Marian Bensimon was born in Czechoslovakia; she was 6 years old in 1942 when her family moved to Budapest, Hungary. Marian’s parents sensed the danger on the way; her father was taken to a labour camp and the family placed in a ghetto, so Marian’s mother arranged to have her daughters taken to a convent, where they were hidden for the war years. Marian and her immediate family were extremely fortunate; all survived the war, including her father, who eventually returned from the labour camp. They rebuilt their lives in postwar Hungary, knowing that most of her extended family had been murdered in the camps. They also learned to survive the rigours of communist rule, and when the 1956 Hungarian Revolution came, Marian decided that she had to leave. She bravely made her way to Austria, and from there she came on her own to Canada, learning her way in the new city of Toronto. Like so many other refugees, she worked hard, taking jobs at Woolworth’s and Loblaw’s, and taking English classes. There she met her husband, and the two of them would build a family and life in their new homeland.
Marian Bensimon – a Crestwood grandparent – was interviewed at Baycrest’s Cafe Europa in February 2019 by Maggie Ma, Ellenoor Shameli, and Kian Torabi.
