A remarkable story of changing borders and stubborn optimism. Heinrich Nussbaum lived in the Austo-Hungarian Empire and had four sons who fought in the First World War. The empire collapsed and Europe was divided, but Heinrich didn't believe in borders and sent his sons to universities all over Europe: Sandor studied economics in Prague, Joseph became a doctor in Berlin, Laszlo received his degree in philosophy in Paris and Jeno, Laszlo's father, studied mathematics in Florence.
When war came, Sandor was killed in a Hungarian forced labor brigade, Laszlo was hidden by a familiy in Paris, Jeno was murdered in Buchenwald and Joseph, the doctor, fled to America, joined the US Army and entered Germany as a medic.
Our story belongs to Jeno's son Laszlo, who tells us that he lost his grandfather's optimism in the Buchenwald concentration camp and that it took until the Romanian revolution of 1989 to get it back.
Study Guides
PREWAR
Lazslo’s grandfather, Heinrich Nussbaum, was born in 1864 in the Zsombor community in Transylvania, which lies near the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca. The Zsombors were a Hungarian clan that settled in Romania prior to the Mongol Invasion of the thirteenth century.
JEWISH LIFE IN TRANSYLVANIA
WWII
In 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power, further heightening Europe's growing anti-Semitism.
POSTWAR
At the end of the war, Transylvania returned to Romania, which was occupied by Soviet forces. Elections held in 1946 established communism as the dominant political force. The People's Republic of Romania was created in 1947. Learn more about the period immediately folowing WWII here.