Hledání jména věčného ... aneb Příběh Bertholda Epsteina – Trnková Věra (2023)

This Czech-language book tells the life story of paediatrician Berthold Epstein, born in 1890 in Plzeň. After studying medicine in Prague, where he gained his habilitation, he became head of the Children’s Clinic of the German University. Because of his Jewish origins, he had to leave the university at the end of 1938. He and his wife escaped into exile in Norway, but after the German occupation they were arrested and deported to Auschwitz, where his wife died soon afterwards. Professor Epstein was allowed to work there as a medical orderly, and Josef Mengele requested him as an involuntary assistant for his experiments. After the camp’s liberation, Epstein remained in Auschwitz as a doctor and later joined Svoboda’s 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps, returning to Prague in May 1945. Not all of his former Czech colleagues welcomed him warmly. Nevertheless, at the end of 1949 he became head of the Children’s Department at Na Bulovce Hospital and received numerous honours for his work in paediatrics. He died in Prague in 1962. His life spans several historical periods, from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy to the post-war era in former Czechoslovakia.