I'm not going to talk to this arsehole any more
Medical studies in Berlin
Edith Türkischer-Garbatsky was born in Berlin, but only received German citizenship after many years of disputes with the German authorities. It is not known where her parents came from. When she enrolled at Berlin University in 1931 to study medicine, she had a German passport. In 1933, she had to provide information about her ancestors and her nationality in a questionnaire from the university. She then applied to be allowed to continue her studies as a foreigner. Edith Türkischer-Garbatsky remembers that her German citizenship had already been revoked at this point, probably on the basis of a law from July 1933, which allowed the naturalisation of Jews to be revoked.
After some harassment by the German Student Union, which refused to process her application, she finally managed to re-enrol as a foreigner. For example, she was not threatened with being dismissed for having too many Jewish students. Without any further administrative obstacles, she completed her studies in 1936 with the state examination.
Problems with the promotion
Edith Türkischer-Garbatsky's subsequent doctoral studies to obtain her doctorate caused her far greater difficulties. It was very difficult for students who were considered Jewish by their professors to find a doctoral supervisor. Pharmacologist Wolfgang Heubner, who - unlike his colleagues - accepted Jewish students as doctoral candidates, put Edith Türkischer-Garbatsky off because he had no room for her. She eventually wrote her doctoral thesis in surgery under Professor Willi Felix, but her application for a doctorate was rejected by Berlin University in 1937.
Doctor without a doctorate
At that time, Edith Türkischer-Garbatsky was already living in Israel. On the basis of her state examination, she initially received a temporary medical licence from the British Mandate Government and from 1946 an unlimited medical licence. In the meantime, she was married and had adopted the double name Türkischer-Garbatsky.
According to her story, her medical licence was stolen during a stay in the USA. She then made a name for herself as a scientist, ran a laboratory and conducted research at the University of Jerusalem for over ten years. In order to be accepted as an authority in a leading position, Edith Türkischer-Garbatsky considered it necessary to appear with a doctorate. So she "stole" it from her husband without further ado.
Edith Türkischer-Garbatsky died a few years ago in Haifa. She left behind several children.