Edith Aleš, 83, Princeton

Edith Aleš, 83, Princeton
died peacefully on Friday at her residence surrounded by her family.Born  in the town of Uzhorod in the Czechoslovak Republic, Edith was the first child of Moskovits Lajos and Sternberger Szerén.   The brief blissful existence under the republic was about to change irreversibly with a rabid rise of anti-Semitism. In time Edith was expelled from the public school and only permitted to attend the Hebrew gymnasium.  An avid reader, Edith had planned to study literature in the great capitols of Europe but saw her horizons narrowing.  She urged her father to leave Hungary, or at the very least to permit her to leave with her younger brother.  Her father, a Hungarian army veteran, was confident that as an upstanding citizen and owner of a successful commercial bank, his family had nothing to fear.  However, in the spring of 1944 those Jews remaining in Uzhorod were rounded up and herded into the town’s brick factory which had been owned by Edith’s grandparents. From there Edith and her family were deported to Auschwitz.  Her younger brother Istvan (Pisti) was murdered upon arrival to Auschwitz in June, 1944.  Edith and her mother along with many of the women from Uzhorod were sent on from Auschwitz to a series of labor camps in Latvia and Poland, and were liberated in the spring of 1945 by the Russian army.  Upon returning to Ungvár/Uzhorod, they learned that her father had died in Auschwitz in 1944. 
After the war, Edith and her mother relocated from Ungvár, Hungary to Prague, Czechoslovakia.  Edith entered medical school at Charles University and began dating Ausländer Mor  also originally from Uzhorod.  Mor changed his name to Aleš Miroslav (Milton/Mike).  Edith and Mike were engaged.  He was able to leave Czechoslovakia gaining entry to the USA in advance of Edith and assisted in making arrangements for her to follow him six months later.
They were married on May 27, 1948 in Newark, New Jersey.  Edith had two daughters, Susan Juliet and Kathy Lynne and raised them in West Orange, New Jersey. She became a proud naturalized United States citizen on May  5, 1954.
She worked at night in the Edison light bulb factory in West Orange to supplement the family income and later worked alongside her husband in their store, Mme. Minerva Cleaners in New York City.   Edith continued to be an avid reader and loved music and the arts.  She could outwalk not only her children but also her grandchildren  She was passionate about travelling, seeing the world, and planning the next trip. She adored her family.   A strong supporter of Israel and Holocaust remembrance, she was active in the Association of Jews from Uzhorod and Vicinity and contributed to many Jewish charities.  She re-located to Princeton, NJ in 1996.
Edith is pre-deceased by her husband Milton (Miroslav Auslander, d 1993)  and by her daughter Susan Juliet Ellson (d 1995).  She is survived by daughter Dr.  Kathy Aleš (husband, Richard Tom Levine) of Princeton, NJ, and seven grandchildren [Susan’s daughters, Leah Rachel (Suss) Feeley of Roseland (husband, Jeffrey Feeley), Margot Ellson of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Hannah Ellson a Sophomore at Penn State as well as four of Kathy’s children Sarah Levine Hartley of New York, NY (husband Lucas Hartley), Julia Levine of Denver, CO, Matthew Levine and Paula Levine both of Princeton, NJ.]
Funeral services and burial were held Sunday Nov. 2nd at Washington Cemetery, Deans, NJ. 
The family respectfully requests memorial contributions be offered to the Jewish National Fund.
Funeral arrangements by Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel,1534 Pennington Road, Ewing Township.