonary specialist, was born in 1906 in Telcs, Beszterce county, as the son of Izsák Kovári and Blanka Kovács. He was also the physician Tibor Kővári’s younger brother. After the family moved to Szatmárnémeti, Dezső graduated high school here and later enrolled at the Jászvásár University of Medicine. However, he soon moved to Italy and obtained his medical degree there. He decided to stay in Italy and married a pharmacist (Olga) with whom he had three children. Only on the occasion of his 1994 visit to Szatmárnémeti did he learn that his elder brother Tibor had returned from deportation. As Dr. Tibor Kővári had already been dead for 22 years, they never met again.

124. Dr. Tibor Kővári, internist and x-ray specialist, was born on May 20, 1904 in Telcs, Beszterce county. His parents were Izsák Kővári and Blanka Kovács. Izsák Kovari lived in a rented house at 7 Kosuth Lajos Street, where he also operated his own typography. He had three sons, Ferenc, Tibor and Dezső. Ferenc died in 1943. Tibor graduated from the University of Neaples on November 9, 1928. According to his diploma, he became a physician and a surgeon. He worked at the internal medicine department of the Neaples Ospendale Incurabili hospital, then, for two years, in the Budapest Jewish Hospital, assisting professor Biedermann, and eventually as an internist and head doctor in the Szatmárnémeti public hospital. His medical papers appeared in Italian and German publications. He also had a private surgery in Szatmárnémeti. As a forced labourer he worked in the Szatmárnémeti ghetto hospital. In 1944 he and his wife Sára, their 10-year old daughter

Magdolna, and both his parents were deported. Except for him, everybody in the family died. He was the only one who returned from the death camps of Ebensee and Mauthausen. After the war his surgery still functioned for a while, first at 7 Kossuth Lajos (then Florescu) Street, later at 24 Eötvös Street. According to a document issued on October 17, 1948 by the director’s office of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital, starting with the year 1937, except for the period of his deportation, Dr. Tibor Kővári worked as an internist and later x-ray specialist in the Jewish Hospital. The 43-year old widower Tibor Kővári married on May 27, 1947 the 27-year old reformed Szeréna Belényesi (b. January 22, 1920 in Szatmárnémeti). The newlyweds lived at 20 Eötvös Street. Witnesses at their wedding ceremony were the physician Dr. Vilmos Árokháthy (Bd. Ferdinand) and the engineer Lajos Róth from Pettyén. The couple had two children, Tibor, who became an architect, and Magdolna Sara, a nurse. The younger Tibor Kővári’s godfather was the dean Jenő Boros. Thanks to this relationship, it was Tibor Kővári’s consistent financial donation which allowed the organ of the Szatmárnémeti Chains Chruch, severely damaged during the bombardments, to be repaired. The second part of Dr. Kővári’s life coincides with the period following the nationalization of the medical institutions, when he was head doctor of the István Square hospital’s internal medicine department. He retired from work in 1967. On September 28, 1972 he passed away and was buried next to his wife in the Reformed cemetery.

125. Dr. Jakab Kramer, MD, lived together with his wife Rozi Stern in Piac Street, Szatmárnémeti. Their daughter Hermina was born on June 11, 1866. 126. Dr. Bernát Krausz, MD– in the 1960s he worked as an epidemiology specialist in the Public Health Institute. 127. Dr. Károly Krausz was a medical doctor in Felsobanya. 128. Dr. Brúnó Lachetta, MD, came from Jászvásár (Iaşi) to Szatmárnémeti. In 1908 his surgery was located at 21 Deák Square. During 1910-1013 he was a barony medical officer. 129. Dr. Márton Landau, internist, was born on April 15, 1925 in Remetemező, Szatmár county as Eliahu and Eszter Frank’s son. Márton Landau, his parents and six siblings were all deported. From the ninemember family, only Márton and two of his brothers returned. He studied medicine in Marosvááarhely and obtained a medical degree in 1953. He worked at the internal medicine department of the István Square hospital. It was here that he met the chemist Vera Burger, a Hungarian citizen, who was working in the hospital’s laboratory. They got married in 1959. Their first child Judit was born in Szatmárnémeti. In 1961 they left the city in search of a better life in Vera’s hometown, Debrecen, but without much success. Thus, in 1964, the family immigrated to Israel. Their first job was in a hospital in Afula. Their second daughter Rahel was born

in Israel. Doctor Landau continued to perform his activity at the Kupat Holim, and for a while even filled the position of head doctor there. He retired from work in 1987 and enjoyed his life as a pensioner in Haifa for five more years. He passed away on June 4, 2002. All biographical information about Dr. Márton Landau has been provided to us by his widow, Vera Burger, in May 2012. 130. Dr. Gyula Lász was surgeon head doctor at the Jewish Hospital before World War II. He died during deportation. 131. Dr. Pál Lax, MD, was the pediatrician Miklós Fischer’s foster child. He emigrated to the Netherlands and eventually died there. 132. Dr. Albert Lázár, royal regimental doctor in the Hungarian Army, serving in the 12th infantry regiment, was born in 1846. He lived at 36 Rákóczi Street. He got married in 1880 and died in 1891 at the age of 46. He rests in the Orthodox Jewish Cemetery. The black marble tombstone on his grave was broken into two halves during the war. 133. Dr. Miklós Lázár, dermatologist, was born in 1902 in Szatmárnémeti. He completed his studies and got his medical degree in 1929 in Modena. After graduation he worked in Szatmárnémeti as a dermatology and SDTs specialist. He lived in Batthyány Street(then Bd. Basarabilor). He was president of the Barcochba Sports Club, first secretary, the District’s first secretary and later treasurer, member of the Jewish National Asociation’s presiding board, leader or board member of several Jewish social and cultural institutions. He perished during deportation. 134. Mrs. Sándor Lindenfeld, Dr. Eleonóra Gersch, pediatrician, was born on May 23, 1923 in Nyárádtő (Ungheni), where her father Dr. Hiller Gersch was a district doctor. Doctor Hiller Gersch enrolled her daughter at the Romanian primary school in Nyárádtő and decided that she should also do her secondary and high school studies in Romanian at the Marosvásárhely Unirea Girl High School. However, she attended her last year in a Hungarian class and passed her graduation exam in Hungarian at the same school in Marosvásárhely. Then the family moved to Bánfihunyad and Dr. Hiller Gersch commuted from there to his new workplace in Kőrösfő. In 1944, the doctor, his wife and two daughters were driven into the Kolozsvár ghetto. On June 11, 1944, Dr. Gersch was assigned to the Auschwitz camp infirmary. Jewish infirmary doctors in Auschwitz would often smuggle medicine to their fellow prisoners. Out of rage, they were all barbarously killed by the SS soldiers: these pushed their heads under the water and held them there until they drowned. Nóra, her younger sister Vera Éva and their mother Mária Radó survived the terrors of the death camp. The two girls returned to their hometown and enrolled at medical university. Eleonóra studied medicine in Hungarian language and obtained a degree in pediatrics in 1951. On May 8, 1950 she married her university colleague Sándor Lindenfeld. The doctor couple worked in Nagykároly from 1951 until 1970, when they immigrated to Israel. Dr. Eleonóra Lindenfeld continued to work as a pediatrician at the Kupat Holim in Tel Hanan. In 1988 she retired from work and currently lives in Haifa.

