Eva Gross was born in December 1927 in Belahavo [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling], Czechoslovakia and grew up in Nyirchad, Hungary. It was a small town with a farming community around it. Things were primitive with no luxuries. There were no telephones or even indoor plumbing. There were 50 Jewish families living in the town. Most of the businesses were owned by Jewish people. The farmers survived on their work in the fields. Her father had a kosher butcher shop. One doctor lived in the town. He had a car which fascinated the children because it was the only vehicle in town. There was a one room school with only one teacher for kindergarten through sixth grade. Gross was always interested in education. Her mother and the teacher agreed that she could start attending school even before the age for kindergarten. After the sixth grade, there was no higher education available in her village. She had to move to the city of Debrecen to extend her education. Her application for admission to the school there was rejected because she was Jewish. No Jewish children were allowed to receive higher education. Her mother decided that her daughter had to learn a trade. She wanted her to go to the city to learn to become a seamstress. Gross' father had already been taken away, but the family had a property in the city and an aunt who lived there. Gross went to live with her aunt. A woman who owned a shop in the city agreed to teach Gross to sew. Instead, the woman was very mean. She had Gross do housework and taught her very little about sewing. Gross grew to dislike sewing so much that she would do very little of it until her mother passed away. Her father had been taken away from the family in early the 1940s. Hungary drafted all able bodied young Jewish men into the army. They were given Hungarian Army uniforms but were never given any ammunition. Her father was made to dig ditches near the battlefields. After all the digging was done, the Hungarian Army shot her father and all those young Jewish men. The family found out the truth about what happened because one person managed to survive and recounted the story. When the Hungarian government sent a letter to Gross' mother to say her husband had died fighting for his country, she refused to sign the paper. She knew the truth. The Jewish families in the community all attended the one synagogue and were very close. People did not travel or cook on the Sabbath. Her grandparents had an outdoor oven and all the families would bring food to the oven on Friday and seal it up. The oven would be heated up and after synagogue services the food would be served. No cooking would be done on the Sabbath. No candles could even be lit on Saturdays until the stars came out on Sabbath. Gross was told what happened to her father. She could not believe it but she had no choice. Her father's butcher shop continued, but it was strictly kosher. A non-kosher butcher shop owned by her father's partner was next door. Since only part of a cow is considered kosher, the other half was shared with the non-kosher butcher. When her father left after the Germans came to power in Hungary, he asked his partner to help his family with some money in the future. The partner agreed to do so but stopped shortly after learning Gross' father had been killed. She and her mother would grow food in the fields to survive. This left her with few good memories about Hungary.

Eva Gross saw anti-Semitism as a natural part of her life. It became more and more prevalent after the government officially supported it. Hungary had always had a bitter anti-Semitism but it became worse. Her mother's two sisters and a brother immigrated to Canada because of the hate. Her grandfather was very religious. He attended synagogue every morning and night. As he was walking to service, a teenage boy ridiculed him and pulled his beard. This was a boy who had grown up playing with Gross' mother and siblings. The old man could not understand why the boy was treating him that way when he used to get food at the old Jew's home. The boy used to be a playmate with the old man's children. Gross' grandfather was bewildered by the teenager's negative reaction to him. Gross' aunts and uncle in Canada suggested that the family in Hungary come to Canada. The grandparents refused because the Jewish religious practices in Canada were different than those in Hungary. Gross' mother would not leave her parents. They stayed in Hungary. Gross' uncle in Canada was frequently beaten severely when he solitarily fought anti-Semitism in his newly adopted home. The grandfather wanted Gross' uncle to return to Hungary. When he did return to Hungary, he was sent to Budapest by his grandfather. Gross was a young person during these times. She had been brought up as a Jew. Being a Jew, she had to take the consequences. It was a part of her life and she knew nothing different.

