In this article, the author analyzes the campaign that captured the attention of medical colleges at Polish Universities in Warsaw, Vilno, Cracow, and Lvov during the 1920s and 1930s. The author discusses calls made by right-wing students for a regular supply of Jewish corpses matching their percentage among the students, and the ways in which university authorities and Polish Jewish communal leaders responded to these demands. Clearly, driving Jews out of the medical profession combined traditional prejudicial thinking about Jews with modern racial science and corresponded with the more general call to remove Jews from free professions. However, the issue of Jewish corpses took this line of thinking into the realm of pathology. The author argues that taking issue with Jewish access to “Christian corpses” echoed perceptions of Jewish impurity. It implied that Jewish students constituted a danger not only to their Polish colleagues but even to the corpses of Christians, which they could somehow contaminate or violate. Thus, this campaign was based on the notion of essential difference between Jews and non-Jews even in death. It suggests a vision of society in which any contact between Jews and non-Jews was perceived as contaminating and dangerous.
See Kazimierz Orzechowski, Sprawozdanie z działalności Wydziału Lekarskiego Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego w roku akademickim 1929/30 (od 1 września 1929 do 31 maja 1930 r.) (Warsaw: Wydział Lekarski Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, 1930), 13-5.
2.
YIVO Archives, RG 348, f. 137, Report entitled "Anti-Jewish Outrages in Poland," April 193[?].
3.
See Sprawozdanie z działalności Wydziału Lekarskiego Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego w roku akademickim 1929/30, 13-5.
4.
See Protocol of the General Rally of the Polish Academic Youth on 12 November 1926 in Śniadecki Audytorium (Protokuł wiecu ogólnoakademickiego młodzieży polskiej w dniu 12 listopada 1926 r. w Auli Śniadeckich), LCVA (Central Lithuanian State Archives, Vilnius), 175, I A 1, folder 101, p. 13.
5.
See Raphael Mahler, "Jews in Public Service and the Liberal Professions in Poland, 1918-39,"Jewish Social Studies4 (October 1944): 342-6.
6.
For example, in Cracow, the dean of Collegium Medicum referred to the issue of providing cadavers for the anatomical prosectorium already in early March 1920. See Archiwum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego (AUJ, Archives of Jagiellonian University), Wydział Lekarski (Medical Department, WL) II 68, Protocols of the sessions of the medical faculty (Protokoły posiedzeń grona profesorów nauk lekarskich w UJ), 6 March 1920, l. 471; and ibid., 26 March 1920, l. 471.
7.
See Andrzej Śródka, "Odrodzony Uniwersytet Warszawski," in Marcin Łyskanowski, Andrzej Stapiński, and Andrzej Śródka, eds., Dzieje nauczania medycyny i farmacji w Warszawie (1789-1950) (Warsaw: Państwowy Zakład Wydawnictw Lekarskich, 1990), 262-3. Passing exams in the first and second year constituted a prerequisite for a student to continue his or her studies. See the decrees of the Ministry of Religion and Education (Rozporządzenie Ministerstwa Wyznań Religijnych i Oświecenia Publicznego) of 16 March 1928 and 24 May 1930. See Halina Zwolska, "Wydział Lekarski (1849-1949)," in Jerzy Michalewicz, ed., Inwentarz Akt Wydziałów i Studiów Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego 1850-1939 (Cracow: Uniwersytet Jagielloński, 1954/1997), 142. Zwolska argued that "strong internal cohesiveness characterized the medical school, stemming from the very nature of studies in this field. It required the harmonious cooperation of an entire array of disciplines." Ibid., 134.
8.
See a circular letter signed by the Minister of Public Health (Minister Zdrowia Publicznego) Hodźko, issued in Warsaw, 29 January 1923, to all the voivodes, AUJ, II S 674, p. 655, nr org 5222/23. See also a copy of the circular issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, issued in Warsaw, 5 September 1930, nr Z.H. 3169/30, issued to voivodes in Warsaw, Cracow, Lvov, and Vilno and to the commissar of the city of Warsaw, LCVA, 175, IX B, 151, pp. 146-7.
9.
See "Nituhei metim," in Encyklopedia hilchatit refuit: Ha-rofe, ha-hole ve’ha-refua, vol. 5, ed. Abraham Steinberg (Jerusalem: Machon al shem Dr Falk Schlesinger leheker refua al-pi ha-Torah, 1996), 568-77.
