Cent Eur J Public Health 2020, 28(2):155-160 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a5557

Paediatrics in Theresienstadt ghetto

Kateřina Horáčková1,2, Andrea Ševčovičová3, Zdenek Hrstka1, Jana Wichsová1, Monika Zaviš4
1 Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic
2 Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defence, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
3 St. Elizabeth University of Health and Social Work, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
4 Faculty of Education, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

The main objective of this study is to describe the most common childhood diseases occurring in the Theresienstadt ghetto during the Second World War as well as applied anti-epidemic measures. A partial objective is to describe medical and nursing care of sick child prisoners. The data was obtained by the method of synthesis of primary and secondary data with the highest importance after adequate external source criticism using selected monographs, memoirs, survivor diaries, Orders of the day by the Council of the Elders and Reports of the Jewish self-government of the Theresienstadt ghetto from 1941 to 1945, the Archives of the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Ghetto Museum, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Post Bellum online electronic collection of oral historical interviews, and witness accounts. The validity of the presented conclusions is ensured by comparing data from several sources. The most common infections in Theresienstadt children were enteritis, scarlet fever, infectious jaundice, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, black cough, pneumonia, otitis media, and typhoid fever. Most of these infections had entirely atypical symptomatology or complications. Children were hospitalized in children's hospitals, in children's rooms of hospitals for adults and infirmaries in children's homes. Albeit diagnostic methods had a high standard, options of treatment were very limited. The most common treatments included bed rest, diet and cold compress. Occasionally, chemotherapeutic agents (e.g. a sulphonamide drug Prontosil) and Aspirin were available. The anti-epidemic measures in the ghetto focused on hygiene, enhancing children's immunity, vaccination and pest control.

Keywords: Theresienstadt, children, infectious diseases, anti-epidemic measures

Received: October 3, 2018; Revised: April 21, 2020; Accepted: April 21, 2020; Published: June 27, 2020  Show citation

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Horáčková K, Ševčovičová A, Hrstka Z, Wichsová J, Zaviš M. Paediatrics in Theresienstadt ghetto. Cent Eur J Public Health. 2020;28(2):155-160. doi: 10.21101/cejph.a5557. PubMed PMID: 32592562.
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