Holocaust Project Katzenelson High - Shcool ISRAEL

Arian (Tammy) Koch-Ramati

mail: ariel_dagan9@walla.com
avishag.got@gmail.com
relationet2014@gmail.com

First Name: Tammy
Last Name: Ben - Or
Previous Name: Ariane Koch-Ramaty
Father: Erich Daniel Koch
Mother: Marta
Date Of Birth: 21.8.1935
City of Birth: Budapest
Country: Hungary

Budapest

Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, and one of the largest cities in the European Union

By the early 20th century, the Jewish community in Hungary had grown to constitute 5% of Hungary's total population and 23% of the population of the capital, Budapest. Jews became prominent in science, the arts and business.

In 1935, Nurnberg Laws- the anti-Jewish restrictions, were published. These laws affected the Jewish community in Hungary starting in 1938. The numbers of Jews that were employed was restricted. 250,000 Jews lost their income and place of work.
Most Jews in Hungary were protected from deportation to German extermination camps for the first few years of the war. However,they were subject to a series of anti-Jewish laws which imposed limits on Jewish participation in Hungary's public and economic life.

Starting in 1938, Hungary (under Miklós Horthy) passed a series of anti-Jewish measures under the influence of Germany's  Nurnberg Laws. In January 1942,the vast majority of Jews who were deported were massacred, 700–1,250 Jews were murdered in the massacres.

A Jew living in the Hungarian countryside in March 1944 had a less than 10% chance of surviving. In Budapest, the chance was about 50%. The first transports to Auschwitz began in early May 1944 and continued even as Soviet troops approached. Between 1941 and 1945 they suffered severely, with over 600,000 being killed, mainly through deportation to Nazi German-run extermination camps.

At the end of World War II, only 140,000 Jews remained in Hungary, down from 750,000
in 1941. The difficult economic situation combined with the ongoing anti-Semitic attitude of the population caused a wave of migration. Between 1945 and 1949, 40,000-50,000 Jews left Hungary for Israel and Western countries

Today, the population of Jews living in Hungary is around 120,000 with 110,000 mostly concentrated in Budapest. The intermarriage rates for Hungarian Jews is around 60%. There are many active synagogues in Hungary, including the largest synagogue in Europe and the second largest synagogue in the world. 

"I was born in Budapest on the 21.8.1935 to a wealthy family. When I was 3 years old, my parents got divorced and my father immigrated to Israel alone, as an illegal immigrant. When he got to Israel, my father had joined the British army and served in various logistics roles.

Tammy as a child

Tammy as a child

During his stay in the country, he kept in touch with us through letters and photographs.
My family was a special one - even after the divorce, there wasn't any tension among the family members, and the relations were close and good.
I lived with my mother's parents and her young single sister - Aunt Edith. We lived in a big fancy house; we had a maid, a pantry full of fine food and great conditions.
My mother, Martha, was a nurse in a hospital, therefore she lived there.
We spent some time together, once a week, on Monday at 18:00 o'clock, until her return to the hospital.

My mother was a talented, independent and creative woman.
My grandfather, Rudolph, was a lawyer who had a Ph.D. In addition, he had crop lands in nearby villages. As a child, I didn’t know he was a lawyer.  Actually, he was the attorney general of the government's publisher.

Martha, Tammy's mother

Erich Daniel Koch, Tammy's father

When the Anti-Jewish decrees had started and many Jews were dismissed from their jobs, my grandfather decided to leave the job before he'd be fired; because he didn't want his employers to have the satisfaction of firing him. Afterwards, he opened an antique shop.Until my expulsion from school, I did not feel the war. In 1944, when I was 9, the conditions worsened, when the Germans invaded Hungary and I began to feel the changes. At first, we were taken to the Jewish quarter. We moved to my favorite aunt – Margaret, who had already lived there. We lived in a small crowded house and under poor conditions in comparison with the home I was used to.

