VIDEO: The 97-year-old Holocaust survivor still working as a GP
Hungary's antisemitic wartime laws meant Istvan Kormendi had to attend medical school lectures illegally. Today, he's administering COVID-19 vaccines
He is Hungary’s oldest GP at the age of 97, administering COVID-19 vaccines every day — and he’s also a Holocaust survivor.
For Istvan Kormendi, who comes from a Jewish family and had to endure forced labour during the Second World War, the pandemic is only the latest in a long line of upheavals and challenges in his long life.
He started going to lectures at a medical school in 1941, but he did so surreptitiously and illegally, because Hungarian wartime laws did not permit Jews to train as a doctor.
In doing so he was following in the steps of his father, who was also a GP.
But when he taken to a camp and faced the real prospect of deportation, his instincts for survival took hold.
“I knew that I had two chances: either I would survive or not,” he said.
“I was thinking if I would manage to survive, at least then I could use some time to study while I was there.
“This also has a psychological explanation that these (medical) books created a connection, a contrast between barbarity and medical science.”
Dr Kormendi was eventually admitted to the school when the war ended in 1945 and his diploma, now more than 70 years old, remains in active use.
His high-ceilinged old apartment on the Buda side of the Danube river is the same one he moved into at the age of six, where he holds his consultations with patients while sitting behind an antique desk that his father bought in 1920.
Dr Kormendi’s wife died recently and he has not seen his daughter, also a doctor but who lives in Vienna, since last year because of the pandemic.
He has around 300 patients on his books and plans to continue working for as long as possible — so long, he says, as he can remember the names of new drugs and resolve the computer problems that persistently dog him.
“I have had plenty of stress in my life and despite that, the constant mental readiness and work has kept me in this condition, just like sportsmen are kept fit by training,” he said.
“If I had to say how I want to finish, well, I would say if I live to be 100 years old then after a day of work, feeling a pleasant tiredness, I would go to sleep and wake up to not being alive any more.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
