Public Health in the Vilna Ghetto as a Form of Jewish Resistance

Bibliographic Data

ID11028868
AuthorsMckenna Longacre (0000-0002-2841-3224, Mckenna Longacre is a student at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Leonard Glantz is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA. Solon Beinfeld is with the Department of History, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Sabine Hildebrandt is with Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Michael A. Grodin is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health and Medicine, Boston, and Boston University Project...), Solon Beinfeld (Mckenna Longacre is a student at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Leonard Glantz is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA. Solon Beinfeld is with the Department of History, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Sabine Hildebrandt is with Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Michael A. Grodin is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health and Medicine, Boston, and Boston University Project...), Sabine Hildebrandt (0000-0002-7257-9440, Mckenna Longacre is a student at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Leonard Glantz is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA. Solon Beinfeld is with the Department of History, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Sabine Hildebrandt is with Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Michael A. Grodin is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health and Medicine, Boston, and Boston University Project...), Leonard Glantz (Mckenna Longacre is a student at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Leonard Glantz is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA. Solon Beinfeld is with the Department of History, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Sabine Hildebrandt is with Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Michael A. Grodin is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health and Medicine, Boston, and Boston University Project...), Leonard H Glantz (Boston University), Michael A Grodin (0000-0002-0929-8929, Mckenna Longacre is a student at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Leonard Glantz is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA. Solon Beinfeld is with the Department of History, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Sabine Hildebrandt is with Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Michael A. Grodin is with Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights, School of Public Health and Medicine, Boston, and Boston University Project...)
Year2015
Volume105
Issue2
Pages293-301
Publication date2015-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2014.302312
PMID25521892
OpenAlexW2124196761
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited4

We describe the system of public health that evolved in the Vilna Ghetto as an illustrative example of Jewish innovation and achievement during the Holocaust. Furthermore, we argue that by cultivating a sophisticated system of public health, the ghetto inmates enacted a powerful form of Jewish resistance, directly thwarting the intention of the Nazis to eliminate the inhabitants by starvation, epidemic, and exposure. In doing so, we aim to highlight applicable lessons for the broader public health literature. We hope that this unique story may gain its rightful place in the history of public health as an insightful case study of creative and progressive solutions to universal health problems in one of the most challenging environments imaginable

Biology · Criminology · Judaism · Nazism · Political science · Politics · Public health · Resistance (ecology) · Sociology · The Holocaust · Health and Conflict Studies · Healthcare cost, quality, practices · History · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being

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