Holocaust impact on medicine

How The memory of the Holocaust Influences My Practice of Medicine

My parents were survivors of the Holocaust.  That has had a profound influence on whom  I am.  And who I am is a significant part of how I practice medicine

Both of my parents were in Poland when the greatest tragedy of their lives, the greatest tragedy that has ever befallen the Jewish people, occurred. The statistics of that event include a net 10% survival rate for Jews in Poland.  Both of my parents were  the sole survivors of  very large families. When I am told that the probability of survival for some cancer is low, I think about these statistics.  I know that it is possible, even if it is unlikely to survive.  I also know that it is important to survive.  Survival has huge  consequences.

It is hard to know whether the actions that my parents took during this extremely dangerous time contributed to their success.  I cannot know how much is the result of chance, how much came from their effort. Most of the others who took similar actions died. 

 But I do know that their effort was enormous.  They were willing to live buried alive, outdoors, in  the frigid Polish winter.  They were willing to beg , steal food from animals; they were willing to endure every indignity, compromise most of their beliefs,  in order to survive.

 I also remember the pain, shame, and regret - the ambivalence- that came with remembering these events. These memories color how I feel about putting people through toxic treatments, helping them survive while suffering.  From my parents I see that it is possible.  From my parents I see that it is costly - it is a choice.  It is my duty to present the information honestly, make the choice clear, and helps the patient's decide without imposing any dogma.


I remember a cousin from my boyfriend, Chana.  She came to America before the war.  She would say." You will find everything in the struggle."  Standing ,as a child, next to my parents, I understood this comment to  be both true and cruel.


There are  also an important lessons from the tormentors.  It is important to recognize that many of the senior officer is in charge of concentration and death camps were physicians.  It is important to recognize how the organized death of all Jews, Romani, homosexual, etc. evolved from the euthanasia program.  The death camps evolved from the idea that death was better than a life of disability.  In the eyes of the tormentor, death was better than life as a Jew.  The physician, the person with power and authority, cannot decide how low a quality of life is unacceptable. 

The NAZI crime of  experimentation on the victims  has become part of the medical ethics curriculum; it is the paradigm of unethical behavior.  It is a moral crime guide a person into an experimental therapy when a less risky treatment, of at least equal efficacy, is available.  Unfortunately, I see this transgression frequently done in a name of Science.  The NAZI's also did it  in the name of Science.  I will not do it.

I am privileged to try to help victims.  I must give this my best efforts.

I am privileged to meet people who come  from very different places and backgrounds.  My background in the holocaust tells me I must give them full respect.

One can fight the odds, and some people will win.  Honesty and respect for others is the only acceptable position

By  conveying these values, the souls of my ancestors remain involved in the concerns of the living