Wahrman collection of Jews and medicine, 1862-1986 (bulk: 1920-1950).

Format:

Other

Author/Creator:

Cohen, Simon L., creator.

Contributor:

Naomi and Henry Wahrman Judaica Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

Czech

Dutch, Middle (ca. 1050-1350)

English

French

Germanic (Other)

Hebrew

Hungarian

Ladino

Lithuanian

Multiple languages

Polish

Russian

Spanish

Yiddish

Subjects (All):

Wallach, Moshe, 1866-1957.

Wallach, Moshe.

Magen Daṿid adom.

Biḳur ḥolim (Hospital : Jerusalem).

Bet ha-ḥolim "Hadasah" (Jerusalem). Synagogue.

Bet ha-ḥolim "Hadasah" (Jerusalem).

Merkaz ha-refuʼi Shaʻare tsedeḳ (Jerusalem).

Hospitals.

Jews--Israel.

Jews.

Medical care.

Medicine.

Medicine--History.

Nurses.

Israel.

Israel--Social life and customs.

Pamphlets.

Physicians.

Genre:

advertisements

correspondence

black-and-white photographs

Photographs

medical records

postcards

printed ephemera

publications (documents)

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Dr. Simon Cohen; with funds from Aron and Margaret Wahrman in honor and memory of Aron's parents Naomi and Henry Wahrman, 2023

Physical Description:

1 box (1.6 linear feet)

Arrangement:

Organized into fourteen series: I. Bikur Cholim Hospital material, II. Correspondence, III. Medical practice records, IV. Ephemera, V. Hadassah Medical Center material, VI. Kupat Cholim material, VII. Magen David Adom (MDA) material, VIII. Medical associations and societies material, IX. Medical objects, X. Medical personnel, XI. Photographs, XII. Postcards, XIII. Shaare Zedek Medical Center material, XIV. Quarantine materials.

Place of Publication:

1862-1986

Language Note:

Although the majority of the items in the collection are in Hebrew, English, or German, languages such as Czech, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Judeo-Spanish, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Spanish and Yiddish appear in this collection.

Biography/History:

Throughout history, Jews around the world have participated in many medical fields, including psychology, gynecology, nursing, virology and ophthalmology. In relation to this collection, which mostly consists of Jewish medical professionals in Mandatory Palestine, established medical institutions did not arise in the area until the middle of the 19th century. According to the book Jews and medicine : religion, culture, science , the first medical physicians and institutions in the Holy Land were part of Christian missionary practices, mainly from the UK, to promote Christianity to Jews and Muslims in the region (Berger and Goldman 239). The London Missionary Society sent a physician to Jerusalem in 1824 to treat the people of the region (240). Beginning in the 1840s, Sir Moses Montefiore funded Jewish physicians, such as Dr. Simon Frankel, to establish a Jewish hospital in Jerusalem, so that religious Jews did not have to go to a missionary hospital for care. The first official Jewish hospital was erected in 1844 under the direction of Dr. Simon Frankel and lasted until 1848, when it could no longer financially support itself. In 1888, the Rothschild family helped to create the Rothschild Hospital, which was funded through the family until the Holocaust, when it became known as the Hadassah Hospital (243-244). In 1867, Bikkur Holim Hospital (alternatively spelled Bikur Cholim), was opened by Jewish immigrants from Vilna, serving mainly Yiddish speakers (247). Dr. Moshe Wallach, whose correspondence is found in this collection, worked at Bikkur Holim before transferring to the Shaare Zedek Hospital. The Shaare Zedek Hospital (now the Shaare Zedek Medical Center) was established by German and Dutch Jews who sought to increase the number of hospital beds available to Jews in Jerusalem. The hospital opened in 1902 with a facility that "included an isolation ward, a sterilization unit and hot running water" (252). During the Ottoman Empire and Mandatory Palestine eras, Jews in the Holy Land established a medical mutual aid fund called the Workers' Sick Fund, now known as Kupat Holim Ha-Clalit, which worked with the Histadrut, a Jewish labor organization. Kupat Holim was created in 1911 as "'the emissary of the organized working public in the Federation of Labor in matters of heath in Israel.' Its role was to extend medical assistance to its members, their families and parents; extend financial assistance to its members in times of illness; organize the workers' health matters; and serve as social-medical insurance for the working public in Israel" (Shvarts 1). Today, Kupat Holim is Israel's national health insurance and has established its own doctors, hospitals and pharmacies for its members to use (Shvarts 4). With the advent of World War I, the association, Magen David Adom was created to care for Jewish soldiers fighting for the British army. After World War I, Magen David Adom became less associated with the British army and started providing emergency medical services to people all around Mandatory Palestine, similar to the United States' Red Cross (Berger and Goldman 259).

Summary:

The Wahrman collection of Jews and medicine consists of three boxes containing over 1,000 items pertaining to Jewish hospitals, pharmacies, nurses and physicians in Europe, Africa, South Asia and Israel. The bulk of this collection dates from the 1920s to 1950s, with some material from the late 1800s up until the 1980s. The majority of the collection consists of photographs, postcards, medical records, ephemera, and materials specific to several Israeli hospitals. Most of the collection documents Jewish doctors in Europe before the Holocaust and Jewish doctors in Mandatory Palestine before the State of Israel was created. The material in this collection contains items that were part of the Simon Cohen collection of Jews in Medicine. The collection, named to honor the parents of Aron Wahrman, contains no information about the Wahrman family.

OCLC:

1574144258