Wulkan-Berger Family Collection

Herman Berger was born on August 3rd, 1873 in Vienna, where he graduated from business college in 1891. Starting in April 1895, he worked for over forty years at the Spinnerei und Wirkwarenfabrik M. Honig, one of the biggest textile businesses in Austria. Between 1900 and 1907, he worked in Heidenreichstein close to the Czech border before returning to Vienna. He earned the title of a “Kommerzialrat” through his successful business activities.

Herman married the niece of his employer, Magda (Mitzi), née Guth, in 1905 and they had their daughter Elise Flora (Lisl) the following year. He served during the First World War in 1917 and 1918 and spent most of that time in Cetinje (Montenegro). The family lost most of their fortune after the Anschluss. Herman and Magda followed Lisl to New York in April 1939. He received American citizenship in 1944 and died in 1961.

Magda Guth was born in 1882 as the daughter of Bernhard and Clothilde Guth (née Bachrich). Magda had four siblings: Richard, Hans, Stefan, and Kaethe. Through her uncles and aunts from her mother Clothilde’s side of the family, Magda was also related to the Jellinek and Wolkenberg families of Vienna. Magda received a basic education at a Handelsschule or commercial school in Vienna.

Friedrich (Fritz) Peter Wulkan was born on May 25th, 1898 in Szobotist (Slovakia). He graduated from commercial school and started working in a chemical manufactory. In 1929, Fritz married Herta Loew. He worked on the farm (Gut Markgrafneusiedl) of her father. They hosted many Chaluzim between 1920 and 1938 there and taught agricultural basics to them in preparation for their emigration to Palestine. The couple emigrated to Kenya in 1939 where Fritz first managed and later owned a farm. After the death of his wife in 1944, he emigrated to the United States in 1945. Fritz and Lisl Berger married in 1946. He died in 1968.

Elise (Lisl) Berger was born on July 10th, 1906 in Heidenreichstein and later trained as a dressmaker. After she finished her training in 1937, she worked in the business of her mother in Vienna. In her free time, Lisl traveled a lot through Europe. She emigrated to New York in November 1938 where she continued working in the dressmaking business. She kept in contact with many of her Austrian friends after most of them emigrated, among them Fritz and Herta Wulkan. Lisl married Fritz Wulkan in July 1946 after he moved from Kenya to the United States following the death of his wife. Their son Peter was born in 1948.

Peter Wulkan was born as the only son of Lisl Berger and Fritz Wulkan in 1948 in New York. Both Fritz and Lisl had grown up and lived the first half of their lives in Vienna, Austria. While the parents of Lisl Berger, Herman and Magda (Mitzi) Berger, were able to escape their persecution in Austria through emigration to the United States, large parts of the Berger family weren’t as lucky. Three of Herman Berger’s four siblings died in the Shoah while the Berger family was scattered all over the world, some in Mauritius, others in Brazil, Israel, and the United States.