That year, we were taken to the ghetto with my grandparents.
During that time, it was possible to come and go from the ghetto, and so, on the last day before the ghetto was closed, my mother came and took me out of it. I was transferred to a Christian friend of my mother, and I spent three days with her.
 Meanwhile, my mother wore a cross jewel, and combined with the fact she also had "an Arian" appearance - she was not caught by the Nazis. My mother decided to stay with the Jews and help them, so she turned to the hospital in request for equipment, and set up a "clinic" in one of the destroyed houses. The clinic was intended for victims of the shelling, supposedly. The hospital continued to cooperate with the clinic without knowing that a Jewess managed it. In fact, she would take Jews from the ghetto, put bandages and plasters on them, and rescued them from the horrors of the ghetto. My mother had collaborators who informed her when the soldiers approached. In this case, my mother had given anesthetic drops to the children in order to prevent their exposure. Adults were trained to cry and make themselves sick.
Edith's husband, my mother's sister, obtained fake certificates for his wife, himself and me, and so we moved outside Budapest.

Tammy's uncle, Edith's husband

The neighbors were anti-Semites. They had a daughter, who was pregnant. Every time that a transport train passed in our neighborhood, she called me to throw stones at Jews. I didn’t want my identity to be revealed, so I walked with her every time, but didn’t throw stones. When I returned, I was crying and I said I saw my grandmother on the train.
Meanwhile, my grandparents stayed in the ghetto. My grandfather was sent to a work camp and my grandmother to the death marches. Fortunately, she had gold coins ("Napoleon") in her pocket. She noticed a horse cart that accompanied the convoy which transferred   bodies of people who had died. My Grandmother pretended that she had fainted and thrown to the cart. She crawled forward, gave the coins to the wagoner and bribed him to stop and check the wheel. When he stopped, she ran into a flower shop. There, people shouted "dirty Jew!"  My grandmother left the shop proudly with her hand covering the yellow patch. She walked into a pharmacy and asked for medicine, rested and unraveled the yellow patch.
After that she went by train to our village.

Once in a long time, my mother came to visit us at nights. One time, she offered my uncle to suggest to the Hungarian army to build their headquarters in our home and all the residents of the house would be protected; and so it was. After a while, when the German army invaded Hungary, the house became a German headquarters.

At this time, Martha found out that her father was sick. When she came to our house, she decided to talk with one of the S.S soldiers. She told him: "There is a Jew in the work camp that I want to save his life". He answered: "Even if it is your father, I don’t agree". Bravely she answered him: "This is my father!" With amazement and admiration for her courage, he changed his mind and helped her.

When they arrived to the camp, the soldier took out my Grandfather. He got into the car and suddenly saw Martha! He began to cry and to scream at the soldier to leave his daughter. Martha explained that he helped them.
They arrived home and Grandfather sat in the kitchen. I remember this day as if it was yesterday. My Aunt asked me to bring water from the kitchen. She apparently trusted me that I would be quiet when I see him.
After a while, the Russians invaded and the headquarters became their own. They burned the Neighbors' house and turned it into a public kitchen. I remember they told me to taste all their food to check that it was not poisoned.
One of the days, they asked me which gift I would like. Immediately I told them: "Shoes!"
After two days I got new shoes.
 Towards the end of the war, when I was 10 years old, my family and I returned to Budapest, to our grandparents' house. When we arrived, we met people had stayed it our home during the war. After hearing that it belonged to us, they gave us the keys and evacuated it in a few days.

The communication with my father was only by letters. He persuaded me to come to Israel. There was a period of three months, during which the British Mandate allowed Jews in Israel 'nuclear family reunification'.  They had given Jews the possibility to unite families and give them an invitation to Israel. In addition, they gave one of the French embassies travel documents or entry permits to Israel for the Jews. In 1945, a group of people, mostly Jews, organized to escape from Hungary to Austria.
I was only with my mother. The escape was at night, we went 39 miles on foot. When we reached the border of Austria, 'Unra' that helped Jewish refugees, took the Jews to the camp and handed out hot food for lunch. One day, they decided to gather all children up to age 17 to a Children's convalescent home, which was at Hitler's summer house. It was very grand and majestic.

