Crying Hands: Eugenics and Deaf People in Nazi Germany

Appendix 3

Appendix 3: Documents Written by and in Support of Gertrud Jacob Transcript Gotha, November 19, 1936 Affidavit Gertrud Jacob, daughter of master stovefitter Richard Jacob and his wife Frau Frieda Jacob, was born on December 11, 1904, a healthy, strong infant. She began to run and speak at an early age. We lived at that time in a house on Jüdenstrasse 64 with the master painter Johann Bomberg (presently Dietrich Eckertstrasse 64). At the age of two years and nine months the child suffered an accident crossing Mykonius Square on her way home with her mother when her head was struck by the soccer ball of youngsters playing there. Since the head and face of the child were badly swollen, she was immediately brought to the medical attention of the ear specialist Dr. Rosenbaum, and received electroshock treatments and massage for a full year. The medical findings stated that the auditory nerves, at this childish age still as thin as silk threads, had been deadened by the blow and the shock, and could not fully recover. Some residual hearing was, however, present in the left ear. That this account in all its details corresponds to the truth is attested to by the signatures of the owner of the house at Jüdenstrasse 64 (Frau Bomberg ) and the then co-resident (Frau Kreibe). signed Richard Jacob Friedericke Bomberg Emma Kreibe 184 Gotha, April 6, 1938 To: the Superior Hereditary Health Court Jena By registered mail Re: Gertrud Jacob, Gotha Case No. XIII 57/38 Against the decision of March 24, 1938, delivered March 29, 1938, I hereby lodge an Objection Grounds It is not accurate that I suffer from deafness, much less hereditary deafness. I was born November 12, 1904, a healthy and strong child. At the age of two years and nine months I suffered an accident in that I was struck on the head by a soccer ball in such fashion that I was immediately brought to the ear specialist Dr. Rosenbaum for clinical treatment. The treatment occasioned by the accident took a full year. It is Dr. Rosenbaum’s judgment that my auditory nerves, at that age as thin as silk thread, had been deadened by the blow and shock. He attempted to restore my hearing through electroshocks and massage. Evidence 1. The attached testimony of the eyewitness Fritz Riede of Gotha 2. The attached affidavit of Frau Friedericke Bomberg, then owner of the ground floor of the house in which I was born and in which my parents still lived at the time of the accident 3. The attached affidavit of the then co-resident, Frau Emma Kreibe 4. The deposition of the public health officer, Dr. Sterzing, who likewise made a written account of the accident and its consequences when I was admitted to the school Unfortunately I fell ill at the age of nine with diphtheria and had an incision in the larynx, which also negatively affected my speech. In 1923, the professor in Jena wanted to operate on me to restore my hearing . Only because he could give me no guarantee that a disfigurement of my face would not follow the operation, I refrained from taking this step. The medical assessment was then that my ear was still capable of registering some degree of sound. This must have been the case, since the doctor would not otherwise have proposed the operation. Such an operation on deaf ears would have been without purpose. I am not deaf in the strict sense of the word, but very hard of hearing. As a result of the accident, I lost the hearing in my right ear, but I do have some hearing in my left ear. If the medical assessment that was submitted to the court states otherwise, I must object to it. Gertrud Jacob Documents 185 All my blood relations are hereditarily healthy. Unfortunately the August König referred to in the assessment, the son of my mother’s brother, had an ear infection just after birth which led to deafness. Whether this is a hereditary defect is beyond my ability to say. He is married to a hereditarily sound woman and has a normal daughter of twelve with good hearing. I enclose a letter from him dated November 4, 1937, for your information. But even if August König has a hereditary defect, it does not mean...