The Gruenwald Family

Background:

Miraculously, Edit (1921 – 201?), Aliz also known Elza on her birth certificate (1923 – 2006), Hermann (1925 – 2020), Katalin (1927) and Tibor Gruenwald (1929 – 202?) all managed to survive almost a year in Auschwitz, although tragically, their parents, Blanka Rosenblum (1894-1944) and Ignatz Grunwald (1892 – 1944) did not.

Blanka was the oldest of the Rosenblum girls and married to Anthony Gruenwald, aka Toni. She was in essence the mother of the family with her oldest daughter, Edith as her right arm, along with her daughter, “Potyi”. For example, Rozsi took Gyuri and Tomi to Rohod and Blanca went to Mezocsat to take care of the other children. While there, the main chimney collapsed and Blanca paid to have it repaired-something that Rozsi would have been hard pressed to do since Jeno was working the labor battalions and the Hungarian government eliminated his salary. The community paid him only a small stipend for not providing him with a home. Edith and Potyi were also always ready to help any family member in need. For example, Edith helped Rozsi when Tomi’s younger brother Fredi was born. Aunt Blanka’s husband Toni was also a wonderful man. Without his help, the Gruenwald family could not have done what it for practically every family member. He had large farm (some of the land belonged to others in his family) where he grew tobacco and wheat as well as a large apple orchard next to his home. It is fair to say that the Gruenwald were pillars of the community

Bryan Demchinsky wrote After Auschwitz: One Man’s Story, an as-told memoir of Herman Gruenwald’s life, published in 2007 by McGill-Queen’s University Press. It contains many details of the lives of the Gruenwald family from before, during and after World War II.

Edith and Katalin immigrated to the United States while Aliz, Hermann and Tibby all immigrated to Canada. Despite the geographic distances, the siblings remained close and as a result, their children all become close with their cousins as well.