# Andreja Preger

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andreja_Preger
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andreja_Preger.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreja_Preger
> Source revision: 1315036355
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Andreja Preger** (20 March 1912 – 18 December 2015) was an [Austro-Hungarian](/source/Austria-Hungary)-born [Yugoslav](/source/Yugoslavia) and [Serbian](/source/Serbia) [pianist](/source/Pianist) and [Holocaust survivor](/source/Holocaust_survivor). Preger, who was Jewish, survived the Holocaust by joining the [Yugoslav Partisans](/source/Yugoslav_Partisans), led by [Josip Broz Tito](/source/Josip_Broz_Tito), during the [Nazi German occupation](/source/German_occupation_of_Yugoslavia) of [Yugoslavia](/source/Yugoslavia).[1][2] He became a noted concert pianist and piano teacher after the war.[1]

## Biography

### Early life

Andreja Preger was born in 1912 in [Pécs](/source/P%C3%A9cs), [Austro-Hungary](/source/Austro-Hungary), in present-day [Hungary](/source/Hungary).[1] He was raised in [Zagreb](/source/Zagreb), present-day [Croatia](/source/Croatia), where he enrolled in a Jewish school.[1] Preger, who was a member of [Hashomer Hatzair](/source/Hashomer_Hatzair) as a teenager, studied both music and law.[1]

### WWII

Preger, a reservist in the [Royal Yugoslav Army](/source/Royal_Yugoslav_Army), was called to active duty following the [invasion of Yugoslavia](/source/Invasion_of_Yugoslavia) by [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany) in April 1941.[1] The [Kingdom of Yugoslavia](/source/Kingdom_of_Yugoslavia) surrendered to the Germans on 18 April 1941. The [Independent State of Croatia](/source/Independent_State_of_Croatia), a German [puppet state](/source/Puppet_state) encompassing Preger's home city of Zagreb, was established by the Germans and the fascist [Ustaše](/source/Usta%C5%A1e), was established on 10 April 1941. Preger, who was both Jewish and a member of the Yugoslav army, went into hiding in Zagreb.[1] He later fled to [Split](/source/Split,_Croatia), which was under Italian occupation.[1] Preger's father and uncle were both captured and killed in the Ustaše's [Jasenovac concentration camp](/source/Jasenovac_concentration_camp).[1]

Preger had been a member of the National Liberation Theatre in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina before the war. In 1943, he joined the Yugoslav Partisans at their headquarters in [Jajce](/source/Jajce), central Bosnia.[1] He fought against the Nazis for the rest of World War II and survived the Holocaust.

### Later life

He moved to [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade), Yugoslavia (present-day [Serbia](/source/Serbia)), after the war, where he pursued music and Jewish cultural activities. He served as the long-time leader of the Federation of Jewish Communities's cultural department.[1] He also participated in Jewish summer camps, which attracted campers from throughout the [former Yugoslavia](/source/Former_Yugoslavia).[1]

Preger performed throughout as a pianist throughout [Europe](/source/Europe), the former [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union) and the [United States](/source/United_States) as a member of the Belgrade Trio, which he had established.[1] He also taught piano at several music schools. By 2014, Preger, then 103, was the oldest member of the Serbia's [Baruch Brothers Choir](/source/Baruch_Brothers_Choir), one of the world's oldest Jewish choirs.[1]

### Death

Andreja Preger died in [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade), Serbia, on 18 December 2015, at the age of 104.[1]

## References

1. ["Jewish anti-Nazi Partisan Andreja Preger Dies at 104"](https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/dec/13/mariuccia-mandelli). *[Haaretz](/source/Haaretz)*. 2015-12-21. Retrieved 2016-01-06.

1. ["Andreja Preger, Jewish anti-Nazi partisan, dies at 104"](http://www.timesofisrael.com/andreja-preger-jewish-anti-nazi-partisan-dies-at-104/). *[Times of Israel](/source/Times_of_Israel)*. 2015-12-21. Retrieved 2016-01-06.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Andreja Preger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreja_Preger) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreja_Preger?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.