Research Information System
Journal of Research on History of Medicine, vol.11, no.4, pp.267-278, 2022 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
University reform was carried out in Turkiye in 1933. Many people of
Jewish heritage, opposition doctors, and others who had fled Nazi persecution
in Europe sought safety in Turkiye between 1933 and the end of World
War II. Having examined the relevant official state archive documents, we,
as our main objective, aimed to share the information obtained about immigrant
physicians and scientists who worked at Istanbul University, contributing
to establishing the Faculty of Medicine from 1933 until the end
of World War II.
The study was designed as a qualitative-multiple document analysis. Documents
found by scanning the catalog of the Turkish Presidency State Archives
Republic Archive Catalog were examined. In addition, other publications
on the subject have been read.
Seventeen original archival documents on physicians and other scientists
who fled Nazi Germany and took refuge in Turkiye are examined. The
names of 16 physicians and scientists are mentioned in the documents.
They worked at the institute, clinic, School of Dentistry, and School of
Pharmacists incorporated in the Faculty of Medicine. In addition to the
advantages Turkiye provided for the scientists who took refuge, the country
made it simple for their relatives to move and live there. Some of these
scientists even acquired Turkish citizenship.
It is found that immigrant physicians and scientists who took refuge in
Turkiye have made a significant contribution to the development of Turkish
medical education and medicine.