Presented by : Noa Gelber
Bar Gershoni
Phone numbers:
Noa Gelber-050-373-3586
Bar Gershoni-052-829-0071
Blog address:
ELNE27OCRO.blogspot.com
Blog code:
RelationetELNE27OCRO
Date:
December 16th 2013.
FATHER-MATI YOSEF NEMESH
MOTHER-REGINA LILI NEMESH
SISTER-ADELA NEMESH
HUSBAND-SAMUEL HOIMAN
NAME OF FRIENDS FROM SCHOOL (AGE 17)-ELISCKE, BURUNE.
BEFORE THE WAR
Elizabetha was born July 15th, 1927 in a medium sized village named OCNA- MURES in Transylvania near the Carpathian Mountains, Romania after WORLD WAR I . Her father's name was YOSEF and her mother's name was RAGINA LILI.
There were approximately 14 thousand people and about 2,000 Jews in the village which had a large and beautiful synagogue built with the money of the Jewish community. There were also "YESHIVOT" for religious Jews. The one storey houses were built of wood or concrete.There were courtyards and gardens where children could play.
Ocna Mures had a famous salt factory and the "Solvay" factory which processed salt, salt water and produced chemicals.
There were approximately 14 thousand people and about 2,000 Jews in the village which had a large and beautiful synagogue built with the money of the Jewish community. There were also "YESHIVOT" for religious Jews. The one storey houses were built of wood or concrete.There were courtyards and gardens where children could play.
Ocna Mures had a famous salt factory and the "Solvay" factory which processed salt, salt water and produced chemicals.
Elizabetha lived at 31 "Horeia" Street in a relatively large house with her parents, older sister Adela and her grandmother. Each family member had their own room. Her family was not religious but since they lived in a Jewish community they celebrated the Jewish holidays, didn’t light fire or use electricity on Sabbath and ate only kosher food.
Elizabetha's family was middle class. "We had everything we
needed" she says.
Her last name- NEMESH is originally a Hungarian word describing the upper class of the society. Her family had a leather store in which they sold coats, shoes and bags.
needed" she says.
Her last name- NEMESH is originally a Hungarian word describing the upper class of the society. Her family had a leather store in which they sold coats, shoes and bags.
Elizabetha says that she had gone to an elementary school, in which boys and girls, Jews and Christians studied together.
Although Elizabetha had Christian friends, most of her friends were Jewish because of the fact that the Jewish community was very close knit.
Names of friends from school- Eliscke, Burune.
During the war
The regime in the late thirties and early forties of the 19th century
was very anti-Semitic. Thus, the Jews forbidden to attend school, so Elizabetha only went to high school for two years.
She studied economics by reading economics books at home. Another result of the anti –Semitic rules was that Jewish doctors and professor's licenses were taken and the family store was taken as well.
She studied economics by reading economics books at home. Another result of the anti –Semitic rules was that Jewish doctors and professor's licenses were taken and the family store was taken as well.
Her parents knew that children needed to be strong to get through this time, the upcoming war and therefore encouraged her to participate in sports. Hitler had taken Poland and Danzig, Czechoslovakia and they knew Romania was about to be taken soon.
In 1941, when the Germans invaded Russia, the mayor said that all Jews should leave Ocna Mures and go to a town called Aiud. They had 4 days to leave.
Her family got two rooms apartment in Aiud, which was very small, compared to the five room house they had owned. But they just focused on surviving so it didn’t bother them. After a while, they left for Alba lulia -a bigger city with a ghetto, each family received a room.
They were not allowed to go outdoors after 10 pm. The Jews were instructed to walk around with a yellow star sewn on their clothes. Jews were taken to forced labor camps where they suffered .Some of them got diseases like Typhus. The Ghetto was very crowded and they lived under difficult conditions.
