Ben Goldner
"No matter what country you live in, do not say it will not happen here. When they killed in Germany, we said, “Not here, I am a Hungarian citizen.” When it happened in Poland, we said, “Never here.”"
Name at birth
Bela Goldner
Date of birth
08/31/1921
Where did you grow up?
Ibran, Hungary
Name of father, occupation
Adolph,
had a carpentry shop
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Julia Weiss,
homemaker, cook. My mother had nine children and also cooked for the workers in my father’s carpentry shop.
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents, Irene, Yolan, Elizabeth, Olga, Bela, Leonard, Yizchok, Shira, Sura and I
Who survived the Holocaust?
Irene and her little girl (were in a Wallenberg Safe House in Budapest), Elizabeth, Olga, Bela, Leonard and me
When did you come to the United States?
1948 with my wife
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
How is it that you came to Michigan?
The Joint Distribution Committee and his brother-in-law, Herschel Roth, helped us settle in Detroit
Occupation after the war
Baker, Zeman's Bakery
When and where were you married?
1947 in Austria in DP Camp
Spouse
Lily Roth,
Lily Roth, a survivor of Auschwitz, sewed, but was ill from the concentration camps
Children
Marilyn Judy
What do you think helped you to survive?
A miracle, very few came back from the working camp. Many died from typhus. We were beaten and had poor food. We were on the front lines picking mines, being bombed by the Russians.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
No matter what country you live in, do not say it will not happen here.
When they killed in Germany, we said, “Not here, I am a Hungarian citizen.” When it happened in Poland, we said, “Never here.”
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