Itzhak Mayer papers

Itzhack Mayer (born Peter Trebitsch) is the son of Chaim (Armin) Mayer and Golda (Lili) Trebitsch Mayer. He was born on August 27, 1928 in Budapest Hungary where his father was an administrator of the Orthodox community. The family was Orthodox and Itzhack attended religious schools. In March 1944 Germany seized control of Hungary. That June, Itzhack escaped to a Budapest suburb where he hid together with 18 other people until December 1944. His parents remained at home until mid-October and then they too went into hiding. From December to their liberation on January 13, 1945 the family remained together. Unfortunately Chaim died from natural causes shortly after the end of the war. After liberation Itzhack repeatedly tried to leave Hungary and immigrate to Palestine. After his first venture, he was imprisoned for two months for trying to leave the country illegally. In December 1949, Itzhack managed to escape to Slovakia and then to Austria, and he finally arrived in Israel in August 1950 on board the Artza.