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Footnote to History: From Hungary to America, The Memoir of a Holocaust Survivor
Arriving in America after World War II, Andrew Laszlo kept much of his Hungarian childhood a secret. Decades later, his wife Ann, convinced him to share the secret with his grown children.
When Andrew was born in 1926, His middle-class family lived in Papa, a small town west of Budapest. It was a happy time.
At age fifteen, Andrew was not allowed to join the Boy Scouts. His brother could not attend the university. The reason…. Their mother was Jewish. As Nazi inspired antisemitism grew, Andrew’s determination to survive was tested again and again.
On March 19, 1944, Germany invaded Hungary. He “…as I warned you…Yes, from here on this account is going to get rough.”
His family was relocated to the Ghetto and forced to wear the yellow Star of David. Andrew’s brother, Sandor, and then Andrew were conscripted into Hungarian Labor forces. His mother, father, grandmother and aunt were taken away.
As the war dragged on, Andrew was sent to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. Years later; his children learned that Anne Frank was a prisoner in the camp at the same time. She perished before the war ended.
The loss of his family deeply affected Andrew. At 20 years old, having nothing left, he escaped Russian occupied Hungary and made his way to post-war Germany. There, he filed an emigration petition for the United States. He arrived in New York Harbor on January 17, 1947. He carried his secret past locked in his heart…for 50 years.
Andrew Laszlo went on to have a distinguished motion picture career. He was a cinematographer for over 50 movies and televisions series, including Shogun and Rambo, First Blood. He worked with many of the movie stars of his time. He traveled the world doing pictures and teaching the next generation of film makers.
When Andrew was born in 1926, His middle-class family lived in Papa, a small town west of Budapest. It was a happy time.
At age fifteen, Andrew was not allowed to join the Boy Scouts. His brother could not attend the university. The reason…. Their mother was Jewish. As Nazi inspired antisemitism grew, Andrew’s determination to survive was tested again and again.
On March 19, 1944, Germany invaded Hungary. He “…as I warned you…Yes, from here on this account is going to get rough.”
His family was relocated to the Ghetto and forced to wear the yellow Star of David. Andrew’s brother, Sandor, and then Andrew were conscripted into Hungarian Labor forces. His mother, father, grandmother and aunt were taken away.
As the war dragged on, Andrew was sent to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. Years later; his children learned that Anne Frank was a prisoner in the camp at the same time. She perished before the war ended.
The loss of his family deeply affected Andrew. At 20 years old, having nothing left, he escaped Russian occupied Hungary and made his way to post-war Germany. There, he filed an emigration petition for the United States. He arrived in New York Harbor on January 17, 1947. He carried his secret past locked in his heart…for 50 years.
Andrew Laszlo went on to have a distinguished motion picture career. He was a cinematographer for over 50 movies and televisions series, including Shogun and Rambo, First Blood. He worked with many of the movie stars of his time. He traveled the world doing pictures and teaching the next generation of film makers.
436 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 12, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 17, 2024
The intention of this memoir was to educate the children and family of Andrew Laszlo but contains information regarding an often forgotten chapter of the Holocaust: the speed and severity of the Final Solution in Hungary. This book gives unique insight into the Labor Force as well as the true reactions towards survivors upon their return to "home." Documentation of artifacts are also included within this memoir in essence to keep the words and worlds of the victims alive.
January 25, 2024
It was a little slow to get into but once in I was hooked, the descriptions are heart wrenching and with a little knowledge of WW2 one can easily follow what was happening. Great read.
May 2, 2023
Compelling Holocaust Survivor Story...
FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY is an unforgettable memoir by a Holocaust survivor. A successful American immigrant, renowned cinematographer Andrew Laszlo writes a gripping chronicle of growing up in 1930s Hungary, where his family contends with growing antisemitism. Andrew's world fell apart as Nazi Germany exerted control over Jewish Hungarians during World War II. Denied playing on school teams, then restricted to ghetto life, transported in locked railway cattle cars, endless days in a forced labor camp, surviving the horrors of concentration camps, and finally, liberation arrived...only to discover his parents, brother, and grandparents had all been killed by the Nazis. As a displaced person, America became his new home, but he kept his past a secret. While in his sixties, he changed his mind and wrote this compelling book so his wife, adult children, and now the public could understand the past and fight against today’s growing antisemitism.
FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY is an unforgettable memoir by a Holocaust survivor. A successful American immigrant, renowned cinematographer Andrew Laszlo writes a gripping chronicle of growing up in 1930s Hungary, where his family contends with growing antisemitism. Andrew's world fell apart as Nazi Germany exerted control over Jewish Hungarians during World War II. Denied playing on school teams, then restricted to ghetto life, transported in locked railway cattle cars, endless days in a forced labor camp, surviving the horrors of concentration camps, and finally, liberation arrived...only to discover his parents, brother, and grandparents had all been killed by the Nazis. As a displaced person, America became his new home, but he kept his past a secret. While in his sixties, he changed his mind and wrote this compelling book so his wife, adult children, and now the public could understand the past and fight against today’s growing antisemitism.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews