Anatol and Alexandra Gorko papers

Anatol Gorko (1907-1995) was born on June 28, 1907 in Kiev, Russia (Kiev, Ukraine) to Josef and Rozalia Gorko. Anatol had one brother and two sisters, one of whom was named Ella Romer (b.1901). His father worked as a mechanic. Anatol lived in Łódź, Poland where he worked at a spinning factory. He was married and had one daughter, Helena. His wife Zosia worked as a nurse. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, Anatol fought with the Polish Army. He was captured and was in a prisoner-of-war camp for several weeks. After January 1940 Anatol and his family were forced to live in the Łódź ghetto where he worked as a cashier in a store. In 1944 the Nazis began liquidating the ghetto, and in August 1944 Anatol and his family were deported to Auschwitz. Anatol and his brother-in-law survived selection, but his mother, wife, child, and sisters all perished at Auschwitz. In September 1944 he was transferred to Friedland, a subcamp of Gross-Rosen. He told them he was a mechanic, and went through several weeks of training to work at a factory. He likely worked on the manufacture of parts for V2 rockets. Anatol was liberated by the Soviet Red Army on 9 May 1945. He returned to Łódź where he worked in textile production. Anatol reunited with Alexandra Palej, someone he knew from before the war. They married in 1946 and moved to Munich, Germany. The couple immigrated to the United States in July 1948 aboard the SS Marine Flasher. Alexandra and Anatol settled in Philadelphia and had a daughter, Simone (b. 1953).

Alexandra Gorko (1916-1994) was born Alexandra Palej on August 8, 1916 in Kiev, Russia (Kiev, Ukraine) to Felix Palej and Simone Heller. Her mother had two sisters, Molly and Adele, both of whom immigrated to the United States before the war and settled in Philadelphia, PA. Her family fled the Communist Revolution in Russia in 1922 and settled in Łódź, Poland. She married a non-Jewish Polish man, Michael, before the war. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, her husband served with the Polish army and was presumably killed in combat. After January 1940 she was forced to live in the Łódź ghetto where she worked as a nurse in one of the ghetto hospitals. In 1944 the Nazis began liquidating the ghetto, and in August 1944 Alexandra was deported to Auschwitz. She was soon transferred to Ravensbrück and Mühlhausen I or II. In February 1945 she was transferred to Bergen-Belsen where she was liberated in April 1945 by the British Army. Alexandra soon initiated the process to immigrate to the United States where her two maternal aunts lived. In May 1946 she returned to Łódź, where Alexandra was reunited with Anatol Gorko, whom she knew before the war. They married and moved to Munich, Germany later that year. The couple immigrated to the United States in July 1948 aboard the SS Marine Flasher. Alexandra and Anatol settled in Philadelphia and had a daughter, Simone (b. 1953).

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum collection, gift of Simone Gorko

Donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2019 by Simone Gorko, the daughter of Anatol and Alexandra Gorko.