And Peace Never Came

209 Pages·1997·10.077 MB·English

by  Elisabeth M. Raab

Life Writing Series / 3
Life Writing Series
In the Life Writing Series, Wilfrid Laurier University
Press publishes life writing and new life-writing criti-
cism in order to promote autobiographical accounts,
diaries, letters and testimonials written and/or told
by women and men whose political, literary or philo-
sophical purposes are central to their lives. Life Writ-
ing features the accounts of ordinary people, written
in English, or translated into English from French or
the languages of the First Nations or from any of the
languages of immigration to Canada. Life Writing
will also publish original theoretical investigations
about life writing, as long as they are not limited to
one author or text.
Priority is given to manuscripts that provide access to
those voices that have not traditionally had access to
the publication process.
Manuscripts of social, cultural and historical interest
that are considered for the series, but are not pub-
lished, are maintained in the Life Writing Archive of
Wilfrid Laurier University Library.
Series Editor
Marlene Kadar
Humanities Division, York University
And Peace
Never Came
Elisabeth M. Raab
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
This book has been published with the help of a grant in aid of publi-
cation from the Canada Council.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Raab, Elisabeth M., 1921-
And peace never came
(Life writing v. 3)
;
ISBN 0-88920-281-8 (pbk.)
1. Raab, Elisabeth M., 1921- . 2. Auschwitz (Poland :
Concentration camp). 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -
Hungary — Personal narratives. 4. Jews — Hungary —
Biography. 5. Holocaust survivors — Canada — Biography.
I. Title. II. Series.
DS135.H93R22 1997 940.53'! 8'092 C96-931983-5
Copyright© 1997
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L3C5
Cover design by Leslie Macredie and Sandra Woolfrey
using photographs by Sandra Woolfrey
Cartography by Pam Schaus
Printed in Canada
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may
be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or
mechanical—without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any
request for photocopying, recording, taping, or reproducing in information
storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writ-
ing to the Canadian Reprography Collective, 214 King Street West, Suite 312,
Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S6.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Five Years' Passage ix
Prologue 1
Our Window 3
Nora 5
Who in Their Right Mind... ? 15
The Narrowing Circle 29
Number 168 43
From the Ashes 59
What Remains 79
The Return 93
Alone 109
In Transit 121
Waiting 133
V
Farewell 147
Aftermath 157
The Visit—My Other Self 161
Historical Notes to And Peace Never Came
by Marlene Kadar 189
VI
Acknowledgments
My special gratitude to Sheila Robinson for her editing acu-
men and insight, for her consistent wise ways in
prompting me to unfold enough to finish this book.
I am thankful to Maria Gould, my first teacher, for her
supportive encouragement to write and to continue to do so.
Many thanks to Sandra Woolfrey, director of Wilfrid Laurier
University Press, for her warmth and understanding. Thanks
to all my friends and family who contributed silently through-
out the years by accepting my chosen solitude.
i
dedicate this book to my sons, David and Robert, to their
wives, Deborah and Terry, and to their children.
vn

7
Five Years Passage
1 Pecs—March 1944
Gyorszemere—May 1944
2,3 Mosonmagyarovar—June 1944
Gyorszemere—June 1944
4 Auschwitz—June, July, August 1944
5 Lippstadt—September 1944-March 1945
6 Giitersloh—April 1945
7 Passau—August 1945
8 Giitersloh—August 1945
9 Pocking—June, July 1946
10 Salzburg—July 1946
11 Budapest—August 1946
12 Pecs—August 1946
Gyorszemere—August 1946
13
Budapest—August, September 1946
Vienna—October 1946
Linz—October 1946
14
Salzburg—November 1946
Munich—November 1946
15 Giitersloh—November 1946
16 Paris—August 1948
Switzerland—November 1948
17 Turin—November 1948
Genoa—November 1948
ix