Visiting Otto Klein in Geneva

Mom, Tibor, and I took a train from Metz to Geneva yesterday, a beautiful six-hour ride through the Vosges Mountains, the Alsatian plains and the shores of Lake Geneva. Our main purpose was to visit Otto Klein, the brother of Tibor's late wife, Agnes, and Mom's second cousin. Otto and his late twin brother, Ferenc, survived the terrors of Mengele in Auschwitz, but Otto wasn't able to come to the United States because he contracted tuberculosis in the camp. He spent four years in Davos recovering and has spent most of his life in Geneva.

Otto hasn't been in the best of health. He had a stroke about four years ago, and recently spent three months in the hospital recovering from a broken ankle. He is so fortunate to have the support of Lydia, his companion of many years, who has helped him get through this latest setback. We visited with them this morning and went to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

You can see the Schwartz family resemblance...

When we returned to Otto and Lydia's apartment, we said our goodbyes and Lydia walked us to the tram stop nearby. We ventured into the center of Geneva, walked by the lakeshore, and took an hour-long cruise on the lake before we returned to the hotel.