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{{Short description|Czech Holocaust survivor}}
{{Orphan|date=December 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Anka Bergman
| name = Anka Bergman
| image = Anka Nathanová and Eva Clarke (cropped).jpg
| image = Anka Nathanová cropped.webp
| caption = Bergman with her daughter in May 1945
| caption = Bergman in 1940
| other_names = Anka Nathanová
| other_names = Anka Nathanová
| birth_name = Anna Kaudrová
| birth_name = Anna Kaudrová
| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|04|20}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1917|04|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Třebechovice]], Czechoslovakia
| birth_place = [[Třebechovice pod Orebem|Třebechovice]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|07|17|1917|04|20}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2013|07|17|1917|04|20|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place =
| citizenship = [[Czech Republic]]
| citizenship =
| occupation =
| occupation =
| spouse = {{Marriage|Bernd Nathan|1940|1945|end=death}}<br>Karel Bergman
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Bernd Nathan|1940|1945|end=died}}
* Karel Bergman
}}
| children = 2; including [[Eva Clarke]]
| children = 2; including [[Eva Clarke]]
| parents =
| parents =
}}
}}
'''Anka Bergman''' ([[Birth name|née]] Kaudrová; 20 April 1917 – 17 July 2013) was a Czech [[Holocaust survivors|Holocaust survivor]] noted for giving birth to [[Eva Clarke]] whilst in at [[Mauthausen concentration camp]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-38945394|title=Holocaust survivor born in death camp|date=2017-02-12|access-date=2019-11-28|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://aweekinauschwitz.blogspot.com/2014/03/ankas-story-tribute-to-anka-bergman.html|title=A Week in Auschwitz: 'Anka's Story' - A Tribute to Anka Bergman|website=A Week in Auschwitz|access-date=2019-11-28}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/05/terezin-nazi-camp-music-eva-clarke|title=Terezín: the Nazi camp where music played amid the horror|last=Vulliamy|first=Ed|date=2013-04-05|work=The Observer|access-date=2019-11-28|language=en-GB|issn=0029-7712}}</ref>
'''Anka Bergman''' ([[Birth name|née]] '''Kaudrová'''; 20 April 1917 – 17 July 2013) was a Czech [[Holocaust survivors|Holocaust survivor]] noted for giving birth to [[Eva Clarke]] whilst at [[Mauthausen concentration camp]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-38945394|title=Holocaust survivor born in death camp|date=12 February 2017|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://aweekinauschwitz.blogspot.com/2014/03/ankas-story-tribute-to-anka-bergman.html|title=A Week in Auschwitz: 'Anka's Story' - A Tribute to Anka Bergman|website=A Week in Auschwitz|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/05/terezin-nazi-camp-music-eva-clarke|title=Terezín: the Nazi camp where music played amid the horror|last=Vulliamy|first=Ed|date=5 April 2013|work=The Observer|access-date=28 November 2019|issn=0029-7712}}</ref>


== Early life ==
== Early life ==
[[File:Eva_Clarke's_parents.webp|thumb|Bergman and Bernd Nathan's wedding picture in May 1940]]
Anna Kaudrová<ref>{{Cite web|title=Narrating Mauthausen: Anna Bergman (born Kaudrová)|url=https://www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en/History/Witness-Testimonies/Anna-Bergman-(born-Kaudrova)-United-Kingdom|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-01|website=Mauthausen Memorial}}</ref> was born in 1917 in the town of [[Třebechovice pod Orebem|Třebechovice]], in present day [[Czech Republic]], she grew up with her parents and two brothers and sisters. They were raised Jewish but not religious. After attending a boarding grammar school, she studied law at [[Prague University]]. As the [[Nazism|Nazis]] took control in 1939, they closed universities and Bergman got a job as a [[hatmaker]]. On May 15, 1940,<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Holocaust survivor shares her mother's story|url=https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000257682/|access-date=2021-02-28|website=www.af.mil|language=en-US}}</ref> she married Bernd Nathan who was an [[architect]] who earned an [[Iron Cross]] during the first world war. He previously came to [[Prague]] from [[Germany]] in an attempt to escape Nazi control. As restrictions grew they were forced to wear a [[yellow badge]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.het.org.uk/component/content/article?id=274:anka|title=Holocaust Educational Trust - Holocaust Educational Trust|website=www.het.org.uk|access-date=2019-11-28}}</ref>
Anna Kaudrová<ref>{{Cite web|title=Narrating Mauthausen: Anna Bergman (born Kaudrová)|url=https://www.mauthausen-memorial.org/en/History/Witness-Testimonies/Anna-Bergman-(born-Kaudrova)-United-Kingdom|access-date=1 March 2021|website=Mauthausen Memorial}}</ref> was born in 1917 in the town of [[Třebechovice pod Orebem|Třebechovice]], in the present-day [[Czech Republic]]. She grew up with her parents and two brothers and sisters. They were raised as Jewish but not religious. After attending a boarding grammar school, she studied law at [[Prague University]]. As the [[Nazism|Nazis]] took control in 1939, they closed universities and Bergman got a job as a [[hatmaker]]. On 15 May 1940<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Holocaust survivor shares her mother's story|url=https://www.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000257682/|access-date=28 February 2021|website=af.mil}}</ref> she married Bernd Nathan, an [[architect]]. He previously moved to [[Prague]] from [[Germany]] in an attempt to escape Nazi control. As restrictions grew they were forced to wear a [[yellow badge]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.het.org.uk/component/content/article?id=274:anka|title=Holocaust Educational Trust - Holocaust Educational Trust|website=het.org.uk|access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref>


