{"id":1426,"date":"2016-12-07T14:35:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T14:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2017-06-29T09:24:27","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T08:24:27","slug":"over-the-line-a-german-medics-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/2016\/12\/07\/over-the-line-a-german-medics-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Over the line – a German medic’s war"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this month\u2019s edition, Louise, Archivist in Lothian Health Services Archive (LHSA), finds a different view of the First World War\u2026.<\/p>\n

Ernst Levin (1887 \u2013 1975) was a German-born neurologist who first came to Edinburgh in 1933 to work with neurosurgeon Norman Dott in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Since Levin was Jewish, the Nazi rise to power meant that he could no longer work in his then-home of Munich, where he had just received a Chair in neurology at the city\u2019s University.<\/p>\n

\"ernst\"Ernst Levin (1887 – 1975)<\/em><\/p>\n

We knew about Levin\u2019s medical work in hospitals across the city and for the German consulate in Scotland through his medical papers, donated to LHSA in the 1970s. However, although we had a record of Ernst\u2019s career, we knew little of his time in Germany or his experiences as an \u00e9migr\u00e9, leaving a lot of blanks when interested researchers asked to know more about the man behind the archive.<\/p>\n

In 2015, I was given the opportunity to acquire Levin\u2019s personal papers for LHSA \u2013 letters, photographs and mementos that added to the clinical profile we already held. This was a first for us in combining private and career records to give a more complete picture of a prominent personality in Edinburgh\u2019s medical life.<\/p>\n

Through this new collection, I learnt that Levin served during the First World War and later, along with his wife Anicuta Belau, had a wide circle of friends in the artistic movements of the decadent Weimar Republic. With the Nazi rise to power, Levin came to Edinburgh, subsequently\u00a0joined by Anicuta and their daughter, Anna. Levin (like many other European exiles) was interred (in the Isle of Man) during the Second World War \u2013 but still returned to live the rest of his life in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

One of the first things that I noticed about our new donation was a group\u00a0of photographs and mementos from the First World War, when Levin served as Assistant Surgeon of the Reserve of the Bavarian Infantry Regiment. These images from the German lines were extremely striking, and gave an immediate view of the trenches that are rare from British troops. Although smaller cameras were popularising photography as a hobby by the time of the First World War, the British Army had imposed restrictions on private camera use <\/a>by 1916. In contrast, personal photography was tolerated more on the German side<\/a>. \u00a0It appears that Levin was a keen photographer, and noted chemicals used in the development process on his photograph envelopes. There are a large number of First World War images in the collection, from photographs of the German lines:<\/p>\n

\"trenches\"\"horses\"<\/p>\n

\u2026 to soldiers relaxed and enjoying themselves:<\/p>\n

\"sackrace\"\"maypole\"<\/p>\n

As a first for us, LHSA has also acquired images of German field hospitals thanks to Levin’s collecting:<\/p>\n

\"acc15_001_german_hospital\"\"nurse_soldiers\"<\/p>\n

What really sticks out about Ernst\u2019s First World War archive\u00a0is the mixture of battlefield images and snatched moments of life for civilians under occupation \u2013 something that is reflected in his photography:<\/p>\n

\"child\"\"soldiers_children\"<\/p>\n

… but also by handmade postcards which were intermingled with his war memorabilia:<\/p>\n

\"occupation\"<\/p>\n

The postcards are signed, but we cannot be sure whether they were created under a pseudonym by Ernst himself or by an acquaintance. The word \u2018Postkaart\u2019 on their reverse may imply that they were drawn in Holland or Belgium, though:<\/p>\n

\"postcard_montage\"<\/p>\n

We can guess where Ernst may have been stationed on account of the paper memorabilia he collected, from postcard books of places like Bruges and Tournai to maps of the front-lines:<\/p>\n

\"maps\"<\/p>\n

As a medic, Levin far from escaped the dangers of the Front. In fact, he won a Military Medical Medal for his heroism in the Battle of the Somme. In August 1916, Levin was ordered to set up a dressing station in Cl\u00e9ry. Not only did he achieve this in an exposed area without artillery protection, but also showed bravery under fire when the station was shelled. The following is taken from Bavaria\u2019s Golden Roll of Honour<\/em>, compiled from the Bavarian War Archive:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhilst everyone took what shelter they could from the artillery fire, Dr Levin, hearing a wounded man cry out, immediately went to the aid of the casualty despite the firing and at the risk of his life. He bandaged the wounds and carried the man to the dug-out. Throughout the Battle of the Somme, Dr Levin distinguished himself by his spirit of sacrifice, his calmness and level-headed-ness and his strong sense of duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ernst_horse\"\"ernst_uniform\"<\/p>\n

Ernst Levin in uniform<\/em><\/p>\n

It is lucky that a good proportion of this war archive is largely visual \u2013 most of Levin\u2019s personal collection is written in German. There are, for example, bundles of letters like this one, sent home to Munich through the German military mail system, Feldpost:<\/p>\n

\"letters\"<\/p>\n

And it is this language barrier that, at the moment, we are looking for ways to overcome, from involving academics to better understand the content of Levin\u2019s archive to tracing the content of the collection through methods\u00a0that do not involve deciphering the older-style German script in which manyof the letters are written. However, the visual clues I can decipher have already given me a privileged view behind the German lines.<\/p>\n

\"hospital\"<\/p>\n

All images from LHSA accession, Acc15\/001.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this month\u2019s edition, Louise, Archivist in Lothian Health Services Archive (LHSA), finds a different view of the First World War\u2026. Ernst Levin (1887 \u2013 1975) was a German-born neurologist who first came to Edinburgh in 1933 to work with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":[],"categories":[14,96],"tags":[99,100,97,98,102,101,11],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1426"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1500,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions\/1500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk\/untoldstories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}