In 1923,
Rahel Plaut became the
first woman to habilitate at the
Medical Faculty in
Hamburg
and the third woman ever to do so in
Germany, with a
thesis on isometric contractions in skeletal muscle. In this excerpt from her
1922 diary, she describes her attendance of the 34th
Congress of the
German Society of
Internal
Medicine in
Wiesbaden in
April 1922. The Congress of
Internists was one of the most important congresses of
scientific exchange. In 1922, only one woman, the
internist
Klotilde Meier, gave a
lecture.
Rahel Plaut, with
the help of
Otto Kestner (born
Cohnheim), who ceded his time to contribute to the discussion to her, was
able to present her research results, which were also recognized by her
colleagues. The notes are included in diary no. 19 of a total
of 73 written by
Rahel
Liebeschütz-Plaut between the age of eight and 98. They were more
important to her than her scientific papers, which she did not take with her into
emigration. The diaries were not written continuously, some volumes have large gaps
of one to two months while some closely describe every day. She rarely gives
information about her feelings, and her opinions about other people are sometimes
quite harsh. Her diaries are a treasure trove of experienced history and provide
insight into personal, professional and political matters as well as into the inner
workings of institutions such as the
Eppendorf Hospital. The
diaries served as a source for her biographical notes about her father as well as
her manuscript about her time in
Hamburg from
1932 to 1938, which she wrote for
her grandchildren at the age of 85. The 73 diaries, along with many other records,
are held in the family archive in
Winchester.
Rahel Liebeschütz-Plaut, Diary No. 19, Hamburg, 1922 (translated by Insa Kummer), edited in: Key Documents of German-Jewish History,
<https://dx.doi.org/10.23691/jgo:source-223.en.v1> [October 06, 2024].