My grandfather, Emil Menhyrt Waldmann, was born in Nagy-Sollos, Hungary (now Vinogradov, Ukraine) on March 8, 1882 to Jakob Waldmann (greatgrandfather) and Berta Propper (greatgrandmother). He was the oldest of three children. A brother, Moses, was born in Nagy-Sollos in 1887 and the youngest brother, Bela, was born in Budapest in 1892. The Waldmann family moved from Nagy-Sollos to Budapest sometime between 1887 and 1892.

Emil moved from Budapest to Vienna in 1907. His first residence was Rueppgasse 19 in the second district and he lived there until June 21, 1911. He married my grandmother, Hermine Pollattschek (born January 19, 1885 to Lamue (sp) Pollatschek and Anna Neumann) on June 20, 1911 in Magyarfalu, Hungary. Meynhart and Hermine's first home was an apartment at Verinsgasse 18. They lived there until November 8, 1916.

My father, Armand Samuel Waldmann was born at Verinsgasse 18 on June 18, 1913. The family returned to Budapest for a two year period from 1917 through 1918. Their first daughter, Livia (Lilli) was born in Budapest on February 13, 1917.

The family moved to Siccardsburg 73 in Vienna's Tenth District on November 30, 1918 and lived there until November 28, 1928. Emil was a jeweler and Master Goldsmith and worked for a jewelry store in the 10th District.

On the nights of November 9 and 10, 1938, rampaging mobs throughout Germany and the newly acquired territories of Austria and Sudetenland freely attacked Jews in the street, in their homes and at their places of work and worship. At least 96 Jews were killed and hundreds more injured, more than 1,000 synagogues were burned (and possibly as many as 2,000), almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, cemeteries and schools were vandalized, and 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. This came to be known as Kristallnacht or the night of broken glass.

It is entirely likely, that during Kristallnacht, my grandfather's business was destroyed and his home broken into and ransacked. It it also likely that he, his wife and daughters were attacked and beaten.

Nine days after Kristallnacht, my Grandmother Hermine was committed to the Sanitorium Steinhof in Vienna. She never saw her family again. Recent correspondence to the still existing hospital, states that she was committed for severe depression and attempted suicide. Both of these are likely as her son was in a labor camp, her husband's business had likely been destroyed and her home had been ransacked. She was "treated" at Steinhof for over a year before she and many others the Nazis considered to be "mental defects" were shipped off to concentration camps and ultimately murdered.

Three days after Hermine was taken away, on November 22, 1938, Emil and his two daughters were relocated back to the Second District (what had been the old Jewish Ghetto) and resided at Adambergergasse until August 2, 1939. Ostensibly, they and thousands of others were moved back to the old ghetto so that they could be "protected". In May 1938, Menhyrt had filled out a questionnaire trying to obtain emigration permission for first his three children and later he and his wife. He had no passport and no savings. His family was not allowed to leave.

Armand was freed from the labor camp early in 1939. I estimate that he spent eleven months in labor camps. The details of how he gained his freedom are unclear.

Gertrude Schneider writes, " Of the approximately 7,000 Austrian Jews who had come to Dachau and Buchenwald between March and November 1938, almost 5000 were permitted to leave during the spring and summer months of 1939, provided they could prove that they had a visa or permit to emigrate." He returned to Vienna in early February 1939. He lived with his father and sisters from February 3, 1939 until he left for the U.S.A. in mid-March 1939.

Although he had passed his state examinations two years before, he purchased a Diploma from the Technische Hochscule, dated March 17, 1939, presumably for the purpose of proving his educational achievements once in the U.S. He arrived in NYC exactly two weeks later on March 31, 1939 with one trunk and $2.00 in his pocket.

He first found a job painting fire escapes and later found employment in his field. He lived and worked in NYC until 1943.

Emil, Lilli and Elisabeth, continued to live in Vienna from August 2, 1939 until November 25, 1941 at Rembrandtstrasse 5 in the Second District. In early December, 1,042 Viennese Jews were deported to Riga, Latvia. It is likely that Emil, Lilli, and Elisabeth were among them. These Jews from Vienna were interred in the Jumpravmuiza camp outside of Riga near the Daugava River. It is likely that they died while interred in this camp. After the war, Armand tried to locate his family with no success.

From New York City, Armand moved to Providence, R.I. He was employed by Blout Engineering Company as a Chemical Engineer. Blout Engineering did consignment work for Bulova Watch which had a large factory in Providence. It was at Bulova Watch, that he met my mother, Claire Lois Bosler, who was a secretary there. They were married on July 2, 1944.

Armand and Claire had two sons. Milton Lewis Waldman (the second n had been dropped), was born on August 13, 1947 and Howard Ernest Waldman, was born on June 21, 1950. They were named after Armand's father (Emil Menyhart) and mother (Hermine).

At age 39, on October 10, 1952, my father, who had suffered from high blood pressure for some time, died of a cerebral hemorrhage. The doctor said at the time that his extremely high blood pressure and early death was due to the hard labor, poor treatment and beatings he had experienced while in the labor camps.

Three years later, on September 4,1955, my mother married Charles Goodman. My brother and I were adopted by Charles in December and our names were changed to Goodman.

It is possible that relatives of Emil and Hermine still reside in Budapest, Hungary. Edith Waldmann Kormendi, child of Bela Waldmann, my Grandfather's youngest brother emmigrated to New York sometime after 1957. Edith passed away in May 1999. She had two sons. I have spoken with Andrew who is my third cousin and look forward to meeting him and his family.