Eugene Black

Courageous survivor who used his experiences to educate and give testimony

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR Eugene Black, who has died aged 88, was born Jeno Schwarcz in the then Czech-Hungarian town of Munkacs. He grew up in a prosperous family, the son of Leni and Bela Bence, and helped his father in his tailoring business.

His main interest was football and he regularly referred to the historic victory of theHungariannationalsideoverEngland at Wembley in the 1950s.

But football was indelibly linked to the day in May, 1944 when, returning home from a game, he and his parents along with two of his sisters, Paula and Jolan, were arrested and transported in cattle wagons, along with thousands of other Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The journey took three days. On arriv- al he was separated from his parents and family and never saw them again.

Eugene was selected for slave labour and German records show that after a short stay in Buchenwald he was taken to the Dora Mittelbau camp where he workedlonghoursininhumaneconditionsintheundergroundrocketfactory tunnels, carrying stone and debris with little food and no sanitation.

By November 1944 he became seriously ill and following treatment by a humane German doctor, who probably saved his life, was sent to a smaller camp, Harzungen, where he remained a slave labourer but on “light duties.” He went on long marches to places of work, often being spat at and verbally abused by the local civilian population.

Finally in March 1945 he was again transported in a cattle wagon with fellow prisoners, denied food or water, to northern Germany and then on a forced march to Bergen-Belsen. Liberation by the British Army occurred on April 15 -- had it been later he would probably not have survived. Yet survive he did. After briefly workingasaninterpreterfortheBritishArmy he travelled to England in 1949, marrying Annie Halliday whom he had met in Germany and who also worked for the army. They raised two boys and two girls. Working for Marks and Spencer as a porter in Manchester, he graduated to a senior management role in the north of England. In the 1990s he faced up to the challenge of confronting his experiences. After giving his testimony to the Shoah F o u n d a t i o n he became an active member of the Leedsb a s e d Hol o - caust Survivors’ FriendshipAssociationundertakingregular, sometimes taxing visits to schools, colleges and clubs, and to events organised by the Northern Ireland Police Service. He entreated his audiences to fight intolerance and oppression, inspiring thousands of young people.

In 2007, accompanied by his daughter Lilian, he visited the German Nazi archivesinBadArolsenwherehediscovered the fate of his two sisters. They had not, as assumed, perished at Auschwitz but had been selected for slave labour and sent to a sub-camp of Buchenwald at Gelsenkirchen. They worked at an oil refinery carrying materials from the canal banks to the factory. In September 1944, along with 150 Hungarian Jewish women, they were killed in an RAF bombing raid, having been denied access by the SS to the air-raid shelters.

Black is survived by his children Lilian, Alan and David and two granddaughters. His wife and youngest child Gloria pre-deceased him. Born February 9, 1928. Died Leeds September 26, 2016