United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright Holder: Professor Fabian Gerson
folder 1
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.
Fabian Gerson memoirs