John Furedi - 29 Jul. 1976 | Ontario Jewish Archives

Subject: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Immigrants--Canada; Farmers; Communities; Synagogues

Conservation: Copied to cassette in August 2003; Copied to digital file in December 2013

Use Restrictions: Copyright is held by the Ontario Jewish Archives. Please contact the archives to obtain permission prior to use.

Biography: John Furedi was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1925. During the Second World War, John was drafted into the Hungarian Labour Service System (Munkaszolgalat). After the Nazi occupation of Hungary in March 1944, John was deported to the Kistarcsa transit camp. Between 1945 and 1948, John travelled throughout Europe and returned to Budapest during the takeover of Hungary by the Communists. The revolution and anti-Jewish sentiment forced many Jews, including John and his wife Stephanie, to flee Hungary. In 1956, they immigrated to Canada and lived in Montreal for one year. In 1958, with the aid of a six-thousand-dollar loan provided by the Jewish Colonization Association, John became the first Jewish chicken farmer to settle in Beamsville, Ontario. John went on to become an active member of Beamsville's Jewish community and participated in the establishment of the community’s first congregation in 1966.

Transcript: G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 78 - Furedi\OH78_001_Log.pdf; G:\Description\Oral Histories\OH 78 - Furedi\OH78_002_Log.pdf

John Furedi - 29 Jul. 1976