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Remembering the Jewish Communities of

Uzhgorod, Czechoslovakia and
Tisza Ulic, Hungary

Remembered by Rolland Zeleny
Son of holocaust survivors Jolly Rothman and Micholash Grunfeld.
Three of his grandparents, his uncle and uncle's family of six were murdered by the Nazis.

My mother, Jolly Rothman, was born in 1926 and grew up in Uzhgorod, a small city, located in then eastern Czechoslovakia. The earliest known Jewish community in this town was in the 16th century. In 1939, the census stated that the Jewish population was 7,357. Living in a university city, her father had a men's clothing store, which prospered before WWII. However, many of the Jews in the city were unemployed. Jolly lived comfortably together with her mother, father, and older brother and attended the local gymnasium for her studies. The family was not strictly observant, but they kept kosher and celebrated the Jewish holidays and Shabbat.

A recent visitor to Uzhgorod wrote about an exotic synagogue that still stands today. It is a large building with some arches and beautiful ornaments. Presently, it is not being used as a synagogue. Instead, it houses the Regional Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a monument telling the tragic history of Jews in Uzhgorod and its surroundings.

Jolly's parents, fearing for their future under Nazi rule, sent her older brother to the British Mandate of Palestine. When Jolly was 17, the Nazis invaded her city. She briefly hid in a local monastery, but this became too risky for the clergy. Eventually, the Nazis would round up all of the Jews in the area and put them into a ghetto. Later they were loaded into rail cars and sent off into the night, not knowing where they were headed. She and her parents were taken to Auschwitz by train. Her father was selected by the infamous Dr. Mengele for death in the gas chambers. She and her mother were sent to the women's section of the concentration camp, where they were used as laborers and had to endure intolerable conditions.

Jolly had learned many languages due to the shifting boarders and school systems in the town in which she grew up. She could speak fluent Czech, Hungarian, German, English and some Yiddish, Hebrew, and French. Her first job in the States was to work as an interpreter for the UN. She traveled across the USA, once with Golda Meir, to raise money for the influx of poor Jewish immigrants to the USA. Although she never had an opportunity to attend college, Jolly was very well read and became well versed in world politics, philosophy and religion. She went on to become an outspoken witness of the Holocaust, speaking at schools, universities and Shoah events around the world. She was interviewed by many scholars and was featured on a PBS special.

My father, Micholash Grunfeld, was born in 1916 in the small farming village of Tisza Ulic, located in northeastern Hungary. He had a brother and two sisters. His family was poor. His father was a tailor and farmer. Initially the Hungarian Fascists threw him into a labor camp. Then the Russians moved in and threw the Germans into the same camps. The Russians then invited the Jewish men to join the Russian Army and fight against the Nazis. My father joined with the Russians in the major battles of Leningrad and Stalingrad. Only one in five of those Jewish men made it through these battles, as they were often forced to be on the front lines ahead of the Russian soldiers. My father's sisters were sent to Auschwitz with his parents and his brother's entire family. All but his sisters were murdered upon arrival. His sisters survived in similar fashion to my mother. After the war, my father could not bear to have a German name and so adopted the family name of his brother-in-law; Zeleny. When he came to the USA, they changed his first name to Nicholas.

Jolly and Micholash met just after the war, as they were both returning home on a train. They married and lived for two years in Czechoslovakia, where they tried desperately to immigrate to America. Jolly and Nick managed to escape on the last train out of Czechoslovakia when the boarders slammed shut, trapping the remaining people behind the "iron curtain" of the Communist regime. Jolly and Nick landed in Brooklyn, New York, with nothing but some articles of clothing and a few recovered photographs. After much hard work, they eventually came to reside in Fairfield, Connecticut, where they raised three children.

This special generation of Jews is another example of the strength and determination of our people to overcome. May the innocent men, women and children that perished during the war always be remembered in our hearts and soul. And may those who survived and endured be an inspiration and guiding light to us now and for generations to come.

More Information

Introduction to the Memorial

History of the Program

Researching Communities

Map of Remembered Towns

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