Arnold Garbovits (b. 1895) was born in Galanata, Hungary to Josef and Hanna (née Buxbaum) Garbovits. He was married to Karolin Drach (b. circa 1890-1896), born in Győr, Hungary. Karolin had at least one sister: Rose (later Rose Spigel). Arnold and Karolin lived in Budapest, Hungary where he owned and operated a hat factory. They had two children: Erzsebet (later Erzsebet Schwarcz and Elizabeth Sandy, b. 19 May 1923) and Istvan “Pishta” Ervin (b. 1926). In March 1944 the family was sent to the Budapest ghetto. While in the ghetto, Elizabeth married Gabor Schwarcz (1915-1922). Arnold was sent to a forced-labor camp in Budapest. In November 1944 Arnold and Istvan were sent on a death march from Budapest to Austria. Istvan was killed during the march, and Arnold likely also perished around the same time. Karolin was deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in December 1944 where she likely perished. Elizabeth avoided arrest and deportation by hiding in several apartment buildings, likely including the Glass House protected by the Swiss government. After liberation, Elizabeth and Gabor returned to her family home in Budapest and found postcards written and thrown from a train by her mother during her deportation to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They then went to the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp where they remained until 1949. During their time in the DP camp, Gabor worked as a chauffeur for the Joint Distribution Committee and their son Robert was born in 1947. They immigrated to the United States in July 1949 and settled in Worcester, Massachusetts. Their daughter Carol (later Carol Papkin) was born in 1953. In 1954 they changed their last name to Sandy and moved to Detroit, Michigan. They family later relocated to Florida.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
folder 1
The collection is arranged as a single series.
The collection consists of wartime postcards sent from Arnold and Karolin Garbovits in Budapest, Hungary in 1944. Two postcards were written by Arnold from a labor camp in Budapest to Karolin and his daughter Erzsebet (later Elizabeth), dated 9 and 15 October 1944. Three postcards were written by Karolin on the train as she was being deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in December 1944, one of which was addressed to Elizabeth, dated 12 December 1944; one addressed to a relative called Lainhorn Jolanka, dated 10 December 1944; and one addressed to Ferencz Veiler likely authored by Karolin, dated December 1944. The letter from Karolin to Elizabeth asks for news about Arnold and Elizabeth’s brother Istvan, and also instructs her to speak with Tibor Gideon at the Glass House in Budapest.
Garbovits family papers