[Page 163]

Zdenek Toman was the first of the Goldbergers to reach liberated Prague. He was soon joined by his wife Pesla or Paula nÉe Gutman–Toman. On May 25^th, 1945, a few days after the war ended, the Minister of Interior of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Nosek, published a decree to the effect that Zdenek Toman was the head of the organization known as “Rozvedka” or secret service organization under the control of the Czech Communist Party. This organization later changed names but was always headed by Toman until his downfall in 1948. According to Igor Luke a western intelligence specialist on Czechoslovakia, Toman was an ardent communist devoted to rebuilding the party and its security apparatus^[1]. Conditions were harsh in Czechoslovakia especially in the big cities. Food and medicines were in short supply and the black market flourished. Slowly, the country, which was flooded with thousands of survivors that were heading in all directions, started to solve its problems; the government helped the flow of refugees by establishing large camps and information offices.

Toman was soon informed that the entire Goldberger family had perished with the exception of himself and his older brother Armin who lived in Venezuela. Then news reached him that his sister Aranka or Aurelia Goldberger survived the camps and had reached Uzhhorod. He sent a car to bring her to Prague where she continued to recuperate. She then worked for the Ministry of Social Welfare where she met Imrich Rosenberg, an official of the repatriation commission within the Social Welfare Ministry. They married on October 2^nd 1945 in accordance with Jewish law. The Rosenbergs rented their apartment to the Jacobsons and went on their honeymoon to Palestine. Rosenberg was very active in the Jewish community and in the Zionist movement. During the war he was in England and returned to liberated Czechoslovakia where he resumed his activities. He was a member of the repatriation office. The Jacobsons, Rosenbergs and the Tomans were very friendly and even met socially. The Tomans avoided publicity and were barely known in Prague but the name Toman created fear. Through his secret contacts, Toman soon discovered that another of his sisters survived the war. Lenke or Magdelena Goldberger was in a Swedish hospital where she was recuperating. Lenke was amongst a group of camp inmates that the Germans handed over to the Swedish Red Cross to care for them. All these survivors were transported to Swedish hospitals, amongst them Lenke Goldberger.

Lenke Goldberger was born in Sobrance, Slovakia to David and Rosalia nÉe Thoman. Her parents sent her to Fanny Thoman, a sister of Rosalia nÉe Thoman–Goldberger, who lived in Berlin Dahlen, at Kesserstrasse 21. In 1940, the Gestapo forced the Thomans to move to Berlin–Charlottenburg, Berliner Strasse 97 Berlin where they resided until September 1943. Fanny and her niece Lenke were then arrested and in October 1943 were sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp. Fanny Thoman died at the camp on February 5^th, 1945. Lenke was sent on a death march to Bergen Belsen. She reached the camp and collapsed. She managed to get herself included in a transport of sick inmates that were handed over to the Swedish Red Cross. Toman found her and brought her home to

Tracing document indicates Lenke's whereabouts at the end of the war

Toman was very busy with the impending elections in Czechoslovakia. The Communist party waged an aggressive campaign to gain as many votes as possible. The campaign was hotly contested and showed an efficient Communist Party machinery that resulted in a smashing victory for the party. Of course Toman did his share of work in the campaign. Following the elections, the Czechoslovakian president asked Gottwald to form a government, which he did. Most key positions in the government were given to party members but other parties were represented in the government. The government functioned and Czechoslovakia slowly improved her economy. The government needed money to invest in the economy and money could only be gotten in the USA, where Masaryk hoped to raise money.

Toman did everything in his power to create a favorable American public opinion for Czechoslovakia. American Jewish and non–Jewish organizations were given free rein and they worked to help the Czech people and refugees. Jewish organizations established offices that handled Eastern Europe. The Jewish Agency headquarters in Eastern Europe were in Prague as were the offices of the Joint. The Joint operated the transit camps along the borders but also camps where the young Jews trained to become soldiers. The instructors were Palestinian Jews who were sent to train young Jews to fight for a Jewish Palestine.

The existence of these camps came to the forefront when the Soviets complained to Nosek that military training of Jews was taking place at some of the refugee camps.^[2] Nosek asked Toman why he was not informed about the military training programs that included the use of weapons. Toman replied that he did not want to involve Nosek in this matter, but assured Nosek that there were no weapons in the camps, saying: “The Soviets can come any time to the camps and see for themselves that there are no weapons but they must give me prior notice of their visit.^[3] Nosek told the Soviets to check the camps, which they did, but the Soviet NKVD found nothing. The latter complained to Nosek that somebody had removed or hidden the weapons. The NKVD knew that Toman was involved but decided not to make an issue of it at the time. Nosek warned Toman to be careful. The fact remained that the Haganah had an office in Prague that recruited young Jewish refugees. They were trained with weapons provided by the Interior Ministry, notably Toman.

He had contacts with the Haganah and the Mossad who were desperately trying to acquire weapons that were needed in Palestine where battles were taking place between Jews and Arabs. The Haganah and Mossad dispatched special agents to Prague to try to get some weapons, but without much success. These agents used every possible approach to get to Toman, who had the power to grant the necessary licenses to purchase weapons.

They approached Jacobson who interceded on their behalf with Toman. Czechoslovakia had a large military industry as well as huge stocks of light and heavy weapons that the German army had left in the country at the end of the war. The Haganah tried to purchase weapons for the expected battles in Palestine but it was not very successful. One of the major problems was that most sellers feared British and American reprisals. Both countries were determined to prevent the shipping of weapons to the Jews in Palestine.

