Dezsofi family photo albums
Extent and Medium
oversize boxes
2
Creator(s)
- Dezsofi family
Biographical History
Dolly Tiger (born Dorottya Rozsa Dezsofi) and her twin sister Ida Marianne (Mari) Dezsofi were born on January 31, 1930 in Budapest, Hungary to Dezső (d. 1947 in the United States) and Johanna (nee Selinger) Dezsofi. They were raised by their mother and grandfather, Mozes Selinger, a prominent Jewish jeweler in Budapest. In 1938 Johanna married George Paul, a non-Jewish Serbian jeweler, and moved with her daughters to Subotica in northern Serbia. Following the public hanging in Subotica in March 1941, Dolly and Marianne were sent to a convent school in Budapest. The girls remained there until the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944, when the nuns were no longer willing to hide Jewish children. The girls then hid for six months at the Hotel Lukacs in Budapest with their mother and stepfather. When Johanna was arrested and sent to a work camp in October 1944, Dolly and Marianne went to hide with the son of a family friend, George Szeutirmay. The family was reunited in January 1945. With the help of Elizabeth Tieberger, Johanna's older sister, Dolly, Marianne, and their cousin, Dorothea (Babi), were smuggled to Subotica by Russian soldiers. Dolly attended school in Subotica for two years before returning to Budapest to await her Hungarian passport. After she received her passport in April 1948, she left immediately for Switzerland where Dolly met Janos Fenjves and married him on May 8, 1948 in Paris. They left for Venezuela one month later. There they had two children, but soon divorced. Dolly later married Yozef Tiger and immigrated to Canada in 1961. Marianne married George Kalman and immigrated to the United States in 1957.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Dolly Tiger Chinitz
Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2020 by Dolly Tiger Chinitz.
Scope and Content
Two photo albums of Dorotta Dezsoefi (donor) and her twin sister Ida Marianne (Mari) Dezsoefi who were born on January 31, 1930 in Budapest, Hungary. Photographs in the albums document the period from 1930-1947. The twins survived the war years in a convent protected by nuns. The albums survived the war years in the family's apartment in Subotica, which was taken over by high ranking officers. All of the contents of the apartment remained intact, and it was overseen by their former maid. The family recovered the albums after returning to Subotica. The photos were taken by family members including their mother and cousins, as well as professional photographers. The twins are mostly seen in matching outfits of the latest fashion, which attests to their status and wealth.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Genre
- Document