Anna Weisz Rado

Anna Rado was born in Rajka, Hungary that is a small town near the border of what was then Czechoslovakia.   Her family consisted of her parents and a brother and sister. Anna’s father owned two butcher shops—one kosher and one non-kosher.  On March 10, 1944, the Nazis marched into Hungary and changed Anna’s life forever.

Anna was first sent to live in a ghetto and from there the family was deported by train to Auschwitz. When they arrived at the concentration camp, her parents were separated from her and her sister.  It was the last time she saw them alive. Anna was taken from Auschwitz to work in a factory in Gebhardsdorf, Germany which seemed like paradise compared to life in Auschwitz and then to a munitions factory in Georgenthal.  She was liberated by Russian troops when she was 14 years old.

Anna and her family, along with her brother and his family, came to live in San Antonio, Texas in 1957 where they were reunited with their sister Susanne Jalnos who is also a Holocaust survivor.

Anna passed away in November 2022.

Susanne Weisz Jalnos

Susanne Jalnos was born in Rajka, Hungary that is a small town near the border of what was then Czechoslovakia.   Her family consisted of her parents and a brother and sister. Her father owned two butcher shops—one kosher and one non-kosher.  On March 10, 1944, the Nazis marched into Hungary and changed her life forever.

By Passover 1944, all Jews were forced to leave their homes in Rajka and move into a ghetto in Mosonmagyaróvár, about 15 kilometers away. The family stayed in Moson only about three weeks. After that, they were moved twice, each time taking less and less with them. They had started with three wagon loads of belongings, but ended up taking only what they could carry to their third place, an attic in a larger ghetto in Gyor. Then, the Hungarian Jews in Gyor were rounded up to be deported. Several days later they arrived in Auschwitz. Susanne had been in Auschwitz six weeks when she was selected to go to a work camp in Lipstadt, in the state of Westphalia. Susanne and the others were to be working in a munitions factory. 

As U.S. troops approached the area, the Germans marched the factory workers away from Lipstadt toward the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. On March 29, 1945, Susanne and five hundred women from the factory, plus three hundred others who had joined them, began a march that lasted three nights. During the days they hid in barns to avoid detection. They eventually came to a stadium on Easter Sunday, April, 1, 1945, where local Germans were flying white flags. U.S. bombers were flying overhead, and within a short time, the Germans fled from the stadium and the town. They were liberated. Susanne married her husband Steve in 1949. They arrived in San Antonio later in the year and was later reunited with her brother and sister.

Susanne has now retired from public speaking. She continues to serve as an invaluable resource for the museum but no longer speaks to groups.

Rose Sherman Williams

Rose Williams was born in Radom, Poland. She and her 3 siblings, a younger sister and brother and an older brother along with her parents, had a lovely life in Radom. Her father owned a leather factory. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Rose’s life as a twelve year old was changed forever.

The Sherman family was forced to move out of their home and move into a ghetto. There the entire family lived in one room. In 1942, the ghetto was liquidated and Rose was separated from her family and sent to another town in Poland where she worked in an ammunition factory. During this time she learned that her parents perished. From there she was sent to Auschwitz where she received her tattoo. Life in Auschwitz was extremely hard for Rose. Because she had no shoes, her feet became frostbitten and full of sores. However, it was also in Auschwitz where she was reunited with her sister, Binne. Towards the end of the war, she was forced to march to Bergen-Belsen, the worst camp that Rose had witnessed. On April 15, 1945 she was liberated by British troops.

After liberation, she worked in Stuttgart, Germany until arriving in the United States.

Rose has recently published her memoir, Letters To Rose, written with Rebecca Hoag and Robin Philbrick.

David and Golda Scharff

David was born in Poland and served in the Polish Army. He was captured by the Germans and sent back to the ghetto at his hometown. The ghetto was emptied and he was sent to Auschwitz. From Auschwitz, he went to a slave labor camp. When near death, he requested to be sent back to Auschwitz. He was returned in a van with approximately 15 dead bodies. When he arrived, he was still alive and recovered enough to function again. As the Russians approached, he was on a death march and escaped. He hid in the countryside and survived by posing as a Polish peasant.  
David and Golda met in the D.P. Camp after the war. Golda was born in Galicia. She was in the ghetto and worked as a servant at the S.S. Headquarters. A German officer took a liking to her and managed to have her hidden as a Catholic in a monastery until the end of the war. They were the only members of their respective families to survive. 

