Testimony of Emil Friedmann, regarding his experiences in Gyergyó, forced labor in Hungarian Army labor battalions at the Soviet front, and deportation to the Dachau and Mühldorf camps

Testimony of Emil Friedmann [born in 1914], regarding his experiences in Gyergyó, forced labor in Hungarian Army labor battalions at the Soviet front, and deportation to the Dachau and Mühldorf camps From an observant family in Gyergyó, Transylvania; his parents were Farkas and Regina (Adler) Friedmann; his siblings were Izidor, Eugénia, Sándor, Artúr, Margit, Ernő, Henrich; his father served in the Hungarian Army during World War I, was wounded in battle, and died of his wounds in 1916, when the witness was two years old; harsh economic conditions; learning at a cheder from a young age; attendance at a government school; leaving school to support the family, 1927; the languages in the home were Yiddish and Hungarian; prewar Jewish population of Gyergyó-1500, of whom 80 survived the war; good relations with the local population; many Jewish lumber merchants in Gyergyó employed Christians; membership in the Jewish Scouts for several years until their activities were prohibited by the authorities; change in the attitude of the Hungarian population towards the Jews after the Hungarian and German occupation of the city; expulsion of Jewish students from the schools; prohibition on Jews entering shops; confiscation of factories owned by Jews; confiscation of radio sets and sewing machines belonging to Jews; quartering of German soldiers in Jewish homes; taking of factory owners for interrogation at the police station, detention for several days, and release; deportation with his siblings to the Toplița (Hungarian name: Maroshévíz) camp, which was supervised by the Hungarian Army Auxiliary headquarters, without food or water; remaining in the locked railroad freight car; travel by train to a Hungarian Army labor battalion at the Soviet front six or seven weeks later in a train car with 80 men; stopping at the Soviet village Sziribjanka (phonetical spelling; the place has not been identified); quarters in a school; forced labor in groundwork; harsh conditions; shortage of clothing and shoes; hunger; lice; prohibition on receiving mail and parcels; bad treatment by the Hungarian guards; mortality from typhus; contracting typhus and recovering; collecting mines in the nights; Hungarian Army retreat a year or a year and a half later; transfer to the Germans en route; deportation to Dachau; transfer to the Mühldorf camp, a sub camp of Dachau; torture; remaining in the camp for a year; groundwork; liberation; Reunion in Munich with his surviving siblings; return to Gyergyó by train; about his sister Margit, who survived, and his brothers Sándor and Artúr, who perished; life in Gyergyó after the war; marriage, 1946; births of his children, Eszter and Ernő; restoration of the family property after deliberations in court; good relations with the neighbors; aliya to Israel at the age of 100 with his sick wife, who was about 90; life in Israel; recording of the testimony six months after his aliya to Israel; plan to return to Romania to deal with the property that remained. At the end of the film, there are family pictures with an explanation by Eszter, Emil's daughter: Picture 1.) Emil's grandmother, his parents, and his three siblings. Picture 2.) Emil's brother, Ernő Friedmann [who worked at forced labor in the Hungarian Army labor battalion] en route to Hungary from the Soviet front in the direction of Dachau [where] he perished. Picture 3.) Emil's sister, Zseni (Friedmann) Geller, who perished in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Picture 4. ) Emil's brother who was an inmate in the Kaufering camp, who survived the Holocaust, and passed away a few years previously in Romania [She does not remember his name]. Picture 5.) Emil with his wife and children and their spouses. Picture 6.) Emil's two granddaughters - Eszter's children, Michal and Máli Kalenstein. Picture 7.) Emil's two grandsons - Ernő's children, Dávid and Ami Friedmann. Notes: Emil's wife's testimony is Sapir Item No. 9194727.