After we came back to the camp, we left the place and went to France to take my certificate which was waiting for us there. When we were on the train, the conductors made sure that all passengers were French. Those who were not, were sent back. My mother didn’t ask anything and we got to France. In France, we received the certificate, along with my immigration date to Israel. My mother asked an Israeli couple who was on board to take care of me. After a while, the ship docked in Alexandria, Egypt. There, I visited the market and saw things I had never encountered before. Barefoot men in dresses, mice running around, terrible noise, stink, a strange language. I was shocked and I held the captain's hand tightly.When we arrived to Haifa, I heard my father calling my name in the loudspeaker.   We recognized each other thanks to the pictures. He picked me up and lifted me in the air. It was very exciting.

We drove to Ramat Gan, and my father told me that I had a 4 year old little brother named Michael and he was waiting for me and happy to have an older sister. He also told me about his wife that was very excited to see me. After two weeks in Israel, I was sent to the elementary school "Yahalom" in Ramat Gan, to the fifth grade. There, the teacher explained that I was a new immigrant and I needed help in Hebrew. I had a private teacher who taught me Hebrew and how to do my homework.

Michael, Tammy's little brother

I got used to the language very quickly and I was good in grammar. I was very sociable. I spent a lot of time with the boys. Basically, I was a tomboy. I participated in a lot of games with the boys and every day I visited the school nurse after being involved in fights. The nurse asked me to be on a "Health Society" at school. I agreed and this job actually gave me some responsibility.    

Tammy's class in "Yahalom" elementry school

That year when I was in the 8^th grade, my father's wife brothers arrived. They were about my age. In the summer, I went to visit them at Ha Shomer HaTsair kibbutz, where I fell in love with the kibbutz and joined the Shomer Hatsair, so I could live in one. After I finished my 8^th grade, I told my parents that I would like to go and live on a kibbutz and after lots of convincing I was allowed. I stayed on the kibbutz until my military service and had a great time alongside a lot of independence.

Once I joined the army, I wanted to be a nurse so I went to a nursing army school. I insisted on going there so I was sent to a school in Jerusalem, where I was asked to take exams which determinate if I could start the Med school or not. I passed the test and started a 3 year long nursing course which I finished successfully. Later on, I got a job as a health inspector by the ministry of health. Following that I was hired as a national inspector of health at the working union health care. Once retired, I went back to work at a nursing school and placed as a supervisor for 5 years. I volunteered at the nurses working union and was awarded with an international prize for excellency at work and devotion to volunteering. I went on with volunteering and took care of addicts to alcoholic people and finished a psychiatry course. For nearly 10 years, I had been the vice president of the Yaldey Hashoa fund which took care of Holocaust survivor's rights. I was in charge of 14 branches around the country, including the Kfar Saba one. The fund was working on creating a Jewish center for teaching of the Holocaust in Kfar Saba.

Once approved and funded by the city board, a new mayor arrived who did not agree with the idea of the new center. We insisted on having it, but with no luck. Following that 15 members of the Fund's board retired.

Today there's another organization named "Aluma" which has 55 members whose job is to teach and tell about the Holocaust to younger people. Today I have 4 children, the oldest – Judith, has 3 sons, one lives in L.A and 2 in Israel.One of them is married and has a son.Amos, Dorit and Michal who lives in Africa and has 2 children. To conclude, I have 9 Grandsons, one great-grandson (and another one on the way...)"

"I was born in Budapest on the 21.8.1935 to a wealthy family. When I was 3 years old, my parents got divorced and my father immigrated to Israel alone, as an illegal immigrant. When he got to Israel, my father had joined the British army and served in various logistics roles.

Tammy as a child

Tammy as a child

During his stay in the country, he kept in touch with us through letters and photographs.
My family was a special one - even after the divorce, there wasn't any tension among the family members, and the relations were close and good.
I lived with my mother's parents and her young single sister - Aunt Edith. We lived in a big fancy house; we had a maid, a pantry full of fine food and great conditions.
My mother, Martha, was a nurse in a hospital, therefore she lived there.
We spent some time together, once a week, on Monday at 18:00 o'clock, until her return to the hospital.

My mother was a talented, independent and creative woman.
My grandfather, Rudolph, was a lawyer who had a Ph.D. In addition, he had crop lands in nearby villages. As a child, I didn’t know he was a lawyer.  Actually, he was the attorney general of the government's publisher.

