Roman Kawalek collection

Roman Kawalek collection 

Roman Kawalek was born in Zborów, Poland, in 1913. He moved to Vienna with his parents when he was 12. He studied in the Bundesrealgymnasium in Vienna, and upon completion, he enrolled into the Medical school, from where he graduated in October 1938. Later that year, Dr. Kawalek and his twin brother, Marcel, fled to England, while their parents stayed in Vienna. In 1940, Kawalek’s father died of a heart attack, and his mother was arrested and deported to Auschwitz. For two years, Dr. Kawalek tried to join the British army but was rejected because he was not a British citizen. In 1940 he left for America, where he completed his graduate work in medicine, then enlisted in the U.S. Army. As he told his children, he had only one thought: to rescue his mother. On June 12, 1944, Dr. Kawalek landed in Normandy. That September, with her son less than 500 miles away, Dr. Kawalek’s mother died in Auschwitz. In 1945, Dr. Kawalek was the commanding medical officer with the unit that liberated Buchenwald. 

Roman Kawalek collection