Eva Mames

"Learn from the past what bigotry and hatred can do and do everything in your power to make sure that it will never happen again. I feel that it is our sacred duty, our moral obligation to remember. We must intensity awareness of the Holocaust and learn about the tragic lessons of that era. My husband John Mames started the oral history project together with Dr. Sid Bolkosky, at the Holocaust Memorial Center. We were very involved with the Shaarit Haplaytah, the... (continued below)"

Name at birth

Eva Brennersz

Date of birth

05/05/1930

Where were you born?

Vasarosnameny, Hungary

Where did you grow up?

Vasarosnameny, Hungary

Name of father, occupation

Nathan Brennersz, General store owner

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Blanka Goldstein, Homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents and five children: Bela (male), Laszlo, Herman, me and Sandor. Our grandparents also lived with us.

How many in entire extended family?

Who survived the Holocaust?

Bela, Laszlo and I

Name of Ghetto(s)

Bereqszaz

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Bergen Belsen / Eidelstedt / Hamburg / Weddel

When and where were you married?

Montreal, 1954 to Dr. John Mames

Spouse

John Mames, Dentist

Children

Andrea Mames-Rosenblum, PharmD; Robert Mames, MD, retina specialist

Grandchildren

Three: Max, Sydni, and Jenna

What do you think helped you to survive?

I had a strong will to live; I was so sure everyone in my family was alive. It was a miracle that I survived, or maybe it was luck. I would hear people say I wish a bomb would come and kill us. I didn’t want to hear that, I just wanted to survive. I hoped to be reunited with my family again.

What message would you like to leave for future generations?

Learn from the past what bigotry and hatred can do and do everything in your power to make sure that it will never happen again. I feel that it is our sacred duty, our moral obligation to remember. We must intensity awareness of the Holocaust and learn about the tragic lessons of that era.

My husband John Mames started the oral history project together with Dr. Sid Bolkosky, at the Holocaust Memorial Center.

We were very involved with the Shaarit Haplaytah, the Holocaust survivor organization to raise money to buy land to build a Holocaust Memorial Center.

When we came to America, we were refugees with little money but the survivors were very generous with the money that we had. We didn’t have a lot of furniture but we raised money to buy ambulances for Israel.