How did Berlin's Jewish Hospital and hundreds of its patients survive the Holocaust?
Key takeaways
- When Red Army troops entered Berlin's Jewish Hospital in 1945, they were astonished to discover hundreds of Jews living just a couple of miles away from Hitler's bunker.
- You can't be Jews, the Jews are all dead," one Russian soldier reportedly exclaims.
- Berlin's Jewish Hospital, together with the Jewish Cemetery Weissensee, is the only Jewish institution that continued to operate and survive the Nazi era.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
When Red Army troops entered Berlin's Jewish Hospital in 1945, they were astonished to discover hundreds of Jews living just a couple of miles away from Hitler's bunker.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EGy CThe nurses' residence, the infectious diseases and gynecology wards, pictured here in 1935, were converted into a military hospital by the Wehrmacht in 1942Image: Herbert Sonnenfeld/Jüdisches Museum Berlin Advertisement Picture the scene on April 24, 1945, as the Battle of Berlin between the Soviets and the Nazis raged: A group of Red Army soldiers arrive at Berlin's Jewish Hospital to find hundreds of people living and working in the battle-scarred facility. "You are Jews? Not possible. You can't be Jews, the Jews are all dead," one Russian soldier reportedly exclaims.
Berlin's Jewish Hospital, together with the Jewish Cemetery Weissensee, is the only Jewish institution that continued to operate and survive the Nazi era. It still operates to this day. How could an institution designed to preserve Jewish life survive in the heart of the Nazi killing machine — and outlast it?