Right after Passover in 1944 [Annotator's Note: after 14 April 1944. The Germans occupied Hungary in March 1944.], Eva Gross witnessed a major change in her life. The Hungarian police knocked on the door of the home they owned. Her grandparents, her mother and she were told to pack a change of clothes and go with them. The family packed a few valuables with their clothes. Her grandfather did not pack his prayer shawl. He told his granddaughter that he would not need it where he was being taken. The 50 Jewish families of the community were taken inside the synagogue. They stayed there a few days before they were taken to a Jewish ghetto which was cordoned off from the surrounding area. The ghetto interned Jews from not only that city but from nearby villages. After being there for a period of time, the people were told that they would be relocated to a place where they could set up a new home and work. The captors never told truths. They always told lies. The people were organized for the march with five people in each row. They were escorted to the railway station by the Hungarian Army. Upon arrival, they observed an engine with many cattle cars behind it. The cars were attached to the train with the end not in sight. Each car had doors which opened side to side [Annotator's Note: Gross gestures accordingly]. Each car had only a small, stationary window with bars on it. The people were marched to the loading platforms where SS troops awaited them. The Hungarian Army troops turned the Jews over to the SS and then left. They simply walked away. The Germans opened the doors to the cars and shoved as many people into each one as would fit. Gross, her mother and grandmother went into one car. Her grandfather was separated from them by all the shoving. He went into a different car. When the doors closed, there was no air circulation. People were so jammed together that it was necessary to alternate between sitting and standing. People exchanged positions accordingly. The only provision for sanitary considerations was a huge pail in the center of the car. There was no privacy. There were young and old, men and women. A blanket was used to shield an individual when it was necessary to relieve oneself. The smell was terrible. A cover over the pail did not help. It was very uncomfortable. The train ride was about three days before they reached Auschwitz.

Eva Gross reached the place of selection at Auschwitz [Annotator's Note: she had just completed a terrible three day journey in a foul smelling, congested cattle car with no food or water and miniscule sanitary conditions]. Upon arrival, people were separated. Men went to one side and women and children to the other. Older people were moved to a different area. They were told the women, children, and older people would be moved by truck to another location. They were to all meet up again later. That never happened. Gross and her mother were selected on the right side. They held hands. Gross was 16 years old at the time. Some inmates were working to expedite the process. One of those individuals told Gross and her mother to use different names if they were related. He told them that relatives were always separated. Gross used her real surname, but her mother used her maiden name. They remained together. Her grandmother and grandfather were reunited at the selection station [Annotator's Note: the three related women had ridden in the same cattle car from the ghetto to Auschwitz but the grandfather had been separated into another cattle car as a result of all the pushing and shoving at the loading station]. Her mother decided to go and help her elderly parents and told Gross to stay where she was. She ran to her parents, but an SS man pushed her back to her original group. She attempted again to run back, but the man grabbed her again and pushed her back. Gross told her mother not to try again but do what they were told. Her mother remained with her and that saved her life. The other people were selected to go to the gas chambers. Gross' aunt and cousins had likewise been selected to be gassed during a different time. Following selection, Gross and the others in her group were taken into a huge auditorium. SS men took their names. The women were made to undress and walk around naked. Gross was completely numb at the time. They were given ill-fitting prisoner clothes. They could keep their shoes, but Gross' shoes were very fashionable. An SS female guard liked her shoes and took them. That left Gross without any shoes. Auschwitz was a place where people were temporarily housed and then transferred. Gross was assigned a bed in a barrack. Each inmate would have a minimal diet of soup, a piece of bread with a bit of margarine. Gross was allergic to the soup so her mother took the soup and gave her bread and margarine to her daughter. They were able to survive that way. After a short time in Auschwitz, they were moved. They did not even have the numbers on their arms [Annotator's Note: Gross gestures to a tattoo on her arm which was given to her at Auschwitz on her subsequent return]. It was late in the war in 1944. Hitler was trying to move as many Jews out of Hungary as he could. Auschwitz could not handle that many people so Gross and her mother moved through the camp quickly.

