Ajbeszyc family papers

Gerszon Ajbeszyc was born on March 16, 1900 in Warsaw, Poland. In 1929 he moved to Sosnowiec, Poland where he was employed in the “Gentleman” English-Polish rubber company where he was a branch representative. Gerszon married Sura Frenkel and on June 26, 1934 their son, Daniel was born. The family resided at 29 3-go Maja Street in Sosnowiec. In August 1939 the Ajbeszyc family vacationed in Wisla, but Gerszon sent his wife and son to Warsaw, anticipating mobilization into the Polish Air Force. She stayed with Gerszon’s parents and returned to Sosnowiec in November 1939. Gerszon was employed in the shoemaking workshop managed by Braune. He and his wife and son escaped the deportation of August 1942, but a year later, during the final liquidation of the Sosnowiec ghetto in Srodula, Sura and Daniel were deported to Auschwitz and murdered there. Gerszon was able to survive in the ghetto until December 1943, at which time he was smuggled out of the area and went to Warsaw. He acquired false papers for the name of Ryszard Ziolkowski and found employment in the technical department of the city government where he was a cobble stone layer. Most probably, Gerszon resided in the Praga district of Warsaw and at the outbreak of the Warsaw uprising in August 1944. At that time the Red Soviet Army reached the eastern bank of Vistula River, where Praga is located and Gerszon was free. In November 1944 Gerszon was in the liberated city of Lublin and worked under his false name at the Lublin University where he was responsible for a storehouse. In 1945 Gerszon reunited with Adela Fiszel, whom he previously knew, and they married on May 24, 1945. Adela and Gerszon’s daughter daughter Ilana was born in Katowice on February 19, 1946. In 1950 the Ajbeszyc family left Poland and immigrated to Israel.

Adela Fiszel was born on August 15, 1913 in Sosnowiec, Poland. She attended at the Music Academy in Katowice from 1929-1937 where she studied voice and piano. Adela’s family was well off. Her brother Kalman Fiszel was a leather goods specialist. Adela married Izydor Triebwasser. She and her husband acquired false documents, but in February 1943 Izydor was arrested at the train station in Tarnow and executed. Adela moved to Warsaw, where she lived under a false name of Stanislawa Bartoszynska. Between April and June 1944 she resided at 14 Smolna Street in Warsaw. In June 1944 she moved to a small town Jazgrzew, near Grojec in the vicinity of Warsaw and on December 19, 1944 she was registered as a resident of Konstancin, near Warsaw. On February 10, 1945, immediately after the liberation, she traveled to Sosnowiec to search for her family. At that time Adela reunited with Gerszon Ajbeszyc, whom she knew in Sosnowiec and probably in Warsaw as well. They married on May 24, 1945. Adela and Gerszon’s daughter daughter Ilana was born in Katowice on February 19, 1946. In 1950 the Ajbeszyc family left Poland and immigrated to Israel.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The papers were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005 by Ilana Yaniv.