Ludwik Hirszfeld Research Articles

The Role of Passion Combined with the Mission to Protect Humanity Reflected in the Memoirs of Ludwik Hirszfeld

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of the analysis is to illustrate the importance of Ludwig Hirszfeld’s scientific and research passion combined with his mission to protect humanity. The topic is explored in a specific historical context, which has educational value.
 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The central problem of this study is the question of what is the significance of an individual who, despite the most difficult experiences, is able to overcome fear and act to protect the dignity of people subjected to dehumanization. The research methodology used was memory studies.
 THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The article discusses facts, mainly related to the time of World War II, including selected contexts from the biography of Ludwig Hirszfeld, who took on the mission of conquering hatred and contempt towards the victims of the German Nazis.
 RESEARCH RESULTS: History education, along with learning about the memories of Holocaust victims, helps younger generations understand the importance of the mission to protect those at risk of losing their human rights.
 CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Learning about those who opposed the German Nazis, and others who defended the dignity of every human being should be a subject of education for young people. This knowledge can make younger generations aware of the important role individuals can play in protecting life, which is the highest value.

How Interest in Phages Has Bloomed into a Leading Medical Research Activity in Poland.

Poland has a leading position in phage therapy, as reflected by the number of patients treated and relevant publications in quality journals. The Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences was established by Ludwik Hirszfeld, a prominent microbiologist and serologist who also initiated studies on phages and pioneered the activities that set into motion phage therapy at the Institute. To achieve this goal, Hirszfeld had to overcome many difficulties in a post-war Poland. He died a month before the official start of the Institute's activity and was not able to witness the advancement of the Institute bearing his name. However, his hard work and dedication have been recently rewarded. In a recent evaluation of scientific performance, the Institute received the highest ranking in medical sciences among all universities and research institutions in Poland. One could consider it a posthumous tribute to the memory of L. Hirszfeld, being well-deserved on the grounds of the Institute's achievements (especially in the field of phage therapy) as well as his life and work.

Occupation as Social Practice and Ambiguous Space: The Lives of Ludwik Hirszfeld and Jan Czochralski in Warsaw, 1939–44

This article evaluates the situation of two renowned scientists in Poland, namely the microbiologist and serologist Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884–1954), and the metallurgist Jan Czochralski (1885–1953), during the time of the German occupation from 1939–45. Both scientists strove to continue their scientific work even under the conditions of occupation but faced substantially different treatment by the occupiers: Hirszfeld was forced to live in the Warsaw Ghetto, while Czochralski was allowed to stay in his home and work at the former Technical University of Warsaw. The article takes a comparative approach and will analyse the life situation of both scientists. This means looking at the limits of action for both scientists on one side, and on the other, at the room for manoeuvre, which, under the conditions of a brutal occupation, either emerged for the two of them or they actively created.

Ludwik Hirszfeld: A pioneer of transfusion and immunology during the world wars and beyond.

Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884–1954) was a Polish physician, immunologist and microbiologist. Together with Emil von Dungern, he showed that blood groups are heritable traits and established the terminology of the ABO blood group system. He discovered A1 and A2 blood groups, and showed for the first time, in a large‐scale population study, that blood group frequency differs between populations. During World War I, he volunteered as an army physician. In the interwar period, he helped to create the National Institute of Hygiene in Warsaw and was instrumental in developing transfusion centres in Poland. During World War II, which he barely survived, he co‐organized secret medical courses in the Warsaw Ghetto and played a major role in containing the typhus epidemic that ran rampant there since 1941. After the war, he was the first in Poland to put the theory of serological conflict between mother and foetus into clinical practice, saving the lives of almost 200 children by introducing exchange transfusions.

Dr. Kazimierz Pollak, M.D., Ph.D. – orthopedic surgeon, the last assistant to Professor Franciszek Raszeja

Dr. Kazimierz Pollak, M.D., Ph.D. was a student of the renowned serologist and immunologist, Professor Ludwik Hirszfeld, and an assistant to Professor Franciszek Raszeja, with whom he provided assistance to the sick in the ghetto. On 21 July 1942, when assisting Professor Raszeja, he was shot by the SS members when operating on the well-known pre-war art merchant Abe Gutnajer.

