Zdenko Bergl Survivor Testimony

Length
1:50:06
Date
Cassette tape
Audio file
Description

Zdenko Bergl, an only child, grew up in Zabno, Croatia, a small town with only five Jewish families. Zdenko played soccer, attended public school, and had Hebrew lessons on Sunday. The Bergls enjoyed warm relationships with their non-Jewish employees and neighbors and experienced very little overt antisemitism. However, in April 1941, the Germans occupied Croatia and his father was arrested. After family connections enabled him to be released, the family fled to Italy, where a priest helped them obtain forged papers and they spent the rest of the war passing as non-Jews until their liberation in August 1944. They lived in the Cinecittá displaced persons camp until their immigration to the United States. In 1949, Zdenko married Evelyn Arzt, whom he had met in Cinecittá.

Interviewee
Object Type
State
Transcription
Institution Website
Digital Object Identifier
MCHE-Bergl-Zdenko
Disclaimer
This oral history recording is presented as a historical document of the recollections and opinions of persons living and/or working in Kansas City when the history was conducted. Minor edits have been made to remove pauses, interruptions and verbal tics, and the recording is otherwise verbatim as it was captured. These oral histories represent the thoughts and opinions of the original participants and do not reflect the views of the Kansas City Public Library or its partner organizations in this oral history project.
Use & Reproduction

This material is protected by copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Testimonies may be used for individual research with proper citation. All other uses require written permission from MCHE.