Bertha Berkowicz–Lautman

Bertha Berkowicz-Lautman was born on 27th August 1925 in the town of Dlhoňa, Slovakia. She was born to an Orthodox Jewish family who lived in the small village of Vyšná Pisaná. She went to schools in the nearby towns Nižná Pisaná and Svidník. Bertha was 14 years old when WWII broke out. She was sent to a labour camp in Stropkov and separated from her mother there, as she was transferred to the train station in Poprad and deported along with 998 other Jewish girls, most of whom were aged 16 to 21. This was the beginning of the Nazi extermination of nearly 60,000 Slovak Jews. On 23rd March 1942, the transport with 999 Slovak Jewish women departed towards Auschwitz. It arrived at its destination in the afternoon of 26th March 1942. It was the first transport of women and at the same time the first mass transport of Jewish people to Auschwitz. Bertha Berkowicz became inmate no. 1048. This number was later tattooed on her forearm. Initially, Bertha was selected to dig ditches in Auschwitz, but in August 1942, she was transferred to Birkenau. There, she was assigned to a work crew that picked up dead bodies of other inmates and transported them to the crematory. In October 1944, Bertha was transferred to the Bergen-Belsen camp and liberated there in April 1945. She lost almost her entire family in the Holocaust, but she did not lose her deep faith.

After the war, Bertha found her brother and sister, the only surviving members of her closest family. In 1949, she moved to the United States. However, she would often return to Europe to share her story with young people and educate them about the painful history and her traumatic experience.

Bertha Berkowicz-Lautman died on 4th November 2008 in Cleveland, USA.

Symbolization

This is the imposition of symbols by force that makes it possible to visually distinguish one group from others. During the Holocaust, Jews were forced to wear different symbols that differed from country to country: a yellow Star of David sewn onto clothing, or, as in occupied Poland, a white armband with a blue Star of David worn on the arm. Classification and symbolization are commonplace. They become dangerous when accompanied by hatred and dehumanization. To counteract symbolization, symbols and hate speech should be banned by law.

How does this person’s story illustrate response to the particular stage of genocide in Dr. Stanton’s theory?

Bertha Berkowicz-Lautman was very religious and tradition-bound. Her Jewish identity was very important to her. This did not change even when she was persecuted and her life was threatened because of this identity. Bertha experienced symbolisation because of her being Jewish. This left a permanent mark not only on her memories but also on her body, which was forever left with a tattoo from Auschwitz.