My family included my father, Dr Frantisek Balassa, mother Ibolya, daughters Mariana (Marica) and Klara (Judith). Son Robert died at age one on July 1, 1933.
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After his release from the army after WW1 where he served as a medic, Frantisek (Feri) finished his studies at the Berlin Medical School and graduated from the GermanCharles (Karlova) University in Prague on Feb 17th 1922. His older brother, Dr. Arpad Balassa practiced in Modry Kamen until 1959. Soon after his graduation Frantisek settled in Krupina, 45 km from Modry Kamen and started his medical practice there. His parents and family also moved to Krupina and are buried there.
Ibolya came to Krupina in 1926 as a young pharmacist to work at the local pharmacy. She completed her studies at the University of Brno in Czechoslovakia. Together with her was her younger brother Ladislav who studied medicine. Our father and mother got married on October 9, 1928 and continued living and prospering in Krupina.
Eventually they built a nice home with an office on the main square of the town. Our mother was busy with the family and did not work outside the home. Marica was born in 1930, Robert in 1932 and Klara in 1934. The girls had a German nanny until 1939 when she could no longer work for Jews.
The clouds of WW2 with its anti-semetic policies reached our small town of Krupina. In 1940, on my first day of first grade, all the Jewish children were expelled from public schools. A Jewish school started in two rooms adjacent to the Synagogue. Two teachers were brought from out of town (Livia Schlesingerova and Alexander Salzmann) and they taught all grades in the two rooms. Later, when they were deported, another teacher, Mr A. Trattner replaced them until one day he arrived at the school all bloody from a beating he received along the way. The synagogue was destroyed with stones and fire. We were ordered to wear a yellow Magen David. Everyone wore an approx 10cm star on the left side of the chest. Our father and a few other “economically needed” men wore plastic 3cm yellow stars with the letters “H.Zh’ for Hospodarsky Zhid.
Our father's general medical practice was taken away and was limited strictly to dentistry. (he happened to be trained in dentistry in addition to his medical degree). He was allowed to maintain his office in the front of our house but we had to move to the back of the house into 2 small rooms. Another family moved into the part of the house that faced the main square. We had to submit all our valuables such as jewelry, silver objects, paintings, cameras, furs and sports equipment (even our skates). There was a curfew in the evenings, ban on travel and equipment (we never saw a movie until the end of the war).
Our father became the head of the Jewish Community and its representative. He was known in the city as a good doctor and was respected by all. He knew all the officials, but there was little he could do to change the decrees.
In the meantime, our uncle Ladislav (Laci) Balla, also a physician, moved in to live with us in the hope that our father would be able to secure a position for hOn one occasion, while pleading for someone on a train, our father was taken on the transport train to the next city, then he was released. Gradually everyone was deported except for a few families, us included, who received exemptions due to the “economically needed” status of the head of the household. The terror and harassment of the community and individuals continued.
Frequently Jewish homes, ours included, were painted with anti-semitic slogans in huge black letters (such as “Zhid je vredno narod”, meaning that the" Jew is a boil on the nation"). Our father and other men were forced to shovel snow in front of homes. Once, when I was 7 years old, I was beaten on a side street by a 14 year old boy who called me a ‘dirty Jew”. Our father’s office sign on the house and prescriptions were marked with the Star of David.
In 1944, when we knew what was happened to the deported Jews, my parents tried to bring my grandparents and uncle from Levice, Hungary. My mother’s parents refused the offer, however our uncle Alexander Balla (Sanyi) -then 19 years old- was taken to a forced labor camp.
He escaped from there with the help of friends and was smuggled across the boarder and came to live with us in June of July 1944.
Some time prior to this, we heard that Slovak speaking Israeli parachutists head by Haviva Reich, landed not far from us, in an effort to organized resistance. That was the only news of an attempt to help the beleaguered Jewish community, it gave us hope that we’re not totally abandoned. Unfortunately, all the Israeli partisans were captured and executed, near Banska Bystrica, not far from Krupina.
In August 1944 there was the Slovak National Uprising and there seemed to be a glimmer of light at the end of a dark tunnel. All younger Jewish men who escaped deportation joined the Slovak and some Russian partisans in fighting and sabotaging the Nazi collaborating Slovak Fascist Government. Our hopes of a speedy liberation by the approaching Soviet Army were soon dashed when in October the Slovak National Uprisin
g was surppressed. We received news that the Nazis were sending troops to recapture the areas. All partisans and Jews, including us fled to Brezno.and Hronom which is a town close to the Lower Tatra Mountains. As the town fell to the German Army, on Oct 18, 1944, we fled to the Lower Tatra Mountains. Our father was the leader of the group, which included 27 people – mostly children, women and older people. Everyone carried his belongings in a knapsack. We stayed a few days in the village of Dobroc but as the German army tightened it’s grip and pushed closer to the Tatra Mountains, we moved to Horna Lehota for 2-3 days and then on Oct 25th, into the woods. The winter was beginning and we were not allowed to share their huts they found or bunkers they dug. Once they almost mistook us for a group of German soldiers and nearly opened fire. However the partisans wanted to use the services of my father and therefore they tolerated us nearby. Our father treated anyone in need the best he could with equipment and medication he carried in his bag. Pulling teeth, debriding and treating frostbitten, necrotic extremities were the most common conditions.
