Kurt Bigler deportation, internment, and escape

Kurt Bigler, born Kurt Wolf, a son of Marta [Martha] Wolf (1925-2007) was a German-Swiss pedagogue. In 1928 was adopted by Joseph Bergheimer, merchant, and Emilie, b. Bloch; in 1950 adopted by Berta Bigler, a teacher. 1932-1940 attended to the primary school and later the Jewish school in Mannheim. In 1940 he was deported to the internment camp Gurs; in 1941 to the internment camp Rivesaltes. In October 1941 Bigler escaped to the Château de Chaumont in Northwest France with the help of the Oeuvre de secours Aux enfants juifs (OSE); in 1942 stayed in different places in France; in September 1942 escaped to Switzerland; in 1943-1945 Bigler stayed in the refugee and labor camps (including Davesco). In 1948-1953 he studied (German, History, and Art History) and received PhD at the University of Bern. From 1946 Bigler was active as a journalist, a politician of the Social-Democratic Party of Switzerland (SPS) and held various public offices and memberships in committees and commissions (including the municipal council, Amtsgericht Erlach, Bezirksgericht Rorschach, the University Council of the University of St. Gallen, Program Commissions of Eastern Switzerland, radio and television company of Germany; in 1954-1966 he was a secondary teacher and was active as a representative of the Social Democratic Party, and also was a lay judge at the court of Erlach. After two attempts, Kurt Bigler was awarded Swiss citizenship, thanks to the efforts of his friends and the Swiss Federal Council. In 1966-1990 he was a professor at the Seminar in Rorschach, where he taught German, history and French until his retirement in 1990. Was married to Margrith Eggenberger, a lawyer; Died in Lausanne in 1959. Bigler had the testamentary establishment of a fund from which the Dr. Kurt Bigler Prize was financed. The prize, which aims to promote work and projects dealing with the causes of the Holocaust and its consequences, anti-Semitism or racism, has been awarded since then by TAMACH, the psychosocial counseling center for Holocaust survivors and their descendants University of Zurich. Contains information about the Holocaust experiences of Kurt Bigler including his deportation from Mannheim, Germany, in October 1940, his time in concentration camps Gurs and Rivesaltes, and his eventual escape to Switzerland.