Overview
- Description
- Contains material documenting the experiences of Holocaust survivor Bernat Berk as a displaced person and after his arrival in the United States. Includes an identity card issued to Baernat Berkovitz upon entering Davos 22 June 1948; identification documents; a telegram; housing assignment document for Pocking DP camp; a Kennkarte issued 1952; a Ketubah and wedding photograph; a United States naturalization certificate for Bernat Berk, dated July 14, 1959; and an invitation to a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum event in 1993.
- Date
-
1945-1993
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Steve, Linda, and Amanda Berk
Physical Details
- Extent
-
1 folder
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
- Conditions on Use
- Material(s) in this collection may be protected by copyright and/or related rights. You do not require further permission from the Museum to use this material. The user is solely responsible for making a determination as to if and how the material may be used.
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- Holocaust survivors--Switzerland.
- Geographic Name
- United States--Emigration and immigration.
- Corporate Name
- Pocking (Displaced persons camp)
Administrative Notes
- Holder of Originals
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Steve Berk, son of Bernat Berk
- Record last modified:
- 2024-03-08 07:34:28
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn619924
Download & Licensing
- In Copyright - Use Permitted
- Terms of Use
- This record is not digitized and cannot be downloaded online.
In-Person Research
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-
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Also in Bernat Berk collection
The collection consists of a prayer book with loose inserts, a pair of tefillin with covers and pouch, a Tallis with a bag, documents, and photographs relating to the experiences of Bernat Berk as a displaced person in Germany, Switzerland, and Australia after the Holocaust.
Date: 1945-1993
Pair of tefillin and bag given to a Czechoslovakian Jewish man by a U.S. Army chaplain
Object
Pair of tefillin and an embroidered velvet pouch given to Bernat Berkowitz (later, Berk) by a U.S. Army chaplain while he was in a displaced persons facility in Germany between May 1946 and December 1947. Tefillin are small boxes containing prayers attached to leather straps and worn by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. Bernat lived with his parents and three younger brothers in Chust, Czechoslovakia, when the region was annexed by Hungary with the aid of Germany in 1939. On April 20, 1944, the entire family (except Bernat’s brother, Herman, who was an apprentice in Budapest) were forced into a ghetto in Chust, and then deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Bernat’s parents, Regina and Israel, and youngest brother, Isik, were killed soon after their arrival, while Bernat and his brother, Samuel, were separated and both sent to numerous camps. Bernat was sent to Fünfteichen and Mauthausen, where he was liberated by American forces on May 5, 1945. After the war, Bernat reunited with Samuel and Herman in Czechoslovakia. In August, Samuel immigrated to London and then to the United States, while Bernat and Herman lived in the Pocking displaced persons (DP) camp in the American zone of Germany. While there, both brothers contracted tuberculosis and were treated in multiple facilities until they were transferred to the Etania Jewish Sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, in December 1947. While in Davos, Bernat met Adela (Ada) Kochanski, a fellow Holocaust survivor, who was also receiving treatment for tuberculosis. In the fall of 1948, Bernat married Ada. In 1949, Herman immigrated to Australia, and in 1950, Bernat and Ada followed him there before moving to the United States around 1954.
Tallis with bag given to a Czechoslovakian Jewish man by a U.S. Army chaplain
Object
Tallis and fabric pouch given to Bernat Berkowitz (later, Berk) by a U.S. Army chaplain while he was in a displaced persons facility in Germany between May 1946 and December 1947. A tallis is a specialized shawl worn by Orthodox Jewish males during morning prayers. Bernat lived with his parents and three younger brothers in Chust, Czechoslovakia, when the region was annexed by Hungary with the aid of Germany in 1939. On April 20, 1944, the entire family (except Bernat’s brother, Herman, who was an apprentice in Budapest) were forced into a ghetto in Chust, and then deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Bernat’s parents, Regina and Israel, and youngest brother, Isik, were killed soon after their arrival, while Bernat and his brother, Samuel, were separated and both sent to numerous camps. Bernat was sent to Fünfteichen and Mauthausen, where he was liberated by American forces on May 5, 1945. After the war, Bernat reunited with Samuel and Herman in Czechoslovakia. In August, Samuel immigrated to London and then to the United States, while Bernat and Herman lived in the Pocking displaced persons (DP) camp in the American zone of Germany. While there, both brothers contracted tuberculosis and were treated in multiple facilities until they were transferred to the Etania Jewish Sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, in December 1947. While in Davos, Bernat met Adela (Ada) Kochanski, a fellow Holocaust survivor, who was also receiving treatment for tuberculosis. In the fall of 1948, Bernat married Ada. In 1949, Herman immigrated to Australia, and in 1950, Bernat and Ada followed him there before moving to the United States around 1954.
Prayer book and paper insert acquired by a Czechoslovakian Jewish man
Object
Prayer book and paper insert acquired by Bernat Berkowitz (later, Berk) in Switzerland, while recuperating from tuberculosis between December 1947 and July 1950. Bernat lived with his parents and three younger brothers in Chust, Czechoslovakia, when the region was annexed by Hungary with the aid of Germany in 1939. On April 20, 1944, the entire family (except Bernat’s brother, Herman, who was an apprentice in Budapest) were forced into a ghetto in Chust, and then deported to Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Bernat’s parents, Regina and Israel, and youngest brother, Isik, were killed soon after their arrival, while Bernat and his brother, Samuel, were separated and both sent to numerous camps. Bernat was sent to Fünfteichen and Mauthausen, where he was liberated by American forces on May 5, 1945. After the war, Bernat reunited with Samuel and Herman in Czechoslovakia. In August, Samuel immigrated to London and then to the United States, while Bernat and Herman lived in the Pocking displaced persons (DP) camp in the American zone of Germany. While there, both brothers contracted tuberculosis and were treated in multiple facilities until they were transferred to the Etania Jewish Sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, in December 1947. While in Davos, Bernat met Adela (Ada) Kochanski, a fellow Holocaust survivor, who was also receiving treatment for tuberculosis. In the fall of 1948, Bernat married Ada. In 1949, Herman immigrated to Australia, and in 1950, Bernat and Ada followed him there before moving to the United States around 1954.
