I wanted to get a dog. Our
home had been burglarized, and we needed protection. I learned of a woman who
raised Dobermans and went to see her. Her name was Mary Engel, and her bitch had
just whelped so she had some puppies. Mary sold me a puppy, and when I brought her
home, I named her Heidi. As she grew, Heidi proved to be an excellent guard dog
and my close companion.
During the 12 years Heidi
lived with us, Connie and I occasionally encountered Mary at social occasions
or cultural events. She was a psychology professor at City College, approaching
retirement, and introduced us to some of her friends. One or two of these
friends told me of Mary’s unusual background.
Mary was born in Budapest
to a wealthy Jewish family. She was named Marika, Hungarian for Mary. Her
mother was a socialite and largely neglected her. Mary’s father was an American
who distributed films in Hungary. Mary attended Catholic school and endured
virulent anti-Semitism. When Mary was fourteen, her mother committed suicide
and not long after, her father died of a heart attack.
With the onset of the
Holocaust, Mary lived with friends, one of whom could forge documents. To avoid
starvation, the girls sold those documents, which Mary distributed to Jews
escaping the death camps. Captured and arrested by the Hungarian Nazis, Mary
was condemned to death only to be rescued at the last minute by the invading
Russian army.
At sixteen Mary immigrated
to New York and lived with an Uncle. She attended college, majored in
psychology, and eventually earned her doctorate. She became the second woman professor
at Harvard University and was appointed to an important government position. In
these years, Mary had several unhappy marriages.
On a visit to Hungary,
Mary found an old friend who had loved her, brought him back to America where
they soon married. Unfortunately, Mary became ill and died only a few weeks
later. Dismayed by her tragic death, I decided to write Mary’s story, a
partially fictionalized biography called Marika. I hope that some of you will
read more about the book on my website.
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