Tomas Kohn, 1934–1944 (aged 9 years)
- Name
- Tomas /Kohn/
- Given names
- Tomas
- Nickname
- Tomi
- Surname
- Kohn
Per writings of Eva Klein, Tomas' mother, Tomas was named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.
- Name
- Thomas /Kohn/
- Given names
- Thomas
- Surname
- Kohn
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Birth
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Note: Per writings of Eva Klein, Tomas' mother, Tomas was named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. When Thomas was born, this area was part of Czechoslovakia. Per Wikipedia, the day after the collapse of Czechoslovakia on 14 March 1939, the Khust city government proclaimed, by the will of the local population, independence as Carpathian Ukraine on 15 March 1939. The next day, 16 March 1939, Hungarian troops invaded Khust and claimed it as part of Hungary. In May 1944, Thomas, along with his mother Eva Klein and his grandparents were rounded up by the Nazis and Hungarian collaborators. They were sent to Auschwitz. Upon arrival, Thomas and his grandparents were murdered. His mother survived. Per writings of Eva Klein, Tomas' mother, Tomas was named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. When Thomas was born, this area was part of Czechoslovakia. Per Wikipedia, the day after the collapse of Czechoslovakia on 14 March 1939, the Khust city government proclaimed, by the will of the local population, independence as Carpathian Ukraine on 15 March 1939. The next day, 16 March 1939, Hungarian troops invaded Khust and claimed it as part of Hungary. In May 1944, Thomas, along with his mother Eva Klein and his grandparents were rounded up by the Nazis and Hungarian collaborators. They were sent to Auschwitz. Upon arrival, Thomas and his grandparents were murdered. His mother survived. On 24 October 1944 Soviet troops occupied the city, and annexed it into the Soviet Union. |
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Background
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German Parliament Passes Nuremberg Race Laws. Only racially pure Germans would be allowed to hold German citizenship. It banned future intermarriages and sexual relations between Jews and people “of German or related blood.”
September 15, 1935 (Elul 17, 5695) (aged 10 months)
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Background
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1936 Summer Olympics begins in Berlin, Germany. German Jewish athletes were barred.
August 1, 1936 (Av 13, 5696) (aged 1 year)
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Background
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Hitler holds a secret meeting in which he outlines Germany's plan to expand its territories by force. The meeting is summarized in the Hossbach Memorandum.
November 5, 1937 (Kislev 1, 5698) (aged 3 years)
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Background
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Hungarian Anti-Jewish Laws
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Hungary restricts the number of Jews in each commercial enterprise, in the press, among physicians, engineers and lawyers to twenty percent.
May 29, 1938 (Iyar 28, 5698) (aged 3 years)
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Background
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Munich Agreement reached by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy that permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland, in western Czechoslovakia.
September 30, 1938 (Tishrei 5, 5699) (aged 3 years)
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Background
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Germany arrests 17,000 Polish Jewish Residents and deports thousands to Poland. https://w.wiki/5R8z
from October 27, 1938 (Heshvan 2, 5699) to October 29, 1938 (Heshvan 4, 5699) (aged 4 years)
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Background
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First Vienna Award separated from Czechoslovakia territories in southern Slovakia and southern Carpathian Rus and gave them to Hungary.
November 2, 1938 (Heshvan 8, 5699) (aged 4 years)
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Pogrom
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Kristallnacht
from November 9, 1938 (Heshvan 15, 5699) to November 10, 1938 (Heshvan 16, 5699) (aged 4 years)
Note: Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) comes from the broken windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues that were smashed. 7,500 Jewish owned businesses are looted. 30,000 Jewish males were rounded up and taken to concentration camps. |
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Invasion
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Background
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Carpathian Ruthenia Region, of which Bilky is a part of, declares its indepedence from Czechoslovakia.
March 15, 1939 (Adar 24, 5699) (aged 4 years)
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Background
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Carpathian Ruthenia Region, of which Bilky is a part of, is occupied and annexed by Hungary.
from March 15, 1939 (Adar 24, 5699) to March 18, 1939 (Adar 27, 5699) (aged 4 years)
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Hungarian Anti-Jewish Laws
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Hungary defines Jews racially: individuals with two, three or four Jewish-born grandparents were declared Jewish. It reduced the role of Jews in Hungarian economic life even more, setting the limit to 6%.
May 5, 1939 (Iyar 16, 5699) (aged 4 years)
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Background
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A non-aggression pact is signed between Soviet Union and Germany. It enabled the two countries to partition Poland. It is known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.
