[TWENTY YEARS OF NAHARIYA CONFERENCES ON MEDICINE AND THE HOLOCAUST].

Since the beginning of the current century, the Galilee Medical Center (formerly Nahariya Hospital) has held "Nahariya conferences on medicine and the Holocaust". It is a unique and ongoing enterprise that tells the wonderful story of Holocaust medicine on the one hand, and the terrible consequences of survivors' health and their offspring on the other. Discussions were held that contributed to intensive research and publications on these issues, as well as to the authorities' recognition of the later stages of Holocaust survivors' illnesses and injuries.

Long-term health effects in adults born during the Holocaust.

Background: Previous studies suggest that exposure to starvation and stress between conception and early infancy may have deleterious effects on health later in life; this phenomenon is termed fetal origin of adult disease.

Objectives: To determine whether exposure to the Holocaust from preconception to early infancy is a cause of chronic morbidity in adulthood.

Methods: This pilot study involved 70 European Jews born in countries under Nazi rule (exposed group) during the period 1940-1945 who were interviewed to determine the presence of chronic diseases.

[Young man with gunshot wound (GSW)--what killed Ernst vom Rath?].

On the morning of November 7, 1938 vom Rath, a diplomat at the German embassy in Paris, was shot by Herschel Grynzspan, a Jewish teenager. Of the 5 shots fired, 2 hit vom Rath, one in the right shoulder and one in the abdomen. He was rushed to Alma Women's Hospital near the embassy, where emergency surgery was undertaken.

[Sterilization and eugenics].

The term "eugenics" was coined by Francis Galton in 1883 and was defined as the science of the improvement of the human race by better breeding. "Positive eugenics" referred to methods of encouraging the "most fit" to reproduce more often, while "negative eugenics" was related to ways of discouraging or preventing the "less fit" from reproducing by birth control and sterilization. Many western countries adopted eugenics programs including Britain, Canada, Norway, Australia, Switzerland and others.