Agnes Klein was born in August 1930 in Debrecen, Hungary to Solomon Klein and Lily Schwartz Klein. She had younger twin brothers, Otto and Ferenc. Her father owned a lumber business in the town of Hajdúböszörmény, where she grew up. Agnes enjoyed a happy childhood until 1943, when new laws barred her from school. As conditions worsened, Agnes’ father made plans for the family to immigrate with the help of an uncle living in the United States. But fearing their grandmother would not survive the trip, Agnes and her family stayed in Hungary.
When the Nazis took over Hungary in March 1944, Agnes’ father was taken away. She and her mother and twin brothers were confined briefly in the Debrecen ghetto until they were taken by train to Auschwitz in June 1944. Upon their arrival, Agnes’ mother and aunt were immediately “selected” and killed in the gas chambers. Her brothers, Otto and Ferenc, because they were twins, were taken by Dr. Josef Mengele for lab testing. Agnes was taken to “processing,” where her head was shaved. She was then sent to the barracks with many other women. In October 1944, Agnes was taken to northern Germany near Hamburg and was in several work camps, including a secret underground factory that made airplane parts.
Agnes was liberated in Salzwedel by the American army on April 14, 1945. She was sent to Hillesleben displaced persons camp for two months. On June 26, she left the displaced persons camp and made her way back to Hungary to look for her family. She was only 15 years old. When Agnes returned to Hungary she found that her brothers had survived and were living in Miskolc, Hungary. She was also reunited with an uncle, aunt, and cousins. Her father never returned.
Agnes was able to immigrate to the United States in 1949 with help from her uncle Morris and cousin Albert Schwartz of El Paso. Agnes finished her high school education at El Paso High School in 1951. She met fellow Holocaust survivor, Tibor Schaechner, in New York when visiting a cousin. They married in 1956 and had three daughters. Agnes earned her bachelor’s degree from University of Texas at El Paso in 1969 and her Master’s degree in San Antonio in 1981. She worked for the Department of Human Services in El Paso for 22 years. Agnes died in 1998.
Connecting Stories: Ferenc and Otto Klein, Tibor Schaechner