2009-03-12T06:51:00.002-07:00

RelatioNet GR TO 30 DE HU

Survivor: TOVA GROSS

Interviewer:

Shira Gushpantz And Adar Lieberman

Telephone: 09-7672168 09-7601220

Mobile: 0524752663 544416338

Email: shiragush@walla.com adar_li@walla.com

Address:Kfar Saba Israel

Survivor:

Code: RelatioNet GR TO 30 DE HU
Family Name: Gross(Stul) First Name: Tova(Iren)
Father Name: Eliezer stul Mother Name:Hava stul
Birth Date: 1/02/1930
Town In Holocaust: Debrecen Country In Holocaust: Hungary
Profession (Main) In Holocaust: Student

:Relatives

Review: Review
Code: RelatioNet Family Name:Gross First Name:Tzvi Father Name:Yoseff Mother Name: Yehudit Relationship (to Survivor): Husband Birth Date: 22/07/1924 Town In Holocaust: Derecske Country In Holocaust: Hungary Profession (Main) In Holocaust: Metal worker
Status (Today): Alive
Address Today:Moshav Shoresh, Israel

Interview

My name from home was Iren Stul. Now my name is Tova Gross. I was born in February 1930 in Debrecen Hungary. I was born to a family of 6 children. When I was 8 years old we moved to Budapest. The main reason for our moving was that Budapest was a large town, and it was easier for my father to hide. In Budapest I went to a religious school, until I was 14 years old. In Debrecen we were a part of the Orthodox community.

In 1941 the police tracked down any Jewish people who were non-citizens, and my father had to leave us and go hide.When the war started, we started to see refugees from many places in Europe. We felt the change when in Sunday mornings we were terrified to go to school with our school bags. All of the Christian kids knew that the only ones who carried school bags on Sunday were the Jews and they harassed us. We had to leave our bags in school on Friday. Personally I didn’t get physically hurt, but I heard from my friends about children who threw rocks at Jewish children.

During the war we had a special prayer in Hungarian. Only later on, were prayers in Hebrew. I remember the day that the German army invaded Budapest. It was March 19. After that day we didn’t go back to school anymore. In April, we had to wear the Yellow badge. All of the Jews were concentrated in one place, in special houses meant for Jews. After Passover the Jews were exiled from their homes in to the ghetto.

On the 23^rd of October they took my four sisters. They went to a concentration camp in Germany on the Death March. They were at Shpandao, Brabnasbrik. We had one good friend who got certificates for my sisters and I which said that we are under the protection of the Swiss and the Swedish.My father was taken to a work-camp. After that we moved again. It was to a house that was specifically for people with documents like ours. We moved to Pozsonyi Street.

One day I came back home and saw the S.S standing in front of the house. In half an hour we needed to leave the house. We were moved to the ghetto. After a few days we heard that the Russian army had entered Budapest and a few days later the war was over. My sister and I were in a youth movement Bney- Akiva and one day they told us "Tomorrow we immigrant to Israel". We were in Zagreb and we went through Yugoslavia illegally. We left Budapest in August 1946. In December we sailed to Israel on the "Knesset- Israel" ship. I saw the lights of Haifa but then the British came and sprayed us with tear gas. We were moved to another ship and after 3 days we arrived in Cyprus. We stayed there until October 1947. InOctober 1947 we came to Atlit.

In November I moved to Kiriat Shmuel. On the 17th December I was taken to Sde- Ya'akov. I stayed there till February 1949. Then I got married. I had known my husband in Hungary. He had known my sisters in the concentration camp. Today we have 3 children and 8 wonderful grandchildren. I live in Shoresh, a beautiful place next to Jerusalem.

Town-Debrecen

Debrecen is a large city in Hungary. It is the capital of Hajdú Bihar county. The city is the regionalcentre of the Northern Great Plain area. It located near to Budapest. The Hortobágy, a national park, is placed very close to Debrecen. Before the Hungarians conquered the region, a number of tribes lived in the area. Debrecen was built when a few villages in the area united.

During the Ottoman period, Debrecen found itself in a difficult situation. The city was saved only because the diplomatic leaders were very skilled. Debrecen got protection from the Ottoman Empire, the Catholic European leaders or the prince of Transylvania. At this time, the citizens of the town were mostly Hungarian Calvinists.

When the Hungarian revolutionary government fled from Pest-Buda (Budapest), Debrecen was the capital of Hungary. The coronation of Habsburg and the independence of Hungary were announced by Louis Kossuth in 1849. At the end of the war, there was a battle that was close to Debrecen. In this battle, the Russians beat the Hungarian army.

(the great Church of Debrecen)

After the war, Debrecen began to develop. Public institutions were built, Insurance companies were settled in the city, the construction of the railway line between Budapest and Debrecen was finished. The sight of Debrecen was improved. Buildings, parks and villas were erected. The city didn't look like a rural town any more, and became a modern city. In 1884, Debrecen was the first city in Hungary that had a steam tramway.

After the First World War, Hungary lost a big part of its eastern territory to Romania, and Debrecenwas positioned close to the border of the country. It was controlled by the Romanian army for a short time in 1919. During that time many building were built in the eastern area, among them was the university which was completed.

During the Second World War Debrecen was almost completely destroyed by the German army. Most of her buildings were damaged or destroyed. The most important event that occurred in the city was “The battle of Debrecen” in October 1944.It was called by the Red Army the “Debrecen Offensive Operation”. After 1944 Debrecen became the capital of Hungary. The city was rebuilt and the damages reconstructed. The citizens tried to restore the city’s pre-war status, but had problems to do so, because of the government of Hungary.

As a result of the recent events, half of Debrecen’s area was appended to nearby towns, and the city also lost its rights over Hortobágy. In the following decades Debrecen was the third largest city of Hungary (behind Budapest and Miskolc), and became the second largest in the 1990s when the population of Miskolc decreased.

The city used to be somewhat isolated from Budapest (the capital). However, the new sections of highways have decreased travel times. Debrecen Airport (the second largest in Hungary) has recently undergone modernization in order to take more international flights.

In Debrecen there is a large university, the University of Debrecen. This university has a main building is a widely recognized work of architecture. The university has many departments and is a major research facility in Europe.

(The main building of the University of Debrecen)

Debrecen also has great sports achievements.The city has a famous football club, Debreceni VSC. Nowadays it's one of the best teams in Hungary. The city stadium has more than 10,000 seats.

Relationet GR TO 30 DE HU