135. Dr. Sándor Lindenfeld, surgeon, was born on February 20, 1922 in Bihardiószeg. His parents, Lajos Lindenfeld and Paula Blum, perished during the 1944 deportation. He attended high school in Nagyvárad at the Lipót Kecskeméti Jewish High School, graduating in 1940. Due to the anti-Jewish laws and the new circumstances brought about by World War II, his further studies became impossible. Thus he trained as an optician in Debrecen and began work. On October 4, 1943 he was inducted into the 6/2, later 6/4, labour company. After 14 months spent there, together with the graphic artist Pál Fuchs and two other labour serving fellows, Lindenfeld fled from the labour camp. Being taken prisoner by the Russians, he worked for 19 months on side of German SS prisoners. The way prisoners were treated there was dioffernt: the Russians behaved rather decently, but the Ukrainians would treat the Jews much worse than the SS prisoners. After escaping the misery of the war, on May 8, 1950 Sándor Lindenfeld married his university colleague Eleonóra Gersch. One year later he obtained a medical degree at the University of Marosvásárhely and started working as a doctor in Nagykároly. In the mean time he specialized in surgery and soon became well known surgeon in the town and its surroundings. In 1970 the Lindenfelds immigrated to Israel. There he worked as a surgeon in Haifa, at first in the Carmel Hospital, later at the Kupat Holim. Dr. Sándor Lindenfeld retired from work in 1987. At present he lives in Haifa. He has two daughters, Noémi and Marianne. Noémi is a hematology biologist at Carmel Hospital, while Marianne works as an entrepreneur. He is the happy grandfather and great-grandfather of five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

136. Dr. Béla Lipót Lővy, MD, was born in 1897 and died on June 6, 1926, at the age of 29. 137. Dr. Sándor Maior Grosz, gynaecologist and surgeon, was born on January 14, 1905 in Szatmárnémeti. He completed his medical studies in 1929 in Padova, Italy. In Szatmárnémeti he worked as a surgeon-gyaecologist in Dr. Demian’s private surgery and in the hospital. In 1944 he was drafted for labour service, while his wife Borka was deported and never made it back. Upon his return to Szatmárnémeti, on

November 5, 1944 the city’s Russian commander and the mayor appointed him head doctor of the Hungarian Royal State Hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology department and he was also charged with the department’s reconstruction and reorganization. At the same time he was also administering the Jewish Hospital. At the age of 43 he married Klára Friedmann (b. August 27, 1918 in Mikola), house wife. Their wedding took place on February 21, 1948. Their daughter Dr. Susana Maior (Mrs. Kósa) is a physician in Israel. Dr. Sándor Maior Grosz lived at 1 Eötvös (Cuza Vodă) Street. In 1949, already a well known doctor, he had the name Maior added to his surname. During 1952-1958 he was director of the hospital in Vatra Dornei. He returned ill to Szatmárnémeti, but continued to work as a school doctor until his retirement. During his career he was actively involved as a teacher in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. He passed away in 1976; his name, Dr. Sándor Maior Grosz, is engraved on one of the tombstones in the Szatmárnémeti Orthodox cemetery.

138. Dr. Tamás Iván Maior was born in 1933 in Deva. After graduating from the local Mihai Eminescu High School in 1951, he studied medicine in Marosvásárhely and obtained a degree in general medicine in 1958. In Szatmárnémeti he practised as an ENT specialist, then, starting 1959, he was district doctor in Ákos. In 1963 he moved to Budapest where he’s been working as a generalist ever since. He passed away in august 2012.

139. Dr. Ralph Slajmi Máier, family doctor, was born in 1946 in Szatmárnémeti. He obtained his medical degree in Sweden, but he also studied mathematics. He was a professional chess player and even got a chess master title. He currently lives in Hodhasharon, Israel, and is a family doctor at Kupat Holim.

140. Dr. Izidor (Dori) Májer, Márton Májer’s brother, was a dental surgeon in Nagykároly. His family perished during deportation, but he managed to survive the terrors of the war. He opened his own surgery in Nagykároly, but eventually immigrated to Israel and died there. 141. Dr. Márton Májer, dental surgeon, was born on July 26, 1901 in Piskarkos. His house was situated at 6 Kazinczy (Ştefan cel Mare) Street. His first wife, Viola Szenes, died during deportation. After his return from deportation, on January 31, 1948 he married again, choosing his best friend’s widow, Mrs. Rosenfeld, Helén Jakabovits (b. March 9, 1899) to become his wife. His first place of work after deportation was the Jewish Hospital, but then he reopened his own surgery in Szatmárnémeti. In 1961 he immigrated to Israel and started his life all over again opening another surgery in Givataim. He died there in 1971.

142. Dr. Ferenc Mandel, surgeon, was born in 1904. He lived at 9 Eötvös (Cuza Vodă) Street. The utterly religious Jewish doctor worked as a surgeon in the Mercy Order’s hospital. The tallit and the tefillin were always in his medical bag, so that he could pray whenever the circumstances allowed. In 1944 he was deported to Auschwitz and never returned. 143. Dr. István Mandel, MD, was born on January 8, 1898 in Szatmárnémeti. His parents were János Mandel and Mária Weisz. Doctor Mandel perished during deportation. 144. Dr. Magda Mandel, MD, was born in 1912 and died during deportation. Her husband, who was a lawyer, is also an Auschwitz victim.

