Avraham Brown was born in Debrecen, Hungary in the late 1930s. Avi was raised by two loving parents alongside two older brothers, one 10 years older and the other 15 years older than Avi.
As Nazis invaded European neighbors, Debrecen transformed into a Ghetto. Avi’s home became filled with outside families as a fence went up around his neighborhood.
One early morning, police and soldiers with rifles awakened the Brown family and ordered all members outside immediately. Avi and his family were loaded onto crowded German military trucks and brought to train tracks. After waiting outside for two days, it was announced that all of the Jews would be fit into three different trains.
Nazis told the displaced crowd the 1st train would head to ‘Switzerland,’ and the 2nd train and 3rd trains would fit those left over. Nazis encouraged leaders and those of high status within the ghetto encampment to speak up and take their places on the 1st train. Avi’s mother told his father to speak up, as a local Jewish leader, but his father insisted that “we will go wherever our fate will lead us.” The 1st train headed directly to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, with all onboard killed as victims of the gas chambers.
Avi’s family was forced onto the 2nd train, which was intended to follow the same route as the 1st train. American planes bombing railroads across Hungary hit Avi’s train and derailed it from its path. Instead of arriving at Auschwitz, the Brown family entered Theresienstadt, a concentration camp near Prague and Czechoslovakia.
War-torn nations in Europe lacked infrastructure as roads degraded to rubble with trash, debris and dead bodies left in the open. Prisoners in Theresienstadt were drafted to join work detachments, Avi’s family members among those chosen. Avi, however, was a young boy. By standing on top of his father’s tall boots and under his father’s coat during selections to these labor groups, Avi went undetected.
His family moved through Austria, even back to Hungary at times, as Jews were under the direction of Nazis to clean city streets and restore structure to cities overtaken by German forces. Avi lended support by helping rake snow for a farmer and taking on other manual labor tasks. In Austria, Avi wheeled a cart to Laxenburg castles each morning and delivered pastries to Nazi recreation centers.
The Brown family slept in tight quarters in horse stables throughout intense work detail. Avi’s parents and brothers received small portions of bread and raw potato scraps as they worked, and his parents provided Avi half of their portions at each opportunity for food.
As the Russians were liberating Avi and his family members, Avi remembers them tearing the yellow star patch from his chest and stepping on it. Out of natural response, Avi bent down and grabbed the star off the ground, reaching to put it back on his chest. Following liberation, Avi and his family spent multiple months walking from Austria back to Hungary.
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As the Zionist movement was taking off, Avi and his family were able to move to Israel following the end of the war. Arriving in Israel as a young teenager, Avi was warmly welcomed into the country he began school for the first time. He spoke Hungarian, German, and Yiddish, eventually learning Hebrew, along with English, French and Italian. Avi learned alongside peers years younger than him as he caught up in school, eventually becoming an academic himself.
Avi had his Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem where his mother made him a cake, and in Avi’s words, “it was the best and only Bar Mitzvah [he] will ever have.” Avi could not remember a singular word of Hebrew during his Bar Mitzvah, he said, but he recalls being extremely emotional as he celebrated becoming a Jewish man in front of his closest family members and a minyan of Israelis.
After living in Israel, Avi moved to Canada then to the United States. He was a jeweler in New York shortly before his appointment as a professor of economics for undergraduate students.
Currently, Avi lives in Denver, Colorado where he lives with his wife of 50+ years, Corinne Brown. Here, they gave birth to their son Ilan who also still lives in Colorado with a child of his own. Avi and Corinne live in a beautiful home where they are constantly surrounded by nature and get frequent visitors such as foxes and birds in their backyard. Avi and Corinne share their home with a German Shepherd named Ziggy who they love and care for dearly.
Avi has been working in the furniture retail business for the past forty five years. Currently, himself, Corinne, and their friends, Gail and Tony run their own modern furniture store called Zoli furniture out of Denver. Avi in particular works incredibly hard on his business and enjoys coordinating with Italian manufacturers when doing business for Zoli.