Biography
Jutta Bergman (born Jutta Ita Szmirgeld) is the daughter of Benjamin (b. 1900) and Hela Hendla (b. 1896) Szmirgeld. She was born in Breslau on July 8, 1927. Her younger brother Simon was born in 1929. In 1935 their family moved to Lodz. Benjamin Szmirgeld died before the war began, so in 1940, Jutta moved to the ghetto together with her mother, brother and maternal grandmother, Sara Ryfka Lieberman. Jutta already had begun Gymnasium and was able to briefly continue her schooling in the ghetto. After finishing school, Jutta worked in a number of the ghetto workshops sewing and making saddles and straw shoes. Jutta's family was not well connected and consequently did not have the wherewithal to receive more than the basic minimal food rations. However despite her impoverishment, cold and malnourishment, Jutta also experienced joy in the ghetto resulting from her participation in the Zionist youth movement, Hanoar Hatzioni. There she befriended one of the group's leaders Henryk Bergman. Henryk is the son of Binyamin and Frymeta Bergman. He was born on September 10, 1922 and sister Ruta was born in 1925. His older brother Pinchas (b. 1916) was mobilized for the Polish army and never returned. In the ghetto, Henryk worked in the statistical department.
In September 1942, the Germans ordered the Jewish police to sweep the ghetto for the children, the elderly and infirmed. This became know as the Gehsperre Aktion. Jutta, her mother and brother had to stand at attention while her grandmother was rounded-up. Sara Ryfka Lieberman was among those deported to Chelmno and murdered. In August 1944, the Germans liquidated the Lodz ghetto. Jutta was deported to Auschwitz together with her mother and brother. Her mother, who was already quite weak, and brother perished there. Jutta survived Auschwitz and was then transferred to the Bergen-Belsen and Saltzwadel camps. After liberation she returned to Lodz. Henryk Bergman also was deported to Auschwitz in August 1944 together with his mother and sister who were killed upon arrival. His father had already died in the ghetto. Henryk went from Auschwitz to Braunschweig and later to Woeblin where he was liberated by the American Army. He was quite ill upon liberation. After recuperating in a hospital, he too returned to Lodz, and he and Jutta reunited. Together they went to Germany where they married on July 2, 1946 in kibbutz LaMatara in a DP Camp in Germany. From there they attempted to immigrate to Palestine. The British intercepted their ship and sent them to an internment camp in Cyprus. However, Henryk and Jutta eventually managed to reach Palestine in February 1948. Henryk later became chairman of the Association of Jews form Lodz in Israel.
