Today I welcome author and physician Jonathan Hammel to discuss his powerful historical novel, The Jewish Hospital. Inspired by his grandmother—a wartime nurse who survived deportation and later founded the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine—Hammel spent a decade researching the incredible history of Berlin’s Jewish Hospital. Operating under direct Gestapo supervision, the institution remained open throughout World War II, creating a deeply complex environment where Jewish medical staff treated patients under constant threat. Hammel beautifully blends rigorous research with narrative prose, relying on his own medical background to write about this claustrophobic reality with absolute authority.
Our conversation also went into the profound ethical concept of "dual loyalty" in medicine and the immense emotional toll carried by healthcare workers. Because of these deep themes, the novel is quickly becoming a vital educational tool, earning spots on bioethics and medical school curricula at universities like Case Western and UPenn. Beyond his writing, Jonathan Hammel is a talented jazz pianist who released the solo album Shadowboxing for Comfort, and he previously hosted The Blood Flow Podcast.
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