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Today, I am interviewing a woman who had known about a dark family secret for decades, but received a surprise after her parents’ house caught fire when she neared 60 . That secret changed her life.
When Linda Ambrus Broenniman was 27, she discovered her family was far different from the idyllic Catholic roots she had grown up believing to be true. She found out her father was actually Jewish. In fact, his family had fled from Hungary after World War II. For some reason, nobody wanted to talk about the family secret.
Around the time Linda had retired in 2011, her parent’s home had caught on fire and nearly everything had been destroyed, except for one box of mementos. Linda’s sister had held onto the box for another five years, and gave it to her after Linda expressed interest in learning more about her family roots.
In the box, Linda found documents, handwritten letters and photos of people she had never seen or even known about. The collection also contained a notebook titled “Family History.” The discovery piqued her interest in learning more about her roots. However, there was a problem, everything was written in Hungarian.
It must have been a God-thing for Linda to discover a Hungarian-speaking woman who lived about 30 minutes from her home. The woman read a few documents and surprised Linda by telling her they were very important historical records, which needed further research by someone in Hungary.
As pieces of the puzzle became more clear, Linda learned why her father didn’t want to talk about his former life.
Her father had escaped from a Nazi labor camp several times before making it back to Budapest, where Linda’s mother and grandmother had been hiding Jews from the Nazis.
It was a stunning act of bravery for that era that eventually saw her mother immortalized on the Wall of Honor at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem as being Righteous Among the Nations. Her mother is listed alongside other notable people, like Oskar Schindler.
Even though Linda’s father had converted to Catholicism, it wasn’t enough for the Germans who pursued him because of his Jewish background. After the war, Linda’s parents came to America to start a new life, and her grandmothers came to live with them after the 1956 Hungarian revolution. Yet, they didn’t mention any family history either because of the brutal impact of the war.
Linda’s father was still alive when she received the box, but nobody wanted to revisit the pain of that experience on him in his old age.
Fortunately, Linda was able to learn enough Hungarian on her own that she returned to the homeland to do more research. There, she reconnected with her long-lost extended family.
The treasure Linda discovered in the box of mementos recovered after a fire was actually the only link to people whose lives had been erased by the Nazis. They were missing pieces of a puzzle for which researchers in Hungary had been searching years to uncover.
The experience prompted Linda to write about her family history in a book of her own titled, “The Politzer Saga.” It details the lives of widely unknown upper-middle class Jewish families going back eight generations to the 1700s.
One of her great grandfathers is considered the Father of Otology for his work in studying problems with the ear. In fact, he was credited with treating the emperor of Australia, czar of Russia and king of Belgium.
Of all the lessons Linda learned in uncovering her family history, the need for sharing these type of stories is essential. Trauma, like what her father experienced, worked to change Linda’s life in ways that weren’t clear until she was nearly 60.
I really appreciate Linda for sharing her story, and inspiring others to look into their family histories as well.
People can connect with Linda on her website at www.politzersaga.com. Her book, “The Politzer Saga,” is available on Amazon and other bookstores.
That’s all I have for this week’s show. If you’d like help in identifying a purpose for your life or to get help planning your next steps, I’m offering a complimentary brainstorming session to members of the Forward From 50 Facebook community. For details, connect with me on Facebook or visit www.forwardfrom50.com.
I’ll have another inspirational interview on the next episode of the Forward From 50 podcast. Thanks for listening. If you like this show, please consider leaving a review wherever you download the episodes.
If you buy Linda’s book from the link above, Forward From 50 may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.