August 23, 1939 (Elul 8, 5699) (aged 4 years)
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Invasion
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Declaration Of War
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Great Britain and France Declare War Against Germany
September 3, 1939 (Elul 19, 5699) (aged 4 years)
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Background
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Background
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Soviet Union and Germany divide Poland by German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty.
September 28, 1939 (Tishrei 15, 5700) (aged 4 years)
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Deportation
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Germany begins deportation of Austrian and Czech Jews to Poland
October 12, 1939 (Tishrei 29, 5700) (aged 4 years)
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Background
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In Poland, all Jews above the age of 11 must wear white armbands with the Jewish Star.
November 23, 1939 (Kislev 11, 5700) (aged 5 years)
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Krakow Ghetto
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In Krakow, Judenräte (Jewish Councils) were created which were to be run by Jewish citizens for the purpose of carrying out orders for the Nazis. These orders included registration of all Jewish people living in the area, the collection of taxes, and forced labour groups.
November 28, 1939 (Kislev 16, 5700) (aged 5 years)
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Invasion
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Invasion
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Background
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Concentration Camp
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Background
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Dunkirk Evacuation.
from May 26, 1940 (Iyar 18, 5700) to June 4, 1940 (Iyar 27, 5700) (aged 5 years)
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Surrender
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Ghetto
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Ghetto
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Hungarian Anti-Jewish Laws
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Hungary prohibits intermarriage and penalizes sexual intercourse between Jews and non-Jews. Became a keystone in the process of excluding and eliminating Jews from Hungarian society.
August 8, 1941 (Av 15, 5701) (aged 6 years)
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Background
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Jewish Germans and Jews with citizenship of annexed states (Austrians, Czechs, Danzigers) from the age of six years are ordered to wear a yellow badge in the shape of a Jewish Star with Jude in the center.
September 1, 1941 (Elul 9, 5701) (aged 6 years)
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Attack
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Background
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At the Wannsee Conference, Nazis finalized their Final Solution plans to murder all the Jews after their deportation. Adolf Eichmann, who was eventually tried and executed in Israel for murdering Jews via the systematic deportation of millions of Jews to the extermination camps, was at the meeting.
January 20, 1942 (Shevat 2, 5702) (aged 7 years)
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Background
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First convoy of Jews from France are sent to Auschwitz.
March 27, 1942 (Nissan 9, 5702) (aged 7 years)
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Background
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Jewish Dutch people ordered to wear the Jewish yellow badge.
April 29, 1942 (Iyar 12, 5702) (aged 7 years)
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Background
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Jewish Belgians people ordered to wear the Jewish yellow badge.
June 3, 1942 (Sivan 18, 5702) (aged 7 years)
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Background
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Jews in Occuppied France ordered to wear the Jewish yellow badge.
June 7, 1942 (Sivan 22, 5702) (aged 7 years)
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Deportation
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Germany begins the deportation of Dutch Jews from camps in the Netherlands
July 15, 1942 (Av 1, 5702) (aged 7 years)
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Hungarian Anti-Jewish Laws
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Hungary abolishes the status of Judaism as a received religion.
July 19, 1942 (Av 5, 5702) (aged 7 years)
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Hungarian Anti-Jewish Laws
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Hungary prohibits Jews from acquiring agricultural property, and calls for the transfer of Jewish-owned property to non-Jews.
September 6, 1942 (Elul 24, 5702) (aged 7 years)
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Background
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French communist newspaper publishes a cover story about the extermination of 11,000 French Jews at Auschwitz.
October 10, 1942 (Tishrei 29, 5703) (aged 7 years)
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Reports On The Holocaust
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Small story on page 10 of the New York Times reported on the slaughter of Jews at Auschwitz.
November 25, 1942 (Kislev 16, 5703) (aged 8 years)
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Ghetto
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Krakow Ghetto Liquidated. Those deemed able to work were transported to the Płaszów concentration camp. Some 2,000 Jews unable to move or attempting to run were killed in the streets and in their homes. Operation Reinhard
March 13, 1943 (Adar II 6, 5703) (aged 8 years)
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Background
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Belgium Resistance attacks a train bound for Auschwitz and free 233 prisoners. It is the only mass escape from a Holocaust train.
April 19, 1943 (Nissan 14, 5703) (aged 8 years)
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Invasion
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Correspondence
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Background
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Two inmates, Slovak Jews Alfred Wetzler and Rudolf Vrba, escape from Auschwitz. They contact the Jewish council in Slovakia and give details about the murder of Jews at Auschwitz. A report is soon released to warn Hungary’s Jews of the Nazi plans to wipe out their community. The report initally does nothing to stop the mass deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz. Finally, in July 1944, after the report is published in the Swiss Press, Hungary is forced to stopped the deportation. The persecution of Hungarian Jews is continued in October 1944.
