Remember the Women Institute is co-producing a forthcoming film, Gisella Perl: I Was A Doctor in Auschwitz, with distinguished filmmaker Rosemarie Reed and her On the Road Productions. Dr. Perl, a gynecologist, was arrested in Hungary and transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, along with her husband and son. They were immediately sent to the gas chamber, but she was selected by Dr. Josef Mengele to head a women’s so-called hospital at the camp. In a situation where pregnancy was an automatic death sentence, Dr. Perl secretly and heroically performed abortions to save the lives of countless women prisoners. She wrote an early memoir, I Was A Doctor in Auschwitz, in 1946. The film will be based on her own words, as well as testimony from those who knew her. Full information is on the website for the film, https://gisellaperlfilm.site/. Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel, founding executive director of Remember the Women Institute, is one of the consultants for the film. In preparation for the film, she met in Israel with Yaakov Yariv, a volunteer at Sharei Tzedek hospital working to memorialize Dr. Perl, who herself was a volunteer in the hospital. Dr. Saidel also met with Giora Itzhak Yardeni, Dr. Perl’s grandson, who has dedicated himself to telling his grandmother’s story. He is also a consultant for the film.
