Creator of Paralympic sport: Who is Ludwig Guttmann?

Ludwig Guttmann was born on July 3, 1899, to a Jewish family living in Tost, today known as Toszek, in Upper Silesia. The birth certificate was prepared three days later at the Tost City Municipality registry office. According to the birth certificate, on July 3, Bernhard Guttmann, a merchant and hotel owner, and his wife Dorothy, whose maiden name was Weissenberg, had a baby boy, and the child was named Ludwig.

In 1902, the Guttmann family moved from the small settlement of Tost to Königshütte, today known as Chorzow, in the coal mining region of Upper Silesia. Ludwig Guttmann was educated in primary and high school with a humanist profile and graduated successfully in 1917.

Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewish doctor who fled Nazi Germany just before the start of the Second World War, Guttmann was a founding father of organized physical activities for people with disabilities.

Upon his graduation in 1917, he worked as a volunteer in a hospital used in case of accidents for coal miners. During this period, he took care of a coal miner whose spine was broken. When he started taking his notes, his advisor told him the following sentences: “Don't bother, he'll be dead in a few weeks.”

And what exactly happened was that Ludwig Guttman remembered that patient for the rest of his life. In an article written by Cobus Rademayer, the following quote was quoted regarding this incident: “At that moment, it was the photo of the young man that is indelibly etched in my memory.”

In 1918, Guttmann started studying Medicine in Breslau, today known as Wrocław and then continued his education in Freiburg. There he became an active member of a Jewish association aimed at spreading information and awareness about anti-Semitism at universities. Over time, the Union evolved into a physical education and sports center that promotes the acquisition of physical strength, skills, confidence, and self-esteem, and whose motto is “No one needs to be ashamed of being a Jew.”

In 1924, he obtained his doctorate with a study on tracheal (Lung) cancer research. Guttmann originally wanted to specialize in pediatrics but returned to Breslau for economic reasons. At that time, there was a vacant position in the Department of Neurology, led by the well-known Professor Otfrid Foerster, which Guttmann gladly accepted.

When Guttmann returned to Breslau, Professor Foerster was already a well-known and internationally recognized neurologist and neurosurgeon. He was also known for treating Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The Soviet government invited Foerster to take care of Lenin as an expert during his illness and appointed him as Lenin's physician.

After returning to Breslau, Guttmann worked in the hospital under Otfrid Foerster and gained experience in neurology and neurosurgery. In 1927, Ludwig Guttmann married his girlfriend Elsa Samuel, whom he met during his education. Two years later, their son Denis was born, and in 1933 their daughter Eva was born. In 1928, he became a practicing neurosurgeon at a 300-bed psychiatric clinic at the University of Hamburg, and in 1929 he became Foerster's assistant again.

In 1930, Ludwig Guttmann obtained his doctorate in medicine and became a lecturer in neurology at the University of Breslau. At the same time, he started working as chief physician of the Wenzel-Hancke Hospital in Breslau. Apart from his teaching at the university and his work at the hospital, Guttmann has also published articles in reputable scientific journals. In 1936, Guttmann's famous book Handbuch der Neurologie, an important work, was published. By the mid-1930s, Professor Ludwig Guttmann was already very well known in the medical community and was often described as an expert in the fields of neurology and neurosurgery.

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and introduced new regulations against the Jews. According to the so-called Berufsverbot – (Professional Ban) – Jews were prohibited from practicing medicine in public hospitals. Dr. Guttmann was dismissed from his job at the Wenzel-Hancke Hospital and immediately became director of the departments of neurology and neurosurgery at the Jewish Hospital Breslau. In September 1938, he was ordered by the Gestapo to discharge all non-Jewish patients from the Jewish Hospital he managed.

On the night of 9-10 November 1938, so-called Kristallnacht, a massacre of Jews was carried out by SA (Storm Troopers) paramilitary forces and German civilians. Jewish synagogues, houses, shops, even hospitals and schools were looted. Residents of Breslau took refuge in hospitals. Guttmann, the director of the Jewish Hospital, ordered that anyone entering the hospital be admitted regardless of race laws, which stated that Jewish doctors could only treat Jewish patients.

After the 1938 massacre, many doctors were arrested and Guttmann was banned from leaving Breslau. Like all other Jews, Guttmann's passport was confiscated and he was not allowed to travel. But since Dr Guttmann was a respected expert in the field of Neurology, officials of the Nazi regime secretly used his services to suit their own needs. Immediately after the tragic November events, Guttmann was ordered by German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to travel to Portugal to treat a close friend of dictator Salazar.

On March 14, 1939, Dr. Guttmann left Germany with his wife Elsa and their children, 10-year-old Denis and 6-year-old Eva.

Life in the New Country

The Guttmann family arrived in Dover on March 14, 1939. Unfortunately, since Guttmann did not have permission to practice medicine in Britain, he was conducting studies at the British Medical Research Council in Oxford. In December 1941, Guttmann submitted a review required by the council on the treatment and recovery of patients suffering from spinal cord injuries. As a result of this presentation, the UK Medical Research Council decided to create a dedicated center for patients suffering from spinal cord injury.

In September 1943, the British Government appointed Guttmann as central manager of Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury. Guttmann accepted this task under the condition of complete independence as far as the approach to treatment was concerned. Despite the patients' high degree of disability, Guttmann aimed to reintegrate them into society as respected and useful members. The center was opened on February 1, 1944, with a bed capacity of 26. Within 6 months, the number of patients increased to approximately 50.

Dr. The innovative method put forward by Guttmann for the treatment of people suffering from spinal cord injuries consisted of 3 main principles. Patients;

1- They should not be sentenced to isolation from society and slow death.

2- They should be integrated into society despite their disabilities; working, paying taxes, and enjoying life.

3- They should do sports and compete with others.

In 1961 Guttmann founded the British Disabled Sports Association, later known as the British Disabled Sports Federation. In the same year, he became the inaugural president of the International Medical Society for Paraplegia and served as president of the society until 1970.