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1928 als dritter von vier Söhnen ungarischer Juden in Cluj, Rumänien, geboren. Der Vater Josef war ein anerkannter Uhrmacher und Goldschmied, auch die Söhne waren künstlerisch und musikalisch begabt. 1940 fiel Cluj (ungar. Kolozsvár) an Ungarn, im März 1944 begann für Benjamin der Zweite Weltkrieg: Sein ältester Bruder Armand wurde in die ungarische Armee eingezogen und die übrige Familie von der ungarischen Polizei verhaftet.
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Benjamin Grünfeld, the third of four sons of Hungarian Jews, was born on May 6, 1928, in Cluj, Romania. His father, Josef, was a recognized watchmaker and goldsmith, and the sons, too, were artistically and musically gifted. In 1940, Cluj (Hungar. Kolozsvár) fell to Hungary, and for Benjamin, World War II began in March 1944: His oldest brother, Armand, was inducted into the Hungarian army, and the remaining family members were arrested by the Hungarian police. After a few weeks in an interim camp, the entire family was deported to Auschwitz. They were separated at the ramp: the youngest brother, Sandor, and the parents were immediately sent to their deaths, while Herman and Benjamin were taken through Birkenau to the Buna/Monowitz concentration camp. Initially deployed in the cementdetachment, they had to do extremely heavy labor until Herman managed to join the goldsmiths, and Benjamin, through his intercession, was transferred to “Kommando 26” as camp bookkeeper and a designer of greeting cards.
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