The Arabs could of course get or purchase weapons from the Arab countries. The suppliers also wanted hard cash and instant delivery. The Haganah could not purchase weapons and send them to Palestine in one shipment; the weapons had to be smuggled in small quantities, a long, tedious and costly process. Furthermore, the British secret services made sure that the arms dealers were forewarned not to sell weapons to the Jews. The Haganah agent in Czechoslovakia was Felix Doron or Felix Michael who decided to approach Toman via Jacobson. Doron was a native Czech speaker who studied at the Charles University and was familiar with many students who held high positions in the government and may have even known Toman in his student days. The Mossad agent in Prague was Ehud Avriel. Both agents pressed Toman to help the Jews acquire weapons. Toman presented the request to a meeting that included Gottwald, Nosek, Defense Minister General Ludwig Svoboda, the minister of defense and Toman himself^[4]. Masaryk was also consulted on the deal. Moshe Sneh, member of the Jewish Agency was sent to Czechoslovakia by Ben– Gurion^[5], head of the Jewish Agency for Palestine. He met Gottwald and stressed the need for the weapons and the certainty of payment. The committee hastily approved the sale of weapons to the Haganah before the Russians even had a chance to protest^[6].

The Czechs approved the deal and orders were issued to permit the Haganah to purchase weapons. The technical arrangements were hastily processed by the assistance of Bedrich Reicin, assistant to the Czech defense minister^[7]. Ehud Avriel in his book “Open the Gates” gives us a glimpse of the speed in which arms transactions took place^[8]. In Paris Avriel met an agent named Robert Adam who was well connected with the Czech arms industry and both flew to Prague where arms deals were signed^[9]. The first weapon deal was signed on January 10^th 1948 and most of the weapons of this purchase reached Palestine on April 23^rd 1948^[10]. The first purchase would be followed by other arms purchases. This expanded, and included fighter planes, the training of fighter pilots, and the establishment of an Israeli air base at the Zatec airfield next to the East German border. This base would operate for several months: May – August 1948. Big American transport planes carried weapons and ammunition from Zatec airfield to Tel Aviv and returned empty^[11]. These weapons proved to be crucial in the fight for Israel's survival.

Toman and Jacobson continued to handle the Jewish refugee transports that crossed the Czech borders, but the numbers began to decline as the number of Jewish survivors declined in Eastern Europe. The reservoir of Jewish manpower began to dry up. In accordance with the agreement between the Brichah and the Polish government, the period of open borders came to an end. The Czech–Polish borders were slowly sealed. Less and less Jews crossed these borders. Some Hungarian and Romanian Jewish transports continued to arrive and proceeded to the D.P. camps in Germany and Austria. The repatriation of Polish Jews from the Soviet Union reduced itself to a trickle. The Polish government slowly gained control of the country and established order. Jews could now apply to the Polish government and receive permits to leave the country. The other East European countries also seemed to stabilize their regimes and provide more security for the surviving Jews.

In June of 1945 there were about 60,000 Jewish survivors in Germany and Austria. By the middle of 1947 there were about 250,000 Jews in Germany and Austria and the numbers kept growing. These Jews built a new Jewish force that the world had to reckon with,

By August of 1947, the Jewish situation in Czechoslovakia had eased; few Jewish refugee transports crossed the country since the reservoir of potential Jewish refugees had steadily declined in Eastern Europe. The Jewish situation however in Hungary was desperate. Schwartz assigned Jacobson to head the Joint office in Budapest, Hungary. Jules Levine was sent to Prague to replace Jacobson. Toman was sad to see Jacobson go for they had worked together and accomplished so much for East European Jewry. They created a force that would fight Britain by any and all means: populate the illegal ships that would attempt to crash the British blockade of Palestine, mass demonstrations against Britain, boycotts of English products and last but not least put heavy pressure on American Jewry to act.

All these tactics had one goal: to open the gates of Palestine. Britain still refused to listen – instead decided to abandon Palestine altogether and hand over the country to the United Nations which established the State of Israel. Israel opened its gates and a mass exit of Jews from the D.P. camps ensued. Most of the Jewish refugees went to Palestine; almost all the camps in Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Belgium were eventually closed with the establishment of the State of Israel. In the new land, most of the refugees started a new, normal and productive life in an environment that accepted them and gave them hope and security.

The end of 1947 was indeed a very happy time for Zoltan Toman; his wife Pesla gave birth to a boy on October 4^th 1947. The boy was named Ivan. The Goldberger family at last began to grow again in Czechoslovakia. Lenke, or Magdelena Goldberger–Thoman as she liked to be called, met and married Simon Leibovitz. The Goldberger families seemed to slowly emerge from the Shoah period and continue with their lives.

Ivan Toman, the son of Zdenek and Pesla Toman/Goldberger

Footnotes

1. Igor Lukas, On the Edge of the Cold War, Oxford Press, 2012, p.76 Return
2. Tad Szulc, Alliance, p.156 Return
3. Ibid p.156 Return
4. Szulc, Alliance, p. 156. Return
5. Bauer. Ashes, p. 132. Return
6. Ibid p.156 Return
7. He was born to a poor Jewish family by the name of Reinzinger. He joined the Communist Party in the thirties and in WWII served with the Czechoslovak Army under the command of Svoboda. Reicin also headed counter military intelligence. He would be shot later in Czechoslovakia. Return
8. Avriel, Gates. p.334 Return
9. Ibid, p.334 Return
10. A small amount of rifles and ammunition arrived by plane on April 3^rd 1948. The big shipment arrived on April 23^rd 1948 aboard the ship Nora from Yugoslavia. The shipment comprised 10,000 rifles, a number of machine guns and a large amount of ammunition. By October 1948, Czechoslovakia had sold 46751 rifles, 6142 machine guns of various types, 80 million rounds of ammunition and some fighter planes to Israel. Return
11. Most of the fliers were Jewish WWII war pilots and most of the planes were smuggled out of the USA. Return

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