Stoffe auf Reisen: Die transnationalen Akteure Jan Czochralski und Ludwik Hirszfeld und die lokale Bedingtheit der Entstehung von Wissen

AbstractAt the beginning of the 20th century, research on material substances such as blood and metals was in high demand, as is apparent from the successful careers of the serologist Ludwik Hirszfeld (1884–1954) and the metallurgist Jan Czochralski (1885–1953). Both were leading experts of their time, their transnational biographies – spanning the German‐speaking countries and Poland – were remarkably similar, and they both played important roles in the development of their respective disciplines. This paper explores how their contributions were closely tied to the circulation of their respective research materials – blood and metals – and of knowledge about them throughout Europe and beyond. These examples forcefully demonstrate that, in order to fully understand how specific, widely accepted bodies of knowledge emerge, both local situations and the material conditions have to be considered. Drawing on Latour's actor‐network theory, the transnational stories of serology and metallurgy demonstrate the range of human and non‐human actors, practices, and techniques that contributed to the circulation of knowledge, to its successful application, and also to occasional failure in specific geographical and cultural contexts.

Biomedical Research in Wrocław: A Combined Density-Equalizing Mapping and Scientometric Analysis.

The aim of this study was to assess the evolution of biomedical scientific activities of Wrocław scientists in the post-war time when this field of academics was rebuilt by the works of Ludwik Hirszfeld and colleagues. Using the NewQIS platform and the Web of Science database, novel procedures such as density-equalizing mapping were combined to bibliometric tools to visualize scientific progression. In total, 10,366 biomedical research articles originating from Wrocław were identified. Since 1972, there is a steady increase in research activity with the year 2015 holding the largest number of published items (895). A total of 2934 published research cooperations with 104 different countries is present. This is a percentage of 28.3% of all publications. In total, 101 research areas are present in Wrocław biomedical research with the highest number of articles being published in the area of biochemistry/molecular biology (2140). Research in this field was cited 27,360 times. The field of immunology has 1186 articles with 9247 citations. Density-equalizing mapping and network techniques revealed a distinct global pattern of research collaborations with German, US and UK affiliations as the primary cooperating partners of Wrocław. In summary, the present study supplies the first density-equalizing mapping approach that visualizes research activity in Wrocław over the past decades.

Antibody Production in Response to Staphylococcal MS-1 Phage Cocktail in Patients Undergoing Phage Therapy.

In this study, we investigated the humoral immune response (through the release of IgG, IgA, and IgM antiphage antibodies) to a staphylococcal phage cocktail in patients undergoing experimental phage therapy at the Phage Therapy Unit, Medical Center of the Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy in Wrocław, Poland. We also evaluated whether occurring antiphage antibodies had neutralizing properties toward applied phages (K rate). Among 20 examined patients receiving the MS-1 phage cocktail orally and/or locally, the majority did not show a noticeably higher level of antiphage antibodies in their sera during phage administration. Even in those individual cases with an increased immune response, mostly by induction of IgG and IgM, the presence of antiphage antibodies did not translate into unsatisfactory clinical results of phage therapy. On the other hand, a negative outcome of the treatment occurred in some patients who showed relatively weak production of antiphage antibodies before and during treatment. This may imply that possible induction of antiphage antibodies is not an obstacle to the implementation of phage therapy and support our assumption that the outcome of the phage treatment does not primarily depend on the appearance of antiphage antibodies in sera of patients during therapy. These conclusions are in line with our previous findings. The confirmation of this thesis is of great interest as regards the efficacy of phage therapy in humans.

