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1. The greater Nagy-Banya Survivor's Organization in Israel has been working in an organized fashion since the late 1950's. Rabbi Naftali Stern was the organization's leader during those first years. Subsequent to his demise, Tzvi (Hermush) Greenfeld was chosen to succeed him and serves as the organization's leader to this day. Today's leadership is comprised of Pinhas (Pinei) Grinberger, Miriam Frank, Tzvi Meron (Moskovitz), Moshe Ferenz, Esther Hershkovitz, David Walter, Joseph Greenfeld, Alex Mark, Alex Abraham and Yehuda Mushkal. The organization's honorary president throughout the years is our dear friend Zoli Weiss, residing in the United States.
2. Every year, the organization's leadership organizes a day of remembrance (Yahrzeit) for those members of our community that perished in the Holocaust. In addition, a Hanukkah party is held every two years. The organization also provides assistance to the needy.
3. In 1976, R. Naftali Stern edited a book of remembrance in honour of the Jewish community in the greater Nagy-Banya area. We were somewhat dissatisfied that four communities were not mentioned in that book: Nagy-Banya, Nagy-Somkut, Felso-Banya and Monostor, all of which were completely destroyed. Initially, we concentrated on collecting the names of our brothers and sisters in those four communities who died in the Holocaust. Later on, we started to compile material on the communities themselves from the time they were founded until the Holocaust.

4. In 1994, we forwarded to Yad Vashem, for perpetual storage, a list of names of the 2,513 members of our communities' residents who perished in the Holocaust. These were all recorded in Yad Vashem documentation. We are now pleased to publish the second book of remembrance which required great effort on the part of the organization's leadership.
5. During the past few years, the organization's leadership has asked, several times, approximately 50 members living in the United States and Canada to send the names of their loved ones who perished in the Holocaust, either in slave labour camps or in concentration camps, as well as memoirs of what transpired in their lives at the time of the Holocaust. Regrettably, only a few members have forwarded us the names of their dear ones who came from the four communities Nagy-Banya, Nagy-Somkut, Felso-Banya and Monostor, and even fewer members wrote memoirs.
6. We have forwarded to Yad Vashem the names of all those who perished in the Holocaust which you have sent us, as well as those names we received from the Israeli organization. You will be able to find all these names in this book, in the chapter entitled “matzevoth”.

7. Members who have not yet sent us, or to Yad Vashem, the names of their dear ones who perished in the Holocaust, should forward them to us and we shall transmit them to Yad Vashem.
8. It is our pleasant duty to thank the organization's honorary president, our dear friend Zoli Weiss and his wife Gizela, for the generous support and financial assistance they provided towards publishing this book, totalling one half of the publication cost. We also extend a yishar koach to R. Simcha Krause of New York for his financial contribution. Lastly, we wish to thank two of our members, Dudi Klein and Moshe Yarkoni (Mishu Green), both residing in the United States.
9. Memoirs from the Holocaust, written by members living in the United States, are presented in the following pages:

Weiss Zoltan, Gizella and Peter with the family

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Golda Weisz

Golda became a war widow at age 32. Her husband, Jacob, was killed during World War I, leaving her with 8 children, aged 1 through 14. Although she had many opportunities, Golda decided not to remarry because she felt a step-father would not be best for her children.

Without a husband, Golda had to work especially hard in order to raise her children properly. She was above all a devout and steadfastly religious woman; fulfilling the mitzvah of tzedakah (charity) whenever she could. She was regarded as a person always willing to help other people.

The outbreak of World War II caused Golda much distress. She was remembered as saying: “I lost my beloved husband in the first war, now Gold only knows who else I will lose in this was!”.

Golda never imagined that she herself would also be consumed in Hitler's inferno…one of six million casualties in the Third Reich's war against the Jewish people.

On June 11, 1944, Golda, along with two sons, three daughters and fifteen grandchildren were deported to Auschwitz. Only five grandchildren survived. On June 14, 1944, Golda and all the rest were driven into the infamous gas chambers of Birkenow.

Her cherished memory lives on among those who knew and loved her.

