Creating A Legacy for Future Generations: Discovering the story of Holocaust survivors
Presented by Jerry Scherer
http://www.jgsh.org/Events.php?ITEM=8
Jerry Scherer wanted to create a book for his children and grandchildren that would detail his parents` experiences during the war and their stay in the Hofgeismar DP camp in Germany. His parents rarely spoke of the horrors they endured or witnessed. As a result, Jerry had to be resourceful in piecing their history together. Jerry will share how, over the course of many years, he was able to learn his parents` story from a few family pictures, online research and conversations with people from around the world. It is his hope that by sharing his story, others will use his techniques to research their family`s history, so that they too can provide a legacy for future generations.
Jerry Scherer, son of Holocaust survivors, was born in Siberia in 1945. After the war, he and his parents spent 3 years in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany before emigrating to Montreal in 1949. Jerry received degrees from McGill and the University of Toronto. He taught high school mathematics for 42 years, first for the Toronto Board of Education and then at Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto. He retired in 2009. Jerry currently volunteers for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto as the Coordinator of the Memorial Plaques Project. Jerry enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren, cheering on the Jays, Raptors and his granddaughter`s hockey team, and traveling with his wife.