Amalia Willinger Gordeski (born Amalia Willinger) was born on 5 February 1914 in Hungary to Rosa (née Weinberger) and Adolf Willinger. Amalia was one of 12 children, and her siblings included Berta (b. 1903), Martin (later Martin Farago, 1905-1985), Tessie, Teri, Joseph, Alex, and Dezso. Amalia and her siblings Dezso and Teri immigrated to the United States prior to World War II. She married Julius (Gyula) Gordeski. During the war, Martin was sent to a Russian labor camp. His wife Jolan (née Ganzfried) and their daughter Vera were both killed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. After the war, he married Edith Schwartz (later Edith Farago, 1914-2004). They lived in Nyíregyháza, Hungary and managed a clothing store, and had a daughter, Marian. After the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, the family fled the country for Austria. They secured visas for the United States shortly after that. Amalia’s sister Berta and her husband Hermann were both deported from Püspökladány, Hungary to Auschwitz where they perished.
folders 2
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Amalia Willinger Gordeski papers
The collection is arranged as two folders.
The collection contains letters written to Amalia (Mali) WIllinger, who immigrated to the United States prior to World War II, from her parents and siblings in Hungary. The letters date from 1940-circa 1950s and are in Hungarian. Also included is a self-published book,"A Century of Lov" by Marian Farago. The book describes the history of Marian's parents, Martin Willinger (later Martin Farago) and Edith Schwartz (later Edith Farago) including their experiences during the Holocaust and the Hungarian Revolution in 1956.