Open Book!
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Names Not Numbers
Eva Sanders
Eva Sanders
Eva was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1934 to Renée Altkorn Witt and Béla Witt. Her mother, Renée, worked as a secretary in government offices, and her father, Béla, was a textile salesman and a Master Chess Champion who coached both Hungarian and American Grandmasters. Eva was an only child, as her mother had suffered two stillborn births before her.
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She attended the Jido Gymnasium, a Jewish private school in Budapest. The family lived comfortably in an apartment within a residential building that featured a typical European communal courtyard. Eva even had a pet rabbit, which she fed Hungarian Cholet(cholent), a traditional Jewish dish.
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At the age of nine, Eva's life changed dramatically when Hungarian Nazis joined forces with the Germans. The Hungarian Nazis were notorious for being even harsher in their treatment of Jews. Eva recalls an encounter at a park where a neighborhood child told her that because she was a "filthy Jew," she should be prepared for Hitler to rid the world of all Jews.
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By September 1940, all Jewish children were banned from schools, and her Jewish Gymnasium was closed down. Her family was forced into Jewish-only housing, marked by large Stars of David at the entrance. These buildings, while not officially ghettos, were overcrowded and offered little space for the Jewish families forced to live there.
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The family shared a small apartment with other families and lived inconstant fear. They had heard the horrifying stories of concentration camps, gas chambers, and crematoriums from across Europe. Jews were required by law to wear large Jewish Stars for identification, making them easy targets for persecution. Béla, Eva’s father, was taken to a slave labor camp.
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Selections were conducted regularly in the apartment building’s courtyard, where Jews were separated, often leading to deportation or death. Eva remembers one selection where her mother, trusting her instincts, quickly moved Eva from one line to the other, likely saving her life.
Eventually, Eva and her mother had to leave the "Yellow Star" building and found refuge in Swedish and Swiss "safe houses."
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These neutral buildings offered some protection, but raids by Nazis were still common. Eva’s father managed to escape from the slave labor camp and reunited with his wife in a Swiss safe house. Renée arranged for a delivery man to secretly retrieve Eva from the Swedish safe house where she had been left alone.
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Eva had witnessed several Nazi raids in the Swedish house, where Jews were beaten and murdered. The delivery man hid Eva under deliveries in a side car on his bike and reunited her with her parents. The family survived the remainder of the war together.
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Eva met her future husband, Leslie, at a party when she was a teenager, and they began dating while at university. They married in 1956, both having graduated in engineering and started a small engineering business together.
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Although Eva had initially wanted to become a doctor, her plans were derailed when she attempted to escape to Israel with her Zionist Youth Movement. She was caught and jailed, and the Communist headmaster of her Jewish high school punished her by banning her from medical school, forcing her into engineering instead.
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Shortly after their marriage, during the Communist Revolt, Eva and Leslie made a dangerous escape to Vienna. They were separated along the way but managed to reunite in Vienna. As refugees, they were assisted by the Jewish organization HIAS, which helped them secure an American military flight to New York.
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Eva's aunt in the Bronx sponsored them, giving them refuge in her apartment until they found jobs and could afford their own place in Brooklyn. Both Eva and Leslie worked at top engineering firms in Manhattan, but they had left their parents behind in Hungary.
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Eva’s father, Béla, passed away not long after her wedding due to complications from diabetes, having lost both his legs. Her mother later joined Eva in the U.S. and lived with her. Eva and Leslie had two children, Peter and Yvette Renée, and Eva raised her children and six grandchildren with strong Zionist and Jewish values.
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The End
Eva Sanders interview at Golda Och Academy - 2023-2024
Golda Och Academy
