George Schwarz (1903-1962) was born György Schwarz in 1903 in Szászrégen, Hungary (Reghin, Romania) to Henrik (d. 1913) and Maria (d. 1918, née Bretter) Schwarz. He had one brother, Paul Schwarz (later Paul Savet). George’s parents died when he was young.
Madeleine Haberfeld Schwarz (1908-1993) was born Magdolna Haberfeld in 1908 in Budapest, Hungary to Miksa Haberfeld (1873-1948) and Etelka Herzog (1881-1916). She had one brother, György Haberfeld, and one sister Klári Haberfeld (1905-1991, later Klári Kovács). Madeleine’s family was wealthy, and her father was the director of the Nasici Tanning Company.
Antisemitic laws made it difficult for Jews to attend universities in Hungary, so George and Madeleine both studied at the University of Vienna. They met while attending the school, and both received their PhDs in 1933. George and Madeline married in Budapest in 1934. They moved to Antwerp, Belgium after George was offered the position of director of research at Gevaert (later Agfa-Gevaert). Their daughter Mariette Schwarz (later Mariette Schwarz Reed, nicknamed Mimi) was born on August 16, 1935 in Antwerp.
Germany invaded Belgium on May 10,1940. The same day, the family fled from Antwerp to Paris, and from there to Juan-les-Pins, France. They lived in a hotel occupied by many others attempting to flee. George obtained Brazilian visas in Marseille. He also purchased a set of false papers. On October 20, 1940 the family sailed from Lisbon, Portugal to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil aboard the Paquete Angola.
The family remained in Brazil from November 1940 to February 5, 1941 when they sailed aboard the SS Uruguay to the United States. George got a position with his old firm Gevaert in Williamstown, Massachusetts, but didn’t remain with them long due to current ties to Nazi Germany. He opened his own research lab called George Schwarz Laboratories in North Adams, Massachusetts. Their son John Henry Schwarz was born on November 22, 1941 in North Adams. George, Madeleine, and Mariette all became naturalized citizens in 1950.
Klári Kovács (1905-1991) was born Klári Haberfeld on October 4, 1905 in Budapest, Hungary to Miksa Haberfeld (1873-1948) and Etelka Herzog (1881-1916). She had one brother, György Haberfeld, and one sister Magdolna Haberfeld (1908-1993, later Madeleine Haberfeld Schwarz). Klári’s family was wealthy, and her father was the director of the Nasici Tanning Company.
László Kovács (1899-1980, nicknamed Laci) was born on June 18, 1899 in the Rákospalota neighborhood of Budapest to Felix Fülop Bódog Klein and Adél Friedberger.
Klári and László married in 1925 and lived in Budapest where she studied to become an tailor and he worked as a banker. They lived with Klári’s father during the Holocaust, and received Swiss protection documents in October 1944.They fled Budapest after the Hungarian Revolution in 1957 and settled in London.
