Eva Neufeldova Diary

By Vladimir Roth

There are two "bookends" to the actual diary, an introduction and an epilogue, that were written by the author--Eva's son, Vladimir. In the introduction, the reader is presented with the story of the diary, Eva and her family, place and time of the diary. The document spans two years from July 1940 when Eva was almost eighteen to August 1942 when she was almost twenty years old. The epilogue goes beyond the end of the diary to describe Eva's story up to the end of World War II in 1945.

The Neufelds, including Eva at age ten, left one of the most democratic countries in Europe in 1932 for the Soviet Union where they spent six years with Eva's father, Ludevit, a civil engineer, working as the head engineer at a large metalworking factory in the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk. Four months after their return in 1938, they ended up in the Slovak State, a vasal state of Nazi Germany, a country with a despicable, rabidly antisemitic fascist regime. The government soon instituted many antisemitic laws from taking over Jewish businesses, forbidding Jews to get education, and many others. It is conceivable that forbidden to go back to school in September 1940 was Eva's impetus for starting the diary in August.

In March 1942, the Slovak government began deporting Jews to death camps in Poland. By the time the deportations were halted in October 1942, about 58,000 Jews out of a total Jewish population of about 87,000 were deported. Most of the Jews deported in these seven months were murdered.

The diary--translated by the author--is reproduced in its entirety with annotations and historical photos. The diary provides a contemporaneous record of the impact of these most difficult times on a young teenage girl and her family.

The diary was found almost eighty years later by the author's sister in Frankenthal, Germany, where she has been living for many years. She emptied their parents' apartment in Slovakia after they passed in 2003, boxed many documents, and brought them to her house in Frankenthal. When cleaning up in early 2019, she discovered the diary in one of the boxes. Eva never mentioned to anyone the existence of it.

It is something of a miracle that it survived World War II and many moves during the tumultuous years of Eva's life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662484940

Book preview

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Eva Neufeldova Diary

Vladimir Roth

Copyright © 2022 Vladimir Roth

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-6624-8493-3 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-6624-8494-0 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Epilogue

Conclusion

Appendix

About the Author

Preface

I wrote two bookends to the diary, a introduction and an epilogue. I later added an appendix with one pertinent story and images. In the introduction, I will familiarize the reader with the story of the diary, Eva and her family, place and time of the diary, as well as how I did the translation. The diary spans two years from July 23, 1940, when Eva was almost eighteen to August 22, 1940, when Eva was almost twenty years old. Since the last entry of the diary was in the summer of 1942, the epilogue goes beyond the end of the diary to describe Eva's story up to the end of WWII in 1945.

The reader will see how indoctrinated Eva became by growing up in the communist regime for six years. Indeed, she became a secret Soviet patriot. To her defense, she could not have known and understood, at the age of sixteen, how murderous the Stalinist regime was. From her diary, it was clear that she had a nice childhood in the Ukraine. Many years later, she told my brother-in-law—Tania's husband, Josef—that growing up in Dneprodzerzhinsk was the happiest time of my life.

Introduction

It is rare that a man in his early seventies gets to look for the first time at his mother's account of her life as a teenager, especially during such enormously difficult times as in this case. Let her account of life under a murderous, fascist, and racist regime remind us and the future generations that we should never forget so that this history will never repeat.

I now look at my mother through a completely new lens, gaining understanding and appreciation, feeling deeply sorry for her difficult life and at the same time being proud and honoring her for her love and ability to cope. The coping part has an additional meaning in these days of Corona virus pandemic.

My eyes welled up many a time during transcription, translation, and editing.

Ďakujem, Mami! Thank you, Mom!

The Story of the Diary

The diary was found almost eighty years later by my sister Tania in Frankenthal, Germany, where she has been living for many years. She emptied our parents' apartment in Ružomberok, Slovakia, after they passed in 2003, boxed many documents, and brought them to her house in Frankenthal. When cleaning up in early 2019, she came across the diary in one of the boxes. Our mother never mentioned to anyone the existence of it.

It is something of a miracle that the diary survived World War II and many moves during the tumultuous time in Eva's life. The diary was not written in Slovak but in Russian; the explanation will follow.

Photos of the notebook with the faded label

Transliterated label text: Eva Najfeld

Dnevnik (Diary)

Location of Ružomberok in north central Slovakia

Photos of beautiful Ružomberok nestled in the mountains of north central Slovakia.

Why Was the Diary Written in Russian?

We can only guess, but it is conceivable that Eva felt more comfortable writing in Russian than in Slovak. She left Ružomberok at age ten, spent six years in Russian¹ school, and returned at age sixteen.² At the date of the first entry, she was almost eighteen years old. Added security because of Russian Cyrillic alphabet, in case the diary would be discovered, might have been an additional reason.

Eva's Early Life

Eva was born to Ľudevít and Margita Neufeld in Ružomberok on September 18, 1922. She probably had a happy early childhood surrounded by a large extended family of her mother, Margita. Eva had two siblings, the older sister Giza and the younger brother Vilo. Her father, Ľudevít, was a university-educated civil engineer and an early member of the Communist Party. During the Great Depression, when he had difficulty finding a decent job, Ľudevít decided to take the whole family to the Soviet Union to help build the country.

Per Imi Bruk, Eva's cousin, in his work,³ Ľudevít and his brother-in-law Zoltan Bruck traveled to the SU with their families. They both had jobs in a large metal-working factory, Ľudevít as the chief engineer and Zoltan as the chief architect.

The following is from Eva's Shoah Foundation testimony recorded in 1997:

We had a 3-room apartment that was assigned