Biography
Saul Weinberger (born Shlomo Weinberger) is the son of Moses and Sara (Haberman) Weinberger. He was born on January 25, 1926 in Mukachevo where his father had a small business making lighting fixtures. The family lived in one bedroom, and Moses had his workshop in another room. Moses had moved to the United States at the turn of the century and became an American citizen. He returned to Mukachevo in 1910 to wed a girl from his hometown in an arranged marriage and decided to stay. Shlomo was one of eight children. He had four older siblings: Josef, Bella, Ruti, and Symcha, and three younger brothers, Jakob, Leibush and Dovid. All of the children helped in the family business from a very young age, and went to work full-time at the age of thirteen. Shlomo became an apprentice cabinet-maker, and by the age of seventeen he was working as a journeyman. When Hungary seized control of Transcarpathia in March 1939, only five children were living at home. Josef was conscripted into the Czech army in 1935 and after the fall of Czechoslovakia was arrested by the Germans and sent to concentration camp. In 1938 Ruti went to work in Budapest and stayed with an uncle. Bella immigrated to the United States on one of the last ships to leave Europe before the start of the war. In the spring of 1944, Germany seized direct control of Hungary and began deporting Jews to concentration camp. During Passover 1944, the Weinbergers were ordered into the newly formed ghetto in Mukachevo and in May 1944 they were deported to Auschwitz. Shlomo's parents and his youngest brother Dovid were killed immediately. Symcha and Leibush also perished. From Auschwitz and Birkenau, Shlomo subsequently was deported to Jaworzno where he spent at least six months working in a coal mine and helping to build an electrical facility. As the Soviets approached the camp, he was forced on a death march to Litomerice and then to Theresienstadt where he was liberated. Following liberation, Shlomo returned to Mukachevo in May 1945. Two days later, Jakob also returned home from a concentration camp. Soon Ruti, who had survived the war in hiding, reunited with the two brothers. Within a few weeks, the three made their way across the border into Austria and were taken to the Braunau DP camp. They learned that Josef had also survived the war and had been sent by the Red Cross to Sweden to recuperate. From Braunau, Shlomo, Jakob and Ruti moved to Ranshofen, another DP camp in Austria. In 1947 Shlomo went to Hannover, and then immigrated to the United States under the sponsorship of his older sister, Bella. He later joined the American army and served for two years in the Korean War. Jakob was not allowed to immigrate to the United States because he had a spot on his lung and subsequently moved to Israel. Ruti married another survivor from Mukachevo, Nathan Grunberger, and also came to America with her husband.
