Reference Type: Journal Article
Author: Petru, Manu
Year: 2010
Title: O opinie medicala. Evreii si cauzele bolilor venerice în România
Translated Title: [A medical opinion. Jews and cases of the STDs]
Journal: Holocaust. Studii şi cercetări
Issue: 3
Language: Romanian
Keywords: Jewish minority, history, intellectuals, stereotype, antisemitism, interwar period, health
Abstract: (En) Sexually transmitted diseases have had a devastating effect in human history. The transformation of this topic from a taboo to a preoccupation of the health authorities at the beginning of the 20th century was a significant advance that has contributed to preventive health services. The issue has been approached in Romania in many ways. We have
recently discovered a memorandum prepared in 1926 by Nicolae Paulescu, Professor of Physiology at the School of Medicine in Bucharest and one of the best known Romanian physicians, in response to a circular letter through which Dr. I. Lupas, the Minister of Health, was requesting advice regarding the prevention of sexually transmitted disorders. This memorandum has not been discussed by those who have commented up to now on the work of Nicolae Paulescu. The analysis of the memorandum indicates that Nicolae Paulescu
identified the Jewish population of Romania as being responsible for the rapid spread of sexually transmitted diseases through knowing contamination, prostitution and bribery. In this communication we discuss the biases and limitations of the method and data used by Nicolae Paulescu to reach these
conclusions.