Rudolf Robert Explained

Rudolf Robert
Birth Date:February 11, 1922
Birth Name:Rudolf Ruben Robert
Birth Place:Berlin, Germany
Death Date:1997
Death Place:Berlin, Germany
Known For:Holocaust survivor

Rudolf Robert (11 February 1922 – 1997) was a German-Jewish survivor of the holocaust[1] and a Gabbai of the Jewish community of Berlin.[2] [3]

Early life and Holocaust

Robert was born into a Jewish family originating from Eastern Europe. Under the Nazi regime the family started to suffer from the ongoing anti-Semitic legislation und eventually lost their entire property. Because of being Jewish, the family was deported to the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in South-Eastern Poland. During the death march from Auschwitz, Robert lost his brother who died during the struggle.[4] Robert himself survived the concentration camp together with his friend Alfred Jachmann.

Later life and role in the Jewish community of Berlin

After WW2, Robert became an important witness[5] during the Nuremberg trials, inter alia against the German chemical and pharmaceutical industry conglomerate IG Farben.[6] [7]

Instead of moving to the London or New York City like other parts of the family[8] or emigrating to Palestine, Robert returned to West-Berlin during the post-war period where he lived with his wife and his two children.[9] [10] His son Matthias later also became a Gabbai at the Jewish Community of Berlin.[11] [12]

Together with Estrongo Nachama he became one of the most important faces of the Jewish community of Berlin which he helped to develop[13] and eventually became Gabbai of the liberal Synagogue Pestalozzistraße.[14]

Rudolf Robert died in Berlin in 1997.

Miscellaneous

Rudolf Robert's nephew is the Berlin-based entrepreneur and investor Felix Schaal.

In literature

Rudolf Robert has been quoted in Hermann Langbein's book People of Auschwitz. In the book, Robert tells Langbein about his terrible experience in the concentration camp and how he has been paralyzed by having seen other inmates "running around with gaping wounds".[15]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Group B. 1/9, No. 1 DP index 1945-1949. 1949. Jewish Community of Berlin.
  2. Web site: Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database. 20 January 2017. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2002.
  3. Book: Singer, David. American Jewish Year Book 1998. 1998. 331. The American Jewish Committee. 0-87495-113-5.
  4. Web site: Rudolf Robert: Tage der Angst vor der Rache.. 16 January 2017. Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung. 2005.
  5. Web site: Hermann Langbein. People in Auschwitz.. 17 February 2017. The University of North Carolina Press. 2004.
  6. Web site: Defendant Walther Dürrfeld's Slide Show at the I.G. Farben trial. 10 February 2017. Wollheim Memorial. 1960.
  7. Book: Wollheim, Norbert. Auschwitz Trial, 4 Ks 2/63. 1960. 14208. The Fritz Bauer Institute.
  8. Book: Holtzman, Ada. Pinkas HaNitzolim I — Register of Jewish Survivors I.Lists of Jews Rescued in Different European Countries.. 1945. 121. The Jewish Agency for Palestine Search Bureau for missing Relatives.
  9. Web site: Wie der Glamour an den Ku'Damm kam.. 11 February 2017. Berliner Morgenpost. 2012.
  10. Web site: Wie steht es um die Gemeinde?. 16 December 2016. Jüdische Gemeinde. 2013.
  11. Web site: Nicht am Rabbiner sparen.. 19 December 2016. Jüdische Allgemeine Zeitung. 2010.
  12. Book: Gemeindeblatt.Jüdisches Berlin.. 2012. 6. Jewish Community Berlin.
  13. News: Auf Holzstegen ging's über das kriegszerklüftete Trottoir.. Die Tageszeitung: Taz. 31 December 2016. TAZ. 2011. 28.
  14. Web site: Wir gedenken der Rabbiner, Kantoren, Organisten, Gabbaim und Schamaschim sel. A.. 16 February 2017. The Jewish Community of Berlin. 2012.
  15. Book: Langbein, Herrmann. People in Auschwitz. 2004. 224. The University of North Carolina Press in Association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 0-8078-2816-5.