145. Dr. Miklós Mandel, MD, was born on September 26, 1895 in Nagykároly. He died from myocarditis while in hospital in Ebensee, Ober Austria on February 26, 1945. His wife and his son Pál did not return from deportation. 146. Dr. Mór Mann - “a connoisseur in all medical sciences, who worked a longer period of time assisting professor Korányi at the internal medicine department of the Budapest University Clinic, has definitively settled down in our town” states the August 2, 1888 issue of the Samos newspaper. 147. Dr. Emil Markovits, MD, was born in 1905 in Szatmárudvari. His father was the owner of the Waldman Markovits soda water factory. Emil Markovits attended high school in Budapest. Between 1923 and 1930 he studied medicine in Budapest and obtained a medical degree. During 1931-1943 he had his private surgery in Törökszentmiklós. In 1941, he married Edit Eisenstaedter, the wedding ceremony being held in the Jewish Chapel located in Bem Street. While in Szatmárnémeti, the couple lived in Kossuth Street. During 19431945 Emil Markovits was away on labour service, then deported to Mauthausen concentration camp. He went through hell, but managed to return. From 1946 to 1948 he worked in the Jewish Hospital, but after the nationalization of the institution, was transferred to the TBC (pulmonary diseases) hospital, where he continued practise until 1958. From 1953 until 1963 he was an employee of the Public Health Institute of Szatmár County (called Sanepid) and working as an occupational physician at the same time. In 1963 he immigrated to Israel where he worked as a doctor in three different kibbutzes until 1974. He passed away in November 1978, in Netanya.

148. Mrs. Emil Markovits, Dr. Edit Eisenstaedter, MD, was born on June 6, 1914 in Máramarossziget. She completed her high-school studies in her hometown and then enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine within the Regele Ferdinand University of Kolozsvár. She became a university student in 1932 and obtained a medical degree in 1939. Between 1940 and 1944 she worked in the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital. Her life so far was just a regular physician’s life. Neither was her deportation that eventually occurred in May 1944 expected to be any different from that of other Jewish people. Nevertheless she was taken to Lobau labour camp in Austria, where she was lucky enough to have a much easier life than the prisoners kept in other camps. In January 1945 she gave birth to her son Guszti, while still in Lobau, and miraculously they both survived the deportation. In May 1945 she returned to Szatmárnémeti with the merely 5-month old child. The family reunited in their house situated in Kosuth Lajos Street. At that time her husband, Dr. Emil Markovits, was working in the Jewish Hospital and Dr Edit Eisenstaedter also started work again: during 1946-1963 she was a school doctor and later she worked in the internal medicine department of the István Square hospital, assisting head doctor Sándor Groszmann. Then she was transferred to the local polyclinic and eventually ended her

medical career as a doctor in medical district No 1. Then she immigrated to Israel. Between 1963 and 1976 she worked at the Kupat Holim in Beit-Shean. After she retired from work she lived in Netanya. Dr. Edit Eisenstaedter died in 2009.

149. Dr. Géza Markovits (b.1851-d.1887) was Mátyás Markovits’s son, who lived between 1809 and 1882. Mátyás Markovits, a wealthy Batiz Jew, got to be known by the posterity through a story by the judge György Jeney’s story. According to this, the city council had dispossessed Mátyás Markovits of his beautiful big house which was to be turned into a hospital. His son, Géza Markovits, was most probably a Szatmárnémeti resident. Although extremely short, his life was a very prolific one. In 1880 he was the doctor of the Women’s Club. Im May 1880 he moved house and let his patients know about his new address: “Starting with the 1st of this month I have moved my domicile to Dr. József Mayerás house (opposite to the Suhányi house), which is situated at at corner of Nagyhíd (Kossuth Lajos) Street and 11 Kápolna (Eötvös) Street.” In no more than a year, Géza Markovits became the city’s honorific head doctor. In 1884 he was member of the Epidemic Committee. In short time he became a royal regimental doctor in the Hungarian Army. He was a great orator and made use of his skill mostly on the occasion of festive patriotic events. He died at the age of 36, on February 3, 1887, after a long period of suffering. His funeral service was held by Dr. Soma Bárány, the rabbi of Debrecen, and the Reformed pastor Lajos Tabajdi. Dr. Márton Tanódi gave a speech at his grave on behalf of all his former colleagues. 150. Dr. József Markovits, internist, received a draft call into the 5th infantry regiment in October 1915. Between 1915 and 1918 he served as a corporal on the Russian and Italian fronts. After the war he worked as a medical doctor in Szatmárnémeti, where he lived at 24 Hunyadi (Corvinilor) Street.

151. Dr. Vilmos Melchner, pediatrician, imperial and royal reserve assistant doctor, worked as a secondary dotor in the Bródy Adél Pediatric Hospital of Budapest. In 1910 he was a deputy district doctor in Nagypalád. The same year he married Erzsébet Moskovits from Kassa and moved into the so-called Halmi house situated at 7 Deák Square. 152. Dr. Lajos Moskovits, MD, died during deportation. 153. Dr. Eta Nadler, internist, lived at 10 Csokonai (Tudor Vladimirescu) Street. In 1910 she had a surgery at 1 Eötvös Street. 154. Dr. Ladislau Németh, pediatrician (b. April, 1915- d. June, 1993) was actively involved as a teacher in the doctor’s asstistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. His grave can be found in the Status Quo Ante Cemetery. 155. Dr. Regina Németh (b. October, 1929) was a dental surgeon in Szatmárnémeti after World War II. 156. Dr. Gyula Neuburg (b. 1835- d.November 22, 1901) was a medical doctor in Szatmárnémeti. He rests in the Szatmárnémeti Orthodox Jewish cemetery. A 258 x 48cm black marble tombstone cherishes his memory. 157. Dr. András Nuszbaum was a pediatrician in the county hospital. He died in Israel. 158. Dr. Gyula Ösztreicher, MD, was born in 1884 and died during deportation. 159. Dr. Izidor Reich, cardiologist, worked at first in Zilah, then in Buziaş, and later became head doctor of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish Hospital. After the war he worked in the Szatmárnémeti István Square hospital, but then he moved to Frankfurt, where he eventually passed away. 160. Dr. Irma Reiter, neurologist, Alfréd Klein’s wife, was born in 1886. In 1944 she was deported and killed. 161. Dr. József Rezsovszky lived together with his wife Dr. Irma Kiss in Kazinczy Street. Their son Viktor was born on February 24, 1878. 162. Dr. Sándor Gyula Richter, district doctor, lived at 49 Mircea cel Bătrân (Bercsényi) Street. 163. Dr. Ervin Róna was born on August 9, 1925 in a house situated at 27 Vajay Street in Szatmárnémeti. His name apprears for the first time in the 1933-1934 school year records of the 2nd grade class enrolled at the Orthodox Jewish Community’s primary school. Out of the initial 52 pupils, four had dropped out of school by the end of the school year. The teacher Sándor Róna’s son, Ervin, was also a student in this class. He had rather good grades at school apart from Romanian grammar, reading and writing, although he did not excel in drawing, music and sports either. According to a 1 to 10 evaluation system (where 1 is the weakest and 10 is the best grade), he had one 8 and several nines in the previously mentioned subjects. In natural sciences he had only tens. However, in spite of all these grades, for reasons left unknown to us, Ervin dropped out of school at the end of the second term. His name comes up again in a school report of the Szatmár Reformed Gymnasium, according to which Ervin Róna graduated from high school at the end of the 1943/1944 school year. During his last high school year, his form master was the famous Hungarian and Latin teacher, Béla Nagy. There were three Jewish

