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The Henry Berg story
1. The Henry Berg story
2. Title and abstract
The Henry Berg, alias Abraham Swatsky, story: A German Mennonite in the Russian and German armies during World War II.
Henry Berg, alias Abraham Swatsky, was a German Mennonite born in 1920 in the Black Sea area of Russia. After growing up in the midst of Stalin's purges of the Kulaks and the forced starvation of about 10 million people in the Ukraine and Black Sea area in 1932-33, Henry (as a Mennonite conscientious objector) was forced into the Russian Army in 1940, was captured by the Germans in 1942, spent time in a prisoner camp, was forced into the German Army when the Germans become desperate for soldiers, was wounded, forced to be a military translator, escaped and was later captured by the Allied forces. After the war, he eventually made his way to a farm off Maytown Road in Elizabethtown, PA, and worked for many years for Newcomer Oil in the same town.
3. Discussion
Henry passed away in the mid-1990's. The collected material comes from a published talk he gave to the Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania in 1981, from unpublished notes and recollections from a co-worker at Newcomer Oil, and recollections from several other people who knew or interacted with Henry from time to time.
The research/talk weaves together the specific story of Henry Berg into general context of the political, military, and economic factors of left-wing Soviet socialism, right-wing Nazi socialism, along with the impact of the Eastern front in World War II on the rest of the war and comparison of fighting techniques and perspectives between Eastern and Western fronts.
4. Author
The author, as a West Point graduate, has had a long time interest in wars and battles in Russia, the political-military-economic situations in and between Germany and Russia over time, and has extensively studied the German and Russian languages. While a cadet at West Point, he was selected to participate in an exchange program in Germany with the West German Officers school.
The author has a BS (physics) and a PhD (computer science) with a long-time interest in computer and human languages.
5. Future direction
If anyone has specific examples or experience in any area related to these ideas that you are willing to share, please contact me. Thank you.