Ludwig Guttmann (1899–1980) and David Ben Gurion (1886–1973): An Early Account of the Rehabilitation Facilities in Israel

Abstract

Ludwig Guttmann in 1944 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital established comprehensive care of spinal patients. His methods were extremely successful and he was responsible for the establishment of the comprehensive treatment of spinal injuries throughout Europe and large areas of the world. He was a Jew who had fled Nazi Germany, and he evinced strong loyalty to the State of Israel. In December 1949, he was invited by the Government of Israel to visit and advise on the status of rehabilitation of casualties who had suffered neurological injuries in the War of Independence (1948–49). His work is mentioned in his correspondence with Prime Minister Ben Gurion as well as in the Prime Minister's diaries. This episode offers a unique insight into Guttmann's approach to rehabilitation in his early years.

References

Guttmann

Report on visit to Israel for the Director General of the Army Medical Service, December 1949

Goodman

Spirit of Stoke Mandeville The Story of Sir Ludwig Guttmann. London: Collins, 1986

Zwecker

Zeilig

Ohry

Professor Heinrich Sebastian Frenkel: A forgotten founder of Rehabilitation Medicine. Spinal Cord 2004;42:55–6

Haymaker

Schiller

, eds. The Founders of Neurology. 2nd edn. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, 1970: P. 555

Ibid.: Goodman (op. cit. ref. 2): Pp. 75–6

Ibid.: Goodman (op. cit. ref. 2): P. 31

Hurwich

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Ohry

Medical and rehabilitation aspects of the treatment of disabled people during the British Mandate in Palestine and the War of Independence, 1920–1949. Harefuah 1989;116:549–51

10.

This comprehensive legislation identified who was a Jew.

If one of four grandparents was Jewish, you were defined as being Jewish. Jews lost their citizenship, were classified as resident of Germany, and could not hold public office. All Jewish civil servants were dismissed or had to retire with a reduced pension. Intermarriages between Germans and Jews were prohibited

11.

Medawar

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12.

Professor Chaim Sheba's Archives. Israel: Tel Hashomer Medical Center

13.

Ibid.: Ohry (op. cit. ref. 9)

14.

Named after Percivall Pott [1714–88], who described the angular curvature of the spine which results from tuberculous disease. This can impinge on the spinal cord and lead to paralysis

15.

Blum

The development of medical rehabilitation in the end of the British Mandate and in the first decade of the State of Israel. PhD Thesis, Haifa University (under the supervision of Ohry A and Goldstein Y), November 2003, p. 66

16.

Winner

Report on Spinal Units for the Ministry of Health. Public Record Office 1949, MH58/653 Appendix A and B (In Silver JR's book, reference [22])

17.

Guttmann

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18.

Ohry

An Introduction to the history of the rehabilitation medicine in Israel. Tel Aviv: University Press, 1992: Pp. 42–44

19.

Tutaev

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20.

Geoffrey

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21.

Zeilig

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22.

Silver

. History of the Treatment of Spinal Injuries. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2003

23.

Ibid.: Goodman (op. cit. ref. 2)