Martha, Tammy's mother

Erich Daniel Koch, Tammy's father

When the Anti-Jewish decrees had started and many Jews were dismissed from their jobs, my grandfather decided to leave the job before he'd be fired; because he didn't want his employers to have the satisfaction of firing him. Afterwards, he opened an antique shop.Until my expulsion from school, I did not feel the war. In 1944, when I was 9, the conditions worsened, when the Germans invaded Hungary and I began to feel the changes. At first, we were taken to the Jewish quarter. We moved to my favorite aunt – Margaret, who had already lived there. We lived in a small crowded house and under poor conditions in comparison with the home I was used to.

That year, we were taken to the ghetto with my grandparents.
During that time, it was possible to come and go from the ghetto, and so, on the last day before the ghetto was closed, my mother came and took me out of it. I was transferred to a Christian friend of my mother, and I spent three days with her.
 Meanwhile, my mother wore a cross jewel, and combined with the fact she also had "an Arian" appearance - she was not caught by the Nazis. My mother decided to stay with the Jews and help them, so she turned to the hospital in request for equipment, and set up a "clinic" in one of the destroyed houses. The clinic was intended for victims of the shelling, supposedly. The hospital continued to cooperate with the clinic without knowing that a Jewess managed it. In fact, she would take Jews from the ghetto, put bandages and plasters on them, and rescued them from the horrors of the ghetto. My mother had collaborators who informed her when the soldiers approached. In this case, my mother had given anesthetic drops to the children in order to prevent their exposure. Adults were trained to cry and make themselves sick.
Edith's husband, my mother's sister, obtained fake certificates for his wife, himself and me, and so we moved outside Budapest.

Tammy's uncle, Edith's husband

The neighbors were anti-Semites. They had a daughter, who was pregnant. Every time that a transport train passed in our neighborhood, she called me to throw stones at Jews. I didn’t want my identity to be revealed, so I walked with her every time, but didn’t throw stones. When I returned, I was crying and I said I saw my grandmother on the train.
Meanwhile, my grandparents stayed in the ghetto. My grandfather was sent to a work camp and my grandmother to the death marches. Fortunately, she had gold coins ("Napoleon") in her pocket. She noticed a horse cart that accompanied the convoy which transferred   bodies of people who had died. My Grandmother pretended that she had fainted and thrown to the cart. She crawled forward, gave the coins to the wagoner and bribed him to stop and check the wheel. When he stopped, she ran into a flower shop. There, people shouted "dirty Jew!"  My grandmother left the shop proudly with her hand covering the yellow patch. She walked into a pharmacy and asked for medicine, rested and unraveled the yellow patch.
After that she went by train to our village.

Once in a long time, my mother came to visit us at nights. One time, she offered my uncle to suggest to the Hungarian army to build their headquarters in our home and all the residents of the house would be protected; and so it was. After a while, when the German army invaded Hungary, the house became a German headquarters.

At this time, Martha found out that her father was sick. When she came to our house, she decided to talk with one of the S.S soldiers. She told him: "There is a Jew in the work camp that I want to save his life". He answered: "Even if it is your father, I don’t agree". Bravely she answered him: "This is my father!" With amazement and admiration for her courage, he changed his mind and helped her.

When they arrived to the camp, the soldier took out my Grandfather. He got into the car and suddenly saw Martha! He began to cry and to scream at the soldier to leave his daughter. Martha explained that he helped them.
They arrived home and Grandfather sat in the kitchen. I remember this day as if it was yesterday. My Aunt asked me to bring water from the kitchen. She apparently trusted me that I would be quiet when I see him.
After a while, the Russians invaded and the headquarters became their own. They burned the Neighbors' house and turned it into a public kitchen. I remember they told me to taste all their food to check that it was not poisoned.
One of the days, they asked me which gift I would like. Immediately I told them: "Shoes!"
After two days I got new shoes.
 Towards the end of the war, when I was 10 years old, my family and I returned to Budapest, to our grandparents' house. When we arrived, we met people had stayed it our home during the war. After hearing that it belonged to us, they gave us the keys and evacuated it in a few days.

