January 17, 1997, an unexpected package arrived on Andrew Laszlo Jr.’s doorstep. He knew the package was from his father, Andrew Laszlo, but what he didn’t know was that what the package contained would change his entire perspective on his father’s life.
“It was fifty years to the day that my father had come to America,” Laszlo Jr. said. “The package contained his memoir and that was the first time I found out. I was just forty-five years old when I found out my father and his whole family were Holocaust victims, and only he survived.”
On February 2, as a tribute to his father, Andrew Laszlo Jr. shared the story of his late father with a packed audience at Northwest College. He was a Holocaust survivor who kept his journey to himself for many years before telling his family about the traumatic events he had endured. Laszlo Jr. shared what he had lost due to the Holocaust and provided a touching, and eye-opening experience for the audience.
“Anybody who had one drop of Jewish blood, anybody, was deemed a Jew and called for extermination,” Laszlo Jr. said. “I never got to meet my grandfather: that was one thing the Holocaust took from me. My hope is that he would be as proud of me as I am of him.”
Anybody who had one drop of Jewish blood, anybody, was deemed a Jew and called for extermination. I never got to meet my grandfather, that was one thing the Holocaust took from me. My hope is that he would be as proud of me as I am of him.
— Andrew Laszlo Jr
Laszlo Jr. proceeded to show the crowd an old photograph of his late father and asked that the audience consider the happy expression on his father’s face in the presented photographs.
“Please note the smile on his face,” Laszlo Jr. said. “For many survivors, anxiety, guilt and depression followed them for the rest of their lives…he never got a good night’s sleep after watching a truckload of live babies thrown into a fire. My father was able to move on. He refused to let the actions of others define his life.”
Please note the smile on his face. For many survivors, anxiety, guilt and depression followed them for the rest of their lives… he never got a good night’s sleep after watching a truckload of live babies thrown into a fire. My father was able to move on. He refused to let the actions of others define his life.
— Andrew Laszlo Jr
Laszlo Jr. showed the audience more photographs of the “good times” and shared that his father was a great athlete. He was on the Hungarian junior national team for figure skating in the winter, and sabre-fencing in the summer.
“If you look at the smile on these kids’ faces, they had no idea what was around the corner,” Laszlo Jr. said. “One fortunate thing of life is that bad people can’t take away from you what you’ve already had.”
One story Laszlo Jr. shared was his father’s final moments with Lazlo Jr.’s grandfather. He was told there was a man who was about fifty with the same first and last name, but due to the rules of the concentration camp restricted him from going outside. Despite the restrictions, he snuck out at night and found his father.
“They talked for a couple of days but my grandfather had contracted typhus and was in poor condition,” Laszlo Jr. said. “I think when my grandfather saw that his son had survived and would keep the family name alive, he was ready to pass on.”
Laszlo Jr. contains great pride for his father. Before his tribute, the audience learned the presenter was wearing the same tie his father wore in photographs shown during the lecture.
“My father was over six foot three. and he got down to under ninety pounds, but as a tribute to my father, he never lost his humanity,” Laszlo Jr. said. “He wrote in his book that he shared half of his daily food with a pregnant woman and he was pretty sure the child survived; he never found out.”
My father was over six foot three. and he got down to under ninety pounds, but as a tribute to my father, he never lost his humanity. He wrote in his book that he shared half of his daily food with a pregnant woman and he was pretty sure the child survived; he never found out.
— Andrew Laszlo Jr.
His father arrived in New York wearing clothes that had been sown out of US Army blankets. He spoke German, Russian and Hungarian. He learned English by sitting in movie theaters and watching movies repeatedly. He had a very successful career as a cinematographer, and his career is detailed in the book written by his son Andrew Laszlo “Footnote to History.”
Students from this semester’s Holocaust Literature class attended the lecture. Junior Isaac Stensing expressed his perspective on Lazlo’s experience.
“I felt the fear of his dad, obviously not to the same degree, while he was in many life-threatening experiences,” Stensing said. “It made me think about the families missing their family members or being in the situation together.”
I felt the fear of his dad, obviously not to the same degree, while he was in many life-threatening experiences. It made me think about the families missing their family members or being in the situation together.
Another attendee, junior Kenan Lind, reflected on the emotional aspect of the lecture.
“It was sentimental in some parts, and a lot of people take it differently,” Lind said. “There’s a lot of information… it was more breaking of reality. Some of the images shown were different from what we’ve seen, which have been more filtered.”
Andrew Laszlo Jr. devotes his time to guaranteeing that his father receives the tribute he deserves. Andrew Lazlo’s incredible story will live on, thanks to his son.