10.
See Celia Heller, On the Edge of Destruction: Jews of Poland between the Two World Wars (NewYork, NY: Columbia University Press, 1977), 119-25; Szymon Rudnicki, "From ‘numerus clausus’ to ‘numerus nullus,’" in Antony Polonsky, ed., Studies from Polin: From Shtetl to Socialism (London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1993), 359-81; Emanuel Melzer, No Way Out: The Politics of Polish Jewry 1935-1939 (Cincinnati, OH: Hebrew Union College Press, 1997), 71-80.
11.
Rudnicki, "From ‘numerus clausus’ to ‘numerus nullus,’" 360.
12.
J. Zański , "U progu nowego roku akademickiego w medycynie ," Akademik Polski, October 1930.
13.
On the policies of numerus clausus in interwar Poland, see Rudnicki, "From ‘numerus clausus’ to ‘numerus nullus,’" 359-81; and Monika Natkowska, Numerus clausus, getto ławkowe, numerus nullus, "paragraf aryjski." Antysemityzm na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim 1931-1939 (Warsaw: Żydowski Instytut Historyczny, 1999).
14.
In the fall of 1917, the Medical Department at Jagiellonian University in Cracow decided to "continue giving preference to Poles ahead of students of Jewish nationality," AUJ, WL II 68, 30 November 1917, l. 809.
15.
See the summary of the speech delivered by Bernard Rusiecki-a delegate of Stow. Młodzieży Akademickiej "Odrodzenie," in the protocol of the rally of Polish academic youth on 12 November 1926 (Protokuł wiecu ogólnoakademickiego młodzieży polskiej w dniu 12 listopada 1926 r. w Auli Śniadeckich), LCVA, 175, I A, 171, p. 16.
16.
See letter sent by "Polonia" Fraternity in Vilno, dated 25 October 1926, L.dz. 173/26 to the Rector of the University, signed by the secretary of "Polonia" W. Sawicki and chairman Heibert [?], LCVA, 175, I A, folder 171, p. 34.
17.
See the Conclusions of the general convention of the Polish Academic Youth (Polska Młodzież Akademicka) in Poznań, LCVA, 175, I A, folder 171, p. 79.
18.
See Protokuł wiecu ogólnoakademickiego młodzieży polskiej, LCVA, 175, I A 1, folder 101, 14.
19.
Zański, "U progu nowego roku akademickiego w medycynie."
20.
Protokuł wiecu ogólnoakademickiego młodzieży polskiej, LCVA, 175, I A 1, folder 101, 14.
21.
Ibid.
22.
See "Trupia sprawa," in Trybuna Akademicka 11-12:31-32(November-December 1926): Rok IV, 6-7.
23.
Polish Jews at the time composed approximately 10 percent of the general population. In relation to this figure, Jews, due to the religious commandment that all males read, write, and study, were almost always "overenrolled" at universities. Moreover, the free professions of law and medicine had always been crucial for Jews because they comprised keys to more lucrative and secure self-employment. See Saul Langnas, Żydzi a studja akademickie w Polsce w latach 1921-1931 (studjum statystyczne) (Lwów: Centrala Żyd. Akad. Stow. Samopom. Środowiska lwowskiego, 1933).
24.
Lem, "Zmartwychstanie trupów," Trybuna Akademicka 8:20(November-December 1925): Rok III, 3.
25.
Ibid., 4.
26.
Ibid.
27.
Ibid.
28.
See the Petition of Jewish Physicians in Cracow who met at a rally on 12 April 1927, AUJ, II S 674.
29.
See the resolution of the general meeting of Jews-students at Stefan Batory University on 13 November 1926 and sent by the board of their association to the rector of the University in Vilno, dated 18 November 1926, LCVA, 175, 1 I A, folder 171, 4.
30.
See LCVA, 175, I A 1, folder 101, 128. According to the contemporary lecture by one of the representatives of Christian students at Vilno, they initiated the cadaver affair in 1919. However, one student announcement draws on the example of Romania; see Protokuł wiecu ogólnoakademickiego, LCVA, 175, I A 1, folder 101, 13.
31.
In September 1936, the Association of Jewish Medical Students in Cracow (Koło Medyków Żydów UJ) submitted a memorial, but it failed to change the resolution that had been passed earlier. See AUJ, WL II 405, 25 September 1936, l. 1218: memoriał koła medyków Żydów UJ w sprawie prac prosektoryjnych.
