Robert Vermes

Born: Unknown 1924, Bratislava (Topocany), Czechoslovakia

Robert Vermes grew up surrounded by the arts. His father was a photographer and his mother was an opera singer. In 1942, members of the Slovakian fascist Hlinka Guard rounded up the Jewish men in his town. Robert and his father were sent to Majdanek, a concentration camp where they were killed. Like many others who died at the hands of the Nazis, little is known about Robert's time at Madjanek and his last days. This photo is the last portrait taken of him before he was deported to the camp.

Two months later, the Hlinka Guard came back for the Jewish women, including Robert's mother and his little sister, Erika. One of the guards knew Robert's father so he allowed the women of the Vermes family to escape. They sealed their home and fled into Hungary. Erika's mother went to work, and Erika was sent to a Jewish orphanage for girls, where she stayed until 1944.

But when another fascist group, the Hungarian Arrow Cross came along, Erika was captured along with other Jewish people in Budapest. They were taken to be shot along the banks of the Danube River. Somehow, Erika was able to slip away.

After liberation, Erika was reunited with her mother by chance on the streets of Budapest. Erika eventually immigrated to the United States, where she married and became an interpreter for Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. She donated this photograph of her brother to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.