Klára Koch

    Cemetery in Érmihályfalva, today Valea Lui Mihai in Romania Klára, whose real name is Karola Koch, was born in 1913.

Her name, Koch, Germanic-sounding, probably explains her deportation.

Her husband, Árpád Kurta, 1901-1985, was a funeral director in Érmihályfalva, today Valea Lui Mihai in Romania, which was founded by his father.

Klára's son, Géza, was born in 1947, just after her return from deportation. He died in 1988.

The couple had another child, László, born in 1949.

Klára died in 1989.

This information comes from an article published on the website of   Érmihályfalva City,  in Hungarian, about the Kurta family.

For those who do not read Hungarian, here is a translation of some of the article mentioned above.

An extract from an article written by Kovács Rozália, local historian, September 19, 2013:

Efficient and attentive service by the funeral directors

Kurta János is mentioned in our annual Érmihályfalva's news in 1934: "Kurta János funeral company in Valea lui Mihai, Efficient and attentive service."

After the death of his father, Kurta Árpád managed the company alone. He married Karola Koch (1913-1989) and the couple had two children: Géza (1947-1988) and Laszlo (1949). The company had two hearses and workers who made coffins.

The communist regime made it very difficult for small businesses to survive. Everything was confiscated including the hearses and woodworking tools which made their existence near impossible. Everything was confiscated, hearses and even the latest woodworking tools used in the workshop. They had to survive a ridiculous retirement.

Crown paper flowers






My father Jozsef Kovács, who made wreaths from paraffin coated paper for the undertakers until the 1940s, before turning to natural flowers and straw flowers.

Kovács Rozália, historian