Herbert Zipper - Imprisonment

Imprisonment

On May 27, 1938, shortly after the Anschluss, Herbert and two of his brothers were arrested at their home and sent to Dachau concentration camp. Zipper arrived at Dachau on May 31. He would spend a year in this camp, but instead of sinking into despair, he used the experience to develop his character and his love for humanity, often volunteering for the most demeaning of jobs. Zipper used music and poetry to bolster the spirits of the other inmates. He eventually had instruments made from stolen wood and wire and gathered a group of 14 musician prisoners to form an orchestra, for which he composed music. The orchestra held secret rehearsals and gave concerts on Sunday afternoons in an unused latrine. Zipper said that the concerts were not for entertainment, but a means of keeping alive some small measure of civilization and of restoring value to their lives.

Zipper encountered the poet and writer Jura Soyfer, whom he had known in Vienna. Soyfer composed the lyrics and Zipper the music for the song "Dachau Lied", that was passed through the camp and eventually made its way to other camps providing strength and hope to the prisoners. Zipper was working on the typhoid fever detail when Soyfer fell ill and eventually succumbed to the disease at the age of 26. The inmates on the detail had not been given proper protection nor even clean water to wash themselves and many contracted typhoid fever as a result. It was Zipper's responsibility to carry the victims to be buried. Herbert wrapped his friend in the prescribed paper shirt and placed him in the box for the unceremonious burial.

On September 23, 1938, Zipper was transferred to Buchenwald because of overcrowding at Dachau. Zipper and his brothers were fortunate that their father, Emil Zipper, had been in London trying to secure documents for the family to leave Austria. Emil was eventually able to secure the release of his sons. Zipper and his brothers were released on February 21, 1939, and returned home to Vienna. Zipper and one of his brothers traveled to join the rest of the family on March 16 in Paris.