L. Hirszfeld "The story of one life".

Author: Ludwik Hirszfeld Title: The Story of a Life. Year of publication: 2011 Description: Originally published in 1943, Ludwik Hirszfeld’s autobiography—reissued by Wydawnictwo Literackie—is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Polish medicine and science. Especially since the book is about one of Poland’s most distinguished scientists, who came close to winning the Nobel Prize, and whose blood-typing system is used worldwide today. A man whose discoveries laid the foundation for the development of many fields of science, including serology and immunology. But Hirszfeld does not discuss only science. A significant portion of the biography consists of the author’s account of his experiences while confined with tens of thousands of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. Despite adverse conditions and a lack of laboratory equipment, he continued his research and gave lectures. Hirszfeld’s observations on Nazi theories of racial superiority are particularly fascinating. As a serologist, he notes that the distribution of blood types among European Jews is much closer to the proportions found among the nations with whom they have lived for centuries than to those of Jewish groups from other parts of the world. This is just one example of the absurdity of racial theories that Hirszfeld highlighted in his lectures. As an immunologist, he also drew attention to the sanitary conditions in the ghetto and pointed out the mistakes the Germans were making in their attempts to control the typhus epidemic. What is also surprising in the scientist’s account is the gratitude and conviction of the goodness, kindness, and loyalty of Poles toward Jews that emanates from the pages of the book. This takes on particular significance in the context of the widely discussed, inglorious role of Poles in the Holocaust, as presented, among others, by Jan Tomasz Gross. A fascinating man whom each of us has heard of, but about whom we really know very little.