Billig Hannah

Born on October 4, 1901 in London, East End, Spitalfields, house 41, Hanbury Street . Parents - Barnet and Millie Billig, born in the Russian Empire and emigrating to the UK, fleeing Jewish pogroms. Only six children were born in the family, four of them became doctors. Hannah studied at Merdl Street, received a medical degree from the University of London and a special scholarship. She graduated from the University in 1925, after practicing in the Royal Free and the Royal London Hospitals .

For two years, Billig worked at the Jewish Women's Hospital on Underwood Street. From 1927 she practiced in a small clinic on Cable Street. In 1935, her reception desk moved to a Georgian mansion on Cable Street, 198, where a memorial plaque is currently installed. For a long time, she also worked as a doctor at the police station. I went on calls by bicycle, and later became the driver of the Morris Cowley car.

During the bombing of London by the Germans, Billig worked in the County of Wapping , personally looking for and hospitalizing all victims of air strikes (left homeless or seriously injured). The field hospital was located in one of the civilian shelters. On March 13, 1941, during one of the air raids, a bomb exploded near the shelter: as a result of a powerful explosion, Billig threw off the shock wave, and she broke her ankle, but managed to tie it up and get on her own to her charges. Over the next night, Billig vigilantly looked after them ^[1] . For her bravery she was awarded the George Medal. In 1942 she joined the Medical Corps of the Indian Army and got a job in Calcutta . Hannah Billig was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1945 for helping injured soldiers and refugees in Assam .

After the war, she continued to work as a private doctor, working in the National Health Service. In 1964, she quit and repatriated to Israel, to Caesarea , where she continued medical activities until the end of her days. She died on July 11, 1987 at the age of 85.