students in the class. Their Israelite religion teacher was Dr. Sándor Herczog. Two of the students had medical exemption from sports classes, one of them was Ervin Róna himself. No wonder since Ervin was a rather illconditioned boy and his meager constitution did not allow him to practise any kind of sport. At that time the grading system was different: the highest grade was one, which described an excellent achievement, two meant good, three was fair, four meant poor. Ervin was good at physical science, national defence and history, and excellent at conduct, religion and ethics, Hungarian, Latin, German, French, arts, mathematics, drawing, hygiene, music, Romanian conversation, and orderliness. At the end of the school year, there were 40 students ready for the matriculation exam, which was organized between April 17 and May 1, 1944. The written exams took place on the 17th, 18th and 19th of April. The exam topics for the written papers were: in Hungarian language and literature, “János Arany’s Legacy” and, curiously, a second topic checking the candidates’ knowledge of physics entitled “Atomism in Physics”; the second written paper was in Latin language and literature and the exam topic was entitled “Sallustius, Bellum Catilinae (topic 31)”; German language and literature was the third written paper and the exam topic was “Globetrotting Anecdotes”. The oral exams took place between the 21st of April and the 1st of May and included topics of history, physics and mathematics. Ervin Róna successfully passed the exam. However, one question still remains: which were the circumstances in which Ervin Róna spent his last high-school months? On April 17th, when the written papers began, Ervin Róna most probably showed up for the exam wearing a yellow star with a diameter of 10 cm on the left side of his chest as the Interior Ministry order 172068/1944 requiring the Jews to wear the discriminatory badge was already in force. On May 1, 1944 Ervin Róna successfully passed the matriculation exam, but there was no time for celebration left for him as no later than May 3rd the Jews in the city and its surroundings began to be forced into the ghetto. On May 21, 1944, three weeks after the successful matriculation exam, the first train transporting Jews to Auschwitz set off from Szatmárnémeti. The Rónas were deported with the last transport on May 31st and entered into the death camp on June 3rd. The records gathered by Gyuri Elefant reveal the fact that the ill-conditioned and meager boy’s somewhat helpless situation was much alleviated by his excellent knowledge of German. If this were to be true, then the situation of Sándor Rona, the father, and that of his younger brother Viktor must have been easier as well, since they both spoke German at advanced level. So the Ronas were all deported. The parents and the brother perished during deportation. Only Ervin made it back. Upon arrival, he found an empty, plundered house. There was no time for idleness. As he had always wanted to be a doctor, in 1946 he enrolled at the Temesvár University’s faculty of medicine. He studied there the following year as well. We were provided information regarding the establishment of the university’s department of medicine by university professor Dr. György Matekovits, who revealed the following: ”The Temesvár University of Pharmacy was founded in 1945 by the Romanian king and located in the former Banatia building, which had hosted the German Boy Gymnasium before the war. At that time the newly founded university took on many Jewish students, who had just come back from the concentration camps, but most of whom had already attended university before deportation and were therefore allowed to study in an acelarated rhytm. Most probably this is why the very first series of graduates obtained a degree as early as 1948.“ After two years of study in Temesvár, Ervin Róna transferred to the faculty of medicine in Kolozsvár, where he got his medical degree in 1951. Shortly before his third year of study, he wrote a letter to his uncle Juda Fried, dated November 1, 1948, telling him that he had put up for sale the messuage in Vajay Street, so as to be able to pay for his further studies, but that due to the post war poverty there were hardly any people interested in acquiring it. The same typewritten letter reaveals the fact that he had just put an end to a 17-month

relationship, but it remains unknown with whom: “Unfortunately it’s been a month already since we decided to set each other free again, realizing that there was no point in fighting destiny any longer, especially as long as there’s no important income for each of us…” Life, however, is a series of unexpected turnovers. Aliz Steinberger, born in Petrozsény met Ervin Róna in Nagyvárad, while on a visit at her sibling’s house. This first encounter turned into marriage in 1954. The couple considered Romania’s situation at that time as being rather hopeless and left the country in 1961. Their initial destination was America, but during their stay in Sweeden they fell in love with the country and decided to settle down there. It took three years for the Sweedish authorities to recognize their medical degrees obtained in Kolozsvár. Meanwhile they managed to make ends meet accepting different occasional jobs. In 1964 they settled down in Norrköpingen, where Dr. Ervin Róna worked as a district doctor for 25 years. He died in Sweeden, on April 25, 1996.

164. Dr. Elemér Rooz, MD, worked in Nagykároly during 1924-1925. 165. Dr. Gusztáv Agoston Rooz, ENT specialist, was born on May 1, 1896 in Szatmárnémeti being of kohanite descent. He attended high school in his hometown and in Pozsony (Bratislava) and university in Prague and Vienna. Between 1915 and 1918 he served as an ensign on the Italian and Albanian fronts. Between 1923 and 1928 he worked in the Viennese Neumann and Hajek Clinic, and then returned to his hometown. In 1941, at the Túrterebes Roman-Catholic parish, he converted to Christianity. He lived at 22 Deák (P. Bratianu) Square. In 1944 he committed suicide in his Petőfi Street flat (József Freud’s house) and is therefore considered a victim of the deportation. He was buried in the Roman-Catholic Cemetery on the left bank of the river Szamos with Catholic funeral rites. His mother and his wife, Blanka Kassriel, both died in Auschwitz. 166. Mrs. Gusztáv Rooz, Dr. Blanka Kassriel, ophtalmologist, was born on March 30, 1899 in Kremnitz. She attended high school in Selmecbanya and university in Prague and Vienna. Between 1923 and 1926 she was a specialist doctor at the Viennese Meller ophthalmology clinic. She then settled down in Szatmárnémeti where she continued practising her profession. She and her husband, Dr. Gusztáv Rooz, lived at 22 Deák Square. She published valuable medical papers and is most probably Szatmár county’s first woman ophthalmologist. As her husband was a converted Jew she was deported along with him despite her being Roman-Catolic herself. She rests among the victims of Auschwitz. 167. Dr. Paula Rooz (b. 1883), MD, worked in Nagykároly. She died during deportation. 168. Dr. Dezső Rosenbaum (1870-1938) lived in Szatmárnémeti, at 14 Árpad Street (Bd. Regele Ferdinand). He died at the age of 68 and rests in the Szatmárnémeti Status Quo Cemetery.

