Item 30: Holocaust survivors from Hungary ; Tom Keleman interviewed by Herta Imhof, 1993

MLOH 500/168-173

item

08/01/1993

Nonmusical Sound Recordings, Oral Histories

997383

Sound Recording : CY MLOH 500/168-173

6 sound cassettes (6 hrs.)

Thomas Keleman was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1929. His father was a newspaper editor, but from 1933 onwards he was forced to change his job many times because of anti-Jewish laws. The family moved to Pest to be close to Thomas' Jewish High School.

In March 1944 the Germans marched into Hungary. His school was closed and Thomas was recruited as a courier for the Jewish Council. His family were forced to move to a Jewish designated house. There were bombing raids and damage to the neighbourhood. Thomas also started working for the Jewish Department of the Red Cross.

In October, 1944 Thomas' father was taken away by Arrow Cross members for "labour service". In November Thomas' mother refused to leave their home because of concerns about her elderly parents, but insisted that Thomas leave. He found refuge in various safe houses including the Children's Red Cross house, as well as Swiss protected and Spanish government protected houses.

The siege of Budapest began in December and the Russians started to arrive in January 1945. Thomas was able to return to his family home, where he lived with 12 members of his extended family for 6 months. However neither of his parents survived the war, his father dying in Buchenwald concentration camp.

Thomas left Hungary when his grandparents died, crossing the border and travelling to a displaced persons camp in Steirmark, Austria. Thomas arrived in Australia in 1947 as the first boy sponsored by the Jewish Welfare Guardian Society.

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Log of interview available in the Mitchell Library Reading Room -

Original Mitchell Library allocated tape number 89.