Paul Blatt

Born:	03-14-1889
Faculty:	Medical School | Medical University Vienna
Category:	Expelled teacher

Paul BLATT (born on March 14^th, 1889 in Vienna) was lecturer ("Privatdozent") for urology at the Medical School of the University of Vienna. He received his doctor's degree in at the Medical School of the University of Vienna on January 23^rd, 1914, in the First World War he became a member of a mobile group of surgeons and "Operationszoegling" at the I. surgical university hospital (Anton Eiselsberg), in 1918 "Aspirant" at the Department for Urology at the "Wiener Allgemeine Poliklinik" (Otto Zuckerkandl and Hans Rubritius), 1921 he became an assistant, in 1928 first assistant and worked at the same time at the Institute for Pathology and Histology (Oskar Stoerk) and since 1927 also at the Institute for Pharmacology (Ernst Peter Pick). In 1930 he applied for the venia legendi in urology and became "Dozent" in 1932. He was married to Grete Blatt, née Tschiassny, and they had two sons (John Marcus Blatt, born in 1921 and Franz Joachim Blatt, born in 1924) - they lived in Viennas 9^th district, Berggasse 22/9 until 1938. Paul BLATT was persecuted in times of Nazism as a Jew, was imprisoned, lost his position and was thrown out of the university on April 22^nd, 1938. He was able to emigrate with his family to Paris/France in 1938. In 1939 he went on to the USA and settled in Cincinatti/Ohio. Short biography, written by his son, Prof. Frank J. Blatt, 2012: "Paul Blatt was born 14 March, 1889. He graduated from Medical School, Univ. of Vienna, in 1914. In April of that year he married Grete Tschiassny, who also graduated that year from Medical School. Both joined the medical service of the k&k army. After the end of WWI Paul Blatt started his practice in Urology and also was a member of the urological faculty at the University of Vienna.
Paul Blatt was active in the Massadah chapter of the B’nai Brith, and was elected chairman of that chapter in September 1937. Consequently, his name was high on the list of Jews to be apprehended by the Nazis, and on the evening prior to the official day of the Anschluss in March, 1938, two men wearing Swastika armbands and rifles came to our apartment in Berggasse 22 and arrested Paul Blatt. It took my mother several days to discover where her husband was held, and we were relieved that he had not been shipped to the already notorious concentration camp of Buchenwald as yet. My maternal grandmother recalled that a distant cousin had emigrated to the USA and had once visited Vienna with his son, Jack Stark, who had just completed medical school. My mother wrote to Dr. Jack Stark, who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio and asked for his help. It was through Dr. Stark’s intercession (I suspect that Dr. Stark paid a ransom in US currency) that Paul Blatt was released from jail in early June. Paul Blatt and his older son, Hans, departed Vienna for Paris shortly after Dr. Blatt’s release, and Mrs. Blatt and Franz joined them in August. The family stayed in Paris, supported by Dr. Stark and various refugee organizations until August 1939, when they were informed by the US Consulate that their quota number had come up and that the family could enter the USA.
The family arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, shortly before the start of WWII. Dr. Stark had arranged a rent-free apartment for the family in a building he owned where we lived for the next two years. Paul Blatt learned that he would have to pass the State Board Examination before he could practice urology in Ohio, and he spent most of a year studying anatomy, oncology, cardiology, neurology, ophthalmology, etc., and became knowledgeable and familiar with newer techniques and information in branches of medicine other than urology, the area of his own specialty. He passed the Examination in 1940 and started private practice in urology and joined the staff of the Cincinnati Jewish Hospital.
Paul Blatt retired in 1971 at the age of 82. He moved that summer to Sydney, Australia, where his son, John (Hans), held the position of Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of New South Wales.
Paul Blatt died in Sydney in 1981."

Lit.: Archive of the University of Vienna/personel roster 1937/38, 47, rectorate GZ 680 ex 1937/38; MUEHLBERGER 1993, 18; FIGDOR 2007, 42f.; MERINSKY 1980, 22-23; UB MedUni Wien/van Swieten Blog; information from his grandson Dr. David Blatt, Australia 2012 and his son Prof. Frank J. Blatt, 2012.

Katharina Kniefacz, Herbert Posch