169. Dr. Miksa Rosenbaum, district doctor - in January 1884 he was appointed by the members of Szamoskrasso Local Council honorific barony doctor. He died on April 4, 1904 and was buried in Szamoskrassó. His wife, Jozefa Csengery Mayer, (b. August 15, 1865-d. May 23, 1937) rests in the Szatmárnémeti Status Quo Cemetery. 170. Dr. Ernő Rosenberg, MD, was born in 1898 and died during deportation. 171. Dr. Ernő Rosenberg, family doctor in Szinérváralja. 172. Dr. Dávid Rosenheck, gynaecologist, was the timber merchant, Jakab Rosenheck, and Regina Rivka’s son. He was born in 1908 in the picturesque village of Tiszaborkút and spent his entire childhood there. Dávid Rosenheck graduated high school in Ungvár and began his medical studies at the Jan Amos Kamenski University in Pozsony (Bratislava). On August 29, 1933 he married Regina Bohm from Halmi, who was the local banker’s daughter. After a two-year break, he continued his studies at the Charles University in Prague obtaining a medical degree in 1936. The Rosenhecks lived in Librec (Reichenberg) from 1936 until 1938; their only son Jakab György was born there. In 1938 the German troops occupied the city and they were forced to flee to Halmi. There he worked as a district doctor until 1942 when he was drafted for labour service into the 109/24 company. During the siege of Stalingrad in May 1943 he managed to flee over to the partisans together with some other fellows. He returned to Halmi all by himself as both his wife and son had perished in Auschwitz. He married again in 1947, taking as spouse Illés Kaczér’s niece, Klári Lebovics, and moved to Szatmárnémeti. Their son, Iván Simon, was born in 1951. For more than a decade Dr. Dávid Rosenheck worked as an obstetrics and gynaecology specialist in Szatmárnémeti. He was also actively involved as a teacher in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in the city. In 1970 the family immigrated to Israel. There he worked as a family doctor until the age of 87, then opened his private surgery in Rehov. He died in 1998, at the age of 90, and is buried in Jerusalem.

173. Dr. Iván Simon Rosenheck, cardiologist, was born in 1951 in Szatmárnémeti. He completed his high-school studies in his homeown at the Mihai Eminescu High School, but graduated only after his family had moved to Israel in 1970. Between 1971 and 1977 he studied medicine in Jerusalem, then from 1979 to 1983 he was a medical officer; meanwhile between 1982 and 1985 he also worked in the Beer Sheva hospital and at the Ben Gurion University of Medicine. He married Dafna, with whom he had three daughters: Gal, Yael and Hadar. During 1985-1988 he specialized in cardiology at the University of Jerusalem. From 1988 to 1990 he attended a two-year continuation course in electrophysiology and cardiology at Michigan University in the Unites States. From 1990 until 2002 he was head doctor of the Jerusalem Hadassa Hospital’s cardiology department and at the same time cardiology lecturer at the university with the same name. Since 2003 he is

director and head doctor of Jerusalem’s other big hospital, in Ein Karem, where he performs cardiac rthythm adjusting implants on children and adults. Except for being a doctor, he is also a university professor and scientific researcher.

174. Dr. Ignác Rosenthal, MD, was appointed district doctor in 1910 in Samoskóród. 175. Dr. Bernát Róth, veterinary doctor, was born in 1877 and died during deportation. 176. Dr. Kálman Róth, Dr. Róth Kálmán, surgeon. He was born on January 21 1905 in Szatmárnémeti. His parents were Roth Robert - a fashion dealer and Braun Teréz. He attended the primary school and the Eminescu High School in Szatmár. Later he studied medicine at the Pecs Medical Institute and graduated as a general practitioner in 1930. He continued his studies at the Iasi Medical Institute and was qualified as a surgeon in 1932. From this date on he worked as a physician at the Szatmárnémeti City Hospital. His wife Frankovits Borbála gave birth to a son in 1942. In June 1944 the whole family was deported. He lived through Auschwitz, Mauthausen, Melk and Ebensee concentration camps and returned in 1945. Any trace of his wife and son was lost in Auschwitz. He lived in Baia Mare for a few years and got married for a second time with Schiff Emília. From this marriage, a son Peter was born in 1947. In the sixties the family tried to make alia but did not succeed and as a result they moved to Hungary and settled in Székesfehérvár. He worked at as chief surgeon in the local health services practically until his death on 7th of August 1990. 177. Dr. Lajos Róth was a laboratory specialist in Nagyvárad.

178. Dr. Péter Róth, gynaecologist, left the country in the early 1960s. 179. Dr. Séndor Róth was a medical doctor in Nagykároly. He died during deportation. 180. Dr. József Rozsofszky, regimental doctor, lived with his wife Irma Kiss in Kazinczy Street. Their son Viktor was born on February 28, 1878. 181. Dr. Sarolta Salamon, MD, was born in 1891 in Nagykároly. She perished during deportation. 182. Dr. Lajos Alajos Sárkány, dental surgeon, was born in 1912. After World War II he was called to the stand in Budapest as a witness in the war criminal Sárközy’s trial.During the Holocaust he lost his first family. He returned and married the Roman Catholic Emília Seifried. After the birth of their daughter Eva Ida on March 23, 1949, the father converted to the Reformed faith. The family lived at 13 Petőfi Street. Dr. Sárkány left the country around the middle of the 9160s. He died in 1973 in Rome.

183. Dr. Lajos Schlinger, MD - at the time of World War II he resided in Kolozsvár where he was deported from. After the war he worked in Szinérváralja, but later immigrated to Israel. For a few years he continued to practise his profession in Kvar Saba, where he eventually died on August 22, 1968. He was buried in Israel.