32.
In 1927 r., Jewish physicians submitted a memorandum concerning the cadavers discussed by the Medical Department; see AUJ, WL 71, 17 June 1927, l. 973.
33.
"Kronika: Ze Lwowa: Sprawa zwłok żydowskich we Lwowie," in Trybuna Akademicka 1:3(February 1924): Rok II, 8.
34.
Lem, "Zmartwychstanie trupów," 3.
35.
Ibid., 4.
36.
Grzegorz Brożek , "Ruch studentów medycyny w Uniwersytecie Stefana Batorego w Wilnie w latach 1919-1939,"Archiwum Historii i Filozofii Medycyny62:3(1999): 208-9.
37.
The association was initiated by Professor Stanisław Władyczko. Overall, the Medical Caucuses (Medyczne Koła Naukowe) in Warsaw, Cracow, Lvov, Vilno, and Poznań belonged to the National Union of Medical Associations (Ogólnopolski Związek Akademickich Towarzystw Medycznych), which published its own press organ, Życie Medyczne. See Brożek, "Ruch studentów medycyny w Uniwersytecie Stefana Batorego w Wilnie w latach 1919-1939," 209.
38.
Józef Brudziński supported the establishment the association "Peer Aid" at Warsaw University (Bratnia Pomoc Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego) and was the first patron of the Medical Club (Koło Medyków). See Śródka, "Odrodzony Uniwersytet Warszawski," 266.
39.
See Protokuł wiecu ogólnoakademickiego młodzieży polskiej, LCVA, 175, I A 1, folder 101, 13-4.
40.
Ibid.
41.
Ibid., 14.
42.
The same Senate meeting rejected the application for a general Jewish student organization at the university-Wzajemna Pomoc Studentów-Żydów. See Dawid Fajgenberg, "Bolesna uchwała," Trybuna Akademicka 6:8(July 1924): 2-3.
43.
See Brożek, "Ruch studentów medycyny w Uniwersytecie Stefana Batorego w Wilnie w latach 1919-1939," 214-5.
44.
In October 1930, the Faculty of Medicine of the Jagiellonian University established a scholarship foundation for Jewish students of medicine; see AUJ, WL II 72, Protokoły posiedzeń grona profesorów nauk lekarskich w UJ, 4 October 1930, l. 2196.
45.
Historians of Polish-Jewish relations have typically discussed this phenomenon only in the context of one or another specific university. See Natkowska, Numerus clausus, getto ławkowe, numerus nullus; and Aleksander Srebrakowski, "Sprawa Wacławskiego. Przyczynek do historii relacji polsko-żydowskich na Uniwersytecie Stefana Batorego w Wilnie," Przegląd Wschodni IX, z. 3:35(2004): 575-601.
46.
According to Brożek, Reicher was hidden during the war by a surgeon at Stefan Batory University, Kornel Michejda (1887-1960), who was recognized as Righteous among the Nations in 1992. See Brożek, "Ruch studentów medycyny w Uniwersytecie Stefana Batorego w Wilnie w latach 1919-1939," 211-2. See also Śródka, "Odrodzony Uniwersytet Warszawski," 264.
47.
Protokuł wiecu ogólnoakademickiego młodzieży polskiej w dniu 12 listopada 1926 r., LCVA, 175, I A 1, folder 101, 14.
48.
See for example the appeal issued by A. Januszkiewicz, rector of Stefan Batory University, on 9 November 1931 entitled "Do ogółu Młodzieży Akademickiej Uniwersytetu Stefana Batorego," LCVA, 175, I A, folder 171, p. 36, Rektor USB, L. 1286, ex. 1931/32.
49.
Protokuł wiecu ogólnoakademickiego młodzieży polskiej w dniu 12 listopada 1926 r., LCVA, 175, I A 1, folder 101, 14.
50.
Professor Adam Czyżewicz, while serving as the dean of the Medical College at Warsaw, complained of four problems with which his department struggled in 1936-1937: the catastrophic condition of classrooms and buildings, the shortage of assistants and of institutes, the lack of financial resources for research and experiments, and the frequent suspensions of lectures as a consequence of student disturbances, which was particularly problematic in the School of Medicine. See Sprawozdanie z działalności Wydziału Lekarskiego Uniwersytetu Józefa Piłsudskiego w Warszawie, w roku akademickim 1936/37, Opracował Dziekan prof. dr. Adam Czyżewicz (Warsaw, Uniwersytet Warszawski, 1938), 7-10. 51. LCVA, 175, I A 1, folder 101, p. 126, Medical Department of Stefan Batory University, L. 97, 10 November 1921.