NeoLek impacts on innovative realities: Lessons from Neo-Schumpeterian economics

This study focuses on the designing of implementable innovative realities, considering the development of innovative economy policy since Polish–EU integration through a Neo-Schumpeterian economics and a critical perspective lens. The special case of NeoLek—Integrated Laboratory of Experimental Oncology and Innovative Technologies—presents what is possible. This project takes place at the Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences in Wroclaw, Poland. The case shows an opportunity to reveal in what perspectives NeoLek influences the designing of implementable innovative realities. On the one hand, the study points out if and in what extent NeoLek influences innovative realities in the following perspectives: political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental. On the other hand, these perspectives intertwine and also affect NeoLek activity.

Historia polskiej alergologii – początki i okres międzywojenny

The year of 2013 is a major milestone for Polish allergology since it marks the 40th anniversary of this specialty and the 30th anniversary of National Supervisory Board of Allergology. This paper presents the beginnings of allergology in Poland as well as highlights its most important achievements during the two decades between WWI and WWII. It describes the significance of Ludwik Hirszfeld's scientific accomplishments, including his work on anaphylaxis, which in 1914 granted him the title of “Privatdozent” at the Hygiene Institute of the University of Zurich, and which could be considered as the first Polish habilitation in allergology. Hirszfeld's friendship with the leading American allergist Arthur Fernandez Coca resulted in a series of lectures on allergy delivered by the latter one in Poland in 1928. The paper also emphasizes Mieczyslaw Wierzuchowski's achievements of peptone treatment of asthma as well as the early works of Mieczyslaw Obtulowicz, the nestor of Polish allergology, including his most significant accomplishment of that period, “About Pollen Rhinitis” (1938). Mieczyslaw Obtulowicz completely dedicated himself to the field of allergology, becoming the first world-class Polish allergist who after WWII fulfilled his ambitious plans and received wide recognition.

First Evidence for a Covalent Linkage between Enterobacterial Common Antigen and Lipopolysaccharide in Shigella sonnei Phase II ECALPS

Enterobacterial common antigen (ECA) is expressed by Gram-negative bacteria belonging to Enterobacteriaceae, including emerging drug-resistant pathogens such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus spp. Recent studies have indicated the importance of ECA for cell envelope integrity, flagellum expression, and resistance of enteric bacteria to acetic acid and bile salts. ECA, a heteropolysaccharide built from the trisaccharide repeating unit, →3)-α-D-Fucp4NAc-(1→4)-β-D-ManpNAcA-(1→4)-α-D-GlcpNAc-(1→, occurs as a cyclic form (ECA(CYC)), a phosphatidylglycerol (PG)-linked form (ECA(PG)), and an endotoxin/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-associated form (ECA(LPS)). Since the discovery of ECA in 1962, the structures of ECA(PG) and ECA(CYC) have been completely elucidated. However, no direct evidence has been presented to support a covalent linkage between ECA and LPS; only serological indications of co-association have been reported. This is paradoxical, given that ECA was first identified based on the capacity of immunogenic ECA(LPS) to elicit antibodies cross-reactive with enterobacteria. Using a simple isolation protocol supported by serological tracking of ECA epitopes and NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, we have succeeded in the first detection, isolation, and complete structural analysis of poly- and oligosaccharides of Shigella sonnei phase II ECA(LPS). ECA(LPS) consists of the core oligosaccharide substituted with one to four repeating units of ECA at the position occupied by the O-antigen in the case of smooth S. sonnei phase I. These data represent the first structural evidence for the existence of ECA(LPS) in the half-century since it was first discovered and provide insights that could prove helpful in further structural analyses and screening of ECA(LPS) among Enterobacteriaceae species.

RACHEL E. BOAZ. In Search of "Aryan Blood": Serology in Interwar and National Socialist Germany.

