Gombosi family papers

The Gombosi family papers consist of biographical material, correspondence, and photographs relating to János, Magda, and Eva Gombosi’s experiences during the war. The collection includes an identity card from the Allied Expeditionary Force, a medical card, and a Läkarkort (doctor’s brief) for Magda, a post-war letter detailing what happened to János during war, and a handwritten contract handing guardianship of Eva to her grandfather, Lajos, if her parents did not return. The collection also includes correspondence from János, Magda, and Eva, and notes with postal information for János’ forced labor unit as well as a poem describing various members of the survivors in Sweden, a photograph of Eva with her maternal grandparents, Karolin Singer Rona and a Lajos Rona, and a photograph of Magda and János Gambosi. Eva Bozoki (née Gombosi) was born in 1935 to János (1908-1992) and Magda (née Rona 1912-2006) Gombosi in Budapest, Hungary where János worked in a furniture factory. Eva had one brother, Tamas (b.1947). In September 1940, János was taken to a forced labor camp in Vác, but returned in December. Soon after her father returned, Eva was sent to a private school in an orphanage for Jewish boys. In September 1942, János was sent away again and Magda was taken to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Eva remained at the family’s apartment with her maternal grandfather, Lajos. After Germany occupied Hungary on March 19, 1944, the family had to wear yellow stars and they were moved to a Jewish house. Eva and Lajos were taken to a ghetto in Budapest in October 1944 and remained there until liberation on January 17, 1945. János returned to Budapest in December 1944 and Eva’s family remained in Budapest after liberation. They discovered that Magda and Julia, Eva’s Aunt, both survived and were in Sweden. They soon returned to Hungary and were reunited with János and Eva. Eva and her husband, George, obtained Ph.D.’s in Physics in Budapest and worked in Hungary, Russia, and Paris. They had a daughter, Andrea, in 1965 and immigrated to the United States in 1971.