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Former Jewish Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt
In Memory of Thea Wolf (1907-2005), without whom many of the stories of the Jewish Hospital of Alexandria would have been lost
The Jewish Hospital of Alexandria , also known as the Menasce Hospital, was the pinnacle of medical care in the Middle East during the 20th century [1]. There, everyone was welcomed and treated, from the highest government officials, to poverty-stricken widows [1], regardless of ethnicity, religion, or race. From its opening in 1872 [3], to its seizure and subsequent closure by Egyptian authorities in 1956 [1], the hospital provided a safe haven for all who needed it.
Description
Founding
The original Jewish Hospital opened in 1872 [3], and provided all medical services for free, supported only by donations from wealthy members of the Jewish community [2]. However, by the 1882 bombardment of Alexandria, it was on the verge of closure due to financial problems [2]. Despite this, the hospital remained open during the bombing, providing medical care to those injured in the attacks [2].
In 1885, when it was clear that the hospital would be forced to close without extreme financial aid, the Menasce family stepped in to not only provide the funding needed to keep the doors open, but also gave the land which would be the site of the hospital until 1956, allowing for it to expand as needed [2].
By 1893, it was removed from the oversight of the Menasce family, and returned to the Jewish community, who would provide the funds to keep it running through donations from wealthy families, fundraisers and taxes on marriage dowries [4].
Hospital Life
The Jewish Hospital of Alexandria was a bustling, cosmopolitan place, staffed by doctors, assistants, and nurses of Jewish, Coptic, and Muslim backgrounds, many of whom had studied medicine abroad, including places such as Lebanon, Germany, England and Greece [1]. Inside, anyone could find access to affordable help for all kinds of problems -- ranging from injuries, to illnesses, to marital troubles [1].
Not only was the hospital an incredible resource for the people of Alexandria, but it also provided cutting-edge medical care for which people traveled from all over the Middle East and Europe to receive [1]. The Head of Surgery of the hospital, Dr. Fritz Katz, who emigrated from Germany to work at the hospital in the 1920s, was widely known for performing the first successful adrenal gland grafts in 1941 [6]. Another German immigrant, Dr. F. Mainzer, researched bilharzia, a parasitic disease that heavily impacted poor communities in Egypt and surrounding countries, and provided treatment to all who travelled to see him [1, 7].
By the 1930s, the hospital contained surgical wards, a research laboratory, a pharmacy where patients could pick up prescriptions for little-to-no cost, an X-Ray department, a gynecology ward, and a clinic for outpatients [1]. A rabbi was assigned to work at the hospital, and was often found sitting and praying with patients throughout the night, as well as presiding over the brit milah (circumcision) ceremonies in the specially constructed hall [1].
World War Two
During World War Two, Alexandria was receiving large numbers of refugees due to its position on the Mediterranean coast. Many of these refugees were Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, and once they arrived in Egypt often the first ones notified were the doctors and nurses of the Jewish Hospital [1]. Many Jews were saved thanks to the efforts of the hospital’s staff, who took both legal and illegal measures to ensure the Jews landing on Alexandria’s shores would not be returned to Europe, and to certain death [1].
The staff of the hospital not only treated these refugees for the illnesses and trauma they had gone through during their journey and escape, but also provided safe passage to Palestine, or papers to remain in Egypt [1]. They assisted in finding eligible Jewish men with Egyptian citizenship, who would be quickly married to European Jewish women in ‘white weddings’, allowing the refugee women to remain in Egypt legally [1]. They worked with Egyptian government officials, many of whom were breaking the law by contacting the staff of the hospital, to smuggle people out of Egypt, on their way to what was then Palestine [1]. In the memoir of Thea Wolf, the head nurse of the hospital at the time of the Second World War, she lists dozens of stories and the names of people she and her colleagues treated and found a safe place for in the Jewish communities of Muslim lands.
Besides the work the hospital did helping Jewish refugees, they also opened their doors to treat wounded Allied soldiers. Only once did they halt their operations, when Rommel and his troops were so close to Alexandria that the hospital itself sustained significant damage during a bombing [1].
After the war ended, the staff continued their work with refugees, helping people on their way from Europe to new lands, as well as providing medical care to those in the El Shatt refugee camp [1], where hundreds of Yugoslavians from the Dalmatian coast were relocated after a German invasion.
During its nearly eighty years of work, the Jewish Hospital of Alexandria provided a level of care that was unique at its time -- not only concerned with medical wellbeing, the staff of the Jewish Hospital ensured that every person who walked through its doors was safe, cared for, and had somewhere to call home.
Alexandria, Egypt
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Sources
Notes
[1] Ada Aharoni. The Woman in White: An Extraordinary Life. (South Carolina: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform). (accessed 14 July 2018).
[2] Jacob M. Landau. Jews in Nineteenth-Century Egypt. (Routledge Press). (accessed 17 July 2018).
[3] Jacob M. Landau. “Changing Patterns of Community Structures with Special Reference to Ottoman Egypt,” in Jews, Turks, Ottomans: A Shared History, Fifteenth Through the Twentieth Century, ed. Avigdor Levy (Syracuse University Press, 2002), 77-87. (accessed 19 July 2018).
[4] Eli Hazan. Jewish Encyclopedia, 1st ed., s.v. “Alexandria.” New York City. (accessed 19 July 2018).
[5] Solveig Hansen. “Thea Wold and the Jewish Hospital of Alexandria,” review of The Woman in White: An Extraordinary Life, by Ada Aharoni, IFLAC.com, March 12, 2014. (accessed 16 July 2018).
[6] Michael Haag. Vintage Alexandria: Photographs of the City, 1860-1960. (American University in Cairo Press). (accessed 18 July 2018).
[7] F. Mainzer. “On a Latent Pulmonary Disease Revealed by X-Ray in Intestinal Bilharziasis.” The Puerto Rico Journal of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, vol. 15, no.2 (Sept 1939) (accessed 19 July 2018).
Bibliography
Aharoni, Ada. The Woman in White: An Extraordinary Life. South Carolina: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 1998.
Avigdor Levy, ed., Jews, Turks, Ottomans: A Shared History, Fifteenth Through the Twentieth Century (Syracuse University Press, 2002), 77-87.
Haag, Michael. Vintage Alexandria: Photographs of the City, 1860-1960. American University in Cairo Press. 2008.
Hansen, Solveig. “Thea Wold and the Jewish Hospital of Alexandria,” review of The Woman in White: An Extraordinary Life, by Ada Aharoni, IFLAC.com, March 12, 2014.
Hazan, Eli. Jewish Encyclopedia, 1st ed., s.v. “Alexandria.” New York City. 1906
Landau, Jacob M. Jews in Nineteenth-Century Egypt. Routledge Press. 2016.
Mainzer, F. “On a Latent Pulmonary Disease Revealed by X-Ray in Intestinal Bilharziasis.” The Puerto Rico Journal of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, vol. 15, no.2 (Sept 1939)
Write up prepared by Sophie Call, 20 June 2018