Aranka, Morvay, and Tajtacak families papers

Document | Not Digitized | Accession Number: 2003.446.1

Overview

Description: The papers consist of documents, a pattern book, and photographs relating to the Morvay, Tajtacak and Veljković families during the time period of the Holocaust. The documents include a birth certificate for Aranka Morvay born on May 15, 1912, a marriage certificate dated April 16, 1946, for Andelko Tajtacak and Angela Morvay, and a marriage certificate issued on July 17, 1943, in Pécs, Hungary, to Ignacz Morvay and Valeria Schon. The pattern book belonged to Aranka Morvay Tajtacak and contains sketches of flowers and production notes in Croatian for creating artificial flowers. The group of black and white and color copy photographs (1935-1992) depict members of the Morvay, Veljković, and Tajtacak families.
Date: inclusive: 1935-1992
Credit Line: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Boàz Givòn
Collection Creator: Boàz Givòn
Biography: Boris Veljković (later Boaz Givon) was born on February 9, 1934, in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, to Zvonimir and Aranka Angela Morvai Velković. Aranka was born on May 15, 1912, in Zagreb, Croatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire, to a Jewish couple Ignacz and Valerija Schön Morvai. Zvonimir, a technician, was born in 1905. Yugoslavia, or the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, was created after the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire at the end of World War I (1914-1918.) Ethnic and religious tensions were high in the new country and Croatian fascist groups, such as Ustasa, were fanatically antisemitic and closely aligned with Nazi Germany. In 1934, with assistance from Ustasa, terrorists killed the King of Yugoslavia. In 1939, his successor agreed to grant Croatia autonomy. That year, fearing persecution similar to that practiced in Germany, Aranka converted the whole family to the Serbian Orthodox Christian religion.

On April 6, 1941, the Axis powers, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria invaded and partitioned Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family now lived in the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist Ustasa regime. Not long after, Boaz’s father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp. This was the largest of several camps set up by the Ustasa regime to isolate and murder Jews, Serbs, Roma, and other non-Catholic minorities, as well as Croatian political and religious opponents. Around this time, his maternal grandmother Valerija Morvai fled to Crikvenica on the north cost of the Adriatic Sea.

In summer 1941, Aranka and Boaz escaped to Budapest, Hungary. Hungary was a German ally and joined in the invasion of the Soviet Union launched in June 1941. The government had many restrictive anti-Jewish policies, and Aranka and Boaz lived an unsettled life, changing apartments two to three times a month. Aranka supported them by making artificial flowers, chiefly of silk, and selling them to women’s clothing shops. In November 1942, Aranka and Boaz were arrested by the Hungarian Secret Police as illegal Jewish immigrants. They were tortured, mainly by being bitten, and after a few days transferred to Rumbach Street synagogue where they were held for several weeks and then separated. Aranka was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family, a Hungarian Jewish couple, who cared for him as if he were their own child. Aranka later returned to Budapest, having escaped from the train to Poland. In January 1943, she was admitted to the Budapest Jewish Hospital. Boaz was able to visit Aranka occasionally in the hospital. On July 17, 1943, she entered into a sham marriage with a Hungarian citizen, possibly named Spitzer (Shpitser) and was released from the hospital. In August, she and Boaz were together again. In September, she sent Boaz to a Catholic boarding school in Budapest and they met every other weekend.

In March 1944, German troops occupied Hungary. Aranka and Boaz went into hiding separately. Aranka hid in the city along the Danube River. Boaz was taken to the countryside and placed with a family in Baya, a small town in south Hungary on the shores of the Danube. While there, he attended fifth grade at the town’s Dominican gymnasium. In October, Aranka and Boaz were reunited in the Pest side of Budapest. Aranka pretended that Boaz was her nephew, orphaned after the death of her sister. Aranka was active in a Jewish underground organization, helping to find and distribute food, which was extremely scarce. This organization also provided hidden Jews with false identity papers. They lived in a bunker and the city was under near constant bombardment.

On January 15, 1945, Pest was liberated by the Soviet Army. Aranka and Boaz stayed in the bunker for a few more weeks as fighting continued. The rest of Budapest was liberated on February 13. They left the bunker and returned to their apartment. In March 1945, Yugoslavia opened their consulate in Budapest, and Aranka submitted the forms that would allow them to return home. By the end of March, they were on their way back to Yugoslavia where they settled in Belgrade. It was presumed that Boaz’s father Zvonimir was murdered in Jasenovac in 1942. Aranka, with the surname Spitzer, worked in the National Film Office and Boaz attended 5th and 6th grade. Aranka’s mother had survived the war in Crikvenica and joined them in Belgrade. On April 16, 1946, Aranka (as Angela) married Anđelko A. Tajtacak. Andelko was born on October 12, 1910, in Jagodina in central Serbia, and the family moved there. In October 1947, Aranka and Andelko had a daughter. On November 30, 1948, the family, with Boaz's grandmaother Valerija, embarked on the ship Radnik (Workman in Croatian) and sailed from Rijeka to Israel, where they arrived on December 7, 1948. Boaz married Ariela in Nathania, Israel, on September 5, 1961. At some point, he took the surname Givon. Aranka, 81, passed away on April 3, 1993, in Israel.

Physical Details

Language: Hungarian Croatian
Genre/Form: Pattern books. Birth certificates. Marriage certificates.
Extent: 1 folder
System of Arrangement: The collection is arranged as as single series.

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
Conditions on Use: Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.

Keywords & Subjects

Topical Term: Artificial flowers. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Hungary. Jews--Croatia--History--20th century.
Personal Name: Giv`on, Bo`az, 1934- Tajtacak, Aranka Velković. Tajtacak, Andelko. Tajtacak, Nitza.

Administrative Notes

Holder of Originals: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Provenance: The papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003 by Boàz Givòn.

Record last modified:: 2023-02-24 14:09:05
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn514817

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Also in Aranka Morvay Tajtacak family collection

The collection consists of nine flower making tools, documents, a pattern book, and photographs relating to the experiences of Aranka Morvay Veljkovic (later Tajtacak), her son Boàz Givòn, and members of their extended family in Yugoslavia during the Holocaust.

Date: 1936-1992

Spatula flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Wooden handled spatula tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Slotted flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Slotted curler tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Double slotted flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Double slotted creasing tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Triple slotted flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Triple slotted creasing tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Medium ball tipped flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Medium ball tipped burnishing tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Large ball tipped flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Large ball tipped burnishing tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Small ball tipped flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Small ball tipped burnishing tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Short large ball tipped flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Short large ball tipped burnishing tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Short medium ball tipped flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Short medium ball tipped burnishing tool used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Double end flower making tool used by a refugee

Object

Double end burnishing tool with balled tips used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.

Tweezers used by a refugee to make artificial flowers

Object

Tweezers used by Aranka Morvay to produce artificial silk flowers from 1941-1942 in Budapest, Hungary, where she had fled with her son Boaz. In 1941, when Boaz was 10, the Axis powers partitioned his country, Yugoslavia. Boaz and his family lived in Zagreb, now part of the Independent State of Croatia, under the Fascist antisemitic Ustasa regime. His father Zvonimir was sent to Jasenovac concentration camp where he perished. Boaz and Aranka escaped to Budapest. In November 1942, they were arrested. Boaz was placed with the Andrash family. Aranka was deported but escaped the transport and returned to Budapest. When German troops occupied the city in March 1943, they went into hiding separately. After six months, they hid together in Budapest until the city was liberated in February 1945. By late spring, they were able to return to Yugoslavia.