51.
Ibid.
52.
Ibid.
53.
"Kronika: Ze Lwowa: Sprawa zwłok żydowskich we Lwowie," Trybuna Akademicka 1:3(luty 1924): Rok II, 8.
54.
Ibid., 8-9.
55.
Ibid.
56.
AUJ, WL II 405, 30 June 1937, l. 961: Sprawa odrabiania prac na żydowskich zwłokach bezpogrzebowych na III r. Ref. Prof. Rogalski. See also 24 September 1937, l. 961: Sprawa odrabiania prac na żydowskich zwłokach bezpogrzebowych na III r. Ref. Prof. Rogalski. The Medical Department decided "to follow the decision made last year."
57.
See the copy of a letter sent by the dean of the Medical Department in Lvov to the Medical Department in Warsaw, dated 29 December 1926, Lvov, L. 479 ex. 26/27, AUW, RP, Wydział Lekarski (Medical Department, WL), 2, p. 56. The documents pertaining to the cadaver affair in the Medical Department of Warsaw University Archives were deemed "secret."
58.
See a copy of a letter from the Medical Department, Jagiellonian University, L. 1990 to the Office of the Dean of the Medical Department in Warsaw, Archiwum Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego (Archives of Warsaw University, AUW), RP, WL, 2, p. 57.
59.
AUJ, WL II 405.
60.
The law was passed on 17 December 1926. See the copy in AUW, RP, WL-8, p. 41. The Senate repeated the argument that Jews, by not providing corpses, were in practice privileged in the context of a general shortage of corpses. It expressed hope that the Ministry would pass a law ordering steady provisions of corpses.
61.
See Professor Michał Reicher’s letter, "Do rektora," dated 9 November 1931, pp. 34-4 verte.
62.
Sprawozdanie z działalności Wydziału Lekarskiego Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego w roku akademickim 1929/30, 13-5.
63.
Ibid., 14.
64.
Ibid., 13-5. The dean reported with relief that, during the spring semester when the students were supposed to carry out exercises on the brain, he was able to secure some Jewish brains thanks to his cooperation with Dr. Płońskier of the Jewish hospital on Czyste Street. The dean expressed his "heartfelt gratitude" (serdeczne podziękowanie) to Dr. Płońskier. See ibid., 14.
65.
Ibid., 14.
66.
Ibid., 15.
67.
Ibid., 14-5.
68.
Ibid., 15.
69.
Ibid.
70.
See the letter of the dean to the rector of Warsaw University, dated 15 March 1930, L. 615/30, AUW, RP, WL-27, p. 1.
71.
Ibid. Regarding the decision to prohibit unauthorized meetings of students, see the letter from the dean of the Medical Department to the rector of the University, L. 614/30, Warsaw, 15 March 1930. AUW, RP, WL-27, p. 2.
72.
See note submitted by Professor Roman Nitch on behalf of Jewish students addressed to the rector of Warsaw University, expressing the complaint that Christian students were allowed to work in the dissecting room, 18 March 1930, AUW, RP, WL-27, p. 3.
73.
"Zajścia antyżydowskie," Akademik Polski, December 1931, as discussed in Rudnicki, "‘Numerus Clausus’ to ‘Numerus Nullus,’" 367.
74.
See AUJ, WL II 405, 13 December 1935, l. 1861. The Medical Department decided that the dean was to carry on negotiations with regard to obtaining Jewish corpses.
75.
The issue was discussed in January and October 1936; see AUJ, WL II 405, 31 January 1936, l. 170. Ibid., 23 October 1936, l. 1791. In October, a special commission was established to investigate the matter, including the issue of so-called ghetto benches. On this issue see for example AUJ, WL II 405, 29 October 1937.
76.
According to one of his former students, Loth supported both the introduction of ghetto benches and numerus clausus. See testimony submitted by Dr. Ludwik Marceli Sztabholz, Yad Vashem Archives, 0.3, 861.
77.
