us-005578-irn522035-irn522160
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Herta (Iris) Menzer was born December 11, 1928, in Nitra, Czechoslovakia (Nitra, Slovakia), to Eduard, born January 29, 1889, in Racisdorf and Aurelia Zlata Lamm, born April 7, 1899. Herta had an older brother, Yehuda Alfred Miron, born April 3, 1927, and a younger sister, Mirka, born January 5, 1938. The family lived in Bratislava. Eduard was a wealthy wine importer and exporter. The family shared a large house with Eduard’s brother, Gyula, and his family. The family was Jewish Orthodox and spoke German at home. In September 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the Sudeten border region and, in March 1939, the Bohemia-Moravia area of Czechoslovakia. A pro-German fascist regime took control of the Slovakia region where the Menzer family lived. The Menzer's were forced by the government to sell their home at a huge loss to non-Jewish owners. The family moved in with Herta’s maternal aunt, Luisa Schlesinger, in Nitra. They were slated to be deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, but Luisa saved them from the transport train at the last minute. In mid-1942, Slovakia began transferring its Jews to German custody for deportation to concentration camps. In 1943, Herta attempted to escape to Hungary. She was caught and imprisoned for six weeks and then sent to Novaky labor camp, where her parents and Mirka were interned. The Slovak Jewish Center had persuaded the Slovak government to set up work camps where Jews could go instead of being deported. Cultural activities were an important part of camp life and Herta, who was trained on the piano, and Mirka performed in concerts. Alfred was arrested in Budapest and sent to a labor camp in Hungary. In August 1944, Slovakian rebels, including fighters from the Novaky camp, attempted to overthrow the pro-Nazi, Tiso government. During the rebellion, Novaky was liberated and Herta, Mirka, and their parents fled to the Tatra Mountains. German troops invaded to suppress the rebellion, and by October 27, the Slovak National Uprising was quash…
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had subject: 701
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn522160
is or was included in: us-005578-irn522035
record resource extent: folder 1
record resource structure: The collection is arranged as a single series.
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The collection consists of three photographs of members of the Menzer and Steiner families from Nitra, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) who were killed in 1942.
title: Menzer and Steiner family photograph collection