NEWS

Number 17 letter
Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine
Spring, 1993

Book examines practice of humanknowledge, since these

doctors had no illusions that the
medicine in Warsaw ghetto research would help them or
EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, A BOOK COMES ALONG THAT ENLIGHTENS their patients survive."
EVEN THE MOST HARDENED AND WORLD-WEARY TO THE INDEFATIGABLE "They simply decided what
ENDURANCE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT. COURAGE UNDER SlEGE: STARVATION, they wanted to study and set
DISEASE, AND DEATH IN THE WARSAW GHETTO, BY MCMASTER'S HANNAH about it as best they could,"
PROFESSOR CHARLES G. ROLAND, DOES JUST THAT. says Dr. Roland of the hunger
Courage Under Siege "The largest single clash study. "The study only ran for
between Jews and Germans six months and then the
documents the struggle by Jewish
doctors and nurses within the occurred in the ghetto of deportations to Treblinka (a
Warsaw ghetto to provide Warsaw," writes Hilberg. "For concentration camp) began.
medical services. From 1940 to the further development of the According to researchers who
1943, close to half a million Jews destruction process, this armed know this subject in ways I
were "quarantined" under bogus encounter was without conse- don't, it was one of the two
scientific claims they were quence. In Jewish history, ground breaking studies of
posing a "threat of typhus" to the however, the battle is literally a starvation of large numbers of
population of Warsaw. By revolution, for after two people. Though the study has
depriving the Jews of Warsaw of thousand years of a policy of been widely known in profes-
medical supplies and submission the wheel had been sional circles, I have added a lot
food—exposing them to starva- turned and once again Jews of material about how the study
tion and disease—the ghetto was were using force." was done."
another means to the "final Professor Roland says an
Two examples in Courage
solution." amazing amount of primary
Under Siege illuminate the
historical material is available
Only a few thousand of level of organization of the
Warsaw's pre-World War n on life in the ghetto.
ghetto' s doctors and nurses, CONT-D...
Jewish population of 400,000 who were suffering the same
survived. fate as the other residents.
The significance of the A clandestine medical school What's Inside
Warsaw ghetto to the Jewish gave as many as 500 students a Programme Profiles 1-2
experience was summarized by medical education. And, without
famedholocaust historian Raul access to modern labs, ghetto Gazette 2,3&4
Hilberg in his 1985 work, The physicians conducted a land- In Print... ..3-4
Destruction of the European mark scientific study of hunger
Jews. that was "intended to advance

