Dfkm. Dr. Leo Bergmann
- Born on: 17.9.1914
- Birthplace: Kuty (Кути),
- Category: Doctorate program
- Right of domicile: Kolomea (Коломия),
The English version is based on a translation by Artificial Intelligence. The authentic version is the German one.
Leo was the son of the merchant Isak Mendel Bergmann and Matilda Bergmann. His siblings were Gina Traou (born 1911) and Isia Sharf (born 1917).
He was enrolled at the University for World Trade for eight semesters between the winter semester 1933/34 and the summer semester 1937. Here he successfully completed his diploma studies in 1936.
Bergmann is also among the few Jewish students who were allowed by the Nazi regime to complete their doctoral studies after the 'Anschluss' of Austria. Only a short time window was granted for this with the summer semester. Thus, Bergmann was one of the seven Jewish doctoral candidates who were allowed to take their final Rigorosum at the 'University for World Trade' on July 12, 1938. Just over a week earlier, Bergmann had submitted 50 printed copies of his dissertation on the topic Foreign Exchange as a Financing Instrument. A Business Management Investigation.
According to a decree from the Austrian Ministry of the Interior and Cultural Affairs, which was then under the supervision of Reichsstatthalter Arthur Seyss-Inquart, the promotion of Jewish doctoral candidates was subject to a number of restrictions designed to strip this academic event of all dignity:
-
the promotion was to take place in private;
-
the candidates were not allowed to send invitations for the promotion to relatives or friends;
-
the academic officials such as the rector and promotor were required not to wear gowns;
-
and instead of the usual oral sponsorship, the Jewish doctoral candidates had to take the oath in writing by signing a pre-printed form.
-
Speeches were not allowed.
Just four days after the promotion, Bergmann went to his hometown of Kolomea/Kolomyja. He left the apartment at Nußdorfer Straße 77/1/7 (9th district of Vienna), where he had been registered since October 1935, on July 16, 1938.
On November 7 of the same year, the young doctor of commercial science arrived in Palestine, which was under British administration as part of a mandate from the League of Nations following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. From where Bergmann traveled to Palestine is not known.
In Palestine, he married the almost peer Bitania (born June 12, 1914, in Tiberias, maiden name Ganon, called Betty). Together with her, the 'University for World Trade' graduate applied for Palestinian citizenship on September 19, 1941. It was granted by the Department of Immigration on October 7, 1941. It may have been advantageous for the application that Leo Bergmann was proficient in Hebrew. His marriage to Bitania produced two children. In Haifa, Leo worked as a commercial auditor.
His further fate is unknown.
Author: Johannes Koll
Source material
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Universitätsarchiv, Karteikarte.
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Katalog der Hauptbibliothek.
MyHeritage.at: Stammbaum Leo Bergmann, betreut von Talila Bergmann, http://www.myheritage.at/ [3. Juli 2024].
Meldeauskunft des Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchivs, GZ MA 8 – B-MEW-139610/2013.
Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Archiv der Republik, Bundesministerium für Handel und Verkehr, Fasz. 577, Zl. 129630-14a/38.
Israel State Archives, Government of Palestine, Department of Immigration, Nr. 73332 (Leo Bergmann).