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Sir Ludwig Guttmann Outstanding Neurologist, Born in Tost/Toszek, Founder of the Paralympic Movement

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Sir Ludwig Guttmann Outstanding Neurologist, Born in Tost/Toszek, Founder of the Paralympic Movement Sir Ludwig Guttmann Outstanding neurologist, born in Tost/Toszek, Founder of the Paralympic movement Toszek 2017 Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann, born in Toszek, and founder of the Paralympic movement, is un- doubtedly one of the most important heroes of our local community. Despite this, he is still not very well known. erefore, I am happy to present you with this publication, which brie y describes his life and accomplishments, as well as the process by which his exceptional character has been unveiled to the residents of Toszek, in order to further public awareness of this excellent man. It is our desire to continue to explore, assimilate and promote both his biography and achievement. e visit of delegates from the European Paralympic Committee to Toszek in June 2017 was a valuable display of support. I recommend this brief re- ading to all guests, supporters, visitors and anyone interested in character of Ludwig Guttmann. You are all welcome to visit our town. Grzegorz Kupczyk Mayor of Toszek Sir Ludwig Guttmann, Outstanding neurologist, born in Tost/Toszek, Founder of the Paraolympic movement Publisher: Urząd Miasta i Gminy Toszek, Centrum Kultury „Zamek w Toszku” Translation into English: Joanna Kamińska Design and composition: ILLUSTRIS Damian Halmer Printing: KOLUMB Krzysztof Jański Front cover: Portrait of Ludwig Guttmann by Jerzy Woźniak Back cover: Image taken from the conference poster „Between Rehabilitation and Sport” organized in Toszek on 3rd July 2016 ISBN 978-83-937265-1-6 Dr Ludwig Guttmann Life, Work and Legacy by Józef Musielok ir Ludwig Guttmann was born in a Jewish family living in Tost (now Toszek) in Upper Silesia on the third of July 1899. e birth certi cate was drawn up three days later in the Tost City Hall Registry O ce. e document states, that Son the third of July the wife of the merchant and hotel owner Bernhard Guttmann - Dorothe’a Guttmann (maiden name Weissenberg) gave birth to a male child. e boy was named Ludwig. In 1902, the Guttmann family moved from the small Tost to Königshütte (now Chorzów), a town located in the coal-mining district of Upper Silesia. ere, Ludwig Guttmann attended an elementary school and high school with a humanistic pro le, which he successfully graduated from in 1917. At his graduation in 1917, he used to work as a volunteer in an accident hospital for coal miners. During his service he looked after a young coal miner with a fractured spine. When he began to take his notes he was told by his supervisor: Don’t bother, he will be dead in a few weeks. And that is exactly what happened – Ludwig Guttmann remembered that patient for the rest of his life. In an article by Cobus Rademayer, a recollection of Ludwig Guttmann concerning this event is cited: It was the picture of that young man which remained indelibly fi xed in my memory. In 1918, Guttmann began to study medicine in Breslau (now Wrocław) and then, continued his study in Freiburg. ere he became an active member of a Jewish fraternity aiming at spreading the information and awareness of anti-Semitism at universities. e fraternity also gradually evolved into a physical training and sport centre by promoting the acquisition of body strength, skills, con dence and self- -esteem, according to the motto that nobody needed to be ashamed of being a Jew. In 1924, Guttmann obtained his doctorate degree based on a work devoted to the studies of tracheal cancer. Guttmann actually wanted to specialise in paediatrics, but for nancial reasons he returned to Breslau. ere was a free position in the neu- rological department led by a distinguished professor named Otfrid Foerster, which Guttmann was happy to accept. 4 The period of work in Breslau, Hamburg and again Breslau At the time when Guttmann returned to Breslau, Professor Foerster was already a famous, internationally renowned neurologist and neurosurgeon. Otfried Foerster was also known for treating Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. e Soviet government invited Foerster as a specialist to attend Lenin during his illness, and appointed him as Lenin’s personal physician. After returning to Breslau, Guttmann worked at the Hospital alongside Otfrid Foerster and gained experience in neurology and neurosurgery. In 1927, Ludwig Guttmann married his girlfriend – Elsa Samuel, whom he met during studies. eir son Denis was born two years later, and their daughter Eva – in 1933. In 1928, Ludwig became a practicing neurosurgeon in a 300-bed psychiatric clinic at Hamburg University and in 1929 became Foerster’s assistant again. In 1930, Ludwig Guttmann obtained his PH.D. in the eld of medicine and became a lecturer of neurology at the Breslau University. At the same time he worked as the chief physician of the Wenzel-Hancke Hospital in Breslau. Apart from teaching at the university and working at the hospital, Guttmann also published papers in reputable scienti c journals. In 1936, an important work of Ludwig Guttmann appeared: the famous textbook entitled Handbuch der Neurologie. In the mid-thirties, professor Ludwig Guttmann was already very well known and commonly considered within the medical community to be an expert, mainly in the eld of neurology and neurosurgery. