Weisz, Rachel

Rachel Weisz was living in Budapest when the war began. Both Rachel’s mother and father were originally from Poland. Her father and uncles owned a textile factory, though Rachel’s family was the only one with Hungarian citizenship. When Rachel was in grade 6 her family hit hard times. Her father and uncles were arrested because the Hungarians wanted to take control of their textile factory. Her father was eventually released just as the war was becoming a reality in Hungary.  Rachel’s parents were aware of what was happening in other parts of Europe; they heard rumours from people escaping from Poland to Budapest . Rachel ended up with another family hiding in a truck that was supposed to take them to Prague, but they were caught. Rachel was taken to a camp, from which she was fortunate to be released. She went home to her parents, who sent her to work in another factory so she wouldn’t have to go to a ghetto.  Rachel ended up working in a Swiss consulate . There she would make fake papers and certificates so that other Jews could escape persecution . She joined a Zionist organization and wanted to go to Israel, but eventually she moved to Canada to join her family .  Rachel spoke to Crestwood students Madison Brown and Sam Wasserman in May 2010. This was Rachel’s very first time sharing her story with an audience and we’d like to thank her for choosing us and taking her time to tell us about her experiences during WW2.  In 2021 Rachel sent us an update:  I am now 94 yrs. old and back to Crestwood adding a few remarks to the videos to provide closure.

First a correction. When I said that five girls were called to the office in the Kistarcsa concentration camp, I made a mistake. There were only three.  I am very sure of that, as later I mention three of us in the room during the night and three of us going to work the next day in the vineyard.