Komlos and Grünhut families papers

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

Herbert Komlos (1916-2003) was born on 3 June 1916 in Rakospalota, Hungary. He married Eva Lőwy (1921-2009) in April 1944 in Budapest. Their son John was born the same year. Herbert was a survivor of Hungarian labor battalions and went into hiding with his family and extended relatives in Budapest. After the war, they lived in Austria. Their second son Steven was born in 1948. In December 1956 the Komlos family immigrated to the United States and settled in Illinois. They became naturalized citizens in 1962. Irén Grünhut (later Irene Glück) was born on 22 October 1917 in Recsk, Hungary to Jeno and Serene (née blau) Grünhut. She was the cousin of Eva Lőwy, who was married to Herbert Komlos. Irén was likely deported from Recsk to the Bagolyuk ghetto around May 1944. From there she survived several concentration camps, including Auschwitz, Stuttfhof, and Buchenwald. She was liberated in 1945. Irén married Ernst Glück, and they had two children: Mary and George. The family immigrated to Canada in 1957. 

Komlos and Grünhut families papers 

folders folders 2 2 

The collection consists of two memoirs documenting the Hungarian Holocaust experiences of Herbert Komlos and his wife Eva Lőwy’s cousin Irén Grünhut. The memoir authored by Herbert Komlos discusses his survival of Hungarian labor battalions and going into hiding in Budapest with his wife Eva Lőwy and extended relatives. Irén Grünhut was a survivor of several camps including Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Stutthof. Her memoir is a photocopy of the original authored in 1955. 

The collection is arranged as two folders. Folder 1 of 2. Herbert Komlos memoir, circa 2003 Folder 2 of 2. Irén Grünhut memoir, 1955