Eva Gross was sent to the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp in Poland [Annotator's Note: this was after a short stay in Auschwitz with her mother]. They were assigned to the same barracks with the same type food [Annotator's Note: a minimal portion each of soup, bread and margarine every day]. It was summer and work was required every day of the inmates. They had to wake early and stand in line two hours for roll call. The prisoners had to stand upright and still for that time. There was an SS man who was mounted on a beautiful horse. He would ride between the lines of inmates. If he did not like the way a person was standing, he would pull them out of the line and beat them up. Neither Gross nor her mother was ever beaten up. After the two hours, the inmates were made to lug huge stones over a hill. SS men guided them. If the work was not done fast enough, inmates would be beaten. Inmates were also forced to carry heavy lumber. It was very difficult for Gross. The work was done in the heat, and if not done according to the SS standards, beatings would ensue. Outdoor plumbing was provided for the inmates. It consisted of a building with one entrance and one small window. There was a bench with holes cut in it to use as a toilet. A person had to request permission to relieve themself. Some people began to use the space to cool off in the middle of the heat of the day. When the SS guards found out about the lingerers, they sent their German Sheppard dogs into the latrine. Gross' mother had gone into the building to relieve herself. When the dogs entered, she escaped through the window, but not before one of the animals had slightly bitten her leg and drawn blood. When she and her daughter saw the wound, they bandaged it themselves rather than go to the infirmary. People did not return from the infirmary. The scar on the leg remained, but her mother survived. For a time, Gross and her mother were separated. It was devastating, but it was only for a short time. Soon, they were reunited and found three sisters who joined them to form five in a row for roll call. This was required by the Germans. As the war came closer to ending, the Germans sent them back to Auschwitz.

Eva Gross returned to Auschwitz as the war was nearing its end. Her mother was with her. Her mother was a very forward person. She made friends with a person in the kitchen and was able volunteer for work there. She was thus able to find out information about the best transfer to take based on the friend's knowledge and recommendation. They were transferred to a private factory at [Annotator's Note: inaudible]. It was not a concentration camp so living conditions were better. They worked in a German factory that manufactured parachutes. Each person had to work four machines. There was a special weaving technique required in the work. Gross' mother could not master that technique. Gross had to cover the work for her so she had to manage eight not just four machines. Survival depended on helping each other. After a short time, the women were moved again. The war was getting closer to the end. German cities were continuously bombed. The Russians, English and Americans bombers alternated aerial attacks all day and night. German cities and logistical support was heavily damaged as a result. It was approximately February [Annotator's Note: 1945]. Trains were not available for transport so the inmates had to walk. Gross had no shoes, just rags on her feet. There was no food, water or proper clothing for the cold weather. The snow quenched their thirst. They marched for days. If a person could not walk, they were shot. There were dead bodies all along the way. They finally had a building to sleep in where there was straw and warmth. That was nice. The march continued until Gross' mother finally gave up hope. She had been strong all through her captivity, but she had reached her limit. She did not care if she was shot or not. An SS man who was guarding them saw what was going on. He was middle age and may have been worried about his future fate or may have had a bad conscious about previous misdeeds. He told Gross and the three sisters [Annotator's Note: Gross, her mother and the three sisters had banded together to help each other during captivity] to just keep going a little further with the elderly woman and they would soon make the next destination. He said he was tired of killing. The women managed to get Gross' mother to the next camp. It was a transfer camp. Gross cannot remember its name. After a brief stay, they got on the road again and marched to Bergen-Belsen. The guards pushed all the inmates into the camp and left. There were thousands of people in there. There was no food or water. Disease was rampant. People were dying with no one to take care of the bodies. The dead were taken out of the barracks and just left outside. Gross' mother was getting very sick. Gross was helpless even though she knew what was going on. People were screaming and crying. A Hungarian went to the English troops and told them of the misery. The English liberated the camp. They could not quickly enter the camp because of the prevalent diseases. It took a few days before they were immunized to allow them to safely enter. Doctors and ambulances came in and attempted to treat the sick. In order to treat the healthier people, the doctors took them into makeshift hospitals constructed out of the SS barracks. They prioritized helping the able bodied prisoners. The healthier Gross was taken for treatment, but she had to leave her sick mother behind. The soldiers had attempted to give their food to the malnourished inmates. The food only made the sick even sicker. Some even died. Their stomachs had shrunken so much that excessive food was dangerous. Gross was so sick at having left her mother that she would not eat. She tried to tell the soldiers and doctors that her mother was a sick woman. She was talking in Hungarian, but no one seemed to understand the language. Gross was worried about her mother and would not eat. A young Belgian doctor finally managed to communicate with her via a translator. He wanted to know why she would not eat so as to recover her health. Gross responded that her mother was still in the camp. She promised the doctor that she would eat and take her medications if they searched for her mother. The next day, the doctor and Gross found her mother's name on a list of living survivors. Gross wanted to see her, but the doctor said she had to return to the hospital and take care of herself first. He would find her mother and then he would take Gross to see her.

