Adolf Berman
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Adolf Abraham Berman (17 October 1906, Warsaw – 3 February 1978, Tel-Aviv) was a Polish-Jewish psychologist, member of Poale Zion Left party, editor of Arbeter Cajtung[1], who held a leadership role in Żegota, the World War II underground organization in Poland whose aim was to rescue Jews from the Holocaust.
[edit] World War II
As German occupation held Poland in its grip, Berman operated under the codename "Borowski" and ran CENTOS, a Jewish charitable organization which cared for the children of the Warsaw Ghetto. His ability to aid Jews in escaping the Ghetto was enhanced by the fact that his own facial features did not have what was considered a Jewish appearance. He was thus able to maintain contacts with Poles as well as move about relatively freely. His mission was put in danger once by szmalcownicy (civilians engaged in the extortion by blackmail of Jews with threats of turning them over to Gestapo) demanding 500 000 złoty ransom [2].
After the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, he continued to work in the underground, keeping in mind that he had a duty to posterity in preserving the historical record of the times, which included risking his life to save the last manuscript prepared by ghetto historian Emanuel Ringelblum.
[edit] Post War
After the war, he became one of the founders of Berihah, the clandestine organized effort to smuggle Polish Jews to Palestine. In 1950, as Stalinist hardliners, including his own brother Jakub, a high official of Poland's state security apparatus, were instituting ever more repressive measures, Adolf Berman made the decision to immigrate to Israel.
In succeeding years, he testified at the 1961 Eichmann trial, was elected to the legislative body, the Knesset, as a member of the Communist Party of Israel and wrote two books in Hebrew about his eventful life and experiences.
Adolf Berman died in Israel at the age of 72.
[edit] External links
- Shore, Marci Children of the Revolution: Communism, Zionism and the Berman Brothers
- Jewish Social Studies - Volume 10, Number 3, Spring/Summer 2004 /New Series/, pp. 23-86 (Indiana University Press)
