Sylvia Cipora Weiss was born Cipora Cecilia Aszknazy on May 20, 1923 in Reteag, Romania. Her father, Julius (Yoel Itzchak) Aszknazy, a Satmar Chassid, owned a lumber store. Her mother, Rose Edelheid Aszknazy cared for their four children: Surie Sara Aszknazy; Cipora Cecilia Aszknazy (b. May 20, 1923); Leopold Lipa Aszknazy (b. September 25, 1925); and Chaya Aszknazy (b. 1931).
The Aszknazy family lived in Beclean, Romania. In August 1940, Hungary annexed northern Transylvania from Romania. In September 1940, Sylvia’s paternal grandfather, Rav Moshe David Aszknazy, died in Chernowitz, Romania. Sylvia was sent to Chernowitz, but returned to Beclean after a few months.
At the end of April 1944, the Aszknazy family along with other Jews from Beclean, were forced to talk 27 kilometers to the Dej ghetto. In the ghetto, Julius Aszknazy was questioned about the location of hidden family valuables and tortured. On May 29, 1944, the Aszknazy family, including their maternal grandmother, was deported from Dej to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
While on the Birkenau ramp, Sylvia and her sister Surie were separated from the rest of their family and selected for labor. The sisters remained together for several months, until Surie became ill in the fall of 1944. The sisters were separated. A few weeks later Sylvia was sent to Nuernburg, a sub-camp of Flossenbürg concentration camp, where she worked in the Siemens-Schuckertwerke ammunition factory. At some point she contracted typhus but recovered. In December 1944, Sylvia and 145 fellow female prisoners were transferred to Mehltheuer, another sub-camp of Flossenbürg, where they worked in an ammunition factory. The prisoners were fearful of the Allied bombing of the local area. In early spring, 1945, Sylvia and other prisoners were taken to the nearby town of Plauen to clear debris from the railroad tracks.
On April 15, 1945, all the German guards had fled, and the female prisoners were free. While searching for food, Sylvia approached a German couple with a baby for assistance. The brought her to their house, fed her, and gave her a pair of sandals. When Sylvia reached the market square of Plauen, she saw American tanks. The American soldiers, a Jewish chaplain among them, took the girls to a hotel where they recuperated for three months. When Plauen was designated within the Soviet occupation zone, the United States army transferred the women to the American zone near Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Sylvia decided to return to her hometown, Beclean. While in Budapest, she discovered her brother Leopold’s name on a list of survivors.
Leopold (Lipi) Aszknazy had been deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp with his family. Being 19 years old, he was separated from his family and chosen for labor. In July 1944, he was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp. In March 1945, he was forced on a death march to Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he was liberated on May 8, 1945. After liberation he returned to Beclean and re-opened his father’s lumber business. After the siblings were reunited, Leopold initially did not want to leave Beclean because the reopened business was a financial success. However, after learning the Soviet Army wanted to draft Leopold, the siblings left their hometown and with the help of smugglers, crossed Romania, Hungary, and Austria into Germany. After several weeks the arrived in the displaced persons camp (DP camp) in Ulm, Germany. There they registered to go to Palestine. However, Irene Geller, the mother of the Jewish chaplain Sylvia met after liberation, decided to sponsored Sylvia and Leopold. In March 1948, they sailed to New York aboard the SS Jumper. They were met in New York by their paternal cousin, Helenka Englard.
In New York, Leopold found work making ties, and Sylvia worked as a dressmaker. Sylvia met Frank Weiss in the summer of 1948. They were married in December 1948. They settled in Crown Heights, Brooklyn where they raised three children. The Weiss family continues to live an orthodox Jewish life. Frank Weiss died in January 2004.
Julius and Rose Aszknazy, along with their two daughters, Surie and Chaya Aszknazy perished at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Sylvia Weiss has since visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, where she last saw her parents and sisters. When asked why she would return to a place of such suffering, she replied that it was like going to the cemetery to visit the graves of loved ones.