April 10, 1944 (Nissan 17, 5704) (aged 9 years)
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Correspondence
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Forcibly Transported By The Nazis
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Death of a paternal grandfather
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Cause: Murdered by the Nazis. |
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Death of a paternal grandmother
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Cause: Murdered By Nazis And Their Collaborators |
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Death of a maternal grandmother
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Address: Oświęcim, Poland
Cause: Murdered By Nazis and Hungarian collaborators. Note: My father, Meynhert Klein, during the few times that he spoke to me about his life during the Holocaust, would describe the last time he saw his mom and sister Bella leaving on a train. I don't know when or where this occurred. And looking back now, I failed to ask the many questions that fill my head now. I'd like to believe that my inaction was because my father would be teary during these moments, and I didn't want to cause him any more pain. I hope it wasn't because I was too young and self-absorbed. But I can't say. My father, Meynhert Klein, during the few times that he spoke to me about his life during the Holocaust, would describe the last time he saw his mom and sister Bella leaving on a train. I don't know when or where this occurred. And looking back now, I failed to ask the many questions that fill my head now. I'd like to believe that my inaction was because my father would be teary during these moments, and I didn't want to cause him any more pain. I hope it wasn't because I was too young and self-absorbed. But I can't say. I chose this date for my Grandmother and Aunt Bella because between May 14, 1944 and July 9, 1944, 437,000 Hungarian Jews were sent to Auschwitz on trains. Most were murdered on arrival. David Note: Auschwitz Survivor Eva Klein, a daughter of Sura Feiga Veisz, wrote in her autobiography, "And where is my beautiful sister Izabella, who never got married because she did not want to leave mother. A friend told me when they arrived in Auschwitz, an SS wanted to part them but Izabella leaned on mother's shoulder and begged to let her go with mother." |
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Deportation
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435,000 Hungarian Jews Are Deported To Auschwitz
from May 15, 1944 (Iyar 22, 5704) to July 9, 1944 (Tamuz 18, 5704) (on the date of death)
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Death
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Cause of death: Murdered by the Nazis Note: In the morning the train stopped and we arrived in a godforsaken place called Auschwitz. The air was full of smoke with a very strange smell. We were all in a daze. The SS was urging us to get off quickly. The packages had to be put in one pile. I was holding my dear Thomas by the hand and was looking for his sweater when an SS man came and pushed me. I looked up and saw my in-laws standing already in a line with middle-age people. My mother-in-law was holding my sister-in-law's, Georgette's little two and a half year old Robbie. And there was another very long line with young women. I was standing flabbergasted and did not know where to turn, when another SS man pushed away my dear son and said to me, in German " Where are you running round like a crazy coat." I thought I was standing in one place and the world is turning around me. I do remember running towards my in-laws after my dear little Thomas was pushed away from me and told him, "Hold on tight to Grandfather's hand." And he did. I thought, as we were told, that the older people would take care of the children and we would work and at night we will see them again. I looked after them and they disappeared in the dust and I never saw them again. In the morning the train stopped and we arrived in a godforsaken place called Auschwitz. The air was full of smoke with a very strange smell. We were all in a daze. The SS was urging us to get off quickly. The packages had to be put in one pile. I was holding my dear Thomas by the hand and was looking for his sweater when an SS man came and pushed me. I looked up and saw my in-laws standing already in a line with middle-age people. My mother-in-law was holding my sister-in-law's, Georgette's little two and a half year old Robbie. And there was another very long line with young women. I was standing flabbergasted and did not know where to turn, when another SS man pushed away my dear son and said to me, in German " Where are you running round like a crazy coat." I thought I was standing in one place and the world is turning around me. I do remember running towards my in-laws after my dear little Thomas was pushed away from me and told him, "Hold on tight to Grandfather's hand." And he did. I thought, as we were told, that the older people would take care of the children and we would work and at night we will see them again. I looked after them and they disappeared in the dust and I never saw them again. Eva Klein, mother of Tomas Kohn. Page 54. |
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Testimony
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Testimony Of Irena Kohn About The Murder Of Tomas Kohn At Auschwitz
May 25, 1999 (Sivan 10, 5759) (55 years after death)
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Remembrance
