Paul Molnar

"Do not be a bystander. Stand up against hatred and prejudice wherever it occurs. The reason the Holocaust happened is because you had three groups: perpetrators, a small number; rescuers, also a small number; and in the middle you had the bystanders, which was a huge number, millions, and millions of people. People were crying in streets and they didn’t do anything. Racial remarks, ethnic jokes have to stop; we can’t allow it to happen."

Name at birth

Paul Muller

Date of birth

12/29/1929

Where were you born?

Ujpest, Hungary

Where did you grow up?

Rakospalota, Hungary

Name of father, occupation

Albin, Builder

Maiden name of mother, occupation

Ida Spitzer, Homemaker

Immediate family (names, birth order)

Parents, me and my brother George

Who survived the Holocaust?

My father and me

I was born in 1929 in a secular Jewish Hungarian family in Rakospalota, a suburb of Budapest, Hungary. I came from a wealthy family, I was able to study after the Numerus Clausus, Jewish quota system was passed. Following the outbreak of World War II, my family and I came under increasing persecution by the pro-Nazi Hungarian government.

In 1944, my father was sent to a labor camp while my family was forced to move into a designated Jewish area. We were deported to Auschwitz on July 7, 1944. We were put onto cattle cars, 100 in a car. We were in the train for 2 ½ days. A lot of people died.

Auschwitz was a crazy place. People were running around in funny striped uniforms. The German officers wore fancy uniforms. They had the Selection when we arrived. My mother and I went to the right; my little brother and my grandmother were sent to the left. My mother joined my little brother and grandmother where they were all immediately gassed. My brother was 11 years old, my mother was 39, and my grandmother was 67.

My uncle, cousin and I were sent to Buchenwald, then to Magdeburg where we worked in an I.G. Farben factory. There I accidently dropped a bag of concrete and as a result I was attacked by German guards and their dog.

I was transferred to Krankenstube, a camp area for the sick. I was then sent back to Buchenwald, taken to the Bergen-Belsen camp. In April 1945, I was evacuated from Bergen-Belsen, and while marching to an unknown destination, I escaped and was liberated.

I returned home and was reunited with my father, who had survived forced labor camps. Later, my father and I immigrated to the United States.

Name of Ghetto(s)

Budapest

Name of Concentration / Labor Camp(s)

Auschwitz Birkenau / Bergen Belsen / Buchenwald / Krankenstube / Magdeburg

Where did you go after being liberated?

Rakospalota, Hungary

When did you come to the United States?

June 2, 1947

Where did you settle?

Detroit, Michigan

Occupation after the war

Owner of Midwest Business Systems Computer Co.

Spouse

Priscilla Molnar, Art dealer

Children

Suzanne Pardo, accountant George Molnar, insurance broker Peter Molnar, vice president at a software company.

Grandchildren

Six and Three Great-grandchildren

What do you think helped you to survive?

My youth. I didn’t believe that my time had come. I felt very strongly, when you’re fourteen, that death is not part of your life. I saw all these dead bodies and said it can’t happen to me. I was there alone, only had to take care of myself. I had lucky breaks, being in the right place at the right time.

What message would you like to leave for future generations?

Do not be a bystander. Stand up against hatred and prejudice wherever it occurs.

The reason the Holocaust happened is because you had three groups: perpetrators, a small number; rescuers, also a small number; and in the middle you had the bystanders, which was a huge number, millions, and millions of people. People were crying in streets and they didn’t do anything.

Racial remarks, ethnic jokes have to stop; we can’t allow it to happen.