Liza's Story Part 1

The first episode you will learn some interesting facts on Liza"s birth, such as, how many sets of twins preceded Liza in the sibling line and where the last name Szántó is surprisingly originate. The story begins in the Vekerle estate in Budapest at the beginning of the 20th century.

Mrs.Kindelmann - Elisabeth Julie Szanto  was born on 6 June 1913 in Kispest. Her parents were Joseph Szántó and Elisabeth Julie Mészáros.The mother was the 13th child of the "only" Erzsébet, born in the sixth birth of twins. The newborn was very thin, so she was baptised on St. Anthony's Day, 15 June, in the St. Rudolf's Church in Kispest, built in 1905 (which, with papal permission, became a parish of the Assumption of Our Lady in 1955, see below). His family called the baby, Liza. Throughout her life, Elizabeth considered the date of her baptism her real birthday. She was brought up on her mother's milk until the age of 3, but the first time her mother refused her, she went into a corner in tears and, in her "infinite sadness", looked at the glass wall clock and saw a dove shining in brightness on the face of the clock. The paternal ancestors were Italian craftsmen who had immigrated centuries earlier, their original name was Santo, from which the Szántó family name was derived.

Initially they had acquired an estate near Paks, but for unknown reasons they became poor. It is not known whether they had to leave their homeland because they were Protestants or whether they only converted in Hungary, but the Szántó grandfather was already a Reformed deacon and such a "stubborn Calvinist" that he disowned his own cantor teacher son, Joseph (Elizabeth's father), for marrying a Catholic girl! So Liza and her siblings were never allowed to see their Reformed grandparents.József Szántó, six feet tall, was always a well-dressed, straight man. With a degree in printing and cantor training, he was forced to work as a labourer alongside bricklayers to support his family. Eventually, however, he managed to get a job in his trade, in a printing factory. A large family of fifteen, financially well-balanced, lived in exemplary love and peace.