184. Dr. Sándor Schreier was a psychiatrist in the city clinic. He lived at 22 Kazinczy Street. He was also actively involved as a teacher in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. He died shortly after his immigration to Israel. 185. Dr. Ignác Schtock was a medical doctor in the Jewish Hospital. He died during deportation. 186. Dr. József Schváger was an imperial and royal regimental doctor. On October 14, 1884, in their house situated in Templom (Church) Street, his wife Flóra Géber gave birth to a son whom they called Károly. Unfortunately the baby died shortly after birth. 187. Dr. Ignac Schwartz, medical doctor. He was born in Nyíregyházá. At the age of 24, on August 22 nd 1876, he married the 20 years old Weisz Hermina in Carei (Nagykároly).

188. Dr. István Schwarcz, gynaecologist, lived in a house situated at 16 Batthyány Street (Bd. Basarabilor). 189. Dr. Lajos Schwartz, gynaecologist (see photo no.75) was born in 1889. His address was 16 Attila (P. Traian) Street, but he later moved to István Square. He played a mojor role in the city’s Zionist movement. His wife, Dr. Margit Kohn, was a generalist doctor. When Jews started to be forced into the ghettos, they both decided to commit suicide and are therefore considered victims of the deportation. 190. Mrs. Iván Schwartz, Dr. Júlia Friedmann, MD, was born on October 14, 1948 in Kolozsvár. Her father was Dr. Zoltán Friedmann. She completed her high-school studies at the Kolozsvár Art High School, where she studied the piano. The parents, however, considered that becoming a doctor would ensure her a better living than a musical career and so she enrolled at the Kolozsvár Babeş-Bolyai University’s faculty of medicine. In 1972 she married Dr. Iván Schwartz and the very same year they both completed their studies and obtained a medical degree. At that time the place where a doctor would spend his/her compulsory three-year internship was decided by the university board. “We had been waiting for quite some time, when they eventually read out Ivánka’s and Julika’s names. The place they were appointed to was Batarcs, in Szatmár county. We were very upset as we hadn’t even heard of the place before. Eventually we found it on the map.” remembers Júlia’s father, Dr. Zoltán Friedmann. So the newly wed couple went to Batarcs. The husband took care of the adults, the wife treated the children. In 1973 they had a son, Robi, and two years later, in 1975, the family immigrated to Israel. “My daughter and her husband got a study trip to South Africa. Ivan would perform surgical experiments on piglings while Julia studied neurology. For a whole year they lived in Africa with their two

children, who attended the local school and learned the English language.” writes Dr. Zoltán Friedman in his memoirs. Julika is now department head doctor at the Rannana Levinstein Hospital. Her husband, Iván, is chief of the traumatology department at the Kvar Saba Meyir Hospital.

191. Dr. Leonida Şerban, internal specialist – her addresses were 1 Coşbuc Street and 4 Avram Iancu Street, but she also lived at 3 Bercsényi (Mircea cel Mare) Street. 192. Dr. Sándor Silberstein, MD, was born in Szilágynagyfalu, Szilágy county, 7 km from Szilágysomlyó. He attended primary school in his native village, and high school in Nagyvárad, at the Lipót Kecskeméti Jewish High School. He was the only one in the family who managed to survive the deportation. His parents, Rafael Silberstein and Sarolta Farkas, as well as his sister Kornélia, perished there. Upon his return he enrolled at the medical faculty of the Marosvásárhely University of Medicine and Pharmacy. He left the institution as a generalist doctor in 1951 and later specialized in pediatrics. After graduating from university he worked as a doctor in Mezőterem near Nagykároly. In 1954 he married Klára Stein, who was the biochemist of the Nagyvárad hospital. They had two sons, Rafael and Adi. The family then moved to Israel. Klára, who worked in a Kupat Holim laboratory, died in 2009. Sándor Silberstein has now reached retirement age after being an employee of a Kupat Holim clinic situated in the surrindings of Tel Aviv. 193. Dr. Menyhért Simon, MD, was born in 1913 and died during deportation. 194. Dr. Ernő Singer, gynaecologist, lived at 10 Kazinczy (Ştefan cel Mare) Street. He was deported to Auschwitz together with his wife. They both perished during deportation. 195.Dr. Jehoshua Shie Singer, born in 1899, worked in Szinérváralja. He died during deportation. 196. Dr. Sándor Salamon Singer, internist and cardiologist, was born in 1902 and lived at 10 Kölcsey (then Decebal) Street. He was married to Salamon Markovits’s daughter, Jolán. The family was deported to Auschwitz. In “A Deported Woman’s Experiences from the Yellow Star to the Red Star, or Why?” by Mrs. Hegedüs, Anna Molnár, we meet Dr. Singer working as a toilet cleaner. He is a victim of the deportation. 197. Dr. Sándor Samuel Spitz, MD, was born in 1902 and died during labour service. He is thus considered a victim of the deportation. 198. Dr. János Steer, ENT specialist, was born in 1892 in Szatmárzsadany. He studied medicine in Kolozsvár and Budapest. At first he was a medical officer at the post hospital in Kolozsvár. After the war he

specialized as a bacteriologist and ENT specialist at the Kolozsvár Clinic and later at the Charile Clinic in Berlin. Between the two world wars he worked in Szatmárnémeti at the contagious disease hospital and was at the same time head doctor of the National Bacteriology and Chemistry Station. His surgery was located at 23 Árpád Street (Bd. Ferdinand, now Vasile Lucaciu Street). He gave numerous scientific lectures on health educational topics. 199. Dr. Imre Steier,MD. 200. Dr. Jenő Steier, neurologist. 201. Dr. Bernát Stein, pediatrician, left the country in the late 1950s. 202. Dr. Judit Stein, MD, was born on October 7, 1927 in Szatmárnémeti and died on April 6, 1961. 203. Dr. Richárd Albert Stein (b. August 19, 1972), MD, was the son of Dr. Willynek Stein, former director and head doctor of the Szatmárnémeti Geriatric Hospital. He attended high school in his hometown, studying in a philology-history class at the Doamna Stanca High School. After graduation he was admitted to the Iuliu Haţeganu University of Medicine in Kolozsvár, where he obtained a medical degree in 1996. Meanwhile the family was hit by a great loss: in 1994 his father passed away. After graduation from medical school Dr. Albert Richárd Stein spent two years of internship at the Szatmárnémeti County Hospital. In 1998 he left Romania, his first destination being New York. In 2005 he obtained a scholarship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he also worked as a researcher. In the meantime he obtained another PhD degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In 2006 he became a researcher at New York University of Medicne. He has published more than 100 scientific papers and several speciality books. He is fluent in English, Hungarian, Romanian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German. Since 2008 he has been Associate Research Scholar at Princeton University. The other central problem of his wide range of reaserch work is how the environment affects the living body with special focus on environmental issues. Apart from his scientific research work he allots a great deal of time to health education and science popularization. “I adore my work. I spend seven days a week in the lab and work 12 hours a day.” he said in an interview.

