Roles of Jewish physicians and allied health professionals in the camps and ghettos during the Holocaust

Throughout the Holocaust, a number of Jewish physicians and other allied health professionals continued to provide health care to Jewish patients within the ghettos and camps. While much information has recently been published about Nazi medicine, there is a lack of information about Jewish health care providers and their impact. This research about Jewish health professionals was collected through published primary and secondary sources from these health care providers and emphasizes the ethical dilemmas that they encountered. Ethical dilemmas varied greatly between ghettos and camps. Within the ghettos, health care providers were instrumental in the daily functions of the interned Jews. Some participated in Jewish councils that helped organize labor, hygiene facilities, sanitation policies, food distribution, and more. Other clinicians continued to work within hospitals and encountered difficult situations like caring for orphaned children, deciding whether to euthanize patients, and trying to comfort patients without any tools or resources to relieve their suffering. Within some ghettos, doctors and nurses continued to operate medical/nursing schools and conduct scientific research. Within the camps, health care providers had to choose whether to work under Nazi doctors as researchers, clinicians for Jewish prisoners, or be killed for resisting these orders. Identifying as doctors, providing abortions, falsifying records, and trying to save as many lives as possible were common ethical dilemmas. This collection and examination of historical accounts reveals that the core of clinical medicine and public health consists of a deep concern for the human condition and the dedication to relieving suffering.