Karel Bergman – jeden ze dvou a půl tisíce; z Trhové Kamenice mezi příslušníky Royal air force

Pages	5–13
DOI	10.37520/amnph.2019.011
Keywords	RAF, translator, Trhová Kamenice, Jewish, 312th Squadron
Type of Article	Peer-reviewed
Citation	PROCHÁZKA, Filip. Karel Bergman – jeden ze dvou a půl tisíce; z Trhové Kamenice mezi příslušníky Royal air force. Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia. Prague: National Museum, 2019, 73(3-4), 5–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37520/amnph.2019.011. ISSN 2570-6845 (print), 2570-6853 (online). Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/acta-musei-nationalis-pragae-historia/73-3-4/karel-bergman-jeden-ze-dvou-a-pul-tisice-z-trhove-kamenice-mezi-prislusniky-royal-air-force

Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia | 2019/73/3-4

This article addresses the destiny of an ordinary man, Karel Bergman – a civilian who fought for the freedom of his nation. It seeks to describe the life of a man for whom entry into the Czechoslovak foreign armed forces was not easy, but who did his very best for his country. The article also commemorates the sad destiny of his family – as Karel Bergman was a Czechoslovak Jew. Karel Bergman was one of the 2 500 Czechoslovak airmen in the RAF. He was not a pilot or an air crew member; his duties were different; but men in his line of duty ought also to be remembered. Karel Bergman was born into a Jewish family in the small town of Trhová Kamenice in East Bohemia. After his studies he entered the family business and supported his local community, as did other Jewish families there. When the situation in Czechoslovakia became harder for Jewish people, he left his country for the United Kingdom. There he started his own business and employed refugee women. He was called up to the Czechoslovak army in exile, but his recruitment was postponed several times due to his work for refugees. When he entered the Czechoslovak army in exile, he took up his duties as interpreter and translator. He served as translator in the 312th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron, for Fighter Command and other units.

When World War II ended, he was demobilised and tried to engage in a normal life as the sole survivor from his family, his mother and sister and other members of his family having been murdered in Nazi concentration camps. Upon returning to his homeland, he met a friend of his cousin’s and married her. Later, because of the communist party takeover in Czechoslovakia, he left his homeland with his wife and stepdaughter for Canada. A job was offered to him in the United Kingdom, enabling him and his family to stay there. He later bought the company in which he worked. Karel Bergman died on 14 September 1983 at a UK airport, and his ashes were scattered at the Dřevíkov Jewish cemetery in Czechoslovakia.

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