Sarah Weinberger

"Have a good life."

Name at birth
Sarah Rivka Yung
Date of birth
06/08/1923
Where did you grow up?
Lachovec, Czechoslovakia (near Nova Sedlica)
Name of father, occupation
Naftaly Hercz, Had a flour mill and a little land for farming
Maiden name of mother, occupation
Sheindel Engel, Homemaker
Immediate family (names, birth order)
Parents and five children: Shlomo, Sandor, Shmiel, Sarah, Roisa
How many in entire extended family?
Large extended family
Who survived the Holocaust?
My two brothers, Sandor and Shmuel, and I survived
We had a flourmill, which supported us.  My mother was very hard working, devoted, and special.  My father worked a lot, was busy with the mill.  My brothers Sandor and Shmuel were tailors.  Sandor later went to Drasberg, Czechoslovakia and Shmuel to Mukacevo.  
 
For a short while, I was in a labor camp that was located in our village and later at Riche Tabor.
 
In August 1941, after the Germans attacked Russia, the Germans loaded everyone from our village onto trucks to go to be killed at Kamianets-Podilskyi in the Ukraine.  
 
When the truck stopped, my family and others ran away.  Some were shot and killed as they ran, we were lucky.  It was Bashert (fate) that we survived, maybe because my mother was a very religious woman.  
 
My two brothers and I escaped.  They were tailors and did sewing work to get food from the farmers.  For three months, we hid in the woods during the day and traveled at night to get home.   
 
We were caught and arrested.  I was taken to a labor camp called Riche Tabor.  I got away and came to Budapest in 1942.  I obtained work papers and lived with another girl on Dob Street in the Jewish area of Budapest.  I did sewing work.
 
My brother introduced me to Sam Weinberger who later became my husband.  Sam made false papers for me.  I pretended to be a Christian girl.  
 
Sam was with the Underground and introduced me to Raoul Wallenberg.   He was able to get me Swedish papers.  He was a very nice man.  He worked to save Jews in Budapest by giving us false papers up until 1945 when the Russians came.
Name of Ghetto(s)
Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)
Where were you in hiding?
Fled from German transport truck to the forest as we were being taken to be shot.
What DP Camp were you after the war?
Wasserburg, Bavaria, Germany
Where did you go after being liberated?
We lived in Budapest, in Czechoslovakia, in Munich, and in a Displaced Persons (DP) camp in Wasserburg, Bavaria, Germany.
When did you come to the United States?
1949
Where did you settle?
Detroit, Michigan
How is it that you came to Michigan?
We wanted to go to Israel, but it was hard to go there after the war. I had relatives in Detroit, the Young family, who sponsored us to come here.
Occupation after the war
Homemaker
When and where were you married?
June 12, 1945 in Mukacevo
Spouse
Samuel Weinberger, Grocer
Children
Doris Blechman
Grandchildren
Grandchildren: Lisa, Stefanie, and Joshua Mordechai. Great grandchild: Yitzchak Amichai
What do you think helped you to survive?
I was not sick and I had a strong will to survive.
What message would you like to leave for future generations?
Have a good life.
Interviewer:
Charles Silow
Interview place:
West Bloomfield, Michigan
Interview date:
11/26/2013

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