Roman Kawalek collection

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

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 

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Consists of correspondence, forms, newspaper clippings, certificates, and report cards related to the experiences of Dr. Roman Kawalek. Originally of Zborów, Poland, Dr. Kawalek received his medical degree from the University of Vienna in 1938. He emigrated to the United States in 1940 after a brief period in England and joined the United States Army. He participated in the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Contains papers regarding Dr. Kawalek's education, including his framed medical school diploma, and his immigration experiences and in the Army. 

By subject and chronology