Adam and Helen Gawara papers

Adam (Abram) Gawara (1918-2004) was born in 1918 in either Nowe or Ożarów, Poland, to Jan Henryk and Josefine Gawara. He was arrested on suspicion of partisan activity during the Holocaust and survived concentration and labor camps at Majdanek, Flossenburg, Gross-Rosen, Dora, and Bergen-Belsen. He met Helen Herczberg in the displaced persons camp at Bergen Belsen after the war, and the couple were married in 1947 after he converted to Judaism. They immigrated to the United States in 1949 with their infant daughter aboard the USAT General McRae. They had two more children in America and lived in Iowa and Wisconsin.

Helen Gawara (1920-2002) was born Chaja (Chela) Herczberg on February 12, 1920 in Łódź, Poland, to Reuven and Mural Herczberg. (On immigrating to the United States, she claimed her birthday was May 5, 1922.) When Germany invaded Poland, she and her mother moved to Szydłowiec. Her father and brother were caught in the Łódź ghetto when it was sealed and were killed when they tried to escape. Helen’s mother died in Szydłowiec. Helen survived the concentration and labor camps at Skarzysko-Kamienna, Czestochowa, Ravensbrück, and Bergen-Belsen. She met Adam Gawara in the Bergen Belsen displaced persons camp after the war, and the couple were married in 1947 after he converted to Judaism. They immigrated to the United States in 1949 with their infant daughter aboard the USAT General McRae. They had two more children in America and lived in Iowa and Wisconsin.