Koranyi family papers

Identifier
irn646284
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1995.A.0769.2
  • 1995.A.0769
  • 2010.474.1
Dates
1 Jan 1944 - 31 Dec 1961
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Hungarian
  • German
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Sarah Koranyi (1896-1957) was born Sarah Schwarcz in Budapest. She was the youngest of seven children in a poor family that kept kosher. Zsigmond (Zsiga) Koranyi (1889-1982) was born Sigmund Kohn in Zilina, Hungary (later Slovakia). He had seven brothers and sisters, and his family was moderately religious and kept kosher. Sarah and Zsiga married in 1917, settled in Budapest, changed their last name to Koranyi, and had two children: Marta (1921-2015) and Erwin (1924-2012). Zsiga’s brother Sandor escaped Zilina with his wife and mother-in-law, but the rest of their relatives were deported to Auschwitz and killed. Zsiga helped his brother’s family and other Jewish refugees in Budapest find safe places to stay. One of those refugees was Marta’s future husband Jan Sebor (b. Erwin Schwalb, 1913-1996) from Zilina. Marta was assigned forced labor at the Riegler Paper Factory, but a friend helped her escape. Her brother Erwin helped obtained Swedish protection documents from Raoul Wallenberg for her family. When Franz Szalasi’s Arrow Cross government no longer recognized the Wallenberg documents, Marta started working as a secretary at Wallenberg’s “satellite embassy” at 1 Jokai Street, and she and her family lived in a room in the same building. They survived an Arrow Cross raid on the building in January 1945 and were liberated. Marta and Jan Sebor were married in April 1946. They spent some time in Czechoslovakia, but their employment options were limited when they refused to join the Communist Party. They traveled in Europe before migrating to Israel in 1949. Her parents settled in Montreal, and she and her husband immigrated to the United States and settled in New York in 1956.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Marta Koranyi-Sebor

Marta Koranyi-Sebor donated the Koranyi family papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995 and 2010. The accessions formerly cataloged as 1995.A.0769 and 2010.474.1 have been incorporated into this collection.

Scope and Content

The Koranyi family papers include a postcard, two Swedish protective documents, a photograph, and a photocopied clipping documenting the survival of Zsigmond (Sigmund), Sara, and Marta Koranyi in Budapest during the Holocaust. Marta’s friend Gabrielle (Gabi) sent her the postcard in June 1944 from a sealed deportation train destined for Auschwitz, where Gabi was killed. A rough English translation of the Hungarian postcard reads, “My little Martha, Since the morning we have been standing with our packings, we don’t know where we are going. Think of us, Many Kisses, Giza. Please send a card each to Natal Mocsari Kender St; Mrs. Adolf Kuntcler so that they should know about us.” Raoul Wallenberg issued the two Swedish protective documents in the collection. One claims Sara Koranyi was a Swedish citizen and spared from wearing a yellow Star of David, and the other attests that Sara was related to Marta Koranyi, who worked for the Swedish legation in Budapest. The photograph depicts artwork honoring Zsigmond (Siegmund) Koranyi for his role in protecting Jewish refugees in Hungary. The clipping from the Montreal Star describes Sigmund’s interest in the Eichmann trial in 1961.

System of Arrangement

The Koranyi family papers are arranged as a single series.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Ms. Marta Koranyi Sebor

People

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.