Susan Lederman (née Sturc)
Susan (Zuzka) Sturcova, age 3.
Introduction
Susan Lederman was born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, to Ilonka and Ludovit Sturc in 1937. Her family lived a cosmopolitan life in the city. While they thought of emigrating, the dangers had not yet reached the country, and it was difficult to get to the United States because of immigration quotas.
The Munich Agreement in 1938 allowed Germany to annex a significant portion of Czechoslovakia, splitting the country into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Slovakia was declared an independent state, but it became a protectorate of Germany, ruled by Nazis and collaborators. In 1941, Nazi race laws went into effect, removing Jewish children from schools, and Jewish businesses were "Aryanized." All Jews over 6 were required to wear a yellow star and surrender their belongings.
During 1942-1943, Susan was baptized at a Lutheran Church in Trnava, hoping that it would protect her. Later, Susan's father took her to Hungary for safety, but changed his mind, and they returned to Bratislava. Ludovit’s wise decision to return Susan to Bratislava proved true as Hungary began deportations to Auschwitz-Birkenau on May 15, 1944.
In the summer of 1944, the Jagos family hid Susan in their rented village house in Siladice. Later, she returned to Bratislava because villagers were suspicious after hearing her give directions in German to Nazi soldiers passing through the area. Even though she wanted to remain with her parents, she hid at the Palls' home until the war's end and passed as their niece because she could speak Hungarian. Her parents hid in a bombed-out factory in Bratislava and later in an apartment room. They managed to visit Susan a few times during the war, but she had to pretend not to know them.
In 1945, Allied bombers targeted Slovakia, with heavy air raids focused on Bratislava. On February 10, 1947, Slovakia signed the Paris Peace Treaties and merged again with the Czech Republic until 1992. The Sturc family received visitor visas to the United States, and they stayed with family in Bayonne, New Jersey. They became “resident aliens” after the authorization of The Displaced Persons Act of 1948.
Ilonka and Ludovit Sturc pictured together in 1938. Ludovit owned a print shop, which made the family exempt from deportation. However, in 1941, his business was "Aryanized."
The Reich Family (maternal side) circa 1920. Susan's mother, Ilonka, is pictured standing in a white dress (right).
Photographs of Susan (Zuzka) Sturcova at the age of 3.
Pre-Munich Pact (1938) map of Czechoslovakia in 1933.
The interior and exterior of the Lutheran Church in Trnava, Slovakia, where Susan was taken to be baptized in 1943. The family hoped baptism would protect her from the Nazis and their collaborators. She also received baptismal papers as evidence of her membership in the Lutheran Church.
Susan received this hymnal with an image of Jesus Christ. She carried the book to "hide in plain sight." She does not recall when she wrote her name on the interior cover.
Learn more about Susan's experiences from her recorded testimony here.
After German and Slovak pressures, the country became Czech-Slovakia in 1938 after the Munich Pact, meaning the government surrendered its border and defenses to Nazi Germany. On March 15, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Czech provinces under the authority of Reinhard Heydrich. After Heydrich's assassination in 1942, it briefly came under the rule of Order Police chief Kurt Daluege and then Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick. Slovakia became an independent state under the leadership of Catholic priest Jozef Tiso, who established a fascist, one-party dictatorship. Strongly influenced by the separatist Catholic clerical hierarchy, he closely allied with Nazi Germany. The regime remained until April 1945.
A photograph of Wilma and Pavol Jagos, who hid Susan in the Summer of 1944 in Siladice, Czechoslovakia. They inscribed the postcard to Susan and Peter Lederman in 1964.
Susan and her mother holding hands in July 1945, and her parents, Ilonka and Ludovit, together in 1945.
Family portrait of Susan and Peter Lederman.