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany. Hitler intro- duced new regulations directed against the Jews. According to the so-called Berufs- verbot it was prohibited for Jews to practice medicine in public hospitals. Dr. Gutt- mann was red from Wenzel-Hancke Hospital, but immediately became the director of the neurological and neurosurgical department of the Breslau Jewish Hospital. In September 1938, Guttmann was ordered by the Gestapo to discharge all non-Jewish patients from the Jewish Hospital he was managing. Dr. Guttmann’s ID during his employment at the University of Wrocław ▲ 5 On the night of 9th-10th November 1938, the so-called Kristalnacht, a pogrom against Jews was carried out by the SA paramilitary forces and German civilians. Jewish synagogues, homes, shops, even hospitals, and schools were ransacked. Residents of Breslau sought refuge in hospitals. As the head of the Jewish Hospital, Guttmann gave orders that any person entering the hospital had to be admitted, regardless of the racial laws, specifying that Jewish doctors could only treat Jewish patients. Eva Loe er, the daughter of Ludwig Guttmann, in an interview given in April 2011, described these terrible events as follows: In 1938, during ‘Kristall Nacht’ when Jewish houses and businesses were attacked, over 60 Jewish men fled to the Breslau hospital during the night. My father said they must all be allowed in, whether they were ill or not and they were all admitted to beds on the wards. The next day the Gestapo came round to see my father, wanting to know why such a large number of admissions had happened overnight. My father was adamant that all the men were sick and said many of them were suff ering from stress. He took the Gestapo from bed to bed, justifying each man’s medical condition. After the pogrom of 1938, many doctors were arrested and Guttmann was forbidden to leave Breslau. Like all Jews, Guttmann’s passport had been con scated and he was not allowed to travel. However, since Dr. Guttmann was a respected world expert in neurology, the o cials of the Nazi regime used his services secretly for their own needs. Shortly after the tragic November events, Dr. Guttmann had been ordered by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Germany’s Foreign Minister, to travel to Portugal to treat a friend of the Dictator, Salazar. Let us listen to Eva Loe er’s recollection again: In 1939, the German government ordered my father to go to Lisbon. He was to treat a good friend of the Portuguese dictator, who was believed to be suff ering from a brain tumour. It was part of the Nazis’ attempts to build good relations with Portugal. My father turned to the offi cial and said, ’But how can I travel when you have taken my passport away?’ By the next day, it had all been sorted and he was flown to Lisbon. On the way back he stopped in London and met people from the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning, an organization that was helping Jewish academics get hold of visas. He was told our visas had already been sent to Berlin and he had been off ered a research post at the Radcliff e Infi rmary in Oxford. He returned to Breslau and told my mother to start packing. On March 14 1939, Dr. Guttmann with his wife Elsa and two children, 10 years old Denis and 6 years old Eva, left Germany. Eva Loe er’s recollections o er some insight into the family’s situation shortly before leaving their homeland: I remember I was abnormally frightened at the time; I used to cry a lot. Even as a small child I picked up the fear and sadness felt by my parents. Although Jews were allowed to take out some furniture, clothes and linen they were not allowed 6 to take any money, gold silver or jewellery. But the offi cial who was supervising us came round the day before and told my mother ‘I shall be an hour late tomorrow’. It was obviously a hint that we might pack what we wanted; but my mother was too frightened to take anything forbidden as she thought it could be a trap. Life in the new country e Guttmann family arrived in Dover on March 14, 1939. Unfortunately, Guttmann did not have permission to practice medicine in Britain. erefore he was performing studies in Oxford for the Medical Research Council of England.
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