Perhaps the safest place for a European Jew to have been living in during WWII was, ironically enough, under Axis-aligned powers.
While all of Hitler's allies enjoyed their share of antisemitic legislation and persecution, none were as dedicated as the Germans. #YomHaShoah

(With the exception of the Croatian Ustase, but those monsters are not the subject of this thread)

This is why the Jews of Romania went largely unscathed (with the the exception of Transylvania which was "awarded back" to Hungary by Hitler in exchange for Odessa) and why the Jews of Bulgaria were protected for the most part.

This was also the case in Italy and in Hungary, but that all changed when the winds of war began blowing against Germany.

In February 1943, the Axis lost the Battle of Stalingrad. Hundreds of thousands of Italian, Romanian and Hungarian soldiers died in that hellscape, and the loss marked the beginning of the Soviet advance, which would not stop until the war's end.

The Axis have lost Africa, have lost on the Eastern Front and now the Allies turned their eyes to Italy. Italy surrendered, ousting and imprisoning Mussolini, but thanks to German intelligence, the Nazis were able to conquer Italy before the Allies could march in.

Romania, too, surrendered, but were safe from German sabotage due to the proximity of the USSR.

This left Hungary alone alongside the losing Nazis. Hungarian regent Miklos Horthy began what he thought was secret correspondence with the Allies. Again, German intelligence proved invaluable, and Miklos Horthy was summoned abroad under false pretense to meet with Hitler.

While Horthy was away, the Nazis were able to quickly assume control of Hungary. Horthy was allowed to return to his post, but the Nazis made it very clear that Hungary was actually theirs.
It was then that the mass transports of Hungarian Jews began.

This was all a historical prelude for my story. In all earnestness, I do not know how much of these grand happenings my grandparents knew.

My grandparents grew up neighbors in Eastern Hungary, at the intersection of Hungary with Romania and Ukraine. To hear my father tell it, they knew each other, were attracted to one another, and, if not for the twisting ways of fate, might have even married.

Instead, my grandfather wed Margit and they had three daughters, Ibolya, Agnes and Eva.
My grandfather's Holocaust actually began before the Nazi occupation of Hungary. In 1942, he was conscripted alongside many other Jewish males to do slave labor in the Eastern Front.

Many of the Jewish laborers in Russia did not live long enough to die in Auschwitz, and my grandfather barely survived it, himself. At some point he contracted typhus and was taken, alongside other sick Jewish laborers to an "infirmary".

In truth, the infirmary was more like a large warehouse where all of the sick were locked, left to die. When the doors finally opened, those who survived were loaded on trucks to go back to work, while those that died were burned unceremoniously.

At another point, while clearing snow from a road, my grandfather apparently drifted to sleep, which in that weather might have meant death from hypothermia. "Thankfully", he was given a rude awakening when the tip of his toe was crushed by a passing vehicle.

He spent the rest of his time in the Eastern Front drifting from one infirmary to another, until he could work at a less physically-exerting job and one he was actually skilled at- tailoring. But it was the beginning of 1944 and a retreat was called.

My grandfather returned home for the first time in a year and a half, a sweet reunion with his wife and daughters that would not last long.
The Germans have invaded their allies.

All five of them were taken to Kisvarda Ghetto, and from there it was a train directly to Auschwitz II- Birkenau. Margit, Ibolya, Agnes and Eva were selected for immediate extermination.

My grandfather, who despite his injury and the ravages of typhus was still a stout, broad-shouldered man, was taken again to do forced labor outside the camp proper. After a while he managed to get a better posting in the camp, again using his skills as a tailor.

My grandfather was around 100 kgs (220 lbs) healthy. By the time Auschwitz was liberated, he was about 40 kgs (90 lbs). When he finally returned to his empty home, he was told that my grandmother survived. There was no one left to disapprove of their union.

Now, my grandfather did not come from a wealthy house by any means, but my grandmother was *poor*. She had five siblings and spent most of her childhood taking care of the younger ones. Of those siblings, only one brother (and the son of a sister) would survive besides her.

In those days, school was mandatory only until the 4th grade, and because of their financial straits, none of the children in my grandmother's house got to go to high school, which was also the case with my grandmother who excelled at school and wanted nothing more than to learn.

After she was taken out of school she was immediately put to work, and that was the only life she knew until the spring of 1944. As was with my grandfather, her family was rounded up and taken to Kisvarda Ghetto, and from there loaded onto freight trains like cattle to Auschwitz.

She says that when they arrived at the selection, surrounded by armed soldiers and shaven prisoners she cast a furtive glance back and saw her father, a WWI veteran who fought in the Austro-Hungarian army, seeking the rest of the family frantically, only to get struck down.

She cried out and tried to go to him but was, too, hit. One of the inmates at the platform told her in Yiddish to stay in her lane and not dare to move to the other queue. That was the last she saw of her parents and sisters.