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СКАЧАТЬ We don’t belong here any more. He has become the law and whatever he says goes. Look what he’s done to make it impossible for Jewish doctors to practice medicine even though Jewish doctors have been a large percentage of all German doctors and many have made great discoveries, but he ignores such facts that don’t fit in with his thinking. It’s insane when you carefully think about it, but people can’t put it to the test, because it would now fall under the heading of treasonous activity. Any opposition to him could mean death. I shudder when I think what one man can do to an entire country. We can’t get out fast enough.”

      The track and field Olympics were a world-wide sensation with Hitler observing from the stands. Jesse Owens won Olympic Gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and the 400 meter relay. His principle competition in the long jump came from Luz Long, the leading German long jumper. By the end of the meet, Owens and Long had become good friends as well as competitors.

      The torch-bearer who carried the torch into the stadium to light the Olympic flame was Siegfried Eifrig, a sprinter chosen for his height, blond hair, blue-eyed Aryan appearance. He did not compete in the games.

      With this last remembrance of Germany, Ben, David and family prepared to leave. They packed up their valuables including the leather wrapped Torah and left for Minsk, Byelorussia.

      CHAPTER 4

      ASSIMILATION

      MINSK, BYELORUSSIA

      1936

      The Frohmans arrived in Minsk and moved into a small three bedroom home. They used their German furniture plus a few new pieces to reflect the Soviet flavor of their new homeland. The location was close to the clinic and hospital where Ben would work as an internist and Leah would work part-time in the children’s clinic as a nurse. David and Emily started school, made easier by their intense immersion in the Russian language over the last three weeks. Once acclimated to their new school, their parents would see to it that they became members of the local gym where David could continue with his gymnastics and Emily her swimming. To the great relief of their parents, the integration of their children into this new environment was going well.

      The Minsk Jewish population was approximately 80,000 in 1936, representing about thirty percent of the population. For the most part, the rapport between the religions was a welcome improvement from what Ben and Leah remembered from their childhood, and what they had experienced in Germany since Hitler took over control of the government. They both breathed a sigh of relief; a heavy burden lifted from their shoulders, as fears for their children’s safety resolved. Living in a country where anti-Semitism was government policy and had the force of law behind it cast a dark shadow on the psyche of the two of them and, worse yet, robbed the children of security. It was stifling and oppressive—but no longer, thank God, now that they were in their new home. Anti-Semitism was not dead in the Soviet Union, but not being government policy was the critical difference. Christians and Jews got along very well in Byelorussia. The Frohman family joined the closest synagogue and enrolled their children in Hebrew school. It would be wonderful to live a Jewish life with a clear mind.

      The history of Byelorussia was a centuries-long story of a country controlled by the neighboring powers of Poland, Lithuania and Russia. In October of 1917, the Russian Communist Revolution resulted in the establishment of a Worker’s Soviet (council) in Minsk. The Treaty of Brest Litovsk between Germany and Russia ended World War I for Russia, and forced Russia to give up Poland, the Baltic States and part of Byelorussia to Germany and Austria-Hungary. After the treaty was in force, German forces occupied Minsk and made it the capital of the Byelorussian People’s Republic, but this was short-lived. In December, 1918, after the armistice ending the War, the Russian army took over Minsk and proclaimed it the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. This too did not last as the city came under Polish control during the course of the Polish-Bolshevik (Russian Communist) War. Under the Treaty of Riga, Minsk returned to Russian control and resumed its position as the capital of Byelorussia SSR, one of the founding republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—where the Frohmans now hoped for a secure and better life.

      After a week of settling in to their new home and adjusting to their new life, Ben started work in the Jewish hospital outpatient clinic. He had two small offices equipped to see patients and a consultation room for private discussions, paper work, record keeping and just to relax.

      He was busy right from the start what with many of the younger doctors serving in the military. Those patients requiring hospitalization he admitted under his care and he would tend to his hospital patients first thing in the morning followed by outpatient office visits. He worked from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and was on call several times per week for emergencies.

      For diagnostic purposes, he had at his disposal an x-ray and a small laboratory for blood and urine analysis. Not all of the available equipment was equal to the quality of German high-tech medical advances of the day and he missed them, but he prided himself on the best use of his own high-tech equipment: his eyes, ears, nose and hands. Trained as he was in the early days of the twentieth century, he considered himself a disciple of Sir William Osler, one of the first to teach at the bedside and promote the importance of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. The complete physical examination was crucial and he had the necessary ancillary equipment he needed to perform this task. In addition, he promoted Dr. Osler’s adage, “Let the patient talk, doctor, she’s trying to tell you the diagnosis.” He believed in this because he agreed that a thorough medical history and physical examination would establish, with a high degree of certainty, a correct diagnosis about eighty percent of the time.

      He worked with Jewish, Byelorussian and Russian doctors and nurses. This was a welcome change from what he, as a physician, had experienced in Germany after Hitler’s assumption of power. As soon as Hitler took control, he was stymied and subjected to discrimination from surprising sources—those who had been friends. It was amazing to him how one man could change the thinking of intelligent people and turn neighbor against neighbor; proof of Hitler’s narcissistic power as he reminded himself.

      He did not make a great deal of money in his new position in Minsk, but his income, as well as his wife’s, made them comfortable—and that’s all that counted after what they had just been subjected to.

      Although medicine was rewarding from the professional standpoint, it was also frustrating because there was so little that doctors of internal medicine could do. In actuality, there was so little that they knew. There were many maladies of unknown etiology. The most common question he had to answer was, “What causes it, doctor?” “We don’t know, but there’s a lot we can do to help,” was his standard answer. He wished that medicine would advance to the extent that the answer to the questions about “cause” would roll off his tongue with ease and confidence.

      Even the known that infectious disease like pneumonia and strep throat were not treatable with a specific agent to cure in all instances. At this time, the treatment was to make the patient comfortable, follow them with frequent vital signs and be sure that their hydration and nutrition was adequate. This was to support the patients own ability to heal; a little understood mechanism. Perhaps the day would come soon when specific treatment would be available and scientists developed a full understanding about the exact mechanism of self-healing. In the meantime, the young did well, but infants and the elderly had a high mortality rate.

      Leah got right to work as soon as they arrived in Minsk. Because of the closeness of work and schools for their children, Leah would be sure to walk to Emily’s school with her little girl at least until she felt confident in her new surroundings and also until Leah was confident. She and Ben would go to work together as they both had to be there at the same time. Leah only worked until 2:00 PM, which would give her plenty of time to be with her children when they arrived home from school. All the logistics were falling СКАЧАТЬ