Michael Berger (officer)

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Michael Berger (left) and Peter Struck on the occasion of the award of the Bernhard Weiß Medal (2012)

Michael Thomas Berger (* 1964 in Stuttgart ) is a German officer ( captain ) of the Bundeswehr and military historian at the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr . He has been chairman of the Association of Jewish Soldiers in the Bundeswehr since 2006 .

Life

After graduating from high school, Berger studied history at the University of Stuttgart and the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg . In 1988 he joined the mountain artillery battalion 81 in Kempten (Allgäu) of the Bundeswehr. From 1997 to 2000 he completed his training as an officer in the military technical service (OffzMilFD). From 2000 to 2002 he was used in the Transport Battalion 143 in Strausberg and served from 2002 to 2006 on the staff of the Berlin site command (StOKdo Berlin). Since 2006 he has been a historian officer and research assistant at the Military History Research Office (MGFA) in Potsdam, which has been operating under the name Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr (ZMSBw) since 2013 . There he works in the AIF I department. The career officer currently holds the rank of captain of the army .

Berger is chairman of the Association of Jewish Soldiers (RjF) founded in 2006 . He represents over 200 Jewish soldiers within the Bundeswehr. He is publisher and editor-in-chief of the association magazine Der Schild . As an author and co-editor, Berger published several books on the history of German Jewish soldiers and wrote articles in magazines.

Berger is married and lives in Berlin . He is a member of the Jewish Community in Berlin .

reception

His monograph Iron Cross, Double Eagle, Star of David , published by Trafo Verlag in 2010 , was largely received positively. The journalist Israel Schwierz wrote in the Israel Nachrichten : “By publishing this unique and highly recommended documentary, Hauptmann Berger succeeded in giving the honorable and lasting memory of the Jewish soldiers - and especially the fallen - a permanent memorial create. For this we deserve the highest appreciation and deepest thanks to everyone who cares deeply about the honest handling of the history of Jewish soldiers in Germany and Austria. ”The cultural scientist Gotthard B. Schicker said in the Hungarian daily Pester Lloyd :“ Overall […] a Very recommendable history book about a relatively unknown chapter of European military history, which should be able to fill many a memory gap in today's Hungary. "

His works, including the edited volumes together with Gideon Römer-Hillebrecht , were also a. discussed at haGalil , H-Soz-u-Kult , information media for libraries , Neues Deutschland , Perspectivia.net and Sehepunkte .

Fonts (selection)

Monographs

  • Iron Cross and Star of David. The story of Jewish soldiers in German armies . trafo, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89626-476-1 .
  • Iron Cross - Double Eagle - Star of David. Jews in German and Austro-Hungarian armies. The military service of Jewish soldiers through two centuries . trafo, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-89626-962-1 .
  • For emperor, empire and fatherland. Jewish soldiers. A story from the 19th century to the present day . Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 2015, ISBN 978-3-280-05585-4 .
  • Be strong and brave !. Jews in German and Austro-Hungarian armies in the First World War. Jewish front fighter associations in the Weimar Republic and the Republic of German Austria (= history series . Volume 29). Tectum Verlag, Marburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-8288-3725-6 .

Editorships

  • With Gideon Römer-Hillebrecht: Jews and the military in Germany. Between integration, assimilation, exclusion and annihilation (= Inner Leadership Forum 31). Nomos, Baden-Baden 2009, ISBN 978-3-8329-4471-1 .
  • With Gideon Römer-Hillebrecht: Jewish soldiers - Jewish resistance. In Germany and France . Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 2012, ISBN 978-3-506-77177-3 .

Contributions to edited volumes

  • The Dreyfus case. France's army and the new anti-Semitism. In: Elke-Vera Kotowski , Julius H. Schoeps (Ed.): J'accuse…! … I accuse! About the Dreyfus affair. A documentation. Catalog accompanying the traveling exhibition in Germany May to November 2005. Commissioned by the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European-Jewish Studies . Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg, Potsdam 2005, ISBN 3-935035-76-4 , pp. 47-58.
  • “Germany, my fatherland !?” The role of minorities in the army using the example of the military service of the Jewish population in Prussia . In: Karl-Heinz Lutz, Martin Rink , Marcus von Salisch (eds.): Reform, reorganization, transformation. On the change in the German armed forces from the Prussian army reforms to the transformation of the Bundeswehr . Commissioned by the Military History Research Office, Oldenbourg, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-486-59714-1 , pp. 485–504.
  • With Gideon Römer-Hillebrecht: The military service of Jewish soldiers . In: Andreas Ahammer, Stephan Nachtigall (Ed.): Conscription - Legitimate Child of Democracy (= Science & Security . Volume 7). Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-8305-1820-4 , pp. 117-145.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Manja Altenburg: It just happened like that… . In: Wina. The Jewish city magazine . 20th June 2014.
  2. ^ Matthias Einwag: Jew and German officer . In: Franconian Day , August 6, 2011, p. 2.
  3. ^ Berger's castle . In: taz , December 4, 2008.
  4. Michael Berger: Cruel deception . Spiegel online, January 18, 2008
  5. Michael Berger: The Dreyfus Affair. Background and effects on the Franco-German relationship . In: IFDT. Information for the troops , 2nd quarter 2006, pp. 50–55.
  6. ^ Israel Schwierz: [discussion]. In: Israel News , January 27, 2011, p. 11.
  7. Gotthard B. Schicker : Unwanted Patriots. Jews in German and Austro-Hungarian armies (rec.). In: Pester Lloyd , March 17, 2011.