Bersohn and Bauman Children's Hospital
The building at 60 Sienna Street in Warsaw was constructed between 1876 and 1878 as the Bersohn and Bauman Children's Hospital. The hospital was founded thanks to bequests from two wealthy families who became patrons of this new institution. The hospital was founded by Majer Bersohn (1787-1873), and additional funds were donated by Salomon Bauman (d. 1876) and his wife Paulina (daughter of Majer Bersohn), as well as Majer's sons, Mathias (1824-1908) and Jan (1829-1913). The opening ceremony was attended by, among others, the Mayor of Warsaw, Lieutenant General Sokrat Starynkiewicz.
The original appearance of the building (view from Śliska Street)
The hospital initially had only twenty beds for patients. Over time, the number of beds increased, reaching 43 in 1915. It is worth noting that efforts were made to ensure that children were treated free of charge. The original architectural design was by Artur Goebel (though the building was thoroughly rebuilt between 1924 and 30 according to a design by Henryk Stifelman). Around 1900, the Dawidsohn family funded the construction of the Ophthalmology Pavilion, which remains preserved to this day. Its first head physician was Noe Dawidsohn.
Over the years, many distinguished doctors worked at the hospital, but undoubtedly the most famous was Henryk Goldszmit (Janusz Korczak), who worked there from 1905 to 1912. The hospital's chief physicians were: Ludwik Chwat (1878-1881), Szymon Portner (1881-1910), Adolf Poznański (1911-1923), and finally Anna Braude-Hellerowa (1930-1942).
View of the hospital in the 19th century (from the Sienna side)
Between 1878 and 1915, the hospital admitted over 20 patients. About one-third of the children treated were Christian. In 1923, due to the impoverishment of the Bersohn family and the withdrawal of subsidies by the Warsaw City Council, the hospital was closed. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Anna Braude-Hellerowa and the support of the Warsaw Jewish community and the charitable organization American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the facility was rebuilt and reopened in 1930. Dr. Braude-Hellerowa became director, and Henryk Kroszczor served as administrative director. They served in their positions until 1942. In 1930, the hospital had 150 beds, and at the outbreak of the war, nearly 250. In the 30s, the facility was considered one of the most modern children's hospitals in Poland.
Fortunately, the building was spared damage during the bombing of the capital in September 1939. With the outbreak of the occupation, the hospital (like other similar facilities) fell under the direct authority of the German-appointed city physician, Dr. Kurt Schrempf, who brutally treated Jewish doctors. Shortly thereafter, however, the Germans appointed Dr. Wacław Skonieczny, a native of Inowrocław, as hospital commissioner. Contrary to initial concerns, he proved very friendly towards the hospital staff and, after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as Marek Edelman (who worked as a hospital messenger) recalled, he aided the political underground in the Warsaw Ghetto and helped hide various individuals on the Aryan side.
While the first months of the occupation were relatively normal for the hospital staff, the period following the establishment of the Warsaw Ghetto was marked by an unimaginable humanitarian tragedy for its inhabitants. Under conditions of artificially created hunger, terrible overcrowding, and inadequate sanitary conditions, thousands of children were admitted to the hospital. They died en masse within the hospital walls from tuberculosis, starvation sickness, typhus, and other illnesses. In 1942, the hospital's doctors participated in research on starvation sickness. Some of the results of this research were published after the war in a book edited by Emil Apfelbaum, entitled "Starvation Sickness: Clinical Research on Starvation Conducted in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942" (Warsaw 1946).
On August 12, 1942, due to the German liquidation of the so-called Little Ghetto, the hospital was closed. Its young patients (over 400 in number) were transferred to a branch of the hospital, established in October 1941, on the corner of Żelazna Street (No. 86/88) and Leszno Street (No. 80/82), from where they were later moved to Stawki Street. Most of them were deported to the Treblinka death camp in September. Many children, facing deportation, were euthanized by doctors. A small group of Bersohn and Bauman hospital staff who survived the Grossaktion, along with the remnants of the Czyste hospital staff, opened another medical facility in the ghetto at 6/8 Gęsia Street. Anna Braude-Hellerowa, who was caring for a group of children, perished in April 1943 during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. A plaque commemorates her, placed on the wall of the hospital building in 2001. The tragic struggle of the hospital doctors to save the youngest inhabitants of the ghetto was described after the war by the few surviving employees, including Adina Blady-Szwajger (d. 1993) and Henryk Kroszczor (d. 1979). From 1942 to 1944, the building housed the University of Warsaw Pediatric Clinic, which had been relocated by the Germans from Litewska Street.
On August 12, 1942, due to the German liquidation of the so-called Little Ghetto, the hospital was closed. Its young patients (over 400 in number) were transferred to a branch of the hospital, established in October 1941, on the corner of Żelazna Street (No. 86/88) and Leszno Street (No. 80/82), from where they were later moved to Stawki Street. Most of them were deported to the Treblinka death camp in September. Many children, facing deportation, were euthanized by doctors. A small group of Bersohn and Bauman hospital staff who survived the Grossaktion, along with the remnants of the Czyste hospital staff, opened another medical facility in the ghetto at 6/8 Gęsia Street. Anna Braude-Hellerowa, who was caring for a group of children, perished in April 1943 during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. A plaque commemorates her, placed on the wall of the hospital building in 2001. The tragic struggle of the hospital doctors to save the youngest inhabitants of the ghetto was described after the war by the few surviving employees, including Adina Blady-Szwajger (d. 1993) and Henryk Kroszczor (d. 1979). From 1942 to 1944, the building housed the University of Warsaw Pediatric Clinic, which had been relocated by the Germans from Litewska Street.
- Blady-Szwajger A., And I don't remember anything more, Warsaw 1994;
- Engelking B., Leociak J., The Warsaw Ghetto. A Guide to a Non-Existent City, 2nd ed., Warsaw 2013;
- Kroszczor H., The activities of the Bersohn and Bauman Children’s Hospital in Warsaw in the years 1872-1923, “Bulletin of the Jewish Historical Institute”, no. 73, pp. 67–86;
- Kroszczor H., Bersohn and Bauman Children's Hospital (1924-1939), "Bulletin of the Jewish Historical Institute", no. 74, pp. 60–80;
- Kroszczor H., The Bersohn and Bauman Children's Hospital (1939-1942). The Hospital during the War, "Bulletin of the Jewish Historical Institute", no. 76, pp. 33–47;
- Virtual Shtetl, https://sztetl.org.pl/pl/miejscowosci/w/18-warszawa/113-zabytki-kultury-materialnej/30678-szpital-dzieciecy-bersohnow-i-baumanow-w-warszawie (accessed: 12/06/2018).