== Holocaust ==
== The Holocaust ==
[[File:Anka Nathanová and Eva Clarke (cropped).jpg|thumb|Bergman and her daughter, [[Eva Clarke]], at [[Mauthausen concentration camp|Mauthausen]] on 11 May 1945]]
In November 1941, they were ordered to a warehouse near Holesovice station in Prague. Anka and Bernd were separated, and Anka was sent to [[Theresienstadt Ghetto|Theresienstadt]], which at the time was an old barracks transformed into a [[Nazi ghettos|Nazi Ghetto]]. She had a job in a provisions store to help feed the fifteen members of her extended family transported to the same ghetto. After some time Anka was able to find her husband, and have a baby. The [[Gestapo]] forced her to sign a document that if her son was born it would be killed, but he died at two months old of [[pneumonia]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/731331954|title=Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust.|last=Hedgepeth, Sonja M. Saidel, Rochelle G.|date=2010|publisher=University Press of New England|oclc=731331954}}</ref>
In November 1941 they were ordered to a warehouse near Holešovice station in Prague. Anka and Bernd were separated, and Anka was sent to [[Theresienstadt Ghetto|Theresienstadt]], which at the time was an old barracks transformed into a [[Nazi ghettos|Nazi ghetto]]. She got a job there at a provisions store so she could help feed the fifteen members of her extended family transported to the same ghetto. After some time Anka was able to find her husband, and have a baby In 1944, George (Dan). The [[Gestapo]] forced her to sign a document that if her son was born it would be killed, but he died at two months old of [[pneumonia]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/731331954|title=Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust.|last=Hedgepeth, Sonja M. Saidel, Rochelle G.|date=2010|publisher=University Press of New England|oclc=731331954}}</ref>


In September 1944, Bernd was sent to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz-Birkenau]]. Anka was pregnant again, and not knowing the camp, volunteered to join him. Upon arriving in October, she was again separated from Bernd, who would later be shot in a [[death march]] by the Nazis on January 18, 1945.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /> Anka, malnourished and keeping her pregnancy secret, was selected for slave labor in an [[Weapon|armaments]] factory near [[Dresden|Dresden, Germany]]. She was so malnourished upon being evacuated to the country side for the [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex|Mauthausen concentration camp]], she credits a farmer who offered her a glass of milk for her survival. She would have been sent to the gas chambers if they were not blown up the day before. Here she gave birth to her daughter Eva Clarke. Three days later the camp was liberated by American forces.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/09/secondworldwar.theobserver1|title=Auschwitz 60 years on: The mother and daughter|author=Guardian Staff|date=2005-01-09|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-28|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
In September 1944 Bernd was sent to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz-Birkenau]]. Anka was pregnant again, and, not knowing the camp, volunteered to join him. Upon arriving in October, she was again separated from Bernd, who would later be shot in a [[death march]] by the Nazis on 18 January 1945.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /> Anka, malnourished and keeping her pregnancy secret, was selected for slave labour in an [[Weapon|armaments]] factory near [[Dresden|Dresden, Germany]]. She was so malnourished upon being evacuated to the countryside for the [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex|Mauthausen concentration camp]], she credits a farmer who offered her a glass of milk for her survival. She would have been sent to the gas chambers if they were not blown up the day before. Here she gave birth to her daughter Eva Clarke. Three days later the camp was liberated by American forces.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/jan/09/secondworldwar.theobserver1|title=Auschwitz 60 years on: The mother and daughter|author=Guardian Staff|date=9 January 2005|work=The Guardian|access-date=28 November 2019|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>


During her time in these ghettos and camps, music from performers who were also captured, helped motivate people to go on. Anka's favorite was ''[[The Bartered Bride]]'' by the Czech opera [[Bedřich Smetana|Smetana]].<ref name=":2" />
During her time in these ghettos and camps, music from performers who were also captured helped motivate people to go on. Anka's favourite was the opera ''[[The Bartered Bride]]'' by the Czech composer [[Bedřich Smetana|Smetana]].<ref name=":2" />


== Later life ==
== Later life ==
She returned to Prague to stay with her remaining family members. Her husband, parents, and two sisters were murdered at [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]]. In 1948, she started a new life with Czech translator in RAF Karel Bergman in [[Cardiff|Cardiff, Wales]] and would often give talks on her experiences.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
She returned to Prague to stay with her remaining family members. Her husband, parents, and two sisters were murdered at [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]]. In 1948, she started a new life with Karel Bergman, a Czech translator in the RAF, in [[Cardiff|Cardiff, Wales]], and would often give talks on her experiences.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />


