[Page ii]

[Page v]

This book is the result of a collective effort of a group of Kaszonyers living in three countries: Israel, the United States and Hungary.

Whenever we could locate somebody from a family, we asked them to provide the necessary information. Whenever that couldn't be done, we relied on the memories of the following people:

In Israel:	In the United States:	In Hungary:
Imre Ackerman	Nandor Ackerman	Sari Auspitz
Rozsi Fendrich	Rozsi Ackerman	Juliska Einczig
Iren Gartenberg	Jozsi (Einczig) Eden	Riza Glaub
Vera Grosz	David Felberbaum	Erno Klein
Siku Klein	Viola Gotteszman	Bozsi Lebovics
Burch Pinkovics	Magda Iczkovics	Ilus Lebovics
Sanyi Rapaport	Zsuzsi Roth	Hermina Teitelbaum
Rezsi Veres	Samson Feder

The facts for the narrative part of this booklet were gathered by the author from the archives of “Yad Vashem” in Jerusalem, from the “Judaism” section of the New York Public Library, from the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York (with the help of Dr. Arnon Yardeni), and from the Szecsenyi Library in Budapest, Hungary. This booklet was written with very specific goals in mind:

1. To preserve the memory of Kaszony's martyrs for future generations;
2. To answer questions which our descendants may ask such as: Who were my ancestors? How did they live? What happened to them?
3. To add, in a small way, to the record which is still being compiled of that period in our history known as the Holocaust. Every bit of testimony like this can make it more difficult for it to be claimed that these things never happened!
4. To serve as a reminder for future generations not to take their freedom for granted. Jewish survival needs to be guarded constantly through Jewish education, support of Jewish institutions and by support of the State of Israel.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all those who contributed to this publication including Mrs. Betty Steinhart for typing and editing; Temple Israel of Great Neck for helping us with the art work for the book cover; Mr. Abe Malin for preparing this book for publication; Tom and Zsuzsi Ackerman for editing and last, but not least, my wife Vera whose advice and active participation made this publication possible.

[Page 1]

I was born in Kaszony in the year 1920 just after World War I when things started to settle down under the new Czechoslovak regime.

My father's clothing store was right on the main village square. Every afternoon the older people of the village, both the Jews and the non–Jews, would sit just outside the store, joking, gossiping and discussing present and future politics.

As a child, I was fascinated as I listened to their stories about the Austro–Hungarian monarchy, life during the war, the recovery and the world–wide depression. Anti–Semitism was never mentioned. I got the impression that during our parent's lifetime it had never been a serious problem in our village. Of course, in the late thirties all this began to change.

The rule of Franz Joseph I, the Emperor and King of the Austro–Hungarian Empire, was characterized as the “good old times”. Kaszony was the trade and administrative centre for twenty–seven smaller villages whose populations were completely dependent on Kaszony for selling their agricultural products and buying industrial necessities. Kaszony businesses, which were mostly in Jewish hands, were booming. There was plenty of everything for everybody.

In 1914, Hungary entered World War I. All able–bodied men were recruited into the Hungarian army; Jews and non–Jews alike. Of 41 Jews who fought in the war, 15 never returned. (See their names on page 3). Kaszony received its share of refugees from Poland and Rumania. Some of them decided to stay for good.

After the war, Kaszony experienced the same events as the rest of sub–Carpathian: from monarchy to liberal republic to communism. After a short Rumanian occupation, the Czechs established themselves in power for the following eighteen years.

Under the Czech regime, Kaszony went through great changes. The Czechoslovakia–Hungarian border was established right outside the village, cutting off two–thirds of the satellite villages. Even the vineyards, which were the main means of employment for the population, were divided, right down the middle. One side of the road belonged to Czechoslovakia; the other to Hungary. To visit a neighbouring village like Barabas, for instance, a passport was needed and one had to go through two border check–points. Life became more complicated and difficult. Many people became unemployed or under–employed. Some of the stores closed; others struggled for survival. Many of the workers joined the communist and socialist parties in the hope of changing things. These developments culminated in the first half of the 1930's in a world–wide depression during which many businesses went bankrupt and families were without bread and other basic necessities.

[Page 2]

Socially, the Jewish population which constituted about 20% of the general population of 2,500 consisted of different “castes”. Approximately 20% were families that did not own any property, not even their own homes. Their only product for sale was non–skilled physical labour. Their living depended completely on supply and demand. Many of them very often needed help from the government or from the Jewish community.

The largest group, 65%, owned small stores and workshops. They usually owned their own homes and had a marketable skill which more or less took care of the basic needs of their families in good times or in bad. This group included the butchers, bakers, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, sheet metal workers and painters. To this group may be added the small storekeepers such as clothing and shoe–store owners, grocers, small innkeepers, etc. They were all completely dependent on the favourable economic conditions of the general population. Everybody knew everybody in the village personally and most of the orders and purchases were done on a credit basis. Therefore, in bad times, everybody suffered.