When we could not find an abandon hunting hut or bunker we built a lean-two between 2 trees.and crowded under it to keep each other warm. On at least one occasion the makeshift roof collapsed and we were pulled out from underneath with great difficulty, but unharmed. We kept moving on every or every other day for safety. The food was scarce and we were cold and hungry most of the time. At times we were able to buy or trade food from the partisans or Gypsies, who were hiding and knew the area better; they carried news between groups. To get water we scraped snow from trees or ground. At times the young people in our group including our uncle Sanyi went to the village at night to purchase food from contacts established previously. We waited anxiously for their return. On one occasion a 16 year old girl named Kitty never returned. ..Her mother kept writing her name in the snow all winter…
We heard it was safe to go to a village called Dolna Lehota. We met there our fathers brother Dr Arpad Balassa and his wife Ella. However our joy was short-lived when we had to escape back into the mountains the very same night due to news of intensive searches for Jews and partisans. We found refuge a short while in a hut near a brook. Our dear friend Lilly Koves was part of our group with her 6 year old daughter Eva and her mother-in law Mrs. Kohn. Her husband Lipot was with the partisans. Lilly had a habit of calling out and talking to passing partisans and inquiring about her husband. One day a convoy of soldiers passed near our hut. I remember seeing them and Lilly again tried calling out to them, but the brook in front of our hut masked her calls. Later we realized that those were German soldiers who attacked and burned down a nearly but, killing everyone in it including our dear friend Sandor Imre who was an architect in Krupina. He was deaf and dumb.
The German soldiers with the help of the local collaborators made frequent forays in the the mountains to kill partisans and Jews and to destroy all huts and bunkers. At times the came with dogs or on skis, dressed in white coats .Wewere always ready to move on, on a moments notice. We were unable to keep ourselves clean and everyone was infested with cloths and hair lice. A popular pastime was to hunt and squash lice. The cold and hunger was unrelenting. Most of the children in our group suffered frostbite of the toes until they lost them. My sister, myself and Eva were the only children who were spared. Around Dec 1944 my uncle Sanyi joined the partisans. We were united with him after the liberation.
New Years Eve 1944 was a memorable one. The Gypsies brought us news that the German soldiers were one the way to our area. We took our belongings and went out into a horrible blizzard, which lasted throughout the night. We walked in a line unable to see the footsteps of the person in front of us. Finally we rested under some trees and spent the night there. Only miraculously we escaped freezing to death. In the morning we returned to our hut, which was untouched. Our father always carried cyanide tablets in his pocket, determined not to fall alive into the hands of the Nazis. On one occasion, very close to liberation, when the Nazis were very near, our father said it appears that the time has come to take the poison. (Klara said “5 minutes before 12:00, we should not do it”).
At the end of February 1945 the Soviet army was approaching rapidly to the sound of great cannons, firearms and “keytushas”. We crossed the front lines with the guidance of partisans and arrived in the liberated city of Brezno. Warm food and rest were most welcome, but most all of the delousing and disinfecting of our clothes and ourselves were most appreciated.
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We retuned to Krupina in March after its liberation by the Russian Army. Our house served as the headquarters. To this day there is a tablet in the wall stating this fact. Some people were VERY surprised to see us., some were even frightened and maybe disappointed. There was an announcement on the radio that Dr Balassa and his family were finally captured and executed.
We found very few of our furniture and belongings. Some photographs and some porcelain dishes were returned by some decent people with saved them for us. Our father reopended his medical practice and we started all over. Altogether 6 families were saved and returned to the city. Our father received a medal for his participation in the Slovak National Uprising and a signed copy of a book Pokracujte v Horach by Brig Gen Vladimir Prikryl describing his experiences in areas corresponding to ours in the Lower Tetra Mountains.
Aliyah from CzechoslovakiaAlexander Balla went to medical school in Bratslava and married a classmate Judith Lowinger. He became an anesthesiologist and she a pediatric psychiatrist. They remained in Slovakia until 1968 when they emigrated with their two children to Switzerland.Our grandparents Mozes and Irma Balla were deported from Levice, Hungary on June 13, 1944 and perished. Also, our father’s two sisters, Maria and Jolana Balassa where lived in Modry Kamen perished in the Holocaust.
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After living at Kibbutz K’far Maccabi, I changed my name from Clara to Judith and completed high school in Jerusalem, serving 2 years in the Israeli army and studying physical therapy. I married William Zucker on August 22, 1957. I emigrated to the USA and we moved to Buffalo, NY. I got a degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Buffalo and worked in the business for over 40 years.
Our parents arrived in the USA in 1958. Our father, then 62 years old, studied hard and received a limited license to practice in a hospital. He retired in 1965. Our mother also worked. She died on January 20th, 1984 at age 79. Our father was nearly 99 when he passed away in 1994.
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Judith had two children, Jerry and Orrin, and 4 grandchildren: Benjamin, Joshua, Noah and Nathaniel. She passed away on August 25, 2007, 3 days after celebrating her and William's 50th anniversary. It was Shabbat, right before sunset. She died of complications arising from Pulmonary Fibrosis. A memorial to her was published on Rosh Hashanah, 2007 in the Boston Globe.
Click here to see an interview with Judith.