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  • Title: Edgar von Gierke (1877-1945) - Eponym of "von Gierke disease" and double victim of National Socialism.
    Author: Kaiser S, Sziranyi J, Gross D.
    Journal: Pathol Res Pract; 2020 Apr; 216(4):152696. PubMed ID: 31704151.
    Abstract:
    As recent studies on the Third Reich have shown, a two-digit number of Jewish pathologists fell victim to National Socialist repression. One of them was Edgar von Gierke. His name is nowadays best known in medicine for discovering the "von Gierke disease" - also classified as "Glycogen storage disease type I" - which he first described in 1929. This article deals with the role of von Gierke as a persecuted and disenfranchised Jew. Accordingly, the focus is on von Gierke's repressive experiences in the Third Reich, which were quite different from other cases. It is based on (1) previously partly unnoticed archival sources and (2) a re-analysis of the relevant research literature. The paper shows that Edgar von Gierke was a double victim of Nazi Germany, even though he was able to maintain his professional position for a comparatively long time: In contrast to other Jews who were dismissed in 1933 on the basis of the "Aryan paragraph", von Gierke benefited from a legal exception as a decorated front fighter in the First World War. It was not until 1937 that he was released from public service. Even more striking is the fact that von Gierke was ordered back to his old position twice between 1939 and 1944 due to a lack of personnel. The evaluation of archival files leads to the conclusion that von Gierke was recalled to work under pressure from leading National Socialists and that this ordered reappointment had a devastating effect on his health status. At that time the pathologist was already suffering from a progressive heart disease, to which he succumbed in autumn 1945 - fatally only a few month after the fall of the Third Reich.
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