Eva Gross was reunited with her very ill mother in Bergen-Belsen [Annotator's Note: after the British liberated the concentration camp, Gross was healthier than her mother and prioritized for quicker treatment since she had a greater chance of survival]. Her mother was swollen because of her sickness; however, her prognosis for survival was good. Gross was very excited. When she went into the room and spoke to her mother, the only question her mother had for her was where she had gotten her dress. Her first thought was that her daughter looked horrible in her clothes. When Gross recounts this story for audiences today, the tale always evokes laughter [Annotator's Note: Gross chuckles]. There was a displaced person, or refugee, camp set up in Bergen-Belsen. There were young girls and boys in the camp. They had separate sleeping accommodations. They hung around together and took their meals at the kitchen. Gross' mother started recovering. The doctors wanted to send her to better hospitals in Switzerland. Her mother refused. Gross would not help in the effort since her mother objected. Gross was put on a truck to go to Switzerland, but the young men grabbed her off the truck before it left. Gross' mother was a determined woman. She did not want to go. Gross' mother took the young people under her wing. The group wanted to go back home to see who survived the war. They took off on foot because there was no public transportation. They hitchhiked with American troops on their vehicles. It was easy going through the English and American sectors but a problem when they reached the Soviet zone. The travelers did not have any papers or money. Some cigarettes and chocolate had been sent to Gross and her mother from relatives in Toronto. Those items were valuable and as good as money for bartering. The chocolate and cigarettes were used to pay a man to sneak them through the border of the Soviet zone. There were shots fired and her mother dropped to the ground. The others worried that she had been wounded, but she was just frightened. The group had fun during the journey through Czechoslovakia. In Czechoslovakia, the trains were still running but the group had no money. The boys in the group could speak Russian and told the conductor that they were Holocaust survivors. They were allowed to travel, but they had no food. When they told the Russian how hungry they were, the Russian looked out the window and spotted an apple orchard. He told the conductor to stop the train so they could get some apples. They managed to make do again. When they finally reached Hungary, there was an organization there that met them. They assisted the travelers in reaching their destinations. That was when the group parted company. Gross and her mother went back to the village where they had lived prior to the deportations. They were given passes to ride the train to a nearby village. When they reached the station, the women walked the final distance to their former village. When they entered the town, Gross' mother recognized a woman she knew from the past. She kindly greeted the village woman. The woman sneered at the two refugees and asked what they wanted to do there. She asked why they came back [Annotator's Note: Gross uses a very condescending tone in expression of the village woman's sour greeting]. In town, there were some surviving Jewish boys who helped them find accommodations. While there, they had good neighbors who assisted them. As Gross and her mother were walking through the street, her mother noticed a candelabra that had belonged to her mother. Her mother knocked on the door and attempted to recover the object from the owner of the house. The woman who had the candelabra refused so Gross' mother took it anyway. The police came to recover the object from Gross' mother. She initially refused to give it up. Gross told her to let it go. That night her mother said they should not stay any longer in the village. Instead, they should return to Bergen-Belsen. As they left, they gave their meal tickets to others with the proviso that the tickets be returned if they came back. The two women went to Budapest and asked the organization to return them to Bergen-Belsen. They could not be sent back using their actual names. They had to adopt German pseudonyms. They had to say they were returning to Germany from Russia. After returning, those papers had to be destroyed.

