Herbert Berghausen

Fireman, S.S. Har Zion
Died 31 Aug 1940
Commemorated at Tower Hill Memorial
Age 19


Herbert was born on 17 July 1920 in Strasburg, Germany to Max Dov Berghausen and Mina Miriam nee Ritter and he had an older brother Ernst. Herbert and Ernst escaped Germany to Israel settling in Pardes Hanna-Karkur near Haifa. Their parents were later killed in the Holocaust. Miriam died on 7 Oct 1942 in Theresienstadt and Max was killed on 15 May 1944 in Auschwitz.

Herbert trained as a mechanic apprentice on a merchant ship. In 1939, after training, he boarded the ship Har Zion as a mechanic. On the out break of war the ship joined the British war effort. At 06.15 hours on 31 August 1940 the ship left Liverpool with 1000 cases of spirit and 120 tons of fertiliser to travel to the USA. The Har Zion was attacked by U-boat, U-38 which fired two torpedoes amidships and ship sank north west of Ireland. The master and thirty five crew were killed. The only survivor Osman Adem was rescued the next day.

Izkor – Private Zvi-Herbert Berghoizan

Courtesy I Meshulam