Jewish Doctors and the Holocaust: The Anatomy of Survival in Auschwitz

Ross W. Halpin

Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2019

Jewish Doctors and the Holocaust

The Anatomy of Survival in Auschwitz

Ross W. Halpin

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110598216

Overview
Contents

About this book

Co-publication with Magnes Press

This is the first attempt to explain how Jewish doctors survived extreme adversity in Auschwitz where death could occur at any moment. The ordinary Jewish slave labourer survived an average of fifteen weeks. Ross Halpin discovers that Jewish doctors survived an average of twenty months, many under the same horrendous conditions as ordinary prisoners. Despite their status as privileged prisoners Jewish doctors starved, froze, were beaten to death and executed. Many Holocaust survivors attest that luck, God and miracles were their saviors. The author suggests that surviving Auschwitz was far more complex. Interweaving the stories of Jewish doctors before and during the Holocaust Halpin develops a model that explains the anatomy of survival. According to his model the genesis of survival of extreme adversity is the will to live which must be accompanied by the necessities of life, specific personal traits and defence mechanisms. For survival all four must co-exist.

Author / Editor information

Ross W. Halpin, University of Sydney, Australia

Reviews

“This is a ‘must read’ book in medical and allied health professional schools.”

Avi Ohry, MD Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel

“After meticulous research, Ross Halpin presents a pioneering study that intertwines fragments of testimonial accounts, documentary archival evidence and conceptual frameworks. What emerges is a compelling model of description and interpretation of the limited chances of survival of Jewish doctors in Auschwitz, one of the epicentres of the Holocaust.”

Konrad Kwiet, Emeritus Professor, Resident Historian, Sydney Jewish Museum, Sydney, Australia

“The author’s description of Auschwitz’s medical world is an illuminating and brilliant synthesis and his final chapter, ‘Anatomy of Survival’, a masterpiece where one can see his own contribution to research at its best.”

Etienne Lepicard, Bet Hagat and the Israeli National Council for Bioethics, Jerusalem, Israel

“This is a powerful, compelling and important work.”

Garry Walter, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School and Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University, Sydney, Australia

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Foreword Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	XVII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	XIX
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: The Road to Auschwitz Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
Part II: Parallel Lives: Drs Sima Vaisman, Gisella Perl and Louis Micheels
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
1. Dr Sima Vaisman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	24
2. Louis Micheels Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
3. Dr Gisella Perl Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
Part III: Jewish Physicians and the Hospital System
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
4. Hospitals and Infirmaries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
5. Block 10 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
6. Daily Life Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
7. Ethical Dilemmas. Choiceless Choices and the Human Condition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Part IV: Survival
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
8. Status Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
9. Personal Traits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
10. Defence Mechanisms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Part V: Anatomy of Survival Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Part VI: Evaluation of Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
Appendices Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
Audience: Holocaust historians and other scholars interested in Holocaust Studies, especially from the medical professions.
Pages
- Front matter: 16
- Main content: 233
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 30
Keywords: Auschwitz; jüdische Ärzte; Überleben

eBook

Published: January 14, 2019
ISBN: 9783110598216

Hardcover

Published: January 14, 2019
ISBN: 9783110596045