Seroanthropology was a branch of science that sought to identify race through blood. Paradoxically, it was neglected during the Third Reich by the Nazi government, which was keenly interested in being able to identify an individual's race. Rachel E. Boaz's book explains why. Traditionally, “racial anthropologists” used physiognomic traits, including the nose, skull, hair, skin, and eyes, to determine an individual's race. The discovery of blood types and the subsequent discovery that blood type was a heritable trait allowed racial anthropologists to determine an individual's paternity as well as his/her race. Ironically, it was a Polish Jewish physician, Ludwik Hirszfeld, who, together with his wife Hanna, pioneered the use of blood type to determine race through their study of Allied troops in World War I. Hirszfeld developed the theory that the predominant blood type shifted from A to B as one moves east across the Eurasian continent. In the 1920s, the Hirszfelds' results were supported by two Hungarian researchers, Frigyes Verzár and Oszkár Weszeczky, who looked at blood types of “native Hungarians,” “Germans,” and “Gypsies.” They argued that it might be possible to trace a population's racial development through blood-type analysis. In particular, it appeared that the Germans were isolated from other groups in Eastern Europe and had higher levels of blood type A. Subsequently, German researchers took the lead in seroanthropological research, looking for areas where populations had been less susceptible to “miscegenation,” sexual relations that led to interracial offspring. Blood type B came to be associated with criminals as well as racial and eugenic inferiority. By the mid-1920s, the Hirszfelds' original theory of different serological types corresponding to particular racial groups had been broadly received and apparently reproduced on an international scale.

The Story of One Life by Ludwik Hirszfeld

The Story of One Life by Ludwik Hirszfeld

The Story of One Life by Ludwik Hirszfeld

The Story of One Life by Ludwik Hirszfeld

Experts and the Modernization of the Nation: The Arena of Public Health in Poland in the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Experts and the Modernization of the Nation: The Arena of Public Health in Poland in the First Half of the Twentieth Century The article examines the emergence of the public health system in the newly formed Polish state from 1918 onwards and the discourses that accompanied this process from an institutional and actorcentered perspective. The Polish health system was not a mere replica of western models, but a highly complex, innovative and dynamic system. Among other things, this is reflected in the founding of an independent Ministry of Health and the State Institute of Hygiene in 1918. Medical and hygiene experts who were trained abroad and part of international health networks such as Ludwik Hirszfeld, Ludwik Rajchman, or Kazimierz Funk transferred their knowledge to Poland and translated it into the specific constellation of space and time in the new nation state. Immediately after the war, Poland was confronted with epidemics that were spreading across Eastern Europe. Later, it was concerned with providing a hygienic infrastructure and creating a healthy and able-bodied population for the country which felt a constant threat from its neighbors Germany and Russia. Public health followed not only functional requirements, but also served political and ideological ends in enhancing social and ethnic cohesion and building the national identity of a “healthy” and “strong” population. In Poland, as in other counties, public health was an arena in which highly relevant political issues were negotiated.

Ludwik Hirszfeld: The Story of One Life Translated and edited by Marta A. Balińska and William H. Schneider

Ludwik Hirszfeld: The Story of One Life Translated and edited by Marta A. Balińska and William H. Schneider

Proceedings of the Conference “Lymphocyte Development, Tolerance and Autoimmunity: Solved and Open Questions”, Held at the Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, on May 12, 2011 (Wrocław, Poland)