Anka Bergman died on July 17, 2013. Her daughter, Eva Clarke regularly speaks for the [[Holocaust Educational Trust]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />
Anka Bergman died on 17 July 2013. Her daughter, Eva Clarke, regularly speaks for the [[Holocaust Educational Trust]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />


== References ==
== References ==
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{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Anka}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergman, Anka}}
⚫
[[Category:Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors]]
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
⚫
[[Category:Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors]]
[[Category:Czech Jews]]
[[Category:Czech Jews]]
[[Category:Auschwitz concentration camp survivors]]
[[Category:Auschwitz concentration camp survivors]]
[[Category:People from Třebechovice pod Orebem]]
[[Category:People from Třebechovice pod Orebem]]
[[Category:Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Holocaust survivors]]

Latest revision as of 21:08, 29 July 2024

Anka Bergman
Bergman in 1940
Born
Anna Kaudrová

(1917-04-20)20 April 1917
Třebechovice, Austria-Hungary
Died17 July 2013(2013-07-17) (aged 96)
Other namesAnka Nathanová
Spouses
Bernd Nathan
​
​
(m. 1940; died 1945)​
  • Karel Bergman
Children2; including Eva Clarke

Anka Bergman (née Kaudrová; 20 April 1917 – 17 July 2013) was a Czech Holocaust survivor noted for giving birth to Eva Clarke whilst at Mauthausen concentration camp.[1][2][3]

Early life

[edit]
Bergman and Bernd Nathan's wedding picture in May 1940

Anna Kaudrová[4] was born in 1917 in the town of Třebechovice, in the present-day Czech Republic. She grew up with her parents and two brothers and sisters. They were raised as Jewish but not religious. After attending a boarding grammar school, she studied law at Prague University. As the Nazis took control in 1939, they closed universities and Bergman got a job as a hatmaker. On 15 May 1940[5] she married Bernd Nathan, an architect. He previously moved to Prague from Germany in an attempt to escape Nazi control. As restrictions grew they were forced to wear a yellow badge.[3][6]

The Holocaust

[edit]
Bergman and her daughter, Eva Clarke, at Mauthausen on 11 May 1945

In November 1941 they were ordered to a warehouse near Holešovice station in Prague. Anka and Bernd were separated, and Anka was sent to Theresienstadt, which at the time was an old barracks transformed into a Nazi ghetto. She got a job there at a provisions store so she could help feed the fifteen members of her extended family transported to the same ghetto. After some time Anka was able to find her husband, and have a baby In 1944, George (Dan). The Gestapo forced her to sign a document that if her son was born it would be killed, but he died at two months old of pneumonia.[1][3][6][7]

In September 1944 Bernd was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Anka was pregnant again, and, not knowing the camp, volunteered to join him. Upon arriving in October, she was again separated from Bernd, who would later be shot in a death march by the Nazis on 18 January 1945.[5][1][8] Anka, malnourished and keeping her pregnancy secret, was selected for slave labour in an armaments factory near Dresden, Germany. She was so malnourished upon being evacuated to the countryside for the Mauthausen concentration camp, she credits a farmer who offered her a glass of milk for her survival. She would have been sent to the gas chambers if they were not blown up the day before. Here she gave birth to her daughter Eva Clarke. Three days later the camp was liberated by American forces.[1][3][6][7][8]

During her time in these ghettos and camps, music from performers who were also captured helped motivate people to go on. Anka's favourite was the opera The Bartered Bride by the Czech composer Smetana.[3]

Later life

[edit]

She returned to Prague to stay with her remaining family members. Her husband, parents, and two sisters were murdered at Auschwitz. In 1948, she started a new life with Karel Bergman, a Czech translator in the RAF, in Cardiff, Wales, and would often give talks on her experiences.[2][3][6]

Anka Bergman died on 17 July 2013. Her daughter, Eva Clarke, regularly speaks for the Holocaust Educational Trust.[1][6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Holocaust survivor born in death camp". 12 February 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  2. ^ a b "A Week in Auschwitz: 'Anka's Story' - A Tribute to Anka Bergman". A Week in Auschwitz. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Vulliamy, Ed (5 April 2013). "Terezín: the Nazi camp where music played amid the horror". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Narrating Mauthausen: Anna Bergman (born Kaudrová)". Mauthausen Memorial. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Holocaust survivor shares her mother's story". af.mil. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Holocaust Educational Trust - Holocaust Educational Trust". het.org.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  7. ^ a b Hedgepeth, Sonja M. Saidel, Rochelle G. (2010). Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust. University Press of New England. OCLC 731331954.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b Guardian Staff (9 January 2005). "Auschwitz 60 years on: The mother and daughter". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
[edit]
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