Śródka, "Odrodzony Uniwersytet Warszawski," 262. See also Loth’s letter to physicians, dated October 1934, entitled "Wielce Szanowny Panie doktorze!" AAN, MWRiOP, 4031, p. 50. For biographical information about Loth, see Teresa Ostrowska, "Loth Edward (1884-1944)," in Polski Słownik Biograficzny (Cracow: PAU, 1972), vol. 17, 566-7.
78.
"Sensacyjne pogłoski o ustąpieniu prof. Uniwersyt.," Robotnik, 15 January 1935, AAN, MWRiOP, 4031, p. 59. Although Loth fought in Józef Piłsudski’s Legions during the First World War, he subsequently sympathized with the politics of National Democracy.
79.
Władysław Bartoszewski, "Po obu stronach muru," in Władysław Bartoszewski and Zofia Lewinówna, eds., Ten jest z ojczyzny mojej: Polacy z pomocą Żydom 1939-1945 (Warsaw: Świat Książki, Stowarzyszenie ŻIH, 2007), 51. See also "Zamiast wstępu: Rozmowa redaktora Mariana Turskiego, prezesa Stowarzyszenia ‘Żydowski Instytut Historyczny,’ z Władysławem Bartoszewskim," ibid., xix.
80.
"Okólnik," Akademik Polski, 20 January 1927, as discussed in Rudnicki, "‘Numerus Clausus’ to ‘Numerus Nullus,’" 366.
81.
Later, a commission composed of faculty members in cooperation with associations of medical students (Koło medyków and Żydowskie Stowarzyszenie Medyków) was to take responsibility for providing Jewish corpses. See a copy of the report signed by Professors Jerzy Modrakowski, Roman Nitsch, and Edward Loth, issued in Warsaw, 28 October 1926, AUW, WL-2, p. 53.
82.
See a copy of a complaint filed by the Association of Jewish Medical Students (Żydowskie Stowarzyszenie Medyków), addressed to the Council of the Medical Department (Rada Wydziału Lekarskiego), issued in Warsaw on 4 February 1927 and signed by P. Rajchman, vice chair of the Association of Jewish Medical Students, and by its secretary, Mieczysław Weintal, AUW, WL-2, p. 55 verte.
83.
See the Protocol of the Medical Department’s Commission at Warsaw University, 5 February 1927 (Protokuł z posiedzenia komisyi Wydziału Lekarskiego UW, wybranej na posiedzeniu w dniu 4 lutego 1927 dla rozpatrzenia i wyjaśnienia sprawy zatargu o zwłoki żydowskie w prosektorium, oraz dla wydania, przy najdalej idących pełnomocnictwach, zarządzeń potrzebnych dla możliwie szybkiego zlikwidowania sprawy), AUW, WL-2, pp. 58-62 verte. See also the Protocol of the Second Session of the same commission, 8 February 1927 (Protokuł z II posiedzenia komisji Wydziału Lekarskiego UW), ibid., pp. 63-4.
84.
See the Protocol of the Fourth Session of the Medical Department’s Commission, Elected on 4 February 1927, 17 February 1927, pp. 69-71 (Protokuł z IV posiedzenia Komisji Wydziału Lekarskiego UW, wybranej na posiedzeniu w dniu 4 lutego 1927 dla rozpatrzenia i wyjaśnienia sprawy zatargu o zwłoki żydowskie w prosektorium, oraz dla wydania, przy najdalej idących pełnomocnictwach, zarządzeń potrzebnych dla możliwie szybkiego zlikwidowania sprawy), AUW, WL-2.
85.
See the Protocol of the Medical Department’s Commission at Warsaw University, 5 February 1927, AUW, WL-2, pp. 58-62 verte. Loth pointed to technical difficulties in carrying out the Commission’s decision, insisting that it belittled his prestige and allowed Jewish students to behave in an arrogant fashion. He argued that the commission should make an official statement that would make it clear that the granting of permission to dissect was in this case merely a gesture of good will on the part of the department while reminding the students to continue to seek Jewish corpses. See copy of Loth’s letter to the dean of the Medical Department, dated 10 February 1927, AUW, WL-2, pp. 66 verte. See also his letter dated 11 February 1927, ibid., 67.
86.
A member of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), Loth, to this author’s knowledge, left no written record of his wartime assistance to Jews. He was killed in the Warsaw Uprising in September 1944. See testimony submitted by Dr. Ludwik Marceli Sztabholz, Yad Vashem Archives, 0.3, 861.
