Zev Birger ( he, זאב בירגר; June 1, 1926 – June 6, 2011) was a founder of the Sons of Zion Organization that worked to preserve
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
culture and language during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. He was also active in Aliyah Bet (illegal immigration organization) that organized the immigration of
Holocaust survivors
Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...
to Israel. He help set up of
State of Israel's Customs and Excise Department, served as Deputy Minister of
Commerce and Industry, as a special assistant to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
Mayor
Teddy Kollek
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 19 ...
for the development of culture, the economy and tourism in the city, and directed the
Jerusalem International Book Fair. Among those who nurtured Israeli cinema, he was a founder of
Sam Spiegel Film & Television School.
Biography
Zev Birger was born in
Kovno (Kaunas),
Lithuania, to Feiga Tzippora née Kaplan and Pinchas Birger. Feiga and Pinchas Birger had a solidly Zionist worldview and a strong belief in the need to establish a national home for the Jewish people in the
Land of Israel, and passed these views on to their children.
When Zev was ten, World War II began but it had only a marginal effect on Lithuania until September 1940, when Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union. When the Soviets invaded, the activities of Zionist organizations were banned. At first, many people, including Zev's parents, thought the Soviets would be better than the Germans, but the Soviets immediately began to confiscate property and persecute the Lithuanian bourgeoisie, including many Jews.
In mid-June 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union began, and it took only one week for all of Lithuania to fall into their hands. In July, they began to gather all of the Jews into a ghetto in Slobodka, a suburb of Kovno. Like many other Jews, the Birger family left almost all of their possessions behind, and moved into a small room in the ghetto. Periodically, there was an "aktion" or round-up in which groups of Jews were chosen randomly and sent to be executed.
At the beginning of the war, in 1940, Zev Birger was among the founders of the Sons of Zion Organization that undertook the Zionist education of Jewish teens and struggled to preserve Hebrew culture and language, which had been outlawed by the Soviet authorities. The movement published a journal, Nitzotz ("Spark"). Birger was partner in publication of the hand-written journal that was distributed in the Lithuanian underground, in the ghetto and even in the camps, where five issues were circulated, handwritten by the editor Shlomo Frankel, prior to liberation. The Sons of Zion also built bunkers where food and water were stockpiled.
On July 8, 1944, it was decided to evacuate all residents of the ghetto. Zev and his family tried to avoid evacuation by hiding in a bunker. For five days they succeeded, but on July 13, the Germans found them. Together with another 300 Jews who had remained in the ghetto, they were marched to the railroad station. On the way, there a selection, and Feiga Birger, Zev's mother, was sent to the left with the elderly and sick. That was the last time he saw her. Zev, his brother Mordecai and his father were loaded onto a freight train headed for Germany. Zev later said that he and his brother had several opportunities to jump from the car but they did not want to leave their father.
The Birgers were taken to Stutthof, and transferred to Dachau only a few days later. From there, they were taken to Kaufering IV, where they were forced to work in an underground German munitions factory that produced airplanes.
Within a short time Zev remained alone, after his father died in his arms, of a serious infection, and his brother was sent to another work camp, where he died. Zev was transferred to Kaufering V and then to Kaufering VII, which were even worse. Throughout it all, he repeated to himself: "You will survive. This will be our revenge."
On April 27, 1945, the camp was liberated by American soldiers and Zev was transferred to the hospital in
Bad Woerishofen. His physical condition was very poor, but the doctors were able to save his life and heal his abscess-covered body. The Americans identified his abilities, and Zev became their translator. They equipped him with a US army uniform and attached him to the unit. Although the unit's commander implored him to return with his soldiers to the United States and receive US citizenship, Zev was convinced that his place was in Israel, as part of the effort to build a state for the Jewish people, so that similar events would not occur again in the future.
Zev parted from his American saviors, and went to Frankfurt where he joined the illegal immigration operation that brought Holocaust survivors to the Land of Israel. There, he met Trudi née Simon, and they married in July 1946. On November 20, 1947, the young couple disembarked on the coast of
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...
, together with Trudi's mother.
At the beginning of the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which resi ...
