Lola Schonberger

"Always have hope and appreciate family—family is the most important thing. I am very thankful for my family because they are very good to me and it was worth it to fight for survival. Also, it’s important not to forget. It’s very important for the next generation. "

Name at birth

Lola Judikovic

Date of birth

06/14/1929

Where were you born?

Michalvoce, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)

Where did you grow up?

Michalvoce, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)

Name of father, occupation

Mark Judikovic, Wholesale meat business

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Malvina Riederman, Homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents, half-sisters Clara and Lili, brothers Mike and Desider (Ducu), sister Hedi and me

How many in entire extended family?

About 100. My mother was from a large family in Carpathian Mountains; father’s family was all in U.S. before the war.

Who survived the Holocaust?

One brother, one sister, about 10 relatives from mother's side of family and me'

I came from a prosperous family in Michalvoce, Czechoslovakia. Everything changed in 1939 with arrival of the Nazis. In 1943 my father smuggled me to Uzhgorod, Hungary to stay with relatives; when Germans came father tried to smuggle her back across border to Michalvoce but I was caught and sent to the ghetto in Uzhgorod ghetto and then to Auschwitz. I managed to survive series of camps and work camps until I was liberated on a march to Theresienstadt.

Name of Ghetto(s)

Uzhhorod

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Auschwitz Birkenau / Kaiserwald (Riga) / Leipzig Airplane Factory (Subsidiary Labor Camp Of Buchenwald) / Stutthof / Wurtzen

Where did you go after being liberated?

First Prague, then Michalvoce to look for family, then Liberec (Czech Republic) for three years, then France for three years

When did you come to the United States?

1951 to Canada and then in1954 to the United States

Where did you settle?

Detroit, Michigan

How is it that you came to Michigan?

I had an Aunt who lived in Detroit and urged me to come here

Occupation after the war

Homemaker

When and where were you married?

February 18, 1948 in Liberec, Czech Republic

Spouse

Igor Schonberger, Businessman in Slovakia; Tool and Die Maker in Detroit

Grandchildren

Four grandchildren: Jeffrey and Jared Gell, Lindsey and Jennifer Schonberger Four great-grandchildren

What do you think helped you to survive?

My cousin, Hannah Auslander, who was with me in captivity, always looked after me. She wouldn’t let me succumb to weakness or despair. After the war, my cousin was married in Czechoslovakia and became Hannah Auslander Dusek. She had one son in Czechoslovakia and then moved to Israel where she had another son.

What message would you like to leave for future generations?

Always have hope and appreciate family—family is the most important thing. I am very thankful for my family because they are very good to me and it was worth it to fight for survival. Also, it’s important not to forget. It’s very important for the next generation.