Elizabeth Brown (z”l)

December 13, 1918 – December 20, 2016
Birthplace: Ostoroos, Hungary
Religious Identity: Jewish
“All the way with this experience, I had the courage, I had the feeling…I will survive”
Elizabeth Brown (z”l) was in her twenties when the Nazis came to power and her life was changed forever. She lived in Hungary before she was taken to Auschwitz with her family. Elizabeth would never see her mother, father, sister, or her sister’s child again, but she always held on to the hope that someone in her family would survive. Her hope was never realized. She is mentioned in the book Hitler’s Willing Executioners, in which author Daniel Goldhagen comments on her particular condition at liberation. Her physical state was so terrible that her liberators said she would not survive. Against all odds, she did. After the war, she returned to Hungary where she married her husband, Paul, and gave birth to their son, Peter Joseph. They went to France and waited for two years to receive immigration papers to the U.S. Only after Elizabeth wrote to President Truman directly did the family’s papers arrive.
“I always used to walk past a crossing guard with a nice uniform and friendly face and, with the children, and I was so yearning to do that. So one day I got enough courage to stop and ask her how I could get this job, and she asked me if I was a Democrat, and I said, “Yes, I am Democrat!” She said, “That’s one good point for you.” She gave me
the address of a city office building and the name of an administrator and that’s how it began. A Jewish man looked at me and said, “You would look alright in the uniform.” He hired me and that was it. I worked as a crossing guard for 27 years, and I loved it.”
-Biography adapted from “In Celebration of Life: The Living Legacy Project” (2016)
Elizabeth’s granddaughter, Alison Karabin, is now a Generations Speaker at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. She will be telling her grandmother’s story on March 12, 2025 at Chatham University.
Elizabeth Brown’s obituary | Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle