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(Submitted by Alex Gisser - Gerszon's son)
Gerszon Gisser (Giser) was born in Lunna between 1912 and 1915 (exact
date of birth is not clear). His parents were Yudel Gisser (Giser),
born in Lunna (ca. 1885-1895) and Doba Yellinowicz (Jelinowicz), born
in Volpa (ca. 1885-1895). Both Yudel and Doba were murdered at
Auschwitz on December 8, 1942. Gerszon had four brothers and one
sister, all born in Lunna. The exact date of their births is unknown.
Gerszon’s Brothers: Motel (born ca. 1914-1916), Shimon (born ca.
1918-1920),
Semach (born ca. 1923-1925) and Lochum (born ca. 1927-1930)
Gerszon’s Sister: Libby/Libi (born ca. 1921-1924)
Yudel Gisser and his son Gerszon Gisser were butchers in Lunna. It is
possible that Gerszon may have had a spouse (Schayne?) and a young
child named David, both of whom were murdered with the rest of his
family in Auschwitz.
Yudel Gisser’s Brothers
Before his death, Gerszon provided Alex with the following information
regarding Yudel’s siblings. As is the case with the other Gissers,
their exact dates of birth are unclear. It is also not clear whether
Yudel may have had any other siblings. Alex believes Yudel’s brothers
were born sometime between 1885 and 1905. One of Yudel’s brothers may
have lived for a short time before the war in the United States, but
returned to Poland, where he and the remainder of the Gissers were
murdered during the war.
Yudel’s brothers, and known family members, were:
Schmuel David Gisser - according to Gerszon, Schmuel David had at
least one child, named Hiller. Schmuel David was a cattle merchant and
a butcher.
Motel Gisser - had two young children.
Velfka - he was a shoemaker in Lunna; he had four or five children,
including a daughter who married a Russian soldier.
Lazar - who lived in Volpa, and had about five children, including a son
named Zeiwel or Tewel Alex believes that this is the Tewel who was in
the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz. Tewel appears to have been the sole
Gisser, other than Gerszon, who survived the war. Tewel was also one
of only two Jewish persons from the neighboring town of Volpa who is
known to have survived the war.
Gerszon Gisser and his brother Motel were serving in the Polish army
when the Second World War began in September 1939. Gerszon was
stationed near Suwalki, Poland, and was captured by the Germans
shortly after the war began. Gerszon was sent to Stalag 1B near
Koenigsburg, and as was the case with other Jewish prisoners of war,
was ultimately transferred to a number of different concentration
camps. Gerszon was liberated by the Soviet army at Litomerice/Leitmeritz
(three kilometers from Theresienstadt) on May 9/10, 1945, having arrived in
Czechoslovakia from the notorious Flossenbuerg concentration camp
following a death march in April 1945. Gerszon emigrated to the United
States in 1949 and, after living in Boston, Massachusetts for a few
years, moved to Norwich, Connecticut, where he resided until his death
on November 9, 2002. In 1950, Gerszon married (in the United States)
Esther Ellen Oppenheimer, who was born January 17, 1923 in Fulda,
Germany and died in 2003. Gerszon’s daughter, Denise, was born on June
24, 1953 and died in 1996.
According to Gerszon, his brother Motel was captured by the Soviet
Army in September 1939, but was released and returned to Lunna. Motel
survived the initial selection at Auschwitz on December 8, 1942, but,
according to camp records, died there of “pneumonia” (in actuality,
presumably murdered) sometime between January 1 and 3, 1943. The death
record of Motel is posted at the Auschwitz
Death Camp page of this web site.
As noted above, Gerszon Gisser and his cousin Tewel Gisser were the
only survivors of the extended Gisser family (see
List of Holocaust survivors.)
The fate of Velfka Gisser's daughter who married a Russian soldier is
unknown.
Note: The list of
victims from Auschwitz
includes two other Gissers who lived in
Lunna before the war and were murdered in Auschwitz: Icko (Yitzchak)
Gisser (born 1915) and Joseph Gisser (born 1905). Both Icko and Joseph
were sons of Shmuel Gisser and Rivka nee Goldin. It is possible that
these two persons were sons of Yudel Gisser's brother, Schmuel-David
Gisser.
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The Gisser Family (ca. 1922-1925) |
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Gerszon Gisser (left) & Motel Gisser (right)
in Polish Army
uniforms
(ca. mid-1930s) |
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Below are two pictures taken after the war in the late 1940s in
Germany, where Gerszon Gisser was in Displaced Person's Camps
(including Deggendorf)
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Gerszon Gisser (middle) with two unidentified persons
(Germany, late 1940s)
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Gerszon Gisser (Germany, late 1940s)
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The Shmuel-Leib (Arie/Yudah) Gisser Family
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(Submitted by Lisa Dashman & Nancy
Meiselman)
Shmuel-Leib (Arie/Yudah), son of Yitzchak Meir, was born in Lunna.
He died in 1936 and was buried in the
Lunna Cemetery. Shmuel-Leib had four sisters, born in Lunna:
Golda Chana/Gussie, Zlata-Leah/Lena, Esta Rochel/Ester and Sarah.
Golda Chana/Gussie (1878?-12/13/1958) married to Isaac Levine who
died on 6/4/1925). Zlata-Leah/Lena (1871?-4/15/1955) married to
Laizer/Louis Saide (11/4/1870-1/8/1952). Esta Rochel/Ester
(1877?-9/1/1934) married to another Isaac Levine. The three sisters
immigrated with their husbands to North America around the late
1890s, and they all settled in New York. The remaining sister, Sarah
(born around 1870) married to Louis Ganzer. Sarah and Louis had had
children in Lunna, but all of them died, except one daughter, Fanny,
who was sent to the US with her aunt and uncle Zlata-Leah and Laizer
Saide, around 1895, when she was about 4. Sarah and Louis Ganzer
immigrated to Palestine around 1905. It is yet unknown where they
lived or died in Palestine and whether they had more children born
in Palestine.
Shmuel-Leib Gisser had two sons, born in Lunna: Yoel Gisser (born
approximately 1865) and Yitzchak Meir (also known as Icyk), born in
1880; he was a tailor.
Yoel Gisser married Sura/Sarah LASKER? They had two sons and two
daughters, born in Lunna: Yitzchak Meyer/Isidore (Lisa's
grandfather, 4/1/1889?-6/19/1944), Ber-Leib/Benjamin
(12/27/1890?-12/7/1965), Sheine Beile/Jennie (1897?-12/19/1990) and
Teibl/Tilly (9/22/1906-1/28/2002) who immigrated to the US between
1910 and 1922. They tried to convince their parents to emigrate as
well, but their father, Yoel, refused because he did not want to
leave his father, Shmuel-Leib.
Yitzchak Meir, son of Shmuel Yudah, married Mashka, daughter of
Abraham Swotinsky, in Lunna in August 10, 1906. The Ketuba is posted on
the Jewish Ceremonies page. In 1909 Yitzchak Meir and Mashka and
their son Fishel immigrated to the US (they immigrated separately:
Yitzchak-Meir arrived on 3/1/1909 and Mashka arrived with the little
boy on 10/20/1909.) In the US Yitzchak- Meir was known as Isador ("Izzie")
Gisser and Mashke was known as Martha and Fishel was known as
Philip. Isador and Martha Gisser are Nancy Meiselman's grandparents.
Notes
Note 1: It is not yet known whether Yoel (Lisa's
great-grandfather) and Yitzchak-Meir (Nancy's grandfather), sons of
Shmuel-Leib Gisser, were related to Yudel Gisser (Alex Gisser's
grandfather).
Note 2: It is known that Akiva ("Kive") Gisser and his wife Sarah
nee Skidelski resided in Lunna during the 1930s. However, it is yet
unknown whether they were related to Shmuel-Leib (Lisa's
great-grandfather) or to Yudel Gisser (Alex's grandfather).
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Swotinsky Family
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(Submitted by Linda Morzillo)
Abraham Swotinsky, son of Eli Yitzchak, was born in Lunna (around
1870?). He died in 1932 and was buried in
Lunna Cemetery.
Abraham Swotinsky and Frances (Finkel) Swotinsky had five children. They
were, in order of age, Mashke, Sam, Elsie, Morris, and Isadore,
known as Izzy. The oldest daughter, Mashke, was married in Lunna in
1906 to Yitzchak Meir Gisser. They left for the USA in 1909. All of
Abraham's children from his first marriage came to the USA at the
beginning of the 20th century. As Sam was sponsored by his older
sister Mashk (Swotinsky) and her husband Isadore Gisser, he thought
he had to have the same last name as his married sister. Hence, Sam
was Gisser and his brothers were Swotinsky.
Abraham Swotinsky had a sister, Bessie, who married Yitzchak
Kosofsky. Bessie and Yitzchak Kosofsky had at least two daughters.
One was Sore Kosofsky (Linda's grandmother). Sore was born in
Szczuczyn (now Shchuchyn, located between Lunna and the city of Lida).
Sore married Yankel Kagan in Szczuczyn and they left for the USA.
The other daughter, name as yet unknown, stayed and perished with
her family in the Holocaust.
Note: It is not yet known whether Yitzchak Kosofsky (Linda's
great-grandfather) was related to the Kosowski family described in
Family Albums/Kosowski.
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Compiled by
Ruth Marcus & Aliza Yonovsky Created
May 2007
Updated by rLb, March 2020
Copyright © 2007 Ruth Marcus
All the photos are presented
by courtesy of the families and are not allowed to be reproduced
without their permission. |
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