Tag #114425 - Interview #92211 (Boris Girshov)

I was a qualified doctor. I had serious surgical practice at the front hospital. Phthisiology required surgical skills, and I managed. The head physician of our clinic was Konstantin Andreev, a real Russian intellectual. During the period of Doctors’ Plot he was brave enough to give jobs to professors and assistant professors fired from different institutions. At our clinic there was a nurse, who was a secretary of the local Communist Party organization. We were on familiar terms with her. She told me that they called her in and asked ‘When will you stop giving jobs to Jews at your tubercular clinic ? Tell the head physician that it is a scandal to invite fired Jews!’

To tell the truth the invited doctors were among the best doctors of the city. I was lucky to be engaged in research work under their supervision. An assistant professor Bergman gave me a topic for my dissertation. I wrote an abstract and reported to professor Tsigelnik. Tsigelnik gave me good references and said ‘Do you know who you are?’ I answered “Yes.’ Tsigelnik ‘I can do nothing for you. If you wish to become my postgraduate student, get your own way, go ahead! I gave you the testimonial - that’s all I can do for you.’

I carried my documents to the personnel department, they looked through them and said ‘Boris Davidovich, go on working, and we have to send your documents to Moscow for approval. We will inform you in case of affirmative reply.’ You know, they have been considering my documents till now.