, Zev was drafted to the nascent Israeli army. After his discharge, the Birgers lived in Haifa and Zev was a founder of the Customs and Excise Department, and helped shape the young State's tax system. In the 1960s, Birger was given responsibility for moving the Customs Office to Jerusalem, and also moved, with his family, to the capital.
In 1967, Birger joined the
Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry
The Ministry of Economy ( he, משרד הכלכלה, ''Misrad HaKalkala'') is a ministry of the Israeli government that oversees commerce, industry and labor in Israel.
History
The ministry was established in 1948 as the Ministry of Commerce and ...
as Deputy Minister and charged with reorganizing the ministry. He divided it into professional divisions, based on the ministry's areas of responsibility, and established the Light Industries Division. He identified the relative advantage of Israel's human capital for culture and creativity, and therefore set new goals for promoting publishing, design and electronic (later, hi-tech). In this position, did much to promote Israeli cinema, establishing the Israel Film Center and helping to found
Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem.
After his retirement from the civil service in 1977, Zev Birger managed the Paris office of world's largest arts management firm, ICM.
In 1980, Birger helped his wife
Trudi Birger
Trudi Birger (24 April 1927 – 24 April 2002) was a German-born, Israeli-nationalized writer, biologist, and Holocaust survivor. After the war Birger migrated to Israel, where she founded the Dental Volunteers for Israel clinic and published th ...
establish a free dental clinic for poor children in Jerusalem -
Dental Volunteers for Israel
Dental may refer to:
* Dental consonant, in phonetics
* Dental Records, an independent UK record label
* Dentistry, oral medicine
* Teeth
See also
*
* Dental care (disambiguation)
* Dentist (disambiguation)
* Tooth (disambiguation)
A tooth ( ...
, which continues to provide care for thousands of at-risk children and youth every year, thanks to volunteer dentists from around the world. Trudi and Zev's sons Doron, Oded and Gili Birger serve on DVI's Board of Directors today.
In 1982,
Teddy Kollek
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 19 ...
, then mayor of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, asked Birger to help develop industry and tourism in Jerusalem. He considered this an opportunity to make Jerusalem into an international meeting place, a venue for cultural dialogue that would pave the way for tolerance and peace. As a result of this perspective, the Jerusalem International Book Fair, which Birger managed, became one of the most important international book fairs in the world, a prestigious and respected institution where authors, editors and publishers from around the world meet. Birger manager the book fair until his last day.
In 1999, William Morrow published an English version of Zev Birger's memoir,
No Time for Patience: My Road from Kaunas to Jerusalem'. The book was translated into several languages and published in six countries.
In 2000, the Jerusalem Municipality honored Zev Birger as a Yakir Yerushalayim ("Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem") in recognition of the many years he worked to promote culture, the economy and tourism in Jerusalem. He was also honored by the governments of Germany and Lithuania.
In his eulogy, the British author
Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...
, who was awarded the prestigious Jerusalem Prize in 2011, said: "He saw how low humanity could sink, and then he rose and gave so much. He was an indestructible spirit and an example to all mankind. Not only Jerusalem or Israel but the whole world that loves culture and friendship will feel this loss keenly." Similarly, the Japanese author
Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for his ...
, who was awarded the prestigious prize in 2009, wrote: "I heard the tragic news of Zev's death. I was so surprised and shocked. I have a beautiful memory of him, and am missing him truly." President
Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres (; he, שמעון פרס ; born Szymon Perski; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the ninth president of ...
also eulogized Birger and wrote: "Only someone like Zev could have brought authors with international reputations to Jerusalem and make it into a literary capital."
Death
In June 2011, he died after being hospitalized in coma for ten days, as result of a head injury sustained in a traffic accident in Jerusalem. He is survived by the three sons, Doron, Oded and Gil, and eleven grandchildren.
See also
*
Sam Spiegel Film & Television School
References
*''The information in this article is based on that in its
Hebrew equivalent''.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birger, Zev
Lithuanian Jews
Lithuanian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
Israeli people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
Kovno Ghetto inmates
1926 births
2011 deaths
Road incident deaths in Israel