Karel Sperber

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(1910–1957) was a Jewish Czechoslovak surgeon who travelled to England after the Nazi invasion of his country, but unable to practice medicine because he was an alien, took a job as a

ship's doctor A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Speciali ...

instead and was captured by Axis forces when his ship was sunk by the Germans. He was sent to

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

where he was forced to help the SS doctor Carl Clauberg in his sterilisation experiments on Jewish women. He was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1946 for the medical services he provided to prisoners of war. He became a ship's doctor again and worked for the British Colonial Medical Service in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and then in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

where he died.

Early life

Karel Sperber was born in

Tachov Tachov (; ) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Mže River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Tachov ...

, western

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, in 1910 to a Jewish family. He completed his studies in medicine at the

German University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

and Vienna.

Second World War

In 1939, Sperber escaped to Britain following the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Germany. He was prohibited from practising medicine in Britain because he was considered an " alien". Instead, he took up a post as a ship's doctor and

purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...

on the British merchant and passenger ship SS ''Automedon'', which was delivering important papers to the

British Far East Command The Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods. These were firstly, 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command ( ABDACOM), and secondly, 1963–1971 succeeded ...

concerning Japan's possible entry into the Second World War. On 11 November 1940, his ship was attacked and sunk by the German auxiliary cruiser ''Atlantis'' near

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

in Indonesia. Sperber and the other surviving members of the ship's crew were taken first to the floating prison, the Norwegian tanker , and then to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. Whilst interned at the camp hospital in Marseille, he, along with an Indian Dr Mitra, kept a look out whilst an escape tunnel was being dug. In late 1942, Sperber was sent to a prison in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

following a journey through a number of prisoner-of-war camps. He saved the lives of many British prisoners at

Stalag X-B Stalag X-B was a World War II Nazi Germany, German prisoner-of-war camp located near Sandbostel in Lower Saxony in north-western Germany. Between 1939 and 1945 several hundred thousand POWs of 55 nations passed through the camp. Due to the bad co ...

, when an outbreak of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

occurred. On 13 December 1942, he entered Auschwitz as a Jewish prisoner, although, as stated in the

Geneva convention upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

, he should have been held as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. The number "82512" was tattooed on his arm."Auschwitz Horrors", ''The West Australian'', 13 January 1947, p. 7.
/ref> There, he worked among a number of Nazi physicians including

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...

Eduard Wirths Eduard Wirths (4 September 1909 – 20 September 1945) was the chief SS doctor () at the Auschwitz concentration camp from September 1942 to January 1945. Thus, Wirths had formal responsibility for everything undertaken by the nearly twenty SS d ...

, and

Friedrich Entress Friedrich Karl Hermann Entress (8 December 1914 – 28 May 1947) was a German camp doctor in various concentration and extermination camps during the Second World War. He conducted human medical experimentation at Auschwitz and introduced the proc ...

. In addition, he was forced to assist SS physician Carl Clauberg in sterilisation experiments on Jewish women. While in Auschwitz, Sperber smuggled a letter to

Charles Coward Charles Joseph Coward (30 January 1905 – 21 December 1976), known as the "Count of Auschwitz", was a British soldier captured during the Second World War who rescued Jews from Auschwitz and claimed he had smuggled himself into the camp for one ...

, asking him to inform Sperber's relatives in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

of his whereabouts. In 1944, he was sent to work at the prisoner infirmary of the

Monowitz concentration camp Monowitz (also known as Monowitz-Buna, Buna and Auschwitz III) was a Nazi concentration camp and labor camp (''Arbeitslager'') run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland from 1942–1945, during World War II and the Holocaust. For most of its existe ...

. On 18 January 1945 he was sent on the death march to

Gleiwitz Gliwice (; , ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder River, Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capital ...

and

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...

. After arriving at Buchenwald he and a group of doctors were able to gain admission to the hospital and later worked there as physicians. He subsequently escaped and hid in a forest until he was found by American troops on 1 April 1945.

Later life

After the war, Sperber returned to England. In December 1945, he sent a deposition to the British war crimes authorities about the atrocities he witnessed at Auschwitz which was subsequently used at the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

. In 1946, he was awarded the

for the medical services he provided to prisoners of war and he received British citizenship in 1948. He signed on as a ship's doctor again and worked for the British Colonial Medical Service in

(now Sri Lanka) and then in Ghana, where in 1957 he died of

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

. (See pp194-6, 'Jews in the Merchant Navy in WW2 - last voices', by Martin Sugarman, VM books, London)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sperber, Karel 1910 births 1957 deaths Deaths from Hodgkin lymphoma Officers of the Order of the British Empire Czechoslovak surgeons People from Tachov Czechoslovak Jews Jewish physicians Czech emigrants to the United Kingdom Charles University alumni Ship's doctors Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom British expatriates in Ghana British surgeons Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Deaths from cancer in Ghana Colonial Medical Service officers British Merchant Navy officers Jewish escapees from Nazi concentration camps Jewish emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss to the United Kingdom