New on dunera.de September 4, 2026

Sigmund Berger – a pharmacist from Austria

With a new biography, dunera.de pays tribute for the first time to an Austrian “Dunera Boy.” Sigmund Berger was born in Vienna in 1885; making him one of the oldest internees to be deported to Australia. In order to marry a Catholic woman, he converted from Judaism in 1909. He had studied pharmacy and took over the Schutzengel Pharmacy in Ebensee on Lake Traunsee in 1918.

After the annexation of Austria by the Nazis in March 1938, the devout Catholic came under the scrutiny of those hunting Jews and profiteers of the “Aryanization” process. He was beaten by SA members, imprisoned, and—to protect his family—was forced to agree to a compulsory divorce. At the same time, Nazis with varying levels of influence attempted to gain access to the pharmacy. It had to be sold, but only 70% of the purchase price was paid.

The portrait of Sigmund Berger was drawn by Robert Hofmann, an internee from Vienna, at the Tatura camp. Owned by Martin Daxner.

In February 1939, Sigmund Berger managed to escape to England. Slandered as a suspected Nazi (Category “B”), he was interned on the Isle of Man a few days after the war began. This was followed by his deportation on the Dunera to Australia. In 1942, he enlisted in the Australian Army, which discharged him in December 1942 for health reasons.

Shortly thereafter, his return journey to England turned into a journey to his death, as his ship, the Waroonga, was sunk by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic. During a stopover in New York, he was able to meet his daughter Paula, who had managed to flee to the United States.

Sigmund’s wife, Rosa, and their daughters, Lore and Annemarie, managed to get by in Vienna until the end of the war. The fact that Lore had studied pharmacy after the war, just like her father, ensured that—after lengthy legal battles—the family regained ownership of the Schutzengel Pharmacy, which had been seized from them by the Nazis. The compensation did not reflect the actual damages. “As in many similar cases, it was more important to draw a line under the past,” Martin Daxner reflected.