The third and smallest group, about 15%, consisted of the intellectuals, big businessmen and wealthy property owners. To be considered part of the intellectual group, all that was needed was a secondary school education or employment by the state or a bank. To this group also belonged the doctors, lawyers and pharmacists. The wealthy property owners included the owners of lumberyards, of the mill and those in possession of at least a hundred acres of land where hired workers produced wheat, corn, tobacco or wine in large quantities. A few Jewish families accumulated over generations, hundreds and even thousands of acres of land and vineyards. One such family even had its own bank.

The Jewish families had settled in Kaszony over a long period of time. The first Jewish settlers arrived in the 18^th century from Poland and were permitted to settle on the estate of Count Schoenborn and Count Lonyai. Jews having at least an elementary education were hired by the feudal landowners as bookkeepers and supervisors.

The Jews soon adopted the Hungarian language which was the exclusive language of the general population. But Yiddish remained the language of communication between themselves and other Jews throughout Europe.

[Page 3]

	Surname	First name(s)	Rank
1.	AKERMANN	Lipót	Sergeant
2.	KLEIN	Sámuel	Private, Károly Division
3.*	EINZIG	(Mrs. Lajos)
4.*	FRIEDRICH	(Mrs. Herman)
5.*	HERSKOVITS	(Mrs. Henrik)
6.*	KIS	Béla	Ensign
7.*	VINKLER	Lajos	Private first class
8.*	EINZIG	Lajos	Private
9.*	WALLENSTEIN	Izidor	Private
10.*	HERSCHKOVITS	Henrik	Private
11.*	ROSENBERG	Fülöp	Private
12.*	KLEIN	Jenő	Private
13.*	KLEIN	Samu	Private
14.*	GLAUB	Lajos	Private
15.*	ROSENBERG	Mór	Private
16.*	FENDRICH	Herman	Private
17.*	DICKER	Adolf	Private
18.	KOVÁNYI	Mór	First Lieutenant; veterinarian
19.	ACKERMANN	Lipót	Private first class
20.	RÓTH	Dezső	cannon operator
21.	KLEIN	Miksa	Sergeant
22.	RAPAPORT	Vilmos	Sergeant
23.	KLEIN	Mihály	Corporal
24.	ICZKOVICS	Sándor	Corporal
25.	KLEIN	Henrik	Corporal
26.	ACKERMANN	Zoltán	infantryman
27.	ÁDLER	Menyhért	artilleryman
28.	BURGER	Géza	Sergeant
29.	EICZIG	Eliás	Calvary
30.	EICZIG	Lajos	Private
31.	FENDRICH	Herman	Private
32.	FRIEDMANN	Herman	infantryman
33.	FENDRICH	Dezső	infantryman
34.	FEDER	Jenő	infantryman
35.	GOTTESMAYER	Márton	Lieutenant
36.	GRÜNBERGER	Aladár	infantryman
37.	GLAUB	Herman	infantryman
38.	GROSZ	Sámuel	infantryman
39.	KLEIN	Vilmos	radio/telegraph operator
40.	KLEIN	Sámuel	infantryman
41.	RÓTH	Károly	infantryman

The Enczig movie theatre “Lidove Kino” (Peoples Movie Theatre)

Eszti Einczig – left Kaszony to the USA in 1939

On Kaszony Tennis Court First line: Erzsike Roth, Klein Menyus (Moric), Klein Loli, unknown, Klein Anka, unknown, Dr. Klein Pista and Fendrich Lala Second and third line: unknown, Dr. Klein Bela, Klein Vilmos, Klein Laci, Klein Ilonka, Fendrich Sari, unknown, Klein Ilonka (Gyuri), unknown, Roth Olga, unknown

The Seamstress Salon of Jolan Braun Magda Espan, Ilon Grosz, Jolan Braun, Margit Braun, Eszti Einczig and Aliz Braun

Avigdor Hameiri. The Famous Hebrew Poet in Kaszony Upper row: Herbstman Aranka, Rapaport Dezso, Fendrich Marton, Herbstman Sari, Lefkovics Sari, Waldman Bozsi, Avigdor Hameiri, Waldman Rozsi, Herbstman Lili, Winkler Sanyi, Waldman Annus, Waldman Iren, Herbstman Sanyi

Jeno Ackerman, Jozsi Einczig, Berti Klein* Andi Weisz and Abi Weisz		Erno Einczig (disappeared in Budapest), Sanyi Rapaort (survived in Budapest) and Jozsi Lebovics (was murdered in Auschwitz)

1st line: Yossi Roth, Jozsi Grosz, Yoyni Pinkovics (survived in Palestine). Erno Lebovics (survived in Palestine), Bela Klein*, Moric Ackerman*, Yosef–Vari Pinkovics (survived in Palestine), Bela Teitelbaum*, Yossi Fendrich (survived in Palestine), Sanyi Lebovics, Sanyi Grosz*, Imre Iczkovics*, Miki Iczkovics

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