101-year-old Hungarian Holocaust survivor doctor still works every day in LA

Dr George Berci, of Hungarian descent, a Holocaust survivor and a pioneer of surgical technique, is still in the office every day. LA Times wrote a long article about him.

He had his 101st birthday last week

Berci starts work at 7 a.m. and has busy days. He is in the office in person twice a week and works from home the rest of the days, answering queries from other doctors and checking in with colleagues around the world.

Berci seems to be fit, it does not look like he is older than 100 years, though, to be completely honest, he is a little less happy these days because of the war in Ukraine. He hopes the situation will improve, says Berci, who could also tell the story of the German and Russian dictators himself.

Berci was forced to a labour camp in 1942

Berci was born in Hungary. In 1942, he was forced into a labour camp and endured the misery of gruelling manual labour while nearly starving to death. Two years later, during the Allies’ bombardment of Budapest, Berci managed to escape. Berci went to work in the Hungarian underground, risking his life in an operation that created and delivered fake IDs to Jews in hiding.

• Read also: Young teachers’ net wage is 467 EUR/month in Hungary – many went on strike

After the Nazi terror came the Communists, Berci left for the US

He made surgery his speciality and was working at a Budapest hospital in 1956 when Russian forces crushed an anti-Communist uprising, killing thousands. Bloodied victims arrived by the hundreds at the hospital, and when the drama subsided, Berci began plotting a course out of Europe. He first moved to Australia, then to the United States.