Ilona Elefánt Schwarcz papers

Ilona Elefánt (1903-1980) was born on May 8, 1903 to Miska (Max, d. 1928) and Amalia (Molly/Maria, née Neumann, d. 1944) Elefánt. She was the third of five children: Marci (Martin, b. circa 1897); Iren (Irene, b. circa 1901); Ilona (1903-1980); Imre (b. 1913); and Eta (b. 1915-1982). They were raised in Miskolc, Hungary where Miksa worked as a shoemaker. He died of cancer in 1928. After their father’s death, Irene and Ilona supported the family as dressmakers. Martin immigrated to the United States after World War I, and was able to sponsor Irene's immigration in February 1940. In August 1935, Ilona married Jenö Schwarcz (August 2, 1902-1942). The Schwarczs lived in Miskolc until Jenö was taken as part of a forced labor battalion in 1942. According to family testimony Jenö Schwarcz froze to death in Ukraine in 1942. Imre Elefánt was also murdered by the Nazis in the Ukraine but the exact date or year is unknown. On May 20, 1944, Amalia, Ilona, and Eta were sent to the Miskolc ghetto. Three weeks later they arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp, where Amalia perished upon arrival. Ilona and Eta survived the initial selection and were sent for forced labor in munitions factories. The sisters ultimately survived Płaszów concentration camp, a return to Auschwitz, Augsburg (a subcamp of Dachau concentration camp), and were liberated from Mühldorf (also a subcamp of Dachau) in April 1944. After liberation, Ilona and Eta returned to Miskolc and discovered no additional survivors of their family. They convalesced at the Feldafing displaced persons camp. At Feldafing, Eta met and married Szlama Hipszer (Solomon, d.1968) whose wife and children had been murdered at Auschwitz concentration in 1943. Their names were Rajzla Hipszer (Rejzla, neé Krzesiwo, d. 1943), Machla Hipszer (born March 30, 1931-1943), Gitla Hipszer (born April 3, 1937-1943), and Mina (Minca/Mincz, born November 21, 1940-1943). In 1949, Ilona Elefánt, Eta Hipszer, and Szlama Hipszer immigrated to the United States. There, Ilona met and married Ernest Goldstein, a survivor living in Canada. Solomon and Eta Hipszer had two children: Ivan and Marianne. Solomon Hipszer passed away in 1968, Ilona Goldstein in 1980, and Eta Hipszer in 1982.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Marianne Meyer

Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

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Marianne Meyer donated the Ilona Elefánt Schwarcz papers to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2015.