Bernat family photographs

Identifier
irn562242
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2017.272.1
Dates
1 Jan 1946 - 31 Dec 1948
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Andor (later Andre) Bernat was born 8 September 1912 to Isidore (1890-1914) and Lenke (née Schönfeld, 1890-1984) Bernat in Budapest, Hungary. Andre had one sister, Ibolya Weisz (later Violet White, b. 1914). Isidore died serving in the First World War leaving Lenke to raise their young children alone. Before the German occupation of Hungary Andor was married to Sari Ackerman.The couple had one child, Maria. In 1944 Sari and Maria were deported from Hungary to Auschwitz where they perished. Andor, who had been interned at Mauthausen, survived the Holocaust and was later reunited with his mother and sister. After the war Andor married Magdolina (Magda) Szemere (b. 1923), a Holocaust survivor from Budapest who had been interned at Ravensbrück. Magda had been among hundreds of Hungarian Jewish women who were transferred from Ravensbrück to Penig, a sub camp of Buchenwald, in February 1945. In April Magda was among prisoners sent on a death march to evande approaching Allied forces. Magda managed to flee when she fell in to a ditch and was presumed dead by guards. Magda's father Lajos (1898-1944), mother Friderike (née Neufeld, 1900-1944), and brother Istvan (b. 1920) who had been taken for forced labor by the Germans in early 1944, perished during the Holocaust. Magda later reunited with her maternal grandmother, Julia Neufeld, who had been spared from deportation. In 1947 Andre and Magda welcomed their first child, Istvan, while living in the Bamberg displaced persons camp.Though the Bernats initially pursued immigration to Palestine, they were offered immigration assistance by Madga's uncle, Charles Szemere, who offered to sponsor their immigration to the United States.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Stephen Bernat

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017 by Stephen Bernat, son of Magda Szemere and Andre Bernat.

Scope and Content

Consists of photographs of Andre Bernat and Magda (née Szemere) Bernat and their son Istvan (Stephen) while the family was living in a displaced persons camp in Bamberg, Germany. Included is a photo of the Bernats at the time of their wedding in 1946 as well as photos of the Bernats among friends and family. Among surviving relatives depicted are Andre's sister, Ibolya Weiss (later Violet White), and Magda's grandmother Julia Kainer Neufeld.

System of Arrangement

Collection is arranged as a single series.

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.