Ernest Dombi

Ernest's father, František, was a professional musician who toured with a band and was often away for several months at a time. At home in Teplice-Šanov, a town in the Sudetenland on the Czechoslovak side of the Czechoslovak-German border, Ernest's mother Emilie took care of Ernest and Elizabeth (born 1927), his younger sister. Emilie also cared for the children's invalid grandmother, Friedericke, until she died in 1940 of natural causes. Ernest's maternal uncles, Rudolf and Viktor, helped the family.

1933-39: In October 1938, Nazi Germany occupied the Sudetenland in accordance with the Munich Agreement. A few days before the occupation, Ernest's family fled to Prague where another one of his uncles lived. They were in Prague for only five months when the Germans occupied the city in March 1939.

1940-44: By September 1941 German authorities began to impose anti-Jewish measures in German-occupied Prague. This included requiring Jews above the age of 6 to wear the yellow Star of David badge beginning in September 1941. In October 1941, German authorities deported Ernest’s uncle Rudolf and his family were deported to the Łódź ghetto. In September 1942, Ernest and his sister were sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto northwest of Prague. They remained imprisoned there until October 1944, when Ernest and Elizabeth were deported to Auschwitz. From Auschwitz, Ernest was transported to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp and then to Friedland, a subcamp of Gross-Rosen. There Ernest had to perform forced labor for the German war effort.

The Soviet Army liberated the Friedland camp on May 9, 1945. Ernest survived and lived for a time in the Deggendorf displaced persons camp. He reunited with his mother who had survived Theresienstadt. They immigrated to the United States in July 1946. Ernest served in the US Army and fought in the Korean War. He went on to work for the United States Post Office. He died in 2003.

Ernest’s sister Elizabeth did not survive nor did his uncles. His father’s fate is unknown.