Gazette
"Hannah Central"
Update.
The Hannah Institute
has embarked on an
extensive upgrade of its
office systems which will
make it even easier to
process information and
communicate with state-of-
the-art computer software.
With the eventual
acquisition of the latest in
personal computers,
scanners, fax, modem, and
an ability to handle both
Macintosh- and IBM-based
software, the Institute
should be capable of
remaining technologically
relevant for some time to
come. Not an easy task
these days!
One inconvenience will
be the requirement to close
the Institute office one
morning a week from 9
a.m. to noon to enable
staff to orient themselves
to the new system. This
may last up to six weeks,
but anybody needing to
contact the Institute during
this time can leave a
message on the answering
machine.
CQ
The Hannah Institute
has put together an
information pack
explaining its role, history,
and programmes for any
interested persons. This
colourful package is
suitable for distributing to
students, physicians, and
historians alike. If you wish
a copy, please write to the
Hannah Institute for the
History of Medicine, 14
Prince Arthur Avenue, Suite
101, Toronto, Ontario,
M5R IA9, or telephone
416-924-3368.
H A N N A H I N S T I T
"The major source of documentation is a
collection made by a clandestine ghetto
organization called OnegShabbatheaded
by professional historian E manuel
Ringleblum," says Dr. Roland. "They
buried large quantities of material, and
about half of that material was found after
the war. In addition, I had the opportunity
to interview 15 survivors, men and women,
New publisher for Canadian Medical
Lives series
Canada's only methodical attempt to
profile maj or contributors to medicine has
switched to well-known publishers,
Fitzhenry & Whiteside. Series editor Dr.
Tom Morley says the Canadian Medical
Lives series moved to F & W to gain better
marketing and distribution.
"The goal of the series," says Dr.
Morley, "is to inform the general public of
medical heritage as represented in the
doctors and nurses of the past hundred
years. The public has heard of Bethune and
Banting, but there is a whole host of people
whose lives were extremely interesting,
from the human, medical, scientific and
political points of view. The public should
know about them."
The series has produced 10 books with
over eight more in the works. Dr. Morley
says it is the only systematic attempt to
chronicle the lives of Canadian medical
pioneers, and he hopes the stories are "good
reads," providing the intelligent reader with
the best possible introduction to these
historical figures.
Authors for the series have been a mix
of medical historians and journalists. Dr.
Morley says the most successful writers
have been ones who are personally touched
by one of the medical pioneers.
A case in point is the recent work
Maudie ofMcGill: Dr. Maude Abbott and
the Foundations of Heart Surgery, by Dr.
Douglas Waugh.
U T E F O R T H E H I S T O R Y O F M E D I C I N I
PROGRAMME PROFILES
many of whom had been medical students
or nurses in Warsaw at the time."
It has been 12 years since the first
interviews for Courage Under Siege
began, and though Professor Roland has
worked on and off over the years on the
project, it only took about a year to write
the book. CQ
"I believe our national heroes are largel)
unsung, not just in medicine but in other
walks of life," says Dr. Waugh. "Dr.
Abbott had been neglected, but not neces-
sarily because she was a woman. She had
to struggle against formidable odds to
become a world figure in heart surgery.
Even after this, McGill never promoted her
beyond the rank of assistant professor,
which I think is deplorable."
The series offers surprises even for its
authors. A chance discovery by Dr. Waugh
at the Mexican consulate revealed that
famed artist Diego Rivera had included Dr.
Abbott in his wall mural for the Mexican
Institute of Cardiology. The painting was
not only ideal for the dust jacket, but added
furtherproof of Dr. Abbott's international
influence.
"Every life on earth has something to
say to other lives—provided it has got a
skilful author to write it," says Dr. Morley.
"The problem has never been finding
suitable subjects for the series, but finding
competent authors. I enjoy working with
newspaper people for two reasons. Writing
is their trade, and they are used to editors
breathing down their necks and messing up
their copy."CD
H A N N A H I N S T I T U T E H I S T O R Y M E D I C I N E

