Paul Seres, pharmacist who liberated death camp

Paul Seres, 86, a retired pharmacist who during World War II helped liberate a concentration camp, died of cancer Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Mr. Seres grew up in West Philadelphia and in Wynnefield, where his immigrant parents operated a delicatessen. In 1941, at age 16, he graduated from Central High School, and in 1944, he earned a bachelor's degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, now the University of the Sciences.

During World War II, Mr. Seres served in France and Germany with Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army. He spoke both German and Yiddish, and in May 1945, shortly after turning 20, he volunteered with a unit seeking out concentration camps in upper Austria. The plan was to free the inmates and set up medical facilities.

"The only camp we found was Ebensee concentration camp, a sub-camp of Mauthausen," Mr. Seres told Inquirer columnist Daniel Rubin last year. ". . .What we found goes beyond comprehension."

At Ebensee, inmates were worked to death digging enormous tunnels for armament works. "The one thing that was common in all of them was that wild stare," Mr. Seres said.

When they entered the camp, the GIs were told by the prisoners that the German guards had run away. A bearded man rushed Mr. Seres with arms outstretched and said in Yiddish, "I am Jewish. I am a rabbi."

Mr. Seres replied that he was also Jewish, but, concerned about lingering Germans and disease, he avoided the man's embrace. "To this day," he told Rubin, "I regret that when he tried to hug me, I turned him away."

For years, Mr. Seres said, he didn't talk about what he encountered - but not a day passed that he didn't think about it.

"I was just a kid," he said, "a kid that grew up."

After his discharge, Mr. Seres earned a master's degree from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1947.

In 1950, he married Miriam Skolnick, and became proprietor of Penn Crest Pharmacy in Overbrook Park.

In 1977, after years of 80-hour workweeks, he sold the business, and was a Rite Aid pharmacist until 2005.

Mr. Seres and his wife lived in Overbrook Park until 1970, when they moved to a new home on two acres in Broomall. They moved to Valley Forge Towers in 2005.

He and his wife loved travel and cruises. In 2008, they visited South America; in Buenos Aires, they met distant relatives with whom they had corresponded for more than 60 years.

Mr. Seres and his wife were longtime members of Temple Beth Hillel in Wynnewood before joining Congregation Or Shalom in Berwyn in 1986.

In 2010, Or Shalom had a gala celebrating the couple's 60th wedding anniversary and honoring Mr. Seres' service in World War II.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Seres is survived by sons Bruce and David; a sister; and two grandchildren.

A funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at Congregation Or Shalom, 835 Darby-Paoli Rd., Berwyn, Pa. 19312. Burial will be in Mount Sharon Cemetery, Springfield, Delaware County.

Donations may be made to the Paul Seres Education Endowment Fund at Congregation Or Shalom.

Contact staff writer Sally A. Downey at 215-854-2913 or sdowney@phillynews.com.