He was born in Transylvania in 1915. He lost his father when he was 3 years old, during World War I. He and his seven brothers and sisters were raised in the small village where he received his Hebrew and secular education at a cheder. As a young man, Zoli learned the fruit and grain business while working with his older brothers. During the Holocaust, Zoli served in various labour camps in Hungary. When he returned home he discovered that the majority of his family had perished in the Nazi concentration camps. While working in the import/export business after the war in Baia-Mare, he met Gisela and later married her. In 1947 they had a son, Peter, and soon after, they decided to escape from Romania. They arrived in the U.S.A.

Zoli found a job in a supermarket thanks to a friend. After a short time, Zoli opened his first 7-11 supermarket in 1957. This business now includes six stores. Zoli has been an unflagging supporter of every Jewish cause and organization. In 1970 he and Gisela served as founders of the Hebrew Academy of Indianapolis, which he has continued to support over the years both financially and otherwise. Zoli has also served on the executive committee of the Jewish Welfare Federation, as a board member of the bond organization, and as a member of B'nai B'rith, Beth-El synagogue and many more organizations.

In 1979 Zoli published a memorial book for the victims of the Holocaust from his home town of Baia Mare, Romania. Zoli is a frequent visitor to Israel where the majority of his family now resides. Zoli uses every opportunity to gather all his extended family to celebrate many events. He invests great efforts in uniting all the family again and again in order to “prove” somehow that there is a continuation to our family in spite of the Holocaust. He should be thanked for helping the family by all means, whenever needed.

Written by: Sigal (Keisari) Ben-Atia

She was born in Budapest, Hungary. Her elementary education took place at a Jewish day school. At the age of 16, she was transported to a forced labour camp during the Nazi occupation. Gisela was married at the age of 17 to Zoli Weisz. Her son was born in 1947. Gisela continued her interrupted education after settling in Indianapolis, U.S.A., in 1951. She graduated from high school in

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1965. She attended both Boutler and I.U.P.U. Universities and Central Business College. She served in numerous capacities for civic, religious and philanthropic organizations.

Gisela is also a member at the Hadassah organization. She served at the Beit-El synagogue. Recently, she served as a society editor for the Indiana Jewish Post & Opinion, where she writes a weekly column in her acquired tongue.

Gisela is mother of Peter Weisz and grandmother of Sandor and Oliver Weisz.

Written by: Sigal (Keisari) Ben-Atia

My late parents, Berta (Grosfeld) and Josef Herskovits, represent two proud Jewish family traditions. My earliest memories are of growing up in the small village of Kis-sikarlo, where I was born in 1930. We enjoyed a hard but decent rural life and I remember the pleasures and difficulties of small village life in those days. Our home was always open to members of our extended family, and on holidays, we would often have a full house.

In the fall of 1938, we moved to Nagy-banya where my late father worked in the equipment division at Phoenix. I would often bring him lunch so that I could see him there since he left early for work and came home late. In addition to my parents and my grandfather, the late Meyer Herskovits, our home included two of my cousins, Yonathan Frank and Laci Gottesman and an uncle Josef Grosfeld. I have very fond memories of those days. I loved and enjoyed my relationships with all members of my family. I remember my typical childhood experiences from those days of school attendance, family life and relationships with classmates and friends. I especially enjoyed attending activities of the local Zionist Youth organization, playing soccer and going to the soccer games of our local team.

In 1940, the Hungarian occupation set in and restrictions on Jews got progressively worse. In 1944, we were taken to the local ghetto and then transported to Auschwitz. From Auschwitz, after the selection process and a short stay, I was shipped to Mathausen and then to Ebensee where I spent about a year until liberation on May 5, 1945.

I was fortunate to survive, one of a very few in my age group. To this day, I cannot understand why the Germans inflicted upon us Jews their evils; how could such act of inhumanity be carried out in the enlightened Europe of those days; why did the leaders of the Western world stand by, and how I managed to survive?

I want to dedicate this page to all members of my extended family and others who lost their lives at the hands of the Nazi murderers and their collaborators. May they rest in peace, and their memories not be forgotten.

Dr. Zev Harel (Herskovits) Cleveland, Ohio

My father Jacob, the youngest son of my grandfather Chaim Israel Lax, made a living by trading in livestock. In 1918, my father married my mother, Vera (Dvora). They had six children. Their first son, Abraham, died at the age of ten months. After him were born Hendus (1921), Manci (1924), Tuli (1925), Juci (1927), and Piri (1928). In 1938, my mother died at the age of 43 leaving behind five young orphans. My older sister Hendus raised us with much devotion. She looked after us, replacing our mother and devoting her life to our upbringing.

