[Invisible in the culture of remembrance in medicine? The Dresden-based urologist and venereologist Dora Gerson (1884-1941) was persecuted because of her Jewish heritage].

Abstract

The history of urology is traditionally considered to be male-dominated. However, the field has never been exclusively "male medicine"-neither in terms of patients nor medical staff. This article highlights the life and work of Dresden-based physician Dora Gerson (1884-1941), one of the first German female specialists in urology and dermatovenereology, and draws attention to the widespread invisibility of women in the culture of memory of the field. Gerson studied medicine in Munich and Leipzig at the beginning of the 20th century and worked in both clinical and social medicine in the following years. In her Dresden practice, she combined urology, dermatology, and venereology, while also running a public counseling center for women with sexually transmitted diseases. In 1933, Gerson's health insurance license was revoked, and she was forced to close her practice. From 1940 onward, she worked as a Jewish "medical practitioner" at the horticultural school in Ahlem, Hannover. In September 1941, under increasing pressure from repression, she took her own life. Her biography exemplifies a dual marginalization: as a member of a structurally disadvantaged gender and as a victim of Nazi persecution. The article connects Gerson's life story with issues of gender, memory culture, and recognition practices in medicine. It demonstrates how professional cultural memory functions selectively and explores how social background, gender, and political circumstances influence visibility and oblivion in medical history. The reflection on Dora Gerson's history thus also represents a critically reflective culture of remembrance within urology.