Masha was born Apr 20 1897 in Schedrin a small village located about 40 miles from Bobruisk, Belarus.
She was studying to be a dentist in Kharkiv when bolshevik revolution happened and she was not able come back home, as result, while her father and youngest sister managed to escape to Poland, she had to stay behind.
Masha worked as a dentist in Bobruisk.
She married Boris Katsnelson in 1928 and had three children Emilia (Mila), Yevgeniy (Gena), and Moisey (Misha).
When WWII came to USSR in 1941, Boris was a lead engineer and considered an essential for defense efforts, so he and his family was evacuated from Bobruisk to Chelyabinsk.
In Chelyabinsk, Masha continued working as a dentist, while Boris designed and led construction effort for the new Chelyabinsk Medical Institute and later worked there as Chief Engineer.
During the war, food was scarce and it was distributed using food cards system. Every worker was assigned some amount of food cards that could be later exchanged for food in distribution centers. Due to Boris' inattentiveness, his food cards where occasionally stolen or lost.
In 1944 Masha had to have a surgery for glaucoma, which didn't go well and had to be followed by one or more additional surgeries in 1946. All surgeries had been performed by professor Katsnelson (not a relative) in Chelyabinsk Medical Institute. Surgeries didn't succeed and Masha was left half-blind (she could only read through a large magnifier and watch TV by sitting 15 centimeters from the screen), and she also had sore feet. She continued housekeeping and raising the children, while Boris had to feed family alone.
Family returned to Bobruisk in 1947.
Masha passed away in 1979 (at age 82).
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Gravestone of Masha Gershonok (M343) Type: Photo
Individuals - Family Tree.jpg "Masha Gershonok")
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