Lazar Edelstein

Edelstein was born on 18 January 1931 was born in 1929 in Tacovo in the Carpathian Mountains which was then the most easterly part of Czechoslovakia.

Edelstein was a member of a group of Holocaust survivors known as the Boys, despite the fact the group consisted of over 200 girls.

The Boys were teenage and child-Holocaust survivors, who were brought to the UK after World War II for rest and rehabilitation.

Members of the Boys were held in Nazi labour and concentration camps and used as slave labourers. They had also survived World War II in hiding or as lone children.

^{The List of the Fourth Group of the Boys in the London Metropolitan Archives.}

Edelstein’s father Aron made a living by selling foodstuffs from a stall. The name of Edelstein’s mother is unknown. Edelstein had four sisters and was the middle child.

Edelstein remembered life was hard when he was growing up. He also had a difficult relationship with his father who was sometimes violent towards him.

In 1938, Tacovo and the surrounding area were annexed by Hungary and formally incorporated into Hungary in 1939. The Nazis occupied Hungary in March 1944.

Deportation

In May 1944, most of the Jews living in the area surrounding Tacovo were forcibly taken to the ghetto of Mátészalka among them Edelstein and his family. They were then sent to Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in occupied Poland.

On arrival Edelstein was warned by a man working on the ramp to stand with his father. He was then separated from his mother and two of his sisters whom he never saw again.

Edelstein’s father died in Auschwitz II-Birkenau giving him his last piece of bread. Edelstein was then moved to Mauthausen and Gunskirchen concentration camps in Austria.

Edelstein’s older sister died after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen in Germany.

Liberation

When Edelstein was liberated, he travelled to Budapest and then Romania to find his eldest sister, Elsa, who was his only immediate family member to have survived the Holocaust.

After World War II, Tacovo, now Tachiv, became part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union in 1945. Many Jews felt there was no future for them under Stalinism and either did not return to their homes or decided to flee westwards.

Lazar Edelstein’s Journey 1944-1948

^{Pre-war Life: Tacovo, Czechoslovakia. Forced Journey: → Mátészalka Ghetto → Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp → Mauthausen concentration camp → Death march to Gunskirchen concentration camp. After liberation: → Budapest, Hungary → Bucharest, Romania → Prague, Czechoslovakia → Joins 4th Group of the Boys → London, UK.}

A New Life

In May 1946, Edelstein left Prague and joined an orphans’ transport to the UK. He arrived on 11 June 1946 as part of the fourth group of the Boys and was cared for in the Jewish Shelter in the East End of London. He lived there until April 1947.

On arrival Edelstein expressed an interest in becoming a car mechanic and wanted to settle in the United States, where he had an uncle. Edelstein left England for America in 1949. He was drafted into the US Army and served from 1952 to 1954. After he was demobilised, he worked as a tailor. Edelstein married and had children.

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