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Mom and dad - a story of lost hopes and war
#1

Mom and dad - a story of lost hopes and war
So my parents both got born into rather well off families in 1923. Only a few days apart. They lived through the riots at Vienna in 1927 and the civil wars of 1934. When Hitler came in '38, they both upped and left with their families to Hungary, leaving behind their dreams of what they wanted to achieve. My father's livelong dream was that of becoming a scientist, but he had to break up school when the emigrated. My mother dreamed of becoming a concert pianist, but lost that dream to emigration also.

They both suffered loss at a young age. My father, his dad, who died in 1936, when dad was just 13. My mom lost her littler sister to tubercolosis in 1944. Mom and dad met in 1939 at a dance school in Budapest and, by all accounts, fell in love instantly and got engaged. They spent the war years in the relatively peaceful Hungary. My father was working at the repair shop of his uncle, which spared him from being drafted, since that shop was considered essential to the war effort. Mom was mostly at home with her family.

Then the Germans invaded in 1944 and things changed, mostly for my mom's family, since my grandpa was jewish and the so called fasict arrow cross movement took power in Hungary. They were after jews and 500.000 hungarian jewish citizens had been killed in the last sweep Eichmann commanded. Grandpa got away, also thanks to his daughter, who mastered the courage to stand up against the young fascists harrassing her father. No small feat, considering the rather timid person I knew to be my mother. They survived to the end, the bombing raids and the battle of Budapest, that raged for four months. At the end, the Russians took away my father, to be deported to one of their prison camps. But he witnessed that one of their mounted guards had fallen asleep, slipped away and had the gal to hitch a ride on a Russian truck, back to Budapest. He spoke a little bit of Russian and was able to convince them to be a displaced worker.

Mom and dad married the day after. And when the war was finally over, they hoofed it, mainly on foot, back to Vienna, where dad opened a car repair shop of his own. Other than my mother, who suffered from lifelong depression, he did quite well. He had a technical profession after all, but mom never got over having lost her music. Although there was a big piano in the large apartment, my parents shared with my grandparents, I never heard her play once. Only much later, she used to play a little, but never got the knack again.

[Image: ME1JX70_o.jpg]

That's them at some christmas eve during the war years.
[Image: Bumper+Sticker+-+Asheville+-+Praise+Dog3.JPG]
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#2

Mom and dad - a story of lost hopes and war
Such a wonderful—and touching—story of love, perseverance, and courage. Thank you for posting it.    Sun
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
The following 2 users Like SYZ's post:
  • abaris, Thumpalumpacus
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#3

Mom and dad - a story of lost hopes and war
Heart-breaking and ennobling, at the same time. Don't mind me if I'm leaking a little.
On hiatus.
The following 2 users Like Thumpalumpacus's post:
  • abaris, SYZ
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