Today, on Yom Hashoa, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we also remember those who created light in times of darkness. In 1944, Dr. Gisella Perl, a successful Jewish gynecologist living in Sighet, Romania, known for her innovative research in female reproduction, was sent to Auschwitz and forced to work for Dr. Josef Mengele. She became known as the "Angel of Auschwitz,'' and in an interview with The New York Times she recal...led, ''I treated patients with my voice, telling them beautiful stories, telling them that one day we would have birthdays again, that one day we would sing again."
After the war, Dr. Perl moved to Israel and we are honored that she volunteered at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the Gynecology Department where she helped to bring thousands of healthy babies into the world.
Before every birth, Dr. Perl would stop and say, "G-d, you owe me a life, a living baby."
Dr. Gisella Perl (1907-1988) shared her deeply moving story in her book, "I was a Doctor in Auschwitz." May her memory be blessed.
In the photos: Dr. Gisella Perl (on the left) in the concentration camps and (on the right) years later in Shaare Zedek.