Then World War II broke out. My father was friendly with the village secretary, Abraham Adrin, whose father was the Catholic priest of the village. He offered to help conceal us but my father didn't dare accept his offer. On May 4^th, 1944, the Jews of the village were rounded up in the local synagogue and later taken to the school. In the village of

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Monostor lived some fifty or sixty families. Everyone was kept in the school until all the Jewish population of the region was rounded up. Afterwards, they loaded our luggage on a wagon and we went by foot to Borpatak where the ghetto containing the Jews of the villages of the region of Nagy-banya had been set up (that is, from the villages of Felsobanya, Somkut and Monostor). We remained there until the end of May, after Shavuot.

From there we went by foot to Nagy-banya to the railroad tracks. Seventy people were cramped into each cattle car. After traveling several days, we arrived in the middle of the night at Auschwitz. We were separated from my mother and father; the four of us sisters remained together. Hendus did everything in her ability to prepare food for us, all sorts of leftovers and bread crusts.

We remained three months at Auschwitz in block 20 of the concentration camp. I was informed from Jeno Mozes, someone from Monostor whom I had met in the camp, that my father and brother Tuli were taken for agricultural work. I sent some food with Mozes. I wrote a few lines and three the whole package to the other side of the fence where Moses was situated. A German woman noticed and informed this to the SS guards. At roll call, an SS guard appeared and requested that the woman who had thrown the package step forward. I was frightened and did not step forward. The SS guard threatened that if the accused would not step forward he would then take out every fifth woman from the row and shoot her. I then stepped forward after which I was taken in the direction of the gate. I was beaten so severely that I was unable to raise my hand for several days. When my sisters saw me return to the block, their happiness was indescribable. I'll never forget the expression on their faces until the last day of my life.

On August 20^th, about three thousand women were chosen to be transferred to block 1. This block was the last one before the crematorium. We were forced to undress and remain standing naked like children who had just left the womb. Suddenly we were given coats and placed on a train. The trip lasted five days. We arrived at a place called Raitzenburg where we remained nine months. Hendus worked in forced labour assembling machine parts while Manci assembled ship pipes. Juci worked constructing airplane wings at the “Tomsenko” factory on the Elbe river. Hendus, after completing her job, would continue working in the kitchen so that every time she returned, she would bring us something to eat.

In the end of March 1945, due to heavy bombing, we were forced to flee. On this same day, the British liberated us! We were transferred to the American zone where we spent the night in the movie theatre. The next day the Germans were expelled from a building which was given to the Hefligs. On the 4^th of May, the war ended. People went out onto the street searching for people they knew. We were on the way to Transylvania, which was now annexed to Romania, so that we were left unregistered and unable to find help. Finally, three Romanian men helped by bringing us a wagon with two horses so that we could travel to Prague. In the middle of the journey, the wagon broke down and one of the horses became ill. We were in a very difficult situation when a Russian officer came to our help. He put us on the train which brought us to Prague.

At the train station in Prague, they were waiting for the deportees. There were nuns who operated a canteen 24 hours a day in which we received milk, bread and butter. We received lodging and liberation documents. Finally, we arrived in Budapest where we met up with other people from Nagy-banya. They told us that the Lax boys were at home along with their cousins Janki, Rudi and Ari.

My father, Jonah Klein, was born in the village of Galagoly next to the town of Dézs. In 1920, he married my mother, the daughter

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of Rabbi Isaac Solomon. Four children were born to them: Abraham-Joseph, Hedy-Hedva, Ava and David. Our family made a living operating a pastry bakery. My parents were very religious people. For many years, my father was responsible for reading the prayers in the synagogue on Lakatos Street.

When they entered the ghetto, my father brought a chumash which he took on the train to Auschwitz. While in the line for selection and execution, he managed to bring the chumash with him hidden under his coat. Having been discerned by one of the S.S. guards, the chumash was thrown onto the rubbish heap and my father was sent to the gas chamber.

