Campus News
April 22nd, 2025
Stone discusses Hungarian Holocaust
Retired physician brings family perspective to 2024-25 JCSL finale
Dr. Judy Stone, a retired Western Maryland physician, had a specific purpose in developing last Wednesday's Joan Crawford Lecture Series presentation about the Holocaust.
"I would like to put a human face on what the Holocaust was . . . and show what it did to people in hopes of preventing this from ever happening again," said Stone, whose parents both survived time in German concentration camps.
Stone observed that while Hungary's Holocaust exposure was relatively brief, it was nonetheless tragic.
"Hungarian Jews were relatively sheltered from the Holocaust until late in the war," said Stone, noting Germany's army didn't invade Hungary until March 1944. The results of that invasion, however, were quickly felt.
"The Nazis were trying hard to exterminate the Jews as quickly as possible," said Stone. "In just eight weeks, more than 400,000 Jews were deported from Hungary."
Stone said that two-thirds of the 800,000 Hungarian Jews didn't survive World War II.
"Fewer than 1-in-10 rural Hungarian Jews survived the Holocaust," Stone said. "I never realized until years later how remarkable our family experience was, with me growing up with aunts and uncles."
Stone said life for Hungarian Jews changed quickly once the German offensive started.
"German tanks roll in to Budapest and soon Jews had to wear yellow stars," said Stone. "Jewish stores were vandalized, people were beaten on the streets, and book burnings were common."
Stone said Jews were sent to live in ghettos "separating Jews from everyone else." They were "forced to share crowded flats with other families."
"There wasn't much food, and there was poor sanitation," said Stone, noting young men were not commonly seen as "they were in forced labor units."
Eventually, according to Stone, Jews were sent to brickyards near railways for transportation to concentration camps.
"They were exposed to sun, wind, and rain without shelter for days," Stone said of the brickyards. "Valuables were stolen by soldiers. The people were put in cattle cars, 100 people in each box car stand, with little water and no food. They were kept in cars for 4-5 days."
Stone noted that her cousin, Mari, was likely saved by chance.
"Her train was detoured since railways had been bombed by the Allies," said Stone, adding, "That detour saved lives." Mari later learned "that all the kids who were on the trains that went to Auschwitz were killed upon arrival."
Even after the war ended, it took nearly a decade for her cousin to be reunited with her immediate family. While Mari was able to emigrate to the United States with her grandmother in 1948 – after waiting three years for a visa – her parents didn't reach the US until 1958.
While Stone is grateful that a disproportionate number of her family survived the Holocaust, she noted that "the trauma of the Holocaust never leaves you."
"My grandfather was murdered on arrival at Auschwitz," Stone said. "I really didn't understand the concept of having [living] grandparents. I was really glad my children were able to know some of theirs."
Stone said her mother's response to the Holocaust could be capture by four key concepts:
- Kindness is a form of resistance, and is being brave;
- Don't be a bystander; stand up to injustice;
- Vote and work to make good changes; and
- Read.
Stone is the author of her survivor family's memoir, Resilience. She is a former columnist for Scientific American, and the author of a nationally recognized textbook, Conducting Clinical Research.
Stone spent 25 years in solo practice in Cumberland and then cared for patients part-time until 2020. Since retiring, she's launched a free weekly infectious disease newsletter (drjudystone.com) and continues to lecture on the Holocaust.
The Joan Crawford Lecture Series honors dynamic educator Joan R. Crawford, who died in 2010 after serving the Garrett College community for 30 years in a variety of faculty and staff roles.
For more information about the Joan Crawford Lecture Series, contact Stephanie Miller at stephanie.miller@garrettcollege.edu.
