Martin Bergau

Martin Bergau (born December 17, 1928 in Sorgenau , Samland ; † January 8, 2020 in Heimsheim ) was a German contemporary witness and writer .

Life

Martin Bergau was born in 1928 in Sorgenau, a fishing village on the Amber Coast. In his youth he was an enthusiastic model maker and completed his training as a glider pilot at the glider flying school. During the Second World War he was first used as an air force helper in Königsberg . He then passed his training as a fighter pilot , but was assigned to the ground crew and assigned to a firing squad as a guard. At the end of January 1945 he witnessed the operation "Death March Palmnicken" in Palmnicken . Shortly afterwards he was taken prisoner by the Soviets and was used as a slave laborer in Segescha . After his release from the labor camp, he worked in the West as a craftsman and technical employee.

Martin Bergau made his debut as a book author in 1994 with the experience report The Boy from the Amber Coast . This was followed by a book for young people and other reports.

Publications

• The boy from the Amber Coast. Experienced contemporary history 1938–1948 . Experience report. Heidelberger Verlagsanstalt, Heidelberg 1994, ISBN 978-3-89426-068-2 . → New edition 2012; ISBN 978-3-86215-121-9 .
• The fly in amber tells. Inspired by Immanuel Kant . Youth book. German Literature Society, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86215-097-7 .
• In the haze of doom. The human element is the same in the foundation of all cultures! Experience report, German Literature Society, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86215-291-9 .
• as co-author: Death March to the Amber Coast. The massacre of Jews in Palmnicken, East Prussia, in January 1945. Contemporary witnesses remember . Experience report. Winter, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 978-3-8253-5201-1 .

literature

• Martin Bergau in: Maria Blitz (author), Uwe Neumärker (ed.): End times in East Prussia. A silent chapter of the Holocaust . Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-942240-01-7 ; Introduction pp. 8–11. (Digitized version)
• Martin Bergau in: Andreas Kossert : East Prussia. History and myth . Siedler, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-88680-808-4 , p. 310 u. 317.

Web links

• Short biography and reviews of works by Martin Bergau at perlentaucher.de
• Literature by and about Martin Bergau in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Lecture by Mr. Martin Bergau, a contemporary witness of the Holocaust. Ricarda-Huch-Schule, Kiel, archived from the original on July 29, 2018 ; accessed on July 29, 2018 . 
2. ↑ Obituary notice
3. ↑ Robin Szuttor: Murder on the Beach. Stuttgarter Zeitung .de, January 31, 2014, accessed on July 29, 2018 .