ca-005461-ra033
title: Vilcsek family collection
has record set type: Fonds
has or had some members with language: eng
type: RecordSet
sources: Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
history: Records were in the custody of Erika Fleischer and Eva Kero, who donated them to the VHEC in three accessions. Photographs were in the custody of Eva Kero until her death in 2018, after which they were kept by the executor of her will, who donated them to the VHEC in 2019.
history: Ernő Vilcsek was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1907 to Israel Samu Vilcsek and Berta Weisz; he had one sister and three brothers. Around 1933, Ernő married Irén Hirsch, born February 27, 1913, in Budapest, Hungary to Karolin Fischer and Jacob Hirsch. The couple had two children: Eva Veronika Kero (née Vilcsek) (b. 1934, Budapest, d. December 2018, Vancouver) and Erika Ester Fleischer (née Vilcsek) (b. September 28, 1937, Budapest, d. January 30, 2005, Vancouver). Prior to the Second World War, the family lived at 55 Futó Street, in District Eight in Budapest; they ran a business selling auto parts with members of their extended family.In 1941, Ernő Vilcsek was taken to a labour camp. Irén went to work at the auto parts business with her mother-in-law, and Irén’s mother moved in to help care for their daughters. Early on, Ernő received leave to visit his wife and daughters in Budapest, by 1942 he was permitted only to send correspondence. Eva and Erika recall being woken in the middle of the night in 1942 to drive to a train station to say goodbye to their father, who was being sent to the Russian front in a cattle wagon. In March, 1943, the Vilcseks received notice that Ernő had disappeared in the area of Osztrogoszk. The family heard he had died from typhus and starvation.Ernő’s eldest brother was married to a gentile woman and the auto parts business was able to operate during the war under her family name. That brother helped to arrange Wallenberg Schutzpasses for Irén and her daughters to move into an apartment protected by the Swedish government with their grandmothers.In the Swedish safe house food was very scare. Eva and Erika remember Irén going out to find food, being caught by members of the Arrow Cross and taken to a brick factory. She returned two days later. From then on, Eva was sent out for food, without her yellow star. When the Russians surrounded Budapest, the Germans decided to enter the safe houses and evacuate the residents; the Vilcseks were tol…
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/ca-005461-ra033/acquisitions/1
record resource structure: Collection has been arranged into series by the archivist; item-level descriptions based on legacy Filemaker Pro database entries. Donations from Erika Fleischer and Eva Kero were processed together.
scope and content: Collection consists primarily of records generated or used during the period of the Second World War by the Vilcsek family in Budapest, Hungary. These include vital statistics and personal records of the Vilcsek family, photographs, and postcards mailed to the family from Ernő Vilcsek while he was in a labour camp in Hungary. Collection also consists of artworks, several on the theme of the Holocaust, created by Eva Kero after her immigration to Vancouver, BC.Collection has been arranged into three series: Correspondence (1942), Family records ([after 1881]–1949) and Artworks (1969–1971).
accruals: No further accruals are expected.
archivist note: Described in April, 2019. Updated in May, 2019 to describe description of accrual.
record resource extent: 10 postcards11 documents15 etchings (prints)1 screen print3 photographs1 monoprint
date: [after 1881]–1971
has or had some members with language: hun
has or had some members with language: deu
identifier: RA033
other finding aids: Item-level descriptions are available.
has or had holder: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/institutions/ca-005461