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In her own voice
Babi’s interviews (2023, 2020, 2016) Chaya Rosner, Babi, speaks about her family: 2023, summer 2020 and 2016.
2023 interview (Satu Mare trip) A family interview with Babi, recorded in 2023 on the family trip to Satu Mare.
Interview with Babi, 2023 (Satu Mare trip) · 2 h 07 min
Family passages 0:00 School days in Satmar 4:38 Her father’s escape to Temesvár, 1944 14:38 The Satmar ghetto and the attic 32:54 Hiding with the Nagy brothers in Budapest 46:27 Liberation, January 1945 48:34 Married life: Crown Heights, then Brazil 1:04:51 Leaving Satmar, 1948 1:13:52 School in Switzerland, 1948–1949 1:21:12 Germany, 1950: waiting to go to America 1:27:24 The ship to America, 1950 1:33:42 First job, on Canal Street 1:37:49 Back in Satmar, 1945 1:45:22 Her father’s factory 1:52:49 Meeting Papi 2:04:08 The wedding, September 1951 Summer 2020 interview A family interview with Babi, recorded in summer 2020.
Interview with Babi, summer 2020 · 2 h 11 min
Family passages 0:16 Arrested in Satmar, May 1944 7:42 The Satmar ghetto, with her cousin Malkie Weiss 11:13 Hiding in the attic 27:28 Freed in Budapest: with Uncle Yosef Braun 38:45 October 1944: hiding with the Nagy brothers 54:09 Liberation, January 1945 1:00:41 Home to Satmar, 1945 1:18:48 Her father’s death, 1947 1:22:20 Leaving Satmar, 1948 1:27:38 School in Switzerland, 1948–1949 1:36:11 Germany, 1950: waiting to go to America 1:41:53 Home before the war: her mother, Chana 2:00:07 The ship to America, 1950 2:04:52 First job, on Canal Street 2:08:29 Meeting Papi In Babi’s words Short passages from the summer 2020 and 2023 interviews. Tap one to hear it.
2020 · 0:16 “When the Germans came in, I was arrested … the Gestapo came to look for my father. Since he was not home, they took me.” — on her arrest in May 1944 2020 · 4:22 “They screamed at me, but they didn’t hurt me.” — on being held, May 1944 2020 · 11:52 “Malkie made some cookies.” — on the attic in the Satmar ghetto 2023 · 38:26 “There were three brothers, and all three were hiding Jews.” — on the Nagy brothers of Budapest 2020 · 54:43 “He took off his watch … for the first soldier that he saw.” — on liberation, January 1945 2023 · 5:50 “Fuge, I’m Sender. Go and tell your mother.” — her father at Tante Ruchi’s gate in Temesvár, 1944 2020 · 1:49:37 “Tata, this is a groyse mitzve.” — her father to Reb Chaim, on giving his sister-in-law Gitu a fine wedding 2020 · 1:51:10 “I don’t want you to arrive in Palestine penniless.” — her mother, as a Braun cousin retold it 2023 · 1:45:23 “That factory … worked with over 200 people.” — on her father’s factory 2023 · 1:09:51 “You leave your home, you are only half a person.” — her father’s saying 2020 · 2:08:19 “I was a mature person.” — on starting out in New York 2023 · 1:42:14 “Even today … I see a policeman, I’m not happy.” — on what stays with her 2016: oral history interview Chaya Rosner speaks about her family; interviewed by Brad Zarlin, 2016. Courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
In 2016 Babi sat for an oral history interview by telephone. She talks about her parents, her six brothers, her grandparents, her uncles and aunts, and the towns where they lived, and about her life after the war.
Each recording can be played here or downloaded whole. The .m4a files play on iPhones and every computer. Tap a passage to jump to it.
Catalogue record: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, RG-90.063.1890 .
Babi’s interview (2016) · 2 h 50 min
Her parents, brothers, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and home in Satmar; 1944–45; after the war: Satmar, Switzerland, New York, marriage and São Paulo; and a short follow-up call at the end.
Family passages
0:25 Born in Satmar (Satu Mare), 14 October 1931 0:39 Her father, Sender Alexander Freund, and his textile factories 3:49 Her mother, Chana (Janka in Hungarian) 4:16 Seven children: Nachman, Shmuel, Shea, Anshil, Moshe, Babi and Yitzchak 14:54 Her grandfather, Reb Chaim Freund 15:45 Her grandmother Chaya: “I am named after her.” 16:28 Her father’s brothers: “My grandfather had five sons.” 16:56 Uncle Shea of Nyíregyháza 19:43 Uncle Anshel and his wife Chana Malka 20:32 Uncle Yossel and his family 21:40 Uncle Tuvia and his wife Chana Malka, in Satmar 22:21 Her mother’s parents, Feige and Nachman Braun, of Kisvárda 22:50 The Braun family: three sons and five daughters 29:10 Growing up in Satmar 53:14 1944–45 1:34:51 1944–45 (continued) 1:43:07 After the war: home to Satmar, and her father 1:52:17 Leaving Satmar, 1948 1:53:54 Budapest, then Prague and Karlsbad with her uncle Rosenberg 1:56:33 Switzerland: school at the Ascher Institute, Bex 1:57:40 With her brother Shea and her sister-in-law in Germany 2:02:31 To New York, 1950 2:05:02 An uncle and cousins waiting for her in New York 2:05:55 Williamsburg: Penn Street, then Hewes Street 2:07:52 Her first work in New York 2:11:49 Meeting Papi, and the wedding 2:12:43 Papi and his family, from Czernowitz 2:14:45 Married life in Crown Heights 2:15:23 São Paulo, Brazil 2:23:12 Back to New York, 1971: Boro Park 2:27:03 Visiting her father’s grave in Satmar 2:37:41 1944–45 (a follow-up call)
