Institute for History, Theory and Ethics in Medicine, Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Institute for History, Theory and Ethics in Medicine, Medical Faculty RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Pathol Res Pract. 2020 Apr;216(4):152696. doi: 10.1016/j.prp.2019.152696. Epub 2019 Oct 22.
As recent studies on the Third Reich have shown, a two-digit number of Jewish pathologists fell victim to National Socialist repression. One of them was Edgar von Gierke. His name is nowadays best known in medicine for discovering the "von Gierke disease" - also classified as "Glycogen storage disease type I" - which he first described in 1929. This article deals with the role of von Gierke as a persecuted and disenfranchised Jew. Accordingly, the focus is on von Gierke's repressive experiences in the Third Reich, which were quite different from other cases. It is based on (1) previously partly unnoticed archival sources and (2) a re-analysis of the relevant research literature. The paper shows that Edgar von Gierke was a double victim of Nazi Germany, even though he was able to maintain his professional position for a comparatively long time: In contrast to other Jews who were dismissed in 1933 on the basis of the "Aryan paragraph", von Gierke benefited from a legal exception as a decorated front fighter in the First World War. It was not until 1937 that he was released from public service. Even more striking is the fact that von Gierke was ordered back to his old position twice between 1939 and 1944 due to a lack of personnel. The evaluation of archival files leads to the conclusion that von Gierke was recalled to work under pressure from leading National Socialists and that this ordered reappointment had a devastating effect on his health status. At that time the pathologist was already suffering from a progressive heart disease, to which he succumbed in autumn 1945 - fatally only a few month after the fall of the Third Reich.
最近关于第三帝国的研究表明，有少数犹太病理学家成为了纳粹主义的受害者。其中之一是 Edgar von Gierke。他的名字在当今医学领域最为人所知的是发现了“von Gierke 病”——也被归类为“糖原贮积症 I 型”——他于 1929 年首次描述了这种疾病。本文探讨了作为一个受迫害和被剥夺公民权利的犹太人，von Gierke 的角色。因此，重点是 von Gierke 在第三帝国期间的镇压经历，这与其他案例有很大的不同。这是基于（1）以前部分未被注意到的档案来源和（2）对相关研究文献的重新分析。本文表明，尽管 Edgar von Gierke 能够在相当长的时间内保持其专业地位，但他仍然是纳粹德国的双重受害者：与其他在 1933 年基于“雅利安条款”被解雇的犹太人不同，von Gierke 作为第一次世界大战的 decorated front fighter，享有法律上的例外。直到 1937 年，他才被解除公职。更引人注目的是，von Gierke 在 1939 年至 1944 年期间，由于人员短缺，两次被命令返回原职。对档案文件的评估得出结论，von Gierke 是在纳粹领导人的压力下被召回工作的，这种有命令的复职对他的健康状况产生了毁灭性的影响。当时，这位病理学家已经患有进行性心脏病，1945 年秋天他因此病去世——在第三帝国垮台仅几个月后就不幸去世。
