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Group Portrait at the Gabersee DP Camp

Gabersee Displaced Persons Camp

For the Jews who survived the Holocaust, the end of World War II brought new challenges. Many could not or would not return to their former homelands, and options for legal immigration were limited. In spite of these difficulties, these Jewish survivors sought to rebuild their shattered lives by creating flourishing communities in displaced persons camps in Germany, Austria, and Italy. In an unparalleled six-year period between 1945 and 1951, European Jewish life was reborn in camps such as Gabersee.

Gabersee was a displaced persons (DP) camp in the Munich district in Germany. It was located in the American zone of occupation near Wasserburg.

Couples with their new babies in the Gabersee DP camp
Couples with their new babies in the Gabersee DP camp

Three couples pose with their babies in the Gabersee displaced persons (DP) camp in Germany, 1947. In the center are David and Bella Perl (later spelled Pearl), who met and married after the war, with their daughter, Rachel.

During the Holocaust, Bella Scheiner and her family were deported to Auschwitz. From there, she was sent to forced labor at Reichenbach, a sub-camp of Gross-Rosen. Bella met David—who had lost his wife and child during the war—while working at a photography studio after liberation. They married in 1946 and traveled to Gabersee, where Rachel was later born. After nearly three years in the DP camp, the Perls immigrated to the United States.

  • US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Rachel Pearl Bitan

The DP camp opened on March 29, 1946, under the auspices of UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration). The Jewish population averaged 1,750 people in the years 1946–1949.

Gabersee closed on June 30, 1950.

Last Edited: May 3, 2019
Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

Critical Thinking Questions

  • What challenges did survivors face in the DP camps?
  • What challenges did the Allies face in establishing and supervising DP camps?
  • What responsibilities do (or should) other nations have regarding refugees from war and genocide?

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