Biography
Nisen Ganz is the son of Fanny (Feige) Rubinstein and Shulem Ganz. Feige Rochel (Fanny Rubinstein) came from a long line of distinguished Chassidic Rabbis. Her mother Tobe Yenta, from the town of Veretske, married Moshe Rubinstein, the half-brother of the Satmar rebbe, Yoel Teitelbaum. Feige spent a lot of time in their home and became very close to them spiritually. Nisen was born on January 18, 1927 in Vonihovo, in the Transcarpathian region of Czechoslovakia, where his family owned a knitting mill. He had three older sisters and three older brothers: Esther Roize, Chana, Suri, Moshe, Israel, and Hershy (Herman) and a younger brother Lipa. Vonihovo fell under Hungarian rule early in the war. Though the Hungarians imposed many antisemitic restrictions and Israel was conscripted for slave labor, the Ganz family only felt the full effects of the Holocaust following Germany's seizure of power in March 1944. Soon afterwards, they were sent to a ghetto in Satu Mare (Satmar), and in June they were deported to Auschwitz. Only three of Nisen's siblings were spared deportation. Moshe and Suri hid in Budapest under false Christain papers, and Israel escaped from a slave labor camp in Hungary. Chana also tried to escape but was captured and shot while trying to flee from the train to Auschwitz. After arriving at Auschwitz, Nisen and Hershy were selected for slave labor. His parents and younger brother Lipa were killed immediately. Nisen and Hershy were transferred first to Mauthausen and then to the Melk and Ebensee sub-camps from where they were liberated on May 6, 1945 by American soldiers. Nisen and Hershy remained in Ebensee for approximately six weeks for recuperation. Afterwards they traveled to Brno, Czechoslovakia and Budapest to search for any surviving family members. There they managed to reunite with Moshe, Israel and Suri. The five siblings made it a priority to reestablish their fervent religious practices. Moshe, who now was now the head of the household, sent Nisen to the yeshiva in Kosice. In 1947 they went to Paris where Nisen's oldest brother married, and Nisen continued his yeshiva studies there. Moshe eventually was able to come to America and sent for his sister and her husband. Nisen and Hershy followed with the Yeshiva in 1950 and lived with Suri and her husband until they too married and established their own households. Israel immigrated to Brazil. In January 1957 Nisen met Eva Weiss Friedman, a Hungarian child survivor. Within a few months they married and settled in New York. They have two sons, Moshe Tovia and Shulem Yeshua.
