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The Life of a Jewish Pharmacist in Hungary



Author(s)

Attila Szabó, Miklós Vecsernyés and Ildikó Bácskay

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DOI:10.17265/2328-2150/2015.02.006

The aim of this study is to draw a picture of a family of a Jewish pharmacist in Hungary from the beginning of the 20th century by the help of old discovered documents. It is not easy to reconstruct the life of anybody who could be a pharmacist or an owner of a pharmacist or his family life which mainly took place between the two world wars and in the following Rakosi area. We came across a pile of badly fowed pieces of paper and after analyzing them it can be stated that the examined person became the owner of a pharmacy in Szeged after he had graduated and had done his pharmaceutical practice in Budapest. Then he ran the pharmacy on his own where mainly Jewish employees were employed. However, due to the anti-Jewish laws first he had to dismisse some of his employees, later he was forced to sell his pharmacy. Surviving the war, according to the new laws he had the opportunity to claim his property again at court. Relying on the judgement it was revealed that the original pharmacist and the permanent licensed one became partners at a 50 and 50 per cent. But some time later according to Act XXV of Law 1950 all of the pharmacies in Hungary were brought under government management. Thenthe same happened to every family-owned property and they could keep only the house where they lived. Jenő Gerle died at the age of 82 in Szeged. Both his daughters managed to survive the World War II but became widows, could enjoy the hospitality of the Hungarian Socialist Peoples’Rebublic and died childless.

History of pharmacy, anti-Jewish laws, World War II., nationalization in Hungary, Rakosi era.

Szabó, A., et al. 2015. “The Life of a Jewish Pharmacist in Hungary.” Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 3 (2): 90-100.