Plaque inscribed with Prof. Zondek’s name, from the waiting room in Berlin
Stethoscope used by Prof. Herman Zondek
Reflex hammer used by Prof. Herman Zondek
Letter written by the Chancellor, Kurt von Schleicher, to Prof. Zondek after he was fired and left Germany for Zurich

In March 1933, while he was treating patients, Professor Zondek, the director of the Berlin City Hospital, was called to his office, where he was informed by SS men that he had been dismissed from his post.

His meritorious deeds were to no avail - not his World War I service as a military physician; not the prizes and high esteem he had earned for his medical research; not even the fact that he was the personal physician of Chancellors Stresemann and von Schleicher.

That very same day Zondek left Germany, eventually settling in the Land of Israel.

In his autobiography he wrote:  “It was only after I left Germany that I understood that until 1933 the Jews lived in a fool’s paradise.”

Private Collection Ephraim and Hanna Degani, Jerusalem, Israel
Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection.
Gift of Gerda Zondek, Jerusalem, Israel.