©Michael Bruder (2015) Sammlung Gedenkstätte Buchenwald
László (Vasile) Nussbaum was born into a Jewish family. He attended school and cheder in Turda. Fearing the fascist "Iron Guard" in Romania, his family moved to Hungary in 1940. When the Germans occupied the country in 1944, the family had to move to the Kassa ghetto. From there the Nussbaums were deported to Auschwitz.
On arrival at the camp, the family was separated. His parents and brother were murdered there. László was sent to Niederorschel, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp in Eichsfeld, in October 1944. There he had to do forced labour in the armaments industry. After the camp was evacuated by the SS on 1 April 1945, he was driven to Buchenwald. He reached the main camp on 10 April 1945, one day before the liberation.
After the end of the war, he returned to his hometown Turda. There he lived with his aunt and uncle, caught up on his schooling and studied. Because of a critical article about the suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956, he lost his job as a university lecturer and became a librarian in the university library.
Vasile Nussbaum lived in Cluj-Napoca until his death on 26 August 2023 and was active in the Jewish community. As late as April 2023, he took part in the commemorative events marking the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp in Weimar. On 23 June 2023, the city of Weimar awarded him honorary citizenship.
