Peter Kraus (M / Hungary, 1942), Holocaust survivor
Peter Kraus (M / Hungary, 1942), Holocaust survivor
Paul Kraus (M / Hungary, Austria, 1944), Holocaust survivor
- KEYWORDS : <Hidden Children> -- <Germany> <Australia>
Biography
Peter Kraus was born on 5 June 1942 in Budapest, Hungary. His parents, Imre and Clara, prior to the start of WWII, lived in formerly Hungarian town of Szabadka – which became the Yugoslavian town of Subotica when Europe was carved up by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. When Hitler came to power, Peter’s family was evicted from their home and Peter and his mother, and other members of the family, were interned in the ghetto. His father, Imre, was sent with other Jewish men into forced labor and sent ultimately to Mauthausen. When the Americans arrived at the conclusion of the war, Imre was nursed back to health and ultimately reunited with his family.
Clara, who was pregnant at the time, and Peter were loaded onto a train from the ghetto destined for Auschwitz. Luck or providence helped them survive as one of the bridges they crossed had been bombed and the train was unable to proceed to Auschwitz. All the people on the train were sent to the Viehofen forced labor camp near St. Pölten, Lower Austria. Clara gave birth to Peter’s brother, Paul, in the labor camp. One of the Austrian guards who was very humane, secretly brought clothes for Paul when he was born because they had nothing for him- an act of kindness that has never been forgotten by Peter and his family.
This same guard warned the family that everyone was going to be moved to Mauthausen and urged them to escape as the Russians were coming closer. Peter’s mother took her two small children and followed his advice. Along the way, farmers provided shelter and food and ultimately the Soviets provided transportation that helped them get to Budapest. They had no idea whether their father was alive or dead. Again, fortuitously, Imre survived, and the family was reunited.
In 1948, the family was sponsored by the Nestel family, an old school friend of Clara’s older brother, to enter Australia, They left Budapest on 14 August 1948 and arrived in Melbourne on 5 November 1948. They lived in Australia ever since.