Eva Gross returned to Bergen-Belsen and stayed there for three years before immigrating to the United States. During that time, they hung around and waited day by day. Her mother cooked for many people in the camp. They were trying to get on with life. Gross got married. Her husband was Hungarian. They both had returned to their native country. While in Hungary, they met and married before they returned to Bergen-Belsen [Annotator's Note: Gross returned to Bergen-Belsen after receiving a less than warm homecoming in her native village in Hungary. The anti-Semitism that they witnessed was enough to make them decide to leave the village.]. Because they had used illegitimate papers to travel from Hungary to Bergen-Belsen, they had to get married again in Germany. They were married twice but, after 11 years, they divorced. It just did not work out. Her husband was also a Holocaust survivor. They never spoke much about their experiences. They wanted to go to Palestine but her aunt who lived in Canada kept sending messages to them about an alternative. She told them that they should try the United States since Canada was not taking refugees. The quota in the United States for Hungarian refugees was very small so they did not immigrate until 1948. They traveled in an old boat and everyone was sick for the two week voyage. A Jewish organization greeted them in New York. They were accommodated in a comfortable hotel. They were given food, money and aid so that tax payers did not have to cover their expenses. Work was provided until the refugees got on their feet. It was wonderful to reach the United States. While in New York, fruit stands were observed on the side of the streets. The newcomers could not believe it. It stunned them. There was a language barrier that was troublesome. It was difficult to enter society without a trade or knowledge of the language. They put their effort into it and managed to succeed. The refugees from the concentration camps were arriving in New York. The numbers were overwhelming so families were sought across the country to take in refugees. Gross' husband had relatives in Chicago. They were notified and the couple was transferred to Chicago. Gross' mother did not want to go. The organization ceased sponsoring her so she found a friend who took her in as domestic help. Another friend took her in without her having to be a maid. Instead, Gross' mother was introduced to work in the garment center of New York and made a good livelihood. She later met a man and married him. Meanwhile, Gross and her husband at the time had no choice but to go to Chicago. Gross was not happy there. When the couple got on their feet, they decided to move to New York. Gross' stepfather purchased a business in New York. Gross went to work for him and they became prosperous. That is the end of her story.

Eva Gross and her Hungarian relatives seldom visited prior to the Nazi entry into Hungary. Gross did spend summers with her grandparents on their milk farm. After the war, she found out that no one survived because they did not return to their homes. Gross and her mother had gone home to see if anyone returned. She did not know her grandparents had been executed until after the war. That was when she found out everyone was killed. She has given up brooding about the past. Nevertheless, she will never forget her old grandparents holding hands at the end. They had never hurt anyone, but they were walked to their death. When she speaks about the Holocaust, she has to control her emotions. If she cries, the audience forgets the story and just feels sorry for her. She wants people to hear and know about her experiences. Her conclusion for her audience states that she is there to make them aware of what hate will create. It would be so much better to eliminate hate. If the money spent on destruction could be spent on eliminating hunger, the world would be much better. She often gets a standing ovation for that closure. She spoke once at a school in a deprived area. She was warned about potential trouble makers in the audience. She was told that security would take care of them. Before the discussion, four huge African-American young men came and sat in the front row. Gross and her mother knew they were trouble makers. The speakers felt intimidated by the four. As the women spoke of their experiences, the four boys maintained silence. One even came up to them after the presentation. He thanked them for talking to them. He said that he would no longer feel like he was in such a bad situation after hearing about their plight. It made Gross feel good. It is important to teach the young about World War 2 and the Holocaust because they know little about those experiences. The textbooks do not focus on the topics. Holocaust survivors must tell the story so it will not be forgotten. It is important to eliminate hate. The Democrats and Republicans hate each other. It drives Gross crazy. The most lasting effect of the war was the loss of all her loved ones. She is fortunate not to have nightmares about her experiences. Her mother suffered with bad dreams at one time. She would scream and Gross had to wake her. Gross comes from a primitive life in Hungary, and yet, today she has everything in life to be thankful for. She has a beautiful family and things that enrich her life. She is proud and thankful for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Late at night, she thinks about those that she has lost, but she also thanks God for what she has. Gross was tattooed the second time she passed through Auschwitz, not the first time. She has not covered it up despite doctors saying they could. They tell her that the procedure would leave a scar. Consequently, both Gross and her mother decided that it would not be worth the effort to eliminate their tattoos. Gross does not pay attention to it or even remember the number. She decided to let it go. She hopes her interview will turn out well.