In the footsteps of the Jews of Sopron

Henrietta Szepes (maiden name Henrietta Frischmann) was born in 1924 in Sopron, in an orthodox Jewish family. Her father, József Frischmann, was a grocer, her mother, Mária Frischmann, was a housewife. She had a brother, Sándor, who was 4 years older than her. She went to a Jewish elementary school and a state school in Sopron, and was later educated by Catholic nuns. With the beginning of World War II, the living conditions of the family deteriorated, and after the German occupation they were forced to the ghetto in Sopron. Her brother had died earlier in forced labour service in 1942. Henrietta and her parents were deported from the Sopron ghetto to Auschwitz-Birkenau and then separated. Henrietta was later sent to concentration camps in Germany, and was liberated by American soldiers in Wurzen. The Soviets took control of the camp and the inmates were transferred to a distribution camp in Ukraine. In time, she was able to come back to Sopron. Her parents had not survived the Holocaust. Henrietta then moved to Budapest, where she worked in retail, and retired as a store manager. She married twice and had a daughter in 1951. The interview was recorded in Budapest in 1999.


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