IN PRINT Gazette

In Print lists publications based on research that has been either partly or wholly supported by
the Hannah Institute. CQ
The Newsletter invites scholars to submit citation information of publications that conform to The unfortunate
this policy. demise last year of the
Academy of Medicine's
Books Godfather: Henry Sigerist, HughMacLean, Museum of the History of
and the Politics of Health Care Reform in Medicine located on
Bodman, Richard and Deirdre Gillies. Toronto's Bloor Street
1940s Canada," Canadian Bulletin of
Harold Griffith. Hannah Institute and frustrated not only medical
Medical History 9(2): 191-218, 1992.
Dundurn Press, Toronto, 1992. historians, but the public
Li, Alison. "J.B. Collip, A.M. Hanson, as well. Thanks to the
Farley, John. Bilharzia: A History of
and the Isolation of the Parathyroid Hor- Hannah Institute,
Imperial Tropical Medicine. Cambridge
mone, or Endocrines and Enterprise," Associated Medical
University Press, Cambridge, 1991.
Journal of the History of Medicine and Services, the Academy of
Houston, C. Stuart. R.G. Ferguson. Allied Sciences 47(4): 405-438, 1992. Medicine, and The
Hannah Institute and Dundurn Press, Roland, Charles G. "Allied POWs, Toronto Hospital, the
Toronto, 1992. Japanese Captors, and the Geneva Conven- Canadian Museum of
Mazumdar, Pauline M.H. Eugenics, tion," War and Society Ser. 9(2): 83-101, Health and Medicine will
Human Genetics and Human Failings: 1991. reopen later this year at a
The Eugenics Society, its sources and its new site within The
Roland, Charles G. "Early History of Toronto Hospital.
critics in Britain. Routledge, London, Smallpox in North America," Annals of the
1992. The collection will
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons consist of permanent and
Roland, Charles G. et al. (eds.) Medi- ofCanada25: 121-23,1992. temporary exhibit spaces.
cine Without Compassion, Past and Roland, Charles G. "Health, Disease, Visitors will first visit an
Present: Fall Meeting, Cologne, September and Treatment in Early Upper Canada," in introductory gallery, setting
28-30,1988. Hamburger Stiftung fur Richard Merritt, Nancy Butler, and the tone for the museum
Sozialgeschichte des 20, Hamburg, 1992. Michael Power (eds.) The Capital Years: by describing what history
Roland, Charles G. Courage Under Niagara-on-the-Lake, 1792-1796. of medicine attempts to
Siege: Starvation, Disease, and Death in Dundurn Press, 223-250,1991. do. The other galleries will
the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940-1943. Oxford be theme-based.
Roland, Charles G. "Perception's One- It is hoped that the
University Press, New York, 1992. Way Mirrors: Allied POWs, Japanese rebirth of the museum will
Rompkey, Ronald. Grenfell of Labra- Captors, and the Geneva Convention," in significantly contribute to
dor: A Biography. University of Toronto Charles G. Roland, Henry Friedlander, and the historical study and
Press, Toronto, 1991. Benno Muller-Hill (eds.) Medicine Without interpretation of medicine
Spaulding, Mary and Penny Welch. Compassion, Past and Present: Fall and health care; help
Nurturing Yesterday's Child: A Portrayal Meeting, Cologne, September 28-30,1988. serve the needs of the
of the Drake Collection ofPaediatric Hamburger Stiftung fur Sozialgeschichte public for medical
History. B.C. Decker Inc. Philadelphia, des 20, 169-97,1992. information; encourage
1991. Shorter, Edward et al. "Inpatient pride in Canadian
Treatment of Persistent Somatization," medicine; promote public
Waugh, Douglas. Maudie ofMcGill:
Psychosomatics 33(3): 295-301, 1992. understanding of bio-
Dr. Maude Abbott and the Foundations of medical science; and help
Heart Surgery. Hannah Institute and Vanast, Walter J. "Compassion, Cost
develop an understanding
Dundurn Press, Toronto, 1992. and Competition: Factors in the Evolution of different cultural
of Oblate Medical Services in the Canadian practices.
North," in Raymond Huel (ed.) Western
Articles Oblate Studies 2: Proceedings of the
Brais, Bernard. "The Third Left Frontal Second Symposium on the History of the
Convolution Plays no Role in Language: Oblates in Western and Northern Canada.
Pierre Marie and the Paris Debate on The Edwin Mellen Press, Queenston, 1992.
Aphasia (1906-1908)," Neurology 42: Vanast, Walter J. "The Death of Jennie
690-695, 1992. Kanajuq: Tuberculosis, Religious Competi-
Duffin, Jacalyn. "The Guru and the tion and Cultural Conflict in Coppermine,
 H A N N A H I N S S T O R Y O F M E D I C

1929-31," Etudes/Inuit/Studies and the Medical Care of Ungava's

15(1):75-104, 1991. Inuit, 1867-1967," Etudes/Inuit/ NEWS
IPTTPT
Vanast, Walter J." 'Hastening the Studies 15(2): 55-84, 1991. CQ l> C C< I* C I

Day of Extinction': Canada, Quebec,

The Newsletter Is produced

ANNOUNCEMENT three times a year by:
Hannah Institute for the
Regretfully, we announce the deaths of Dr. William B. Spaulding and History of Medicine
Dr. John B. Neilson.
14 Prince Arthur Avenue
Bill Spaulding was a former Associated Medical Services board Suite #101
member, a Hannah Institute committee member, and an active physician- Toronto, Ontario
historian. In November of 1992 he was the co-recipient of the John B. M5R IA9
Neilson Award. Bill died on January 18,1993 after a brief illness.
Telephone 4(6-924-3368
John Neilson, President of Associated Medical Services from 1976 to
Fax 4/6-323-3338
1983 died on February 18,1993. Following an exemplary career in
hospital and government administration, John Neilson played a formative
role in the creation and operation of the Hannah Institute. Editor-in-Chief
J.T.H. Connor

Publications Assistance: Editor and Writer

New Policy and Incentives David South
The Hannah Institute has significantly re vised its policies regarding publica-
tions assistance. Any author or publisher wishing to see the full guidelines should
contact the Executive Director, Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine, 14 Layout
Prince Arthur Avenue, Suite 101, Toronto, Ontario, M5R1A9, telephone 416- David South
924-3368.
The Hannah Institute offers advice to authors of books on medical history and
The Newsletter welcomes
financial subsidies to publishers through its Publications Committee.
information from readers
about Hannah-supported
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