(Jewish Group) Holocaust museum gets trove of intimate stories of loss and survival

Erzsebet Barsony and her son, Ervin, had been packed in a cattle car for three days en route to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. It was July 12, 1944, and very hot. They had no food or water, only their clothes.

The police had taken Erzsebet’s wedding ring and Ervin’s shoes back in Budapest, where they were rounded up. She was 35. He was 15. He stood over 6 feet tall and played the violin. She kept telling him to sit down in the jammed car so he would take up less room.

When they arrived, they were immediately separated, as were tens of thousands who went through the same ordeal. “I was standing there with my emotions numbed,” she recalled. Suddenly, Ervin appeared at her side. He had left his place to say goodbye. Tearfully, he hugged and kissed her, and told her not to worry. “Mom, you’ll see, we’ll meet again."

They never did.

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