Two days after the eye doctor Ernst Rosenthal (1898–1971) was released from "protective custody" on 27 May, he received notification from the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians that it was revoking his license as of 1 July. This created a dire situation for the physician, who had been practicing medicine in Chemnitz since 1928.

To prevent the authorities from banning him from his profession, Ernst Rosenthal wrote a letter appealing the decision. According to the Regulation on the Licensing of Physicians to Work for the Statutory Health Insurance Scheme, passed on 22 April, a number of exceptions were possible, including cases where doctors had fought at the front or served as medics in the First World War. In his letter Rosenthal sought recognition for his work as a physician in the garrison hospital in Berlin and also for his membership in the voluntary paramilitary unit "Marschgruppe Würzburg." However, the Labor Ministry did not regard his service in Berlin "as medical service in an isolation hospital within the meaning of the regulation." Regarding his time with the paramilitary unit, it demanded proof that he had fought against the Spartacists, which Rosenthal could not provide. On 16 February 1934 the ministry sent a non-appealable notification by registered mail: "This decision is final."

Like many other Jewish doctors, Ernst Rosenthal had no other choice but to focus on treating private patients in order to stay afloat. At the same time he looked for ways to leave Germany.

Aubrey Pomerance

Chemnitz, 8 June 1933.

To:
Reich Labor Ministry
Berlin
via Association of German Physicians

 

According to the notification issued on the 29 May 1933 by the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Chemnitz, my license to work for the statutory health insurance scheme will be terminated as of 1 July 1933.

I wish to appeal this decision on the following grounds: On the basis of the regulation passed by the Labor Ministry on 22 April 1933, I am—as far as I can see—entitled to continue working for the statutory health insurance scheme for two reasons. As per records held by the Bavarian War Archive, I was registered with the Marschgruppe Würzburg as a volunteer on 9 August 1919 and, as far as I recall, I belonged to this temporary voluntary corps until it disbanded around March 1920. Second, as part of my hospital work during the war, I served for several weeks in the isolation ward (dysentery ward) of the garrison hospital in Berlin. I would also like to mention that after the war, I worked voluntarily in the North Berlin reserve hospital

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until it was closed in late March 1919—even though I could have asked for a discharge in late December 1918 on the basis of an approved petition to continue my studies.

Activities during the war: I received a deferment at my first physical exam due to a disease of the heart muscle that I contracted after a bout of scarlet fever. On 9 June 1917 I was accepted as a recruit into the "Gardelandsturm Infantry Regiment G. 12 Döberitz" and deemed fit for service in a homeland garrison. On 17 August 1917 I was assigned to the garrison hospital in Berlin.

A physical examination by the General Medical Board found me unfit for active service. I then volunteered for service in a field hospital. However, I was assigned to the Casualty Transport Commission in Aachen and remained with this unit until the end of the war.

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If necessary, I can have this information confirmed by other former officers of the Marschgruppe. However, it would be difficult to find the names and addresses of these men after such a long time, especially since the records of the Bavarian War Archive are very sketchy. For this reason I have refrained from providing this certification for the time being.

(signed E. Rosenthal)