Many incidents happened to me which I will present in brief. My childhood experience was similar to that of most children of the town; it comprised of the usual education regimen of elementary school, Heder, and Yeshiva. In 1941, I was conscripted into the labour force where I was posted in many locations and forced to toil in strenuous, back-breaking labour. This is how I arrived in the general vicinity of Warsaw by paving roads. In the same manner, I also came to the Ukraine. In the middle of 1944, while in the vicinity of Warsaw, I defected from my unit. I was caught by a German patrol and stood against the firing wall waiting to be executed. I was fortunate in that the bullet intended to kill me only succeeded in piercing my right hand. As I immediately collapsed, the Germans were sure that I was dead. After they left, I managed to pull myself to an open shelter. I removed the uniform which identified me as belonging to the labour force and entered the shelter. I lied to the German troops that I was a Hungarian soldier who was injured by partisans of the region. At that time, the Russians were already on the outskirts of Warsaw. That same night, I was admitted to a German hospital. The next day, the hospital was transferred to Germany with the entire staff and patients, myself included. Disguised in a S.S. uniform, I managed to remain in Germany for six weeks. After I recuperated, I was sent to Vienna where the headquarters of the Hungarian army was located.

The Germans equipped me with the appropriate documents granting me a certificate of release from the hospital, one month's sick-leave, room and board, tickets and S.S. clothing. I reported to the Hungarian headquarters and from there was sent with other wounded soldiers to Budapest. It was there that my real identity was discovered. Again, I was fortunate not to have been executed. The uniform in which I was dressed was confiscated. I was sent to forced labour in the town of Püspükladany. With the approach of the Red Army, a massive German detention camp, amongst them Matthausen and Gunskirchen. In May 1945 I was released by the American army, after which I was hospitalized for a considerable time.

At the end of the year, I returned to Nagy-banya, entering Habriha (the Jewish organization from Palestine which aided in the illegal immigration of Holocaust survivors to Israel). I later joined the Maapilim. Arrested by the British, we were expelled to Cyprus. After the establishment of the State of Israel, I made Aliyah.

Those of the Klein family who survived are: Abraham-Joseph who is now married to Ava of the Reich family and presently residing in the United States; Hedy-Hedva is married and living in Israel; Ava is married to Ernö Biro also located in Israel and David is presently unmarried and residing in the United States.

In April of 1944, Elizabeth Dobran, whose maiden name was then Mikacs, submitted to me all her documents identifying her as a Christian so as to allow me to conceal my true identity. She did this expecting no compensation or payment. This is how I was saved from being forced into the ghetto. Equipped with these documents, I arrived at Nagy-Banya where I rented a furnished room claiming that the fresh air of the place was beneficial to my lung ailment.

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One night, after the Jewish population was gathered and admitted to the ghetto, the police, in search of fugitive Jews, approached the building in which I resided. The landlady of my apartment assured them that no Jews had taken refuge in her building. The next morning, she brought me to the police headquarters so as to register me as a tenant in accordance with the law.

Four weeks later, I left for Budapest. Again, I rented an apartment, this time from a widow shoe son belonged to the police force. I found her to be virulently anti-Semitic. To avoid any suspicion of my actual Jewish identity, I kept a picture of her son in my wallet, who at that time was posted at the front line opposite the enemy forces. Everywhere I went, I showed the picture claiming it was my fiancé who had been conscripted into the army. During this time, I worked in several positions, constantly being forced to change jobs due to the heavy bombing which ruined several of the place where I had been employed. This constant change caused me much worry and was very bothersome, being that I was required to report to the police my place of occupation every time I changed my job.

Meanwhile, my uncle and brother arrived in Budapest after surviving the gruelling conditions of the labour force. Our proximity to each other allowed us to aid one another during these difficult times.

It was in the month of December, while walking down the street, that I was suddenly recognized by someone from my town who was at that time affiliated with the Arrow-Cross movement. He insisted that I go with him to the Arrow-Cross party headquarters where I was sure that I would be executed. At this same moment, a Jewish boy started to run at the end of the street. The Arrow-Cross members pursued the youngster, shooting and sounding him. Taking advantage of the confusion which ensued, I managed to escape, fleeing in the opposite direction. After this incident, it was related to me that the boy was in the hospital with members of the Arrow-Cross movement. I fortunately managed to visit him on several occasions.

Thanks to the above-mentioned woman, Elizabeth, who had given me her identification documents, I succeeded in remaining alive. By risking her life and livelihood working at the gendarmerie headquarters, she managed to save me from tremendous suffering and hardship.

Sarah (Herskovits) Weisz 1886-1944		Bela Weisz 1909-1944		Sarah (Weisz) Feldman 1918-1944

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