204. Dr. Willy Stein, MD, was born on February 22, 1938 in Brăila. He attended high school in Brassó and went to university in Jászvásár. Until 1971 he worked as a district doctor in Kőhalom (Rupea), Brassó county. When he married Rozália Fábián, the daughter of the Jewish community’s president, it took a whole series of complicated arrangements until he finally managed to move to Szatmárnémeti. He thus became a factory doctor at the Szeptember 1 and the lace factories. In the meantime he accepted night guards at the Lükő Béla Hospital. He was director of the so-called “Old People’s Hospital” from the day of its opening. From that

day on he dedicated his whole life to this institution. As its director and head doctor he became known and admired in the entire county. In 1991 he suffered a first warning heart attack. However, he refused to slow down his crazy self-imposed work rhythm so that the second heart attack, which occurred in 1994, did not spare him any more. His elaborately embellished grave lies in the Status Quo cemetery next to that of his father-in-law, Sándor Fábián, former president of the Szatmárnémeti Jewish community. The grateful posterity has erected a bronz statue within the precincts of the Old People’s Hospital in honour of Dr. Willy Stein, founder of the institution.

205. Dr. Sándor Steinberger, ophthalmologist, obtained his medical degree in Italy. He was actively involved as a teacher in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. He died in 1957. 206. Dr. Ernő Steinberger, psychiatrist and neurologist, lived at 23 Deák (P. Brătianu) Square. 207. Dr. Gábor Steinberger, dental surgeon, was born on May 8, 1948 in Szatmárnémeti as the son of the Mondiala garment factory director. He completed his high-school studies at the Szatmárnémeti Kölcsey Ferenc National College, and then obtained a university degree at the Babeş-Bolyai University of Kolozsvár. He specialized in dental surgery and practised his profession in Sárközújlak and Borsa. He married Kató Rozenkranz from Máramarossziget, who worked as a nurse at the neonatology department’s intensive care unit. In 1976 they immigrated to Israel. He currently works as a dental surgeon in Kiriat Bialik, near Haifa. Dr.Gábor Steinberger has two daughters: Einav, who is a food engineer, and Michal, who studied and works in the domain of environmental protection.

208. Dr. Emil Steiner, oral and dental surgeon, was born in 1903 in Halmi. He attended university in Prague and eventually specialized in oral surgery in Vienna. For two more years he workd in Vienna, then

returned to Szatmárnémeti and opened his own surgery at 14 Eötvös (Cuza Vodă) Street. He died during deportation. 209. Dr. Jozsef Steiner (b. 1868-d.February 27, 1933), dental surgeon, worked at first in the Budapest clinic, then in the Szent István Hospital. He specialized at the Budapest Dental Clinic. In Szatmárnémeti he had his own surgery and for three years he was the Sick Fund’s dental surgeon. His son’s death, which occurred in 1919, devastated the family. Doctor Steiner was also a patron of several social and cultural institutions. His 1933 funeral was attended in great number by the city’s inhabitants, who wished to express their most sincere condoleances accompanying the doctor on his last journey. 210. Dr. Géza Steinfeld, internist, was a district doctor in Szamoskrassó in 1910. In March 1910 he married Nellike Steinfeld S. from Nagybánya. In 1911 he was an employee of the Szatmárnémeti Health Insurance Fund. For three years during World War I he served on the Russian front. He returned from war with several decorations and moved to Szatmárnémeti in a house situated in Petőfi Street. He performed several honourable social duties. For decades he was sports doctor at the Szatmár Fencing Club, whose board included personalities like Dr. Sándor Weisz, Miklős Gönczy, Endre Litteczky Jr., etc. He was deported in 1944 and died together with his family in Auschwitz.

211. Dr. Adolf Stern, medical brigade doctor in Szatmárnémeti. 212. Dr. Jenő Stern, district doctor, lived at 1 Károlyi (then Horea) Street. 213. Dr. Lipót Leó Stern, medical doctor. 214 Dr. Mór Stern, internist and pediatrician, was born in 1900 in Szatmárnémeti. He was the younger brother of the writer and journalist Illés Kaczér. He lived at 34 Petőfi Sándor (Petru Rareş) Street. He graduated from the Medical University of Vienna in 1926 and then completed his specialization courses in Vienna and Budapest. For four years he worked as a secondary doctor in Csepel at the Manfréd Weisz Hospital. He returned to his hometown with considerable medical experience and continued to work as an internist and pediatrician. He had several publications on topics related to pediatrics that appeared in the Budapest Medical Weekly. Both he and his wife, Ilus Borgida are victims of the deportation.

215. Dr. Alexandru Sternberg, ophthalmologist head doctor (b.1912-d.1958) 216. Dr. Géza Sternberg was manager head doctor of the Nagykároly hospital starting 1901. 217. Dr. László Sternberg, MD, was born on November 20, 1895 in Alsószopor. We find him working in Nagykároly during 1924-1925. He also worked as an employee of the Sick Fund. He died on January 6, 1945 in Dachau. 218. Dr. Imre Iván Steuer, psychiatrist and neurologist, lived in Papnövelde (Gen. Olteanu) Street. He was an eager promoter of the city’s intellectual and scientific life. His scientific educational lectures held at the Kölcsey Kör turned him into a well known and popular Szatmárnémeti citizen. In January 1935, for example, he held a lecture entitled “Today’s State of Psychological Research” which proved to appeal to a large audience. 219. Dr. Jeno Steuer, pediatrician, was born in 1890 in Szatmárnémeti. After graduating from university in 1911, he completed his intership period in the Budapest Bródy Adél Hospital and later in the Szent Rókus Hospital assisting Professor Angyán. He then moved to Arad and worked in the local Pediatric Hospital. In 1915 he worked at the Békéscsaba reserve hospital. During World War I he served in different camp hospitals on the Italian and Albanian fronts. He received several decorations such as The Golden Cross of Merit with Crown and The Second Class Royal Red Cross Medal. After the war he returned to Szatmárnémeti where he worked as a pediatric specialist. He wrote numerous articles dealing with medical or social issues which appeared in the Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift and different Hungarian and Romanian medical publications. He also gave scientific lectures on the occasion of different club soirees. Furthermore, he was much involved in the foundation of social and cultural clubs and societies. Dr. Jenő Steuer died during deportation. 220. Dr. Jenő Szabolcs, MD, was born in 1901. He died during deportation. 221. Dr. Sándor Simon Szágh, MD, was born on February 22, 1901 in Szatmárnémeti. He practised his profession in Beregszász. He was deported and died in 1945 in Flossenburg concentration camp. 222. Dr. Jenő Imre Szenes, pulmonary specialist, was born in 1901 in Szatmárnémeti. He was one of the first pulmonary specialists in the history of the city. His house was situated in Árpád Street (Bd. Regele Ferdinand).

