Gabriel Ersler Papers and Photographs
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Abstract
Dr. Gabriel Ersler (1913-2005) was born in Woclawek, Poland and studied medicine in Berlin and in Bern, Switzerland. He went to Spain in 1937 and became a staff doctor at the Centre de Instruccion de Madrigueras, Albacete. He then became chief of the medical unit of the 13th International Brigade. As an exile in France after the Spanish Civil War he joined the anti-fascist Resistance. In 1956 he moved from the Soviet Union back to his native Poland, where he became disillusioned by the resurgence there of anti-semitism and, in 1968, emigrated to France. By the 1970s he was living in Israel and practicing there as an eye specialist; during this period he also embarked on a major research project to create a biographical directory of foreign (and especially Jewish) volunteers in the medical units of the International Brigades. He published articles on the medical service in several languages, sometimes as G. E. Sichon or Gabriel Ersler Sichon, incorporating his mother's maiden name in the Spanish style. The collection contains a copy of extracts from Dr. Ersler's Notebook, kept in Spain, in 1937-1939; some souvenir items of stationery from Civil War-era Spain; copies of lists of International Brigades volunteers; copies of articles by Ersler and others; and a file of correspondence between Ersler and ALBA archivist Victor Berch. Also included is a series of photographs taken by Ersler in Spain in 1937-1938.
Historical/Biographical Note
Dr. Gabriel Ersler (1913-2005) was born in Woclawek, Poland and studied medicine in Berlin until 1933 and in Bern, Switzerland until 1936. He went to Spain in 1937 and became a staff doctor at the Centre de Instruccion de Madrigueras, Albacete. He then became chief of the medical unit of the 13th International Brigade. As an exile in France after the Spanish Civil War he joined the anti-fascist Resistance. In 1956 he moved from the Soviet Union back to his native Poland, where he became disillusioned by the resurgence there of anti-semitism and, in 1968, emigrated to France. By the 1970s he was living in Israel and practicing there as an eye specialist. He traveled widely in Europe with his first wife, Conchita; after her death he married again, to Janine Szurek, and lived in his later years in France.
He embarked on a major research project to create a biographical directory of foreign (and especially Jewish) volunteers in the medical units of the International Brigades. In the course of this work he corresponded with, and eventually visited, Fredericka Martin, who was carrying out related research from her home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He also corresponded with Victor Berch, archivist of the Lincoln Brigades collections at Brandeis University. Ersler published articles on the medical service in several languages, sometimes as G. E. Sichon or Gabriel Ersler Sichon, incorporating his mother's maiden name in the Spanish style.
Arrangement
The collection is organized in 2 series: I, Subject Files, 1937-1987; II, Photographs and Photo Inventory, 1937-1938 and Undated.
Series I is arranged alphabetically; Series II is arranged by photograph number.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains a copy of extracts from Dr. Ersler's Notebook, kept in Spain, in 1937-1939; some souvenir items of stationery from Civil War-era Spain; copies of lists of International Brigades volunteers; copies of articles by Ersler and others; and a file of correspondence between Ersler and ALBA archivist Victor Berch. Also included is a series of photographs taken by Ersler in Spain in 1937-1938.
Access Restrictions
Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives for more information and to schedule an appointment, tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.
Use Restrictions
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), were transferred to New York University in November 2000 by the ALBA Board of Governors. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. For more information, contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.
Provenance
Most of these materials were donated to the ALBA archive by Dr. Gabriel Ersler in 1973; some may have been sent in later years. Items were sent by mail (along with donations of related books), to archivist Victor Berch at Brandeis University. The Ersler Papers and Photographs came to New York University in January 2001 as part of the original acquisition of ALBA collections, formerly housed at Brandeis.
