United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Gabriel Groszman (born Gábor, b. 1930) was born in Vámosmikola, Hungary to Margit (née Stöckl; 1904-1993) and József (1897-1987) Groszman. He had one older brother, Imre (Imi, 1926-1960). József was a veteran of World War I, and he married Margit Stöckl in 1926. He ran a wholesale grain business with Margit’s sister Helén’s (1900-1944) husband Géza Abelesz (1896-1944). Their business was forced to close in 1940 after new laws prohibited Jews from the agricultural commodities business. The family moved to Budapest in Fall 1941. In April 1944, Gabriel’s brother Imi was conscripted into the Hungarian Army. In June 1944, as persecution of Jews in Budapest increased, József, Margit, and Gabriel were forced to move into a house shared by several other Jewish families. They then moved into the Swedish House, having received protective documents from Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg. They didn’t remain there, and moved several more times. József purchased false identities in order to pass as non-Jews. Their false identities were: Margit Goda, Gábor Goda, and József Tokos. Their final wartime location living under the false identities was in an apartment shared with a Protestant family, the Szabós. After Budapest was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in February 1945 Gabriel continued his education. In April 1949 the Groszmans moved to Vienna, Austria. In March 1952 they immigrated to Argentina, and settled in Buenos Aires. Gabriel continued his studies and went into business with his father. He married Ruth Heda in 1958. He later worked for her step-father Semi Uffenheimer selling industrial belts. Gabriel and Ruth had three children, and moved to Florida in 2003. 23 extended family members perished during the Holocaust. Ruth Heda (later Ruth Groszman, b. 1935) was born on 11 March 1935 in Trnava, Slovakia to Árpád Heda and Alžbeta (Elizabeth) Elbert. Árpád (1909-1947) was born in Žilina, Slovakia to Eduard Heda and Hermina Zlatternova. Elizabeth (1913-1994) was born in Trnava to Bernard and Rudolfina (née Weisz) Elbert. She had two brothers, Ármin (1908-1955) and Jeno (1906-1944). Árpád and Elizabeth married in 1934. Árpád worked at the First Trnava Steam Mill from 1926-1939. The family fled to England shortly before the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, settling in London. Árpád died from a stroke in 1947, and Elizabeth and Ruth decided to immigrate to Argentina where Elizabeth’s brother Ármin had lived since 1936. They immigrated to Argentina in 1949 and settled in Buenos Aires. In 1954 Elizabeth married Semi Uffenheimer (1902-1981), a German Jew who immigrated to Argentina in 1938. Ruth married Gabriel Groszman in 1958.
box oversize folders 1 2
The collection is arranged as three series. Series 1. Biographical material, 1926-2010 Series 2. Immigration, 1949-1983 Series 3. Photographs, circa 1900-2001
The collection documents the Holocaust-era experiences of the Groszman family of Vámosmikola, Hungary, including wartime life in Budapest, Hungary; post-war immigrations to Vienna, Austria and Buenos Aires, Argentina. It also documents the experiences of Gabriel’s Groszman’s wife Ruth Heda and her family, primarily of Trnava, Slovakia, including their immigrations to England and Argentina. The collection consists of biographical materials, immigration paperwork, and photographs. Biographical material includes identification papers; birth, marriage and death certificates; education papers of Gabriel and his brother Imi Groszman; notes on wartime Vámosmikola; Árpád Heda’s resume; and notes about members of the Heda family who perished during the Holocaust. Immigration papers include Gabriel’s Viennese registration document and International Refugee Organization (IRO) Austrian identity card; the Groszman family’s IRO travel documents; and documents regarding the Heda family’s immigration to England in 1939 and later immigration to Argentina. Photographs consist of pre-war, wartime, and post-war depictions of the Groszman, Heda, and Elbert families, along with relatives and friends. Groszman family photographs include images of József and his wife Margit, Gabriel and Imi’s childhood in Vámosmikola and Budapest, and post-war life in Argentina, members of relatives in the Abelesz and Stöckl families, and the Koczo family of Vámosmikola. Heda and Elbert family photographs include depictions of pre-war family life in Trnava and Žilina, and wartime and post-war life in London and Buenos Aires.
Groszman family papers