Szabo family papers

Nelly Szabo Ullman was born Nelly Szabo on 11 August 1925 in Vienna, Austria to Viktor and Elisabeth Szabo. Viktor Szabo (1894-1941) was born in Hungary and worked at a synagogue. Elisabeth Szabo (née Rosenberg) was born in Hungary and worked as a seamstress. The family was religious, and spoke Hungarian, Yiddish, and German at home. Nelly had an older brother Wolfgang Szabo (b. 1922?). After the German-annexation of Austria in March 1938 (Anschluss), the Szabo family began making plans to emigrate. Nelly’s brother Wolfgang illegally immigrated to Palestine on 31 October 1938. During Kristallnacht, Nelly’s father Viktor was arrested while in line at the American Embassy on 10 November 1938 and deported to Dachau. Nelly and her mother left their apartment to warn other Jews about the arrests. When they returned to their apartment later, they found it sealed and they were forced to reside in a mattress factory. Viktor wrote Elisabeth several letters while at Dachau, and was released on 22 March 1939 on the condition that he emigrate from Austria. Nelly received a United States visa and immigrated in May 1939. She lived with distant relatives in Passaic, New Jersey. After World War I, Viktor’s village became part of Romania, and Elisabeth’s was in Czechoslovakia, so both of them had to apply for American visas under the quota systems for those countries. Elisabeth received a visa and immigrated to the United States in December 1939, and was reunited with Nelly. Viktor was unable to get a visa, and secured passage on a ship to Palestine organized by the Hechalutz Zionist youth organization in December 1939. British authorities imposed restrictions on entry into Palestine, and Viktor and the other refugees were housed in Sabac, Yugoslavia (Sabac, Serbia) in September 1940. After the German occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941, the refugees were moved to a concentration camp on the Sava River. On 12-13 October 1941 Viktor and the other male prisoners, including Roma and Sinti men, were murdered in Zasavica and buried in a mass grave. Nelly and her mother did not learn his fate until after the war.

Viktor Szabo (1894-1941) was born on 30 September 1894 in Hungary. He was married to Elisabeth Rosenberg and they had two children: Nelly (b. 1925) and Wolfgang (b. 1922?). Viktor worked at a synagogue and his wife was a seamstress. The family was religious, and spoke Hungarian, Yiddish, and German at home. After the German-annexation of Austria in March 1938 (Anschluss), the Szabo family began making plans to emigrate. Wolfgang illegally immigrated to Palestine on 31 October 1938. During Kristallnacht, Viktor was arrested while in line at the American Embassy on 10 November 1938 and deported to Dachau. Elisabeth and Nelly left their apartment to warn other Jews about the arrests. When they returned to their apartment later, they found it sealed and they were forced to reside in a mattress factory. Viktor wrote Elisabeth several letters while at Dachau, and was released on 22 March 1939 on the condition that he emigrate from Austria. Nelly received a United States visa and immigrated in May 1939. She lived with distant relatives in Passaic, New Jersey. After World War I, Viktor’s village became part of Romania, and Elisabeth’s was in Czechoslovakia, so both of them had to apply for American visas under the quota systems for those countries. Elisabeth received a visa and immigrated to the United States in December 1939, and was reunited with Nelly. Viktor was unable to get a visa, and secured passage on a ship to Palestine organized by the Hechalutz Zionist youth organization in December 1939. British authorities imposed restrictions on entry into Palestine, and Viktor and the other refugees were housed in Sabac, Yugoslavia (Sabac, Serbia) in September 1940. After the German occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941, the refugees were moved to a concentration camp on the Sava River. On 12-13 October 1941 Viktor and the other male prisoners, including Roma and Sinti men, were murdered in Zasavica and buried in a mass grave. Nelly and her mother did not learn his fate until after the war.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The collections previously accessioned as 1994.A.0006 and 1996.A.0158 were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Mueum by Nelly Szabo Ullman in 1994 and 1996. Both of these accessions make up the collection that is now cataloged as 1994.A.006.2.