223. Dr. György Szilágyi, microbiologist doctor and researcher, was born on December 30, 1916 in Nagykároly. He completed his high-school studies in the Kecskeméti Lipót Jewish High School of Nagyvárad. He studied medicine in Montpelier, France, then at the Romanian Regele Ferdinand University of Kolozsvár and after 1940 at the Hungarian Ferencz József University, where he also obtained his medical degree. For a brief period he worked as an assistant doctor in a hospital in Kiskunfélegyháza. After labour service he specialized in Nagyvárad, at the county medical laboratory, and at the Bucharest Cantacuzino Institute. In 1949 following the reorganization of all public health institutions, he was appointed head doctor of the Szatmarnemeti Public Health Institute’s laboratory (SANEPID). He was also a teacher at the Szatmárnémeti sanitary and nursing school. In 1962 he emigrated to The United States of America together with his wife, Magda Virág, and their children, Edit and András. Subsequently he worked both as a researcher in the microbiology laboratory of the Albert Einstein University Hospital in New York and as a university professor. He officially retired from work in 1996, at the age of 80, being conferred the title of “emeritus professor”. In 1933 the Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University of Szeged rewarded him with the so-called “Golden Diploma” in recognition of his 50-year professional activity. The fruit of his scientific work appeared in the form of numerous articles in different speciality publications. His book “History of Plagues; Plagues and History” published in 2007 is a review of the great epidemics in history (plague, tuberculosis, syphilis, etc.) as well as their effect on human society. Another book of his, “Medicine and Art”, presents different works of art dealing with medical issues as well as physicians who became famous as artists, writers, painters, sculptors, or musicians. In 2012, at the age of 95, he still teaches and works on the publication of his selected works.

224. Dr. Márton Tanódy, MD, worked in Szatmárnémeti, where he had settled down at the end of June, 1881. Still that year he became member of the city’s medical doctors’ association. His family converted to Roman Catholicism. It is also known that in 1910 his daughter Anna married the lawyer Dr. Jenő Farkas. 225. Dr. Izsák Icu Teichmann, MD, Henja and Márton Teichman’s son, was born on July 23, 1923 in Petrova, Máramaros county. He attended high school in Nagyvárad. During the time of the Jewish persecution he worked in a labour camp. Neither his mother nor his sister Frida returned from deportation. His father Teichmann Márton returned and later moved to Israel. He died in Herzlia in 1986. Izsák Teichmann studied medicine in Marosvásárhely and obtained his medical degree in 1951 being in the same class with Henrik Glück, Sándor Lindenfeld and Sándor Silberstein. His

first workplace was in Magyarlápos (Târgu Lăpuş), where he spent three years. Starting 1955 he worked as an internist and later head doctor of the Szatmárnémeti hospital’s internal medicine department. It was in Bucharest at a medical congress that he met pharmacist Altaras Bella whom he shortly married. Their daughter Diana was born in 1961. The Teichmanns left Romania on April 2, 1970 and settled in Netanya, Israel. Dr. Izsák Teichmann continued to work as a doctor at the Kupat Holim. He died on September 6, 1990, at the age of 70.

226. Dr. Náthán Teitler worked in Szatmárnémeti. His name comes up in the Febryary 13, 1946 issue of the Szabad Élet newspaper, where he appears as one of the doctors employed by the railway station’s disinfection service. 227. Dr. László Vámos, laboratory doctor, was actively involved in the doctor’s assistant and nurse training courses organized in Szatmárnémeti. 228. Dr. Elek Weisz, internist, was born in 1890 in Szatmárnémeti. He attended university in Budapest, graduating in 1913. He was department head doctor at the Budapest Bálint Clinic, the Szent István Hospital and the Zita Hospital. During World War I he worked in several military hospitals. After his return to Szatmárnémeti he worked as an internal specialist. He lived at 2 Árpád Street (Bd. Regele Ferdinand). He died during deportation. 229. Dr. Gyula Weisz, dermatologist, lived at 21 Deák (then P. Brătianu) Square. 230. Dr. Herman Weisz, MD, was born in Szatmárnémeti. Starting April 1, 1908 he was appointed medical attendant of the József Főherceg Sanatorium board. 231. Dr. Károly Weisz (b.1869 - d.August 24, 1934), MD, was an active participant at community’s cultural life. He was one of the founders of the prestigious Szatmárnémeti Társaskör. His wife was Erzsébet Mandel (b.1884 - d.1910). 232. Dr. Katalin Weisz, MD, Laszló Weisz and Ibolya Lindenfeld’s daughter, was born on July 8, 1949 in Szatmárnémeti. Her father, Laszló Weisz had the most varied jobs, thus the family would often move from one place to another. For a year they lived in Budapest where Laszló Weisz was Romania’s ambassador in Hungary. Katalin attended high school in Kolozsvár and studied medicine in Bucharest. She obtained her

medical degree in 1976. Right after graduation she was assigned district doctor to a village in Moldavia. In 1983 she immigrated to Israel. For a period of three years she worked in the hospitals of Afula and Poria, in 1986 at the Kupat Holim and eventually became a family doctor in Ramat Gan. She has two daughters, Yvett and Sári, and one grandchild. 233. Dr. Sándor Weisz, internist, lived at 2 Árpád Street. 234. Dr. Imre Wettenstein, dental surgeon, was born in 1924. The family lived at 30 Batthyány Street. In the school year 1933-1934 he was a student at the civil school. After his return from deportation, he immigrated to Israel. He died in Netanya. 235. Dr. Béla Wilkowits, gynaecologist, lived in the house situated at 18 Rákóczi (M. Viteazul) Street. He also worked at the Jewish Hospital’s gynaecology department. 236. Dr. Wittenberg Tibor dental surgeon. Living and working in Haifa up to the present date.