Rudolf Zuckermann

Rudolf Zuckermann (born October 2, 1910 in Elberfeld , † April 29, 1995 in Berlin ) was a German cardiologist , the first holder of the chair for cardiology in Germany.

He was the brother of the lawyer and co-author of the GDR constitution, Leo Zuckermann .

Life

Zuckermann was the son of a Jewish merchant family. Until 1929 he attended the Oberrealschule Nord in Elberfeld and studied medicine in Bonn and Berlin until 1933 . After the National Socialists came to power , he went to Paris to complete his studies there, was allowed to study there, but was not admitted to the final examination in 1934 on the grounds that his semesters were not recognized in Germany. In the meantime expatriated from Germany, he went to Basel as a stateless person , took his doctorate at the end of 1936 and received his doctorate in January 1937. After his right of residence in Switzerland ended with the completion of his studies, he wanted to return to France, but received neither an entry permit nor admission to practice as a doctor due to the political situation that had changed in the meantime.

After entering the country illegally, he reported to the Comite Sanitaire International in Paris in January 1937 for work in the Republic of Spain, which was threatened by the fascists . In Spain he survived a few battles as a doctor, rose to captain and joined the Communist Party of Spain in 1938 . After Franco's victory , he returned to France and was interned there. His mother and brother, who lived near Paris, obtained a residence permit and he was able to work as a doctor, even if only diagnostic. After a few arrests and internments as a result, he was able to move to Marseille in 1940, in southern France, which was not occupied by Germans . With the help of his future wife Henny Schönstedt (also an active communist) he got to Morocco , but was arrested again in Marrakech .

On November 11, 1941, he and his brother, who was active in Jewish escape organizations, managed to escape to Mexico. Rudolf Zuckermann took part in the life of the Jewish and communist exile groups there, such as the "Free Germany" movement , the Heinrich Heine Club and the KPD group around Paul Merker , without, however, assuming an office. He practiced as a doctor and in 1945 was admitted to the Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia - at that time the most modern heart clinic in the world - where he dealt with electrocardiography (EKG), published books and research reports.

In 1947 and 1948 Zuckermann received invitations from East Berlin to return and the offer of a professorship at the University of Berlin. He did not accept the call, still had important research work and wanted to wait and see how his brother, who had already returned to Germany, would develop. After further contacts from East Berlin, he decided in January 1953, politically insensitive and despite warnings from friends, in spite of the waves of cleansing against Jews and old communists with a Western emigration background already underway in the SED , and despite the arrest of Paul Merker and his brother's flight to West Germany to move to the GDR . His son and wife had been there since July 1952.

He was immediately arrested by the MfS and KGB and was nowhere to be found by family and friends. He was interrogated for months, put in solitary confinement and forced to make false confessions. He was accused of having come to the GDR to continue the hostile work of his brother who had fled the republic. He was also confronted with the absurd accusation that he had been sent back and set up a heart institute to get to prominent patients and murder them with heart drugs. Since the Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia , on which Zuckermann had worked in Mexico, was equipped with equipment that was paid for by the Rockefeller Foundation , he was further accused of acting on behalf of the Americans.

After the events around June 17, 1953, with some purges in the SED party cadre, the actors in the interrogations changed. On August 20, 1953, negotiations began with Zuckermann about a release. He should sign a confidentiality agreement about the past imprisonment and interrogation and commit himself as a secret informant (GI "Juan") of the MfS. Annoyed, he went into everything, but was able to get his job as a doctor in the Bad Liebenstein heart spa . When he was released from prison, September 1, 1953 was given as the date of entry into the GDR.

In 1954 he had been accepted into the SED as an old KPD member. Since the allegations against him were not canceled, he declared his resignation in 1956. He refused to refer to these allegations to address high government officials. Unofficial employees of the MfS (IM) around him described him as apolitical, politically not motivated, who only cares about his work and is absorbed in it. The MfS continued to monitor him intensively and only got one unimportant job as a spa doctor in Bad Liebenstein. He broke off this "boring" job in frustration, was unemployed in 1954 and on January 1, 1955 received a job as senior physician and head of the cardiology department at the University Clinic of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg .

In October 1957 he received his habilitation and on November 1, 1957 he was appointed professor with a teaching position for cardiology at the University of Halle.

He suggested the construction of the Halle heart-lung machine , which was realized by the thoracic surgeons Karl-Ludwig Schober , Rainer Panzner , the anesthetist Günther Baust, and the biophysicist Fritz Struss . On April 3, 1962, the first open heart operation was performed in Halle with this machine. For this the collective received the GDR Rudolf Virchow Prize . On September 1, 1962, he received a chair in cardiology at Martin Luther University. This was the first chair for cardiology in all of Germany. But despite his success, Zuckermann fought for ten years in vain for an independent research institute.

He never saw his brother Leo again, who had returned to Mexico via West Germany.

Publications

• Atlas of electrocardiography , Rudolf Zuckermann, Leipzig 1955
• Ground plan and atlas of electrocardiography , Rudolf Zuckermann, 2nd alter. u. exp. Edition, 1957, 3rd revised edition, Leipzig 1959
• Cardiac auscultation , Rudolf Zuckermann, Leipzig 1963, 2nd alter. u. exp. Edition, Leipzig 1965

Web links

• Portrait of the Halle cardiologist Rudolf Zuckermann ( Memento from April 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

literature

• Wolfgang Kießling , partner in the fool's paradise Berlin 1994
• Wolfgang Kießling: Crash into the Cold War: Rudolf and Leo Zuckermann's life between Nazi persecution, emigration and Stalinist reprimand Berlin: Helle Panke , 1999. Issues on GDR history No. 57
• Dieter Schwartze, Rudolf Zuckermann - Bridge Builders between Europe and Latin America - A Contribution to the Development of Cardiology in Germany , Halle 2010, ISBN 978-3-86634-900-1
• Dieter Schwartze, In memory of Rudolf Zuckermann (October 2, 1919 - April 29, 1995) Ärzteblatt Sachsen-Anhalt 10 (1999) p. 57
• Dieter Schwartze, memories of the 1st German chair for cardiology and its owner Prof. Dr. Rudolf Zuckermann , Ärzteblatt Sachsen-Anhalt 21 (2010) p. 73 ISSN  0938-9261