A Tapestry of Survival
Twelve-year-old Leslie Mezei, a lively, curious boy, doesn’t realize how precarious his life is as a Jew in German-occupied Hungary in 1944. His older sister Magda, aware of the growing danger from Nazis and Hungarian fascists, takes charge and bravely tries to direct the family’s survival, while his sister Klari, tough and determined, faces a brutal ordeal of her own. Confronting deportation, concentration camps and the constant threat of capture, the Mezei siblings carefully navigate the treacherous landscape of wartime Hungary. After the war, the family reunites briefly before setting out in different directions to start new lives, and in Montreal, Leslie meets his wife, Annie, who has a survival story of her own. In A Tapestry of Survival the voices of Leslie, Magda, Klari and Annie are woven together to reveal a larger tale of courage, resilience and the search for healing.
Introduction by Borbala Klacsmann
- At a Glance
- Hungary; Poland
- Hiding
- Passing/false identity
- Arrow Cross regime
- Siege of Budapest
- Ravensbrück concentration camp
- Forced labour camp
- Postwar Germany, displaced persons camp
- Arrived in Canada in 1948
- Adjusting to life in Canada
- Educational materials available: Leslie Mezei Activity
- Seeking Refuge
192 pages, including index
- Recommended Ages
- 14+
- Language
- English
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About the author
Leslie Mezei was born in 1931, in Gödöllő, Hungary. In 1948 Leslie arrived in Canada, where he eventually became a professor at the University of Toronto. An early pioneer in the field of computer art, Leslie also developed two new graphic programming languages. Leslie lives in Toronto, where he is very involved in an interfaith and interspiritual movement.
There were many close calls, and I think it took quick thinking and miraculous escapes to survive those times, as well as a strong will to live.