Oral History Interview with Vera Rosenberger

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Oral History Interview with Vera Rosenberger

Date

January 2, 1985

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Summary

Vera Rosenberger, nee Weis, was born in Zrenjanin (formerly Petrovgrad) in 1929. She discusses the Jewish community, her relations with Serbs and other non-Jews in Zrenjanin, and her education in public schools. After her father died, they moved to Belgrade. Vera describes the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish communities in Belgrade, as well as Zionist Youth groups, such as Hashomer Hatzair. In 1940 Polish and Australian Jews, including a group of boys and girls on their way to Palestine, fled to Yugoslavia. She lived through the bombardment of Belgrade and the German invasion. Her family fled to Ada, a village in the Baška-which was under Hungarian occupation, one day before Jews had to register with the German authorities. Ada had a prosperous Jewish community but Vera describes the immediate uptick in antisemitism at the arrival of the Hungarians.

In April 20, 1944, during the German occupation, all the Jews in Ada were deported, including Vera and her extended family. After being housed in a synagogue in Szeged, during which time Vera worked at a labor camp in Baja, the group was deported to Auschwitz at the end of May. After a selection in Gässerndorf, Vera was sent to a transit camp in Strasshof, Austria. After several medical examinations, she was sent to work on agricultural farms from dawn to dusk. She briefly mentions the role of the JudenPolizei. She also explains how her mother managed to get medical care.

The American Airforce bombed the station and the railroad tracks the Germans needed to transport all Jews working in Austria to Theresienstadt. So Vera and the other prisoners were brought back to Strasshof. They were liberated by Russian soldiers on April 10, 1945. Vera describes her journey to and her life in Ada after liberation.

Vera left Yugoslavia in 1948. She explains her decision to go to Israel. She reflects on the need to document the history of Yugoslavian Jews and learn the lessons of the Holocaust.


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Gratz College
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3
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HOHAGC00434
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Oral History Interview with Vera Rosenberger. 1985. InterviewInterview by Nora Levin. Audio. Oral History Interview With Vera Rosenberger. Holocaust Oral History Archive. Gratz College. https://grayzel.gratz.edu/hoha/oral-history-interview-vera-rosenberger.

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