Dublin Core
Title
Rev. John Gilbert Gaskill
Creator
Paul Lindemann
Date
1942–1947
Relation
See the photograph of Rev. Gaskill
Type
Person
Person Item Type Metadata
Occupation
Pastor
Biographical Text
Reverend Gaskill's pastorate to First Parish was interrupted by the call to service in the second World War. (His wife, Eleanor Gaskill, assumed temporary pastoral responsibilities 1944–45 while he served as an Army chaplain.) His infantry division was among those who liberated the prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp, and he his believed to be the first American clergyman to witness the atrocities there. Very early, he assisted with the construction of a makeshift chapel and celebrated communion with the newly liberated Polish priests and others. There was no bread or wine for the sacrament, so they used pantomime in order to participate in communion, acting out the serving and receiving of the sacred elements.
See his own detailed descriptions of his experiences in Germany at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.