She says Romanians were smart and once Romanians felt that the war was almost over and the Germans would lose, after the loss of the Germans at Stalingrad, they took prisoners out of jail, sent them to Russia as long as they were not fighting against Romania. they also sent weapons. The Russians began taking Romanians to fight against the Germans. Jews knew that they would soon be free –the fighting was not against them anymore, but against the Germans – and indeed in 1944 the Jews were freed from the ghetto.
Elizabetha and her family returned home in Ocna Mures for few days. Suddenly as the whole family was sitting at the table, a guy came in shouting, that they should leave immediately because the Germans and Hungarians are at a nearby village and they are moving towards them. So, on that day in 1944 they packed their bags – full of important things like clothing, shoes and food, and ran away. They walked about 50 miles through the mountains knowing they would not be seen or caught there. They continued walking and came to the highest mountain in Romania where Elizabetha first heard the sound of Katyusha missiles -6 Katyushas exploding in sequence.
After the war:
After the war had completely ended and Romania was under the communist authority, Elizabetha studied biology at the University of Cluj, and finished her Masters in Biology. She had a research lab in Hydroponics which is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil.
In November 1956, , Elizabetha's mother passed away as a result of cancer, and one and a half years later, in 1957 her father died of Paralysis.
After living under the communist authority for 20 years, Elizabetha left Cluj for Israel in 1964 .She had wanted permission to get an Israeli passport for over 6 years but the government didn’t allow her to leave. She got fired from her job and all she wanted was to come to Israel.
When Elizabetha finally got permission to leave Romania she took a plane to Napoli, and then sailed to Israel on a small ship. She arrived alone in Haifa so the Jewish Agency gave her a small place to live in and some small amount of food – "I was so happy that I finally made it to Israel". "The Jewish Agency asked me where I want to live, as I wanted so much to go to Jerusalem but they didn’t let me, they didn’t even want to speak Hungarian or Romanian to me which I knew. They sent me to the bank on a taxi to take a loan of money to live".
In Israel, Elizabetha worked in "Agra" psychiatric hospital in Naharia, in a doing research on frogs for 15 years, then, she found a job in the Weitzman Institute Of Science" in Rehovot. When Elizabetha was 52 she met her husband- Samuel Hoiman a 65 years old engineer and they married. The couple had no children and very few relatives. Samuel passed away in August 1999.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITIES (BEFORE&DURING THE WAR):
place
|
Connection to the survivor
|
information about the place or event
|
OCNA MURES
|
Place of birth
|
Ocna Mureș is a town in Alba County, Romania, located in the north-eastern corner of the county, near the Mureș River,. The town is situated next to a large deposit of salt, mined in the past until the ceiling of the mines collapsed from water infiltration in 1978. Ocna Mureș has a salt extraction plant and a spa which uses the salty water from the former mines.
|
AIUD
|
In 1941, with the entry of Germany to Russia , Ocna Mures's jews were told to leave and go to Aiud.
|
Aiud is a city located in Alba county, Transylvania, Romania. It has the status of municipality and is the second-largest city in the county, after county seat Alba Iulia.
|
ALBA LULIA
|
Elizabetha and her family left Aiud after a short time and went to Alba lulia , where there was a ghetto.(1941)
|
Alba Iulia is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, located on the Mureş River.
During World War II, a ghetto was established in Alba Iulia. Jews that were expelled from towns and villages, were concentrated in the ghetto according to Ion Antonescu's (Ruler of Romania during World War II) order.
|
*STALINGRAD
|
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major and decisive battle in World War II, in which Nazi Germany fought the Soviet Union for control of the City of Stalingrad in the southwestern Soviet Union . The battle took place between August 23, 1942 and February 2, 1943 and was marked by constant close-quarters combat and lack of regard for military and civilian casualties. It is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with the higher estimates of combined casualties amounting to nearly two million. The heavy losses inflicted on the German army made it a significant turning point in the whole war. After the Battle of Stalingrad, German forces never recovered their earlier strength, and attained no further strategic victories in the East.
| |
