Born in
Warsaw in the
Russian Empire (later in Poland). Berman attended the
University of Warsaw, where he earned a PhD in psychology. As a student he joined
Poale Zion Left and edited its two newspapers (one in
Polish and one in
Yiddish). During
World War II he was one of the leaders of the Jewish underground in the
Warsaw Ghetto, and a member of the presidium of the Underground National Committee. He was also general secretary of
Żegota, the
Polish underground Council for Jewish Aid whose aim was to
rescue Jews from
the Holocaust, and
CENTOS, a children's aid society in the Warsaw ghetto. After the war he became a representative of the communist-dominated
Sejm, and in 1947 became chairman of the
Central Committee of Polish Jews. Berman was removed from this position in April 1949 because he was a
Zionist. In 1950 he moved to
Israel, where he joined
Mapam (United Workers Party). Berman was elected to the Second
Knesset on the party's list in the
1951 elections, and on 20 February 1952 left the party and formed the
Left Faction together with
Rostam Bastuni and
Moshe Sneh. On 1 November 1954 Berman joined the Communist Party of Israel (
Maki), and became a member of its
Central Committee. ==References==