Understanding the mechanisms of the immunological tolerance and autoimmunity remains a major challenge for researchers and clinicians struggling to free the society from several serious diseases (e.g., diabetes), which result from the disturbance of the regulatory mechanisms maintaining properly functioning immune system. Often these disturbances have their origin in impaired lymphocyte development, therefore, the prospect for the progress in fighting autoimmune diseases or breaking tolerance to the tumors is very much dependent on the better understanding of the mechanisms of lymphocyte development and their functional diversification. In view of the breathtaking progress in these areas of research and a daunting number of new publications appearing everyday, the direct contact and first hand information from leading experts play a very important role in catching up with what is going on at the cutting edge of current studies. Considering above, on 12 May 2011, 1-day conference was organized in the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy under the auspices of the Polish Academy of Sciences with the participation of renowned immunologists whose contribution to uncovering the intricacies of lymphocyte development and understanding the mechanisms of tolerance and autoimmunity is known worldwide. Abstracts of their presentations are published below in this issue of ‘‘Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis.’’ The leitmotiv of the conference: ‘‘solved and open questions’’ was meant to emphasize, that the effort to understand the function of the immune, like any other biological systems represents the continuous, never ending asymptotic process where the answer to the given question is as good as the number of new questions it generates. As the scientist ‘‘about to retire’’ and a chairman of the organizing committee of this conference, who spent 40 years studying the development and heterogeneity of T lymphocytes as well as the mechanisms of their selection, I was asked to introduce the subject of the conference from my personal ‘‘pre-historical’’ perspective in which the conference speakers played a prominent role. Below is my brief and simplified account of the research, in which I was fortunate to participate and which by solving old and opening new questions contributed to the better understanding of the functional heterogeneity of mature T cells as well as of the basic cellular mechanisms responsible for the generation of self MHC restricted and self tolerant repertoire of antigen-specific receptors of T lymphocytes. In early 1970s when I learned about T and B lymphocytes, little was known about their development, physiological function of MHC antigens responsible for the graft rejection was unknown (Klein and Shreffler 1972) and except the information that T but not B cells need the thymus (Miller 1961; Warner and Szenberg 1962), its role was very unclear. One of the important questions asked at that time—however trivial it may look from today’s perspective—was, whether mature T cells known to kill virus infected cells and to help B cells to make antibodies represent one type of a bi-functional cell or belong to two functionally different populations. As a post doc I was at that time in Dr. Lloyd Old’s laboratory at the P. Kisielow (&) Department of Tumor Immunology, Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, R. Weigla 12, 53-114 Wroclaw, Poland e-mail: kisielow@iitd.pan.wroc.pl Arch. Immunol. Ther. Exp. (2011) 59:327–330 DOI 10.1007/s00005-011-0142-1

The Original Blood Group Pioneers: The Hirszfelds

Ludwik Hirszfeld, together with his wife Hanka, was the first to study the blood groups in large numbers of subjects (soldiers) during World War I at the Macedonian front. They found significant differences in the distribution of the ABO blood groups, that is, type A was more common in soldiers from North Central Europe, whereas type B was more common in those from Eastern Europe. Their data were later (in the 1920s and 1930s) misused by German nationalists to support the concept of Aryan supremacy. The Hirszfelds also discovered Salmonella paratyphi C, now known as Salmonella hirzfeldi. Their landmark studies drew others to this new field of seroanthropology, most notably Arthur Mourant, as well as Robin Race and Ruth Sanger, who wrote "Blood Groups in Man" detailing the antigenic differences among various peoples.

Ludwik Hirszfeld—Polish Immunologist, Microbiologist, and Hematologist

Ludwik Hirszfeld—Polish Immunologist, Microbiologist, and Hematologist

Are advanced glycation end‐products specific biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease?

International Journal of Geriatric PsychiatryVolume 20, Issue 9 p. 896-897 Research Letter Are advanced glycation end-products specific biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease? M. Staniszewska, M. Staniszewska Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, PolandSearch for more papers by this authorJ. Leszek, Corresponding Author J. Leszek jleszek@psych.am.wroc.pl Department of Psychiatry, Medical University, Wrocław, PolandDepartment of Psychiatry, Medical University, Pasteura 10, 50-367, Wrocław, Poland.Search for more papers by this authorK. Małyszczak, K. Małyszczak Department of Psychiatry, Medical University, Wrocław, PolandSearch for more papers by this authorA. Gamian, A. Gamian Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, PolandSearch for more papers by this author M. Staniszewska, M. Staniszewska Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, PolandSearch for more papers by this authorJ. Leszek, Corresponding Author J. Leszek jleszek@psych.am.wroc.pl Department of Psychiatry, Medical University, Wrocław, PolandDepartment of Psychiatry, Medical University, Pasteura 10, 50-367, Wrocław, Poland.Search for more papers by this authorK. Małyszczak, K. Małyszczak Department of Psychiatry, Medical University, Wrocław, PolandSearch for more papers by this authorA. Gamian, A. Gamian Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, PolandSearch for more papers by this author First published: 22 August 2005 https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.1372Citations: 3AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume20, Issue9September 2005Pages 896-897 RelatedInformation