Laszló Fritz

Person

Laszló Fritz

1911-2006

• Son of Adalbert Fritz and Irma Bienenstock
• Husband of Katharina Éles and Jutka Szebényi
• Father of Peter Fritz and Anne Fritz
• His grandmother was the head of the family (Bienenstock). Apu got to know her
  when they moved to Zám.
• The house in Zám included a big shop, warehouses, bakery, distillery and orchard,
  forests and many other things.14
  -Zám was on the river Maros. It was the trading centre for 11 villages and the
  surrounding forests. The main produce was walnuts, apples, plums, firewood.
  These were taken to Arad on rafts.
  -Their residence was behind the shop.
  -When he moved there with his brother (Sandor) and mother (Irma ne Bienenstock)
  his grandparents (Bienenstock) built a separate house for them.
  -Apu’s brother went to school in Déva, so he was left with his mother. Her brother
  was home during the summer.
  -In those days the shop counted as a very big concern. The peasants shopped on
  credit until the harvest was in, when they sold the wheat and pálinka.
  -Apu’s life was wonderful.
  -Apu’s mother was very ill after he was born, and was not able to nurse him properly.
  -He was a very sickly child, so was rather spoilt.
  T-here was also a copper mine in the area, where Italian prisoners of war worked.
  The mine was managed by Apu’s grandmother’s cousin. The mine’s engineer lived
  next door. He had a son called Pubi, because his wife was German. He was about
  2-3 years older than Apu. They were friends.
  -Apu’s grandmother had something wrong with her stomach, so they killed a small
  chicken every day and Apu got one leg for himself.
  -They were well to do and lived well. For example they imported oranges from Italy,
  not to sell, but just for the family. His grandmother took him with her to Visonta for a health cure.
  -When the revolution broke out on 4 November 1918, they took refuge in Arad. They
  took a furnished room in an old house. His father was not back from the war yet. His
  grandparents lived somewhere else.
  -Apu said they had not a care in the world and their life was beautiful, they had a
  great social life.
  -Apu learned to play the piano, he started when he was 9, when he was 13 he got a
  middle ear infection. He loved music, in school was the second best accompanist
  on the piano – the one who was best later became a famous pianist and went to live
  in Sweden. Apu also learnt to play the flute and played in the orchestra. He played
  four handed on the piano with a friend who was 2 years older. Many young people
  came to know the symphonies at their home. Apu’s school friends came over on
  Sundays. Young teenagers, and they played music. They learned about Beethoven
  symphonies.
  -They were not very rich, but they always had enough to live comfortably. They had
  dances, costume balls,
  -Apu can still remember his grandmother dressed in a black dress with a white hand
  embroidered shawl.
  -The dining room and the sitting room was one big room.
  -They had two servants in the house, and when Apu’s mother went to the market
  one of them accompanied her to carry the basket.
  -Apu went with his mother to the dressmaker, who made their suits and dresses, and
  while his father was in his club, the two of them went to concerts.
  -This comfortable life ended when Apu’s brother went to Reichenberg to the textile
  institute. The value of the lei dropped against the Czech crown. They had to sell
  -Apu’s mother’s really big earrings and the Bösendorfer piano.
  -Apu was 21 years old when he noticed that the manager of the timber yard put
  sizable amounts of money in his pocket, (from contractors). When he started
  compulsory military service in 1933, the manager handed me 3,000.00 lei. At the 15 time my monthly salary was 200 lei. With this money I was able to bribe the military doctor, so I spent my military service in comfort.
  When Apu’s father retired, his salary was enough to pay the rent on a four room
  house, and there were only the three of them.
  -He married his best friend George Eles’s sister Kato.
  -As the second war broke out he was called into labour camp. His stay there was a
  day and a half long. It would have been shorter, just the colonel commanding the
  camp did not obey the Prime Ministers’ order to release Apu on the first telephone
  call.
  -He spent the war building his company.
  -Before the Russian army liberated Arad the Hungarian army occupied the town.
  -Within days the crematorium was erected. They fled towards the front. Eventually
  they met the Russians.
  -After the war business was very good until 1948 when the King was exiled and
  everything was taken from them.
  -In 1947 Ferry Imre’s (Apu’s cousin’s) was the one who arranged through his friend
  -Dr. Emerick Barch (who worked as the editor of the Telegraph) and Sir Frank
  Packer their entry permit to Australia.
  -He migrated to Australia, arriving on the 5 th of February 1962.
  -A visionary he built a reputation of great integrity and professionalism. With a strong
  sense of who he was and ego that needed no externalities to validate his self. He
  pioneered the Southern Highlands Wine growing industry first providing knowledge
  and money to establish Joajia Vinery and then a much bigger operation at his farm
  at Eling Forrest. Over a long life he quietly built the family’s reputation helping his
  son in establishing many companies, some of global proportions.
  -He was a happy man!!

Footnote: https://fritzfamilyarchive.com/index.php/apus-family-history

Place of birth - Arad, Hungary, Place of death - Sydney, Australia

Lipot Adalbert Fritz (1875-1940)

Irma Bienenstock (1883-1960)

Peter Fritz AO (1943-)

Anne Fritz (-)

Katharina Éles (1917-1970)

Jutka Szebényi (1921-)

PER-15

Draft

Minimal

Geni - https://www.geni.com

{geni:about_me} Businessman. Migrated to Australia. Arrived 5th February 1962. Founded Southern Highlands wine industry.