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Oral history interview with Alexander Berger

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1995.A.1272.347 | RG Number: RG-50.120.0347

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    Oral history interview with Alexander Berger

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Alexander Berger, born on August 15, 1925 in Bratislava, Slovakia, describes his family and being one of three children; attending a Jewish orthodox school even though his family was not very religious; how in 1940 the Jews of Bratislava were sent to a camp in Trnava, Slovakia, where Alexander worked for the railroad; being moved to the camp in Sered, Slovakia in April 1941; going soon after to Majdanek and to Birkenau, where he had a difficult life; his construction unit from Birkenau being transferred to Auschwitz; joining the food distribution center there until he was caught stealing food and sent to a debris clean-up site; finding his sister and keeping in touch; seeing his brother killed; being separated from his sister in January 1945 when they left on death marches; going to Mauthausen and then to Ebensee; surviving the rough and confused conditions of the camp; being liberated by the Americans in May 1945; being in poor health and spending some time recuperating; going to Prague, Czech Republic; joining the S.I.T. group in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic and seeking revenge on former Nazis and fascists; being forced to flee because of his treatment of prisoners; going to Backnang, Germany, where a group of Israelis recruited him to teach them how to use weapons in Merano, Italy; going to Israel in 1948 and joining the Israeli Army without knowing any Hebrew; rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after serving 28 years in the military; still having nightmares about the war; and he cannot yet share his story with his children.
    Interviewee
    Mr. Alexander Berger
    Date
    interview:  1998 May 22
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Foundation

    Physical Details

    Language
    Hebrew
    Extent
    7 videocasettes (Betacam SP) : sound, color ; 1/2 in..

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Personal Name
    Berger, Alexander, 1925-

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Nathan Beyrak conducted the interview with Alexander Berger in Israel on May 22, 1998. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the tapes of the interview on June 10, 1999, as an accretion to the original collection of Israel Documentation Project interviews received by transfer in February 1995.
    Funding Note
    The production of this interview was made possible by Jeff and Toby Herr.
    The cataloging of this oral history interview has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:16:20
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn503303

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