Fabian Gerson memoirs
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Fabian Gerson
Fabian Gerson donated these memoirs to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on August 18, 2008.
Scope and Content
Consists of the memoirs of Professor Fabian Gerson, originally of Łódź, Poland. The memoirs are written in two parts. In part I, titled "The Road to Annihilation," 13 pages, Professor Gerson describes his childhood in Łódź, pre-war antisemitism, and the German invasion. In December 1939, Fabian's mother, Dora (neé Kon) and sister Franciszka moved to Czestochowa; Fabian and his father, Pinkus, escaped the ghetto to join them in October 1940. On September 22, 1942, Fabian was separated from his family during the liquidation of Czestochowa and taken to forced labor at an armament plant owned by the HASAG company on the outskirts of Czestochowa. In January 1945, he was deported to Buchenwald, where he was liberated by the American Army in April 1945. His family perished in Treblinka. In part II, titled "The Difficult Life Afterwards," 12 pages, Professor Gerson describes his health problems after liberation, which led to time in the Davos sanatorium. After a brief period of schooling, he fell ill again, and was sent to the Etanai and Leysin sanatoriums. He obtained a doctorate in chemistry and became a naturalized Swiss citizen.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Professor Fabian Gerson
Subjects
- Buchenwald.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Personal narratives.
- World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Poland--Czestochowa.
Genre
- Document
- Personal Narratives.