The communication with my father was only by letters. He persuaded me to come to Israel. There was a period of three months, during which the British Mandate allowed Jews in Israel 'nuclear family reunification'.  They had given Jews the possibility to unite families and give them an invitation to Israel. In addition, they gave one of the French embassies travel documents or entry permits to Israel for the Jews. In 1945, a group of people, mostly Jews, organized to escape from Hungary to Austria.
I was only with my mother. The escape was at night, we went 39 miles on foot. When we reached the border of Austria, 'Unra' that helped Jewish refugees, took the Jews to the camp and handed out hot food for lunch. One day, they decided to gather all children up to age 17 to a Children's convalescent home, which was at Hitler's summer house. It was very grand and majestic.

After we came back to the camp, we left the place and went to France to take my certificate which was waiting for us there. When we were on the train, the conductors made sure that all passengers were French. Those who were not, were sent back. My mother didn’t ask anything and we got to France. In France, we received the certificate, along with my immigration date to Israel. My mother asked an Israeli couple who was on board to take care of me. After a while, the ship docked in Alexandria, Egypt. There, I visited the market and saw things I had never encountered before. Barefoot men in dresses, mice running around, terrible noise, stink, a strange language. I was shocked and I held the captain's hand tightly.When we arrived to Haifa, I heard my father calling my name in the loudspeaker.   We recognized each other thanks to the pictures. He picked me up and lifted me in the air. It was very exciting.

We drove to Ramat Gan, and my father told me that I had a 4 year old little brother named Michael and he was waiting for me and happy to have an older sister. He also told me about his wife that was very excited to see me. After two weeks in Israel, I was sent to the elementary school "Yahalom" in Ramat Gan, to the fifth grade. There, the teacher explained that I was a new immigrant and I needed help in Hebrew. I had a private teacher who taught me Hebrew and how to do my homework.

Michael, Tammy's little brother

I got used to the language very quickly and I was good in grammar. I was very sociable. I spent a lot of time with the boys. Basically, I was a tomboy. I participated in a lot of games with the boys and every day I visited the school nurse after being involved in fights. The nurse asked me to be on a "Health Society" at school. I agreed and this job actually gave me some responsibility.    

Tammy's class in "Yahalom" elementry school

That year when I was in the 8^th grade, my father's wife brothers arrived. They were about my age. In the summer, I went to visit them at Ha Shomer HaTsair kibbutz, where I fell in love with the kibbutz and joined the Shomer Hatsair, so I could live in one. After I finished my 8^th grade, I told my parents that I would like to go and live on a kibbutz and after lots of convincing I was allowed. I stayed on the kibbutz until my military service and had a great time alongside a lot of independence.

Once I joined the army, I wanted to be a nurse so I went to a nursing army school. I insisted on going there so I was sent to a school in Jerusalem, where I was asked to take exams which determinate if I could start the Med school or not. I passed the test and started a 3 year long nursing course which I finished successfully. Later on, I got a job as a health inspector by the ministry of health. Following that I was hired as a national inspector of health at the working union health care. Once retired, I went back to work at a nursing school and placed as a supervisor for 5 years. I volunteered at the nurses working union and was awarded with an international prize for excellency at work and devotion to volunteering. I went on with volunteering and took care of addicts to alcoholic people and finished a psychiatry course. For nearly 10 years, I had been the vice president of the Yaldey Hashoa fund which took care of Holocaust survivor's rights. I was in charge of 14 branches around the country, including the Kfar Saba one. The fund was working on creating a Jewish center for teaching of the Holocaust in Kfar Saba.

Once approved and funded by the city board, a new mayor arrived who did not agree with the idea of the new center. We insisted on having it, but with no luck. Following that 15 members of the Fund's board retired.

Today there's another organization named "Aluma" which has 55 members whose job is to teach and tell about the Holocaust to younger people. Today I have 4 children, the oldest – Judith, has 3 sons, one lives in L.A and 2 in Israel.One of them is married and has a son.Amos, Dorit and Michal who lives in Africa and has 2 children. To conclude, I have 9 Grandsons, one great-grandson (and another one on the way...)"