By the time 1938 came, one began to realise that one would have to emigrate sooner or later, and everybody was looking around for relatives abroad, particularly the United States and so on, where one could find somebody, because, at that time, if it was to the United States, one had to have a guarantee … Read more
So tell me more about what you did after you finished this school. After I finished school I went to Frankfurt, Frankfurt-am-Main, for two years as an apprentice in a wholesale drapery business, very big wholesale drapery business called “Allman and Rapp” I went to Frankfurt in 1926, by that time I was 17 years … Read more
(I WAS BORN)… In a small Bavarian town, called Leutershausen, which was near the town, near the Kreishaupstadt of Mittelf ranken called Ansbach, and my name originally in German, it was Ansbacher, Martin Ansbacher. My father’s name was Gustav Ansbacher, my mother’s name was Babette Ansbacher, and her maiden name was Eckmann. My father was … Read more
Marianne talks about the effect her experiences have had on her. She explains why she is glad she came to Scotland and did not go to America, as her sisters did. Finally Marianne explains why she is now finally free of ‘her Holocaust’. INT: That’s a lovely story. And looking back over your life are … Read more
Marianne describes her first jobs. Then she goes on to talk about arriving in Edinburgh where her three children were born. She explains that she loved Edinburgh from the start and thought it was ‘something out of this world’. She talks about the historic links between Scotland and Hungary and her children’s integration into Scottish … Read more
Marianne gives a vivid description of leaving Hungary without passports and just the clothes that she and her husband were wearing. She explains what happened to them when they arrived in Austria and why they were given permission to come to Britain. Her positive feelings on arrival in Britain are clearly evident. ML: And then … Read more
Marianne discusses how her life returned to something closer to normal. She describes her education both at school and at university. She then goes on to speak about the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 and the decision that she and her new husband made to leave Hungary. INT: How long did it take until you got … Read more
Marianne describes the arrival of the Red Army and the flight of the German guards. She explains that her father then decided to bring the family home to Hungary. They returned, dirty and covered in fleas to find their house looted and empty. They began to rebuild their lives. INT: Tell me about the liberation … Read more
Marianne describes what happened to her and her family when the Germans invaded Hungary. She speaks about the ghettos set up in her town and her time in the local brickworks before being put into cattle wagons. She goes on to explain that she and her family were selected to work in Austria, though many … Read more
Marianne describes her family background. INT: Marianne? ML: Yes? INT: Thank you for agreeing to talk to me this afternoon. Tell me about yourself; where you were born and what life was like before the war. ML: Well I was born in Hungary; Debrecen was the name of the city I was born in. Hungary … Read more