|
Ernie Goldberger was born in 1924 in Transylvania to Edmund
and Bertha Goldberger.
He had three brothers and a sister. On May 5th 1945, Ernie,
his father, and two older brothers, were conscripted into
the Hungarian military. The rest of the family remained in
Budapest.
From Hungary, these four men were sent to Engrau, Austria,
where they were forced to dig trenches.
Luckily, my grandfather had his bicycle and was given the
job of messenger between the prisoners and Austrian soldiers.
After the trenches were completed, all the prisoners were
sent back to Budapest to clean the city following the British
bombings. On December 5th 1945, my grandfather and the men
of his family were sent by train to Mathausen, a large concentration
camp. A Hungarian woman safely hid his mother and sister in
Budapest. Once in Mathausen, they were beaten by other prisoners
at the prodding of the Nazis. The camp was overcrowded, lacking
sufficient food, water and barracks.
After two nights at Mathausen, all the prisoners were forced
to walk for three days and nights to Guntkirhen. During the
journey, the Austrians did not bother to feed them. They had
no alternative but to eat grass, shrubs and bones to survive.
Two days later, the Americans arrived. They were not prepared
to accommodate prisoners of war, so they set up housing for
the Jewish prisoners in a school in the nearest German town,
Welse.
Returning home after the war, my grandfather and his brothers
were subject to the draft. They knew that they had to leave
Hungary immediately. They contacted my great-grandfather’s
American cousin, Rabbi Alexander Rosenberg, who had been sent
to Germany by President Harry Truman to assist the Displaced
Persons and he arranged a guarantor for the family to come
to Canada.
In 1946, my grandfather arrived in Canada. By selling some
antiques to Rabbi Rosenberg, the family got a start in Canada.
In 1948, he and his brother Bernie started Best Outer Wear
manufacturing ladies coats. They went on to have a successful
career in real estate development.
Today, my grandparents, Ernie & Barbara, who have been
happily married for over 50 years, have three children and
seven grandchildren. They are proud of them all. My great-grandfather
taught my grandfather that to give is one hundred times better
than to receive once. That is the way he was raised. He likes
to give to charity and advises all his grandchildren to do
the same because charity and good deeds come back to you.
by Kyle Goldberger, 11 years old
|
