Acknowledgements to the Museum of American and Canadian Volunteers in Israel’s War of Independence
Gloria Kessler was born in the Bronx in 1923, and joined Hashomer Hatzair, a Zionist youth group while a still a schoolgirl in New York. After graduating from Evander Childs High School, she wanted to do something useful in order to help in the war effort during World War II, so she enrolled in nursing school and graduated with a special degree as a nurse anesthetist.
She began her career in Chicago, and in 1948 volunteered to join Machal. She sailed from New York to Marseilles in July 1948. She spent three weeks working at the St. Jerome Displaced Persons Camp outside Marseille, then boarded the “Pan York” in early August, along with Ralph Lowenstein, Frank Perlman, and some 25 other Machalniks. There were approximately 2,800 displaced persons on that five-day voyage to Haifa.
Upon her arrival in Israel, Gloria went to work at a military hospital in Haifa with the equivalent rank of second lieutenant. She worked there with a group of predominantly South African volunteer surgeons. As they had never before heard of a nurse administering anesthesia, Gloria was first given a test to determine her skill, a test that she passed with flying colors. These were formative experiences provided her with personal satisfaction at contributing to the war effort by alleviating some of the pain and suffering of her patients.
The creation of Israel gave her a deep sense of belonging to the Jewish people. She also made
many close friends during her service, and these enduring friendships greatly enriched her life.
After the war, under pressure from her family, Gloria Kessler returned to the USA. She married Alfred Pelzig and they had four children. She passed away on 27th August 2009.
Source: Extracts from the obituary appearing in the Winter 2010 issue of AVI newsletter, written by Naomi Kantey and Michael Pelzig