An Uncommon Friendship. Bernat Rosner
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AN UNCOMMON FRIENDSHIP
From Opposite Sides of the Holocaust
BERNAT ROSNER
with Sally Patterson Tubach
University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles London
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2001 by
The Regents of the University of California
First paperback printing 2002
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rosner, Bernat, 1932-
An uncommon friendship : from opposite sides of the Holocaust / Bernat Rosner & Frederic C. Tubach, with Sally Patterson Tubach.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-520-23689-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Rosner, Bernat, 1932-2. Tubach, Frederic C. (Frederic Christian), 1930-3. Jewish children in the Holocaust— Hungary—Tab—Biography. 4. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)—Hungary-Tab—Personal narratives. 5. Tab (Hungary) — Biography. 6. World War, 1939-1945 — Children—Germany—Biography. 7. World War, 1939-1945—Personal narratives, German. 8. Holocaust survivors—California—Biography. 9. Germany—Biography. 10. California— Biography. I. Title.
DS135.H93 R67 2001
943.9'7—dc21 00-053207
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) (Permanence of Paper).
TO OUR CHILDREN
Michael Rosner
Andrew Rosner
Owen Rosner
Karen Tubach
Michael Tubach
Contents
The Maelstrom: To Auschwitz and Beyond
ILLUSTRATIONS (following page 144)
Fritz and his mother, Hedwig Tubach, 1932.
Fritz and his father, mid-1950s.
Fritz begins the first grade, 1936.
Fritz in grammar school, 1937.
Fritz's father in Wehrmacht uniform, 1941.
Fritz, 13 years old, in Jungvolk uniform, 1943.
Fritz's stepmother, Marie Tubach, 1943.
Fritz's father in the German occupation of Guernsey, early 1945.
Fritz, San Francisco City College, 1949.
Bernie and Charles Merrill, August 1945.
Bemie and Simcha at Selvino, September 1945.
Bernie and friends at Selvino, September 1945.
Group picture of Selvino orphanage.
Bernie's official U.S. entry photograph, 1947.
Bernie at prep school, St. Louis, 1948.
Bernie as a U.S. Army officer candidate at Cornell, 1954.
Bernie and Fritz revisit the Tab railway station, 1990.
Ruins of the Tab synagogue steps, 1990.
Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, 1997.
Fritz and Bernie, Alpe di Suisi, Dolomites, 1999.
Letter from Charles Merrill, Sr., on Bernies graduation from Cornell.
Affidavit in lieu of birth certificate.
Foreword
Two European boys from small villages, one Jewish Hungarian and one German, grew up on opposite sides of the deadly divide constructed by Nazi Germany. One barely survived his imprisonment in several concentration camps, while the other attended meetings of the Jungvolk (Pre-Hitler Youth). The father of one was exterminated at Auschwitz, while the father of the other was a counterintelligence officer in the German army. After the war, both youths followed their luck and drive, each in his own way, to leave Europe and cross the Atlantic. The transformative power of the United States liberated them from their