Helmi, Mohammed

Helmi was the son of an Egyptian major ^[3] . In 1922 he moved to Berlin to study medicine. After training in 1929-1931, Helmi took a job at the hospital in the Moabit district, where two thirds of the doctors were Jews ^[4] . In December 1937, Helmi discontinued therapeutic practice in order to write and defend his doctoral thesis.

After the National Socialists came to power in Germany on April 1, 1933, Jewish doctors were removed from work, and then some of them were killed. According to the racial theory prevailing in the country, Helmi was rude (a descendant of Ham , Noah’s son) and did not receive the “non-Aryan” stigma. Until June 30, 1937 he was allowed to occupy the post of chief physician ^[4] . Unlike the Jews, the Arabs were not threatened with death, but there was also a ban on marriage with the Germans ^[5] .

In October 1939, after the German invasion of Poland and the beginning of the Second World War , Helmi was interned with Egyptian compatriots for several months. The German government planned to use them to exchange prisoners of war with Britain, which established a protectorate over Egypt. Being in good relations with Arab countries, the Nazi government ordered in early May 1940 not to restrict the freedom of the Egyptians. Helmi had to be regularly noted in the Gestapo ^[4] .

In 1941, Helmi took the position of a German doctor called to the front. Here he met a 17-year-old Jew, Anna Boros, who, as a Jewish woman and a Romanian citizen, was threatened with deportation and danger. The first migration from Berlin to the Lodz ghetto took place on October 18, 1941 ^[6] . Anne Boros at the Romanian embassy was advised not to go to Romania, where she was waiting for death ^[5] .

Despite the threat of reprisals, Helmi decided to help Anna. Her mother Julie Vere was married to a German and was under his protection. She told the Gestapo who came for Anna that the daughter had left. Julie Ver was arrested, and Helmi's house was searched. He managed to deceive the Gestapo and hide Anna in the summer house. Several times he took Anna to his acquaintances, where he presented her as his niece from Dresden ^[7] . Helmi also helped Anna's mother, her stepfather George Vera, and Cecilia Rudnik's grandmother. The last doctor was attached to the apartment of Frida Shturmann. In 1944, the Faith was detained, interrogated by the Gestapo, and confessed that Dr. Helmy had helped them and Anna. The doctor reacted with lightning speed - he brought Anna to Frida Shturmann and showed the police a letter from which it appeared that Anna was at her aunt's in Dessau . Her entire family survived the Holocaust ^[8] .

Anna Borom moved to New York , got married and changed her last name to Gutmann. Helmy remained a practicing physician in Berlin after the victory over the Nazis until the end of his days, was married to Emmy Anna Auguste-Ernst (1916-1998). They had no children. In 1962, the Senate of Berlin awarded Helmi the title of hero. Mohammed Helmi died in 1982 and is buried in Charlottenburg cemetery.

On July 4, 2014, a memorial plaque was hung on Helmi's house at Krefelder Straße 7 in the Moabit area ^[9] .

On March 18, 2013, Mohammed Helmi and Frida Shturmann were recognized posthumously by Yad Vashem the Righteous Among the Nations . He became the first Arab among 70 Muslims in the list. It says: "Despite the persecution of the National Socialists, Helmi spoke out against the ruling policy and risked his own life for the sake of his Jewish friends." Yana Steinfeld, the representative of Yad Vashem, said that there was no complicity in politics, the decision was made by an independent commission, assessing personal achievements. By November 2013, among the approximately 25,000 88 people on the list were Muslims , mostly Albanians . The recognition of Helmi attracted the attention of the press from different countries ^{[10] [11] [12] [13]} .

Helmi was nominated by a Berlin doctor, Carsten Mulder, who opened a medical practice at Krefelder Straße 7. Helmi lived and worked here. Mulder transmitted the results of his research on the life of the Egyptian doctor of the organization Yad Vashem.

At the ceremony on January 20, 2015 in Berlin, Israeli Ambassador Jacob Hadas-Handelsman handed over letters and medallions of Yad Vashem to the descendants of Frieda Shturmann and Max Nauyoks ^[14] .

Rewarding honored event participants in person or their relatives. Helmi has no descendants. The Egyptian ambassador noted Helmi’s “noble deed”, but did not dare to accept a medal for him, as Helmi acted according to his convictions, and not on the instructions of the government. Distant relatives in Cairo refused to accept the award, although they respect Judaism and Jews. Grandmother niece Helmi commented:

“ If any other country decides to honor the memory of Helmi, we will be glad of it, but not from Israel ” ^[15] . “ Helmi helped many people, regardless of their religion. Today, Israel marks him precisely for the salvation of the Jews. This does not justify his position and his work of life " ^[16] .

Yad Vashem regretted such a decision and continued to search for relatives of Helmi in order to present the award. On October 26, 2017, finally, a diploma and a medal were presented in Berlin to the great-nephew of the Egyptian doctor Naser Kotbi ^{[17] [18]} .

• Mod Helmi: Über das Vorkommen sterilen Eiters in der Harnblase bei echter (renaler) Anurie , Berlin, 1937, DNB 570704618 , OCLC 699518618 (Thesis), University of Berlin, 1937, 23 pp.

• Dr. Mohamed Helmy and Frieda Szturmann - Rescued by an Egyptian in Berlin at Yad Vashem