Stepen Kornreich: An Architect in Palestine (1930s)
Stephen Kornreich (1912-1989) entered the world in Munkács, Hungary (present-day Mukacheve, Ukraine), the son of Ignatz Kornreich (1880-1944) and Sheindl Schoenfeld (1884-1916). Tragically, Stephen’s mother passed away while giving birth to his sixth sibling, who also did not survive. Following this loss, Ignatz married Blanka Kellermann (1895-1944) in 1921, and together they welcomed two more children into their family.
The linguistic atmosphere within their household evolved: Hungarian was predominantly spoken during Sheindl’s lifetime, transitioning to Yiddish after Ignatz’s marriage to Blanka. Ignatz sustained the family through his business pursuits.
Stephen studied architecture at a school in Bodenbach, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). In 1933, he traveled to Palestine on a six-week visa but chose to remain there, working as an architect, initially in Tel Aviv and later in Jerusalem. He immigrated to the United States in February 1939 aboard the RMS Queen Mary. Stepen Kornreich Architect Palestine
Settling in New York, he pursued a career as an architect and subsequently joined the United States Army Air Corps in 1942. During his service, he was stationed in the Pacific Theatre, including in New Guinea, Australia, and the Philippines. In 1943, he married Lisbeth Modley, a Jewish refugee from Austria, and they had two daughters after the war. Stephen was discharged from the military in December 1945 and resumed his architectural career in New York. They relocated to Maryland in 1951.
Stephen attempted to persuade his family to leave Europe, but they ultimately stayed in Munkács. His father, stepmother, two half-brothers (Andor and Miklos), brother Joska and Joska’s wife Piri (née Moskovics) and their son George (1939-1944), brother Bela, sister Sula, her husband Ernest Rosenfeld, and their son Norbert (1935-1944), and sister Blanka, her husband Tibor Ney (1906-1991), and their son Tomas (1937-1944) were all deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Among them, only Joska, Bela, and Tibor Ney survived. Stephen and Lisbeth supported Joska and Bela’s immigration to the United States. Upon arrival in the U.S., Joska and Bela changed their names to Joseph Korda and Bert Korda, respectively. Stepen Kornreich Architect Palestine
Stephen’s sibling, Benedict, resided in Prague at the outbreak of World War II. He relocated to Budapest, Hungary, in December 1942. The following year, he was compelled into forced labor in Košice and various other places. Subsequently, he escaped from the labor battalion and enlisted in the Russian Army, returning to Hungary with them. Following the war, he married a Czech woman of non-Jewish descent, and they resided in Prague until June 1968, when they departed for Edmonton, Canada. He adopted the name Beno Korda during this period.
The Documents Stepen Kornreich Architect Palestine
Identity and Travelling Document (according Geneva conference, 26 September 1927). Issued in December 1938. US immigration ID card from December 1938 and Czech Republic passport 1938. All documents were issued in Jerusalem.
An unusual Czechoslovak passport for a courier
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