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Note: My parents would speak of Thomas in sad voices. Telling me and my brother of our cousin who was murdered at Auschwitz. They never discussed details. It's not what was done back then. I don't even think I ever saw a photo of him. Not until recently. My parents would speak of Thomas in sad voices. Telling me and my brother of our cousin who was murdered at Auschwitz. They never discussed details. It's not what was done back then. I don't even think I ever saw a photo of him. Not until recently. When we would visit his parents' home, it always felt like there was this overwhelming quiet in the house. Perhaps it was because there were no other kids to play with or that the home was always spotless. And then I read my Aunt Eva's memoirs. I do remember running towards my in-laws after my dear little Thomas was pushed away from me and told him, "Hold on tight to Grandfather's hand." And he did. I thought, as we were told, that the older people would take care of the children and we would work and at night we will see them again. I looked after them and they disappeared in the dust and I never saw them again. If Thomas hadn't been murdered at the age of nine at Auschwitz, today we may be celebrating his 87th birthday together. And so, we did. David and Chloe - October 28, 2021 |
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Remembrance
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Note: This is the second year that I am celebrating my cousin Thomas' birthday. This wasn't done when my aunt and father were still around. It must have been too painful. As I grow older, I feel a sense of joy remembering my family members who were murdered by the nazis and their collaborators. It proves that the anti-semites lost. We are still here. This is the second year that I am celebrating my cousin Thomas' birthday. This wasn't done when my aunt and father were still around. It must have been too painful. As I grow older, I feel a sense of joy remembering my family members who were murdered by the nazis and their collaborators. It proves that the anti-semites lost. We are still here. May Peace Be With You. עליו השלום |
| father | |
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| mother | |
| Marriage | Marriage — 1932 — |
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3 years
himself |
1934–1944
Birth: October 28, 1934
27
28
— Khust, Ukraine Death: May 15, 1944 — Auschwitz |
| Birth |
Per writings of Eva Klein, Tomas' mother, Tomas was named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. When Thomas was born, this area was part of Czechoslovakia. Per Wikipedia, the day after the collapse of Czechoslovakia on 14 March 1939, the Khust city government proclaimed, by the will of the local population, independence as Carpathian Ukraine on 15 March 1939. The next day, 16 March 1939, Hungarian troops invaded Khust and claimed it as part of Hungary. In May 1944, Thomas, along with his mother Eva Klein and his grandparents were rounded up by the Nazis and Hungarian collaborators. They were sent to Auschwitz. Upon arrival, Thomas and his grandparents were murdered. His mother survived. On 24 October 1944 Soviet troops occupied the city, and annexed it into the Soviet Union. |
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| Name |
Shared note
Per writings of Eva Klein, Tomas' mother, Tomas was named after the first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. |
| Death |
In the morning the train stopped and we arrived in a godforsaken place called Auschwitz. The air was full of smoke with a very strange smell. We were all in a daze. The SS was urging us to get off quickly. The packages had to be put in one pile. I was holding my dear Thomas by the hand and was looking for his sweater when an SS man came and pushed me. I looked up and saw my in-laws standing already in a line with middle-age people. My mother-in-law was holding my sister-in-law's, Georgette's little two and a half year old Robbie. And there was another very long line with young women. I was standing flabbergasted and did not know where to turn, when another SS man pushed away my dear son and said to me, in German " Where are you running round like a crazy coat." I thought I was standing in one place and the world is turning around me. I do remember running towards my in-laws after my dear little Thomas was pushed away from me and told him, "Hold on tight to Grandfather's hand." And he did. I thought, as we were told, that the older people would take care of the children and we would work and at night we will see them again. I looked after them and they disappeared in the dust and I never saw them again. Eva Klein, mother of Tomas Kohn. Page 54. |
| Remembrance |
My parents would speak of Thomas in sad voices. Telling me and my brother of our cousin who was murdered at Auschwitz. They never discussed details. It's not what was done back then. I don't even think I ever saw a photo of him. Not until recently. When we would visit his parents' home, it always felt like there was this overwhelming quiet in the house. Perhaps it was because there were no other kids to play with or that the home was always spotless. And then I read my Aunt Eva's memoirs. I do remember running towards my in-laws after my dear little Thomas was pushed away from me and told him, "Hold on tight to Grandfather's hand." And he did. I thought, as we were told, that the older people would take care of the children and we would work and at night we will see them again. I looked after them and they disappeared in the dust and I never saw them again. If Thomas hadn't been murdered at the age of nine at Auschwitz, today we may be celebrating his 87th birthday together. And so, we did. David and Chloe - October 28, 2021 |
| Remembrance |
This is the second year that I am celebrating my cousin Thomas' birthday. This wasn't done when my aunt and father were still around. It must have been too painful. As I grow older, I feel a sense of joy remembering my family members who were murdered by the nazis and their collaborators. It proves that the anti-semites lost. We are still here. May Peace Be With You. עליו השלום |
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| Forcibly Transported By The Nazis | |
| Death | |
| Testimony | |
| Remembrance | |
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