He was an older brother to Paul Gerk, my grandfather.
Married 6th of January 1916 in Josefstal to Kristina Rausch. They had 4 children, Georg born 1916; Jakob born 1927; Johannes 1929 and Elisabeth born 1937.
Georg had moved to the Caucasus area of Russia in order to work and provide for his family. He was, as all Volga Germans, caught up in the mass deportation of Russian Germans to Siberia and slave labour in August of 1941.
Here he was sent to the Easten-Kazahkstan region, Shemonaikhinsky area, Spassky village council, kolkhoz Ilyk. Then he was transferred to the “Chelyabmetallurgstroy” (Chelyabinsk Metal Factories) - a mass labour camp that had over 40,000 prisoners.
As was the case with another brother named Jakob Gerk, and written about here, our family had no details about his death. Just one of the nameless victims of communism who was lost in Russia's vast Gulag.
No more. We received word this week from the official archives in the Chelyabinsk Region, of the card file on Georg Gerk. While, at this time, this is all the information we can glean, it does offer a glimpse into Georg's ultimate fate.
The card reads: (Thanks Olga for the translation!)
Georgiy Georgievich Gerk, born 1897, Place of birth – Autonomic Soviet Socialist Republic (autonomic t republic Germans – Volga region, Kamensky area, Iosifstal village). Social background – peasant, nationality – German, education – 4 grades, not a party member, last place of residence is Easten-Kazahkstan region, Shemonaikhinsky area, Spassky village council, kolkhoz Ilyk. Profession – carpenter, woodworker. No criminal record.
The card is filled out on August 6, 1942.
The text on the back of the card: arrived 17/03/1942, died 05/03/1943.
There might be additional information in a file, and we are requesting that. Georg is one of the brother's whom we have no photographs. To remember him I've posted a photograph of his wife, Kristina Gerk, and child, probably son Georg.
The hunt continues for his photograph.
