Jewish women dermatologists who escaped the perils of National Socialism: Triumph over adversity

Abstract

The period of National Socialism (1933-1945), including the Holocaust and World War II, has had a profound impact on dermatology. We have identified Jewish women dermatologists who escaped the perils of National Socialism, document their struggles, and describe their contribution to medicine and dermatology. Medical, history, and media databases were searched. Relevant contributions in languages other than English were translated into English. Fourteen dermatologists were identified, and for seven, there was sufficient information to describe their lives in more detail: Helen Ollendorff-Curth (née Ollendorff) (1899-1982), Bertha Ottenstein (1891-1956), Sidonie Fürst (1891-1973), Marianne Bauer (née Jokl) (1885-1980), Hedwig Fischer (née Hoffmann) (1888-1983), Vera Shukhman (1900-1987) and Lili Farkas (1899–1992). The challenges that confronted the dermatologists were sizeable. Status as a woman, antisemitism, persecution in various forms during National Socialism, murder of family and dermatology colleagues, untimely death of family members in other ways, loss of jobs and status, the stress of relocation, and myriad obstacles in a newly adopted country were among hurdles that they faced; nevertheless, collectively, the seven dermatologists could make a range of contributions in clinical, academic, and administrative areas. The dermatologists displayed courage, tenacity, and determination and served as role models of resilience for current and future generations of women in the dermatology field.