Both David and Golda are deceased but, their daughter speaks to groups for the museum to tell their survival experiences as a Second Generation speaker.

Ilona and Nathan Haendel 

Ilona was born in Hungary and received a Swiss letter of protection. With this letter she and her family were safely sequestered. Her former maid, Janosne Oros, brought food and supplies for their survival. After a period of time the Germans refused to honor the letter of protection. Ilona was forced on a death march from Budapest to Vienna. She escaped and then hid in the home of Mrs. Oros, until the Russians liberated Budapest. Mrs. Oros’ name has been inscribed in the honor wall in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. 
Nathan was born in Poland and went to Vienna to study voice. He recognized the danger lurking and went to France where he joined the Army in order to avoid deportation. After the fall of the Maginot line his entire unit was allowed to enter Switzerlnad where he remained until the end of the war. 

Both Ilona and Nathan are deceased but, their daughter speaks to groups for the museum to tell their survival experiences as a Second Generation speaker.

Anna Levit 

Anna Levit was born in Poland. She was put into the Vilno Ghetto in Lithuania and then was sent to concentration camps in Latvia and Germany. As the British liberators approached Stutthoff, the prisoners were put on barges into the Baltic Sea and abandoned. Her father and three brothers were killed by the Nazis, only she and her mother survived in Europe. After the war, she joined her sister who had previously immigrated to Mexico and came to San Antonio in 1949. 

Anna is now deceased but, her daughter speaks to groups for the museum to tell her survival experience as a Second Generation speaker.

Mathilde Schwarz Rosenblatt

Mathilde Rosenblatt grew up in Vienna, Austria living an average middle-class childhood. Her father was a jeweler until the Nazis invaded Austria in 1938. After experiencing the violence of the November Pogrom (Kristallnacht) her family moves to Poland in hopes of staying safe from Hitler’s anti-Jewish policies. However, the Nazis soon invade Poland and Mathilde and her family are sent to live in the Warsaw ghetto. Because food and resources were so scarce in the ghetto Mathilde, like many children in the ghetto, spends her nights sneaking out through the sewers to smuggle food and supplies back to her family. When she is 16 years old her family receives word from the American consulate in Vienna that they have a Visa for Mathilde to go to the United States if she can make it back to Vienna. She disguises herself, escapes from the ghetto and makes the 450-mile trip back to Vienna by herself, largely on foot, sneaking across the border without any travel papers and avoiding countless Nazi troops. Once she arrives in Vienna, she is able to collect her Visa but then must travel another 650 miles to Rotterdam, through many Nazi checkpoints, where she is able to get passage to the United States.

Mathilde is now deceased but, her son speaks to groups for the museum to tell her survival experience as a Second Generation speaker.

George Fodor

George Fodor was born in Hungary. He was 12 years old when the Germans took over the country. He was in numerous concentration camps in Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia and was eventually liberated from Theresienstadt. His mother and sister survived, but his father perished prior to liberation. He came to the United States in 1956 at the time of the Hungarian revolution. 

Photo is of George with his parents and sister. 

George passed way in November 2021.

Harry Weiss

Harry Weiss was born in Romania. In 1944 he and his parents were sent to a ghetto and were later transported to Auschwitz. There he was separated from his parents and was selected for forced labor, working on German railway lines. While working he was able to escape and find refuge at a local German farmhouse until he was liberated by the American army. After the war he went to work for the Jewish underground forging travel and identification documents to allow Jewish refugees to immigrate out of Communist controlled countries. After locating his mother and helping her to immigrate to Israel, he came to the United States and found work in the textile industry.

Harry has since passed away but his daughter-in-law has volunteered to begin sharing his experience at the museum.