A Doctor and his Military Case
Sibiu (rom. Sibiu, hung. Nagyszeben) is a city in central Romania. With almost 147,000 inhabitants it is the capital of the Sibiu County. It is located in the historical region of Transylvania and is an important place of the German speaking minority of the Transylvanian Saxons. Sibiu is located about 275 km northeast of Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
Cluj-Napoca (German: Klausenburg, Hungarian: Kolozsvár) is a major city in the Transylvanian county of Cluj in northwestern Romania. It is the second largest city in Romania with about 324,000 inhabitants.
Budapest (population 2023: 1,686,222) is the capital and largest city in Hungary. It is located in the center of the country, on the Danube. Budapest was formed from the merger of the cities of Buda on the left bank and Pest on the right bank of the Danube. Pest was already the capital of Hungary from the beginning of the 11th century and from the 13th century often alternated in this function with Buda. When the both cities were merged as Pest-Buda during the revolution in Hungary in 1848, they already formed a single entity. After the restoration of the monarchy (from 1526 as part of the Habsburg Monarchy), however, this merger was abolished in 1849 and re-established 1873. In this context the Hungarians replaced the Germans as the majority in the city. After the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918, Budapest remained the capital of a now independent Hungary. After Hungary's entry into the Second World War on the side of the German Reich in 1941, most of the city's Jews were ghettoized in 1944 and later deported to concentration camps or murdered. The 1956 popular uprising against Soviet tutelage in Hungary began in Budapest. In connection with the uprising and its suppression, the capital lost around 70,000 people. Today, Budapest is not only the country's largest economic and cultural center, but also one of the most important in East Central Europe.
Lviv (German: Lemberg, Ukrainian: Львів, Polish: Lwów) is a city in western Ukraine in the oblast of the same name. With nearly 730,000 inhabitants (2015), Lviv is one of the largest cities in Ukraine. The city was part of Poland and Austria-Hungary for a long time.
Due to the war in Ukraine, it is possible that this information is no longer up to date.
Galicia is a historical landscape, which today is almost entirely located on the territory of Poland and Ukraine. The part in southeastern Poland is usually referred to as Western Galicia, and the part in western Ukraine as Eastern Galicia. Before 1772, Galicia belonged for centuries to the Polish-Lithuanian noble republic, and subsequently and until 1918 - as part of the crown land "Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria" - to the Habsburg Empire.
As a front-line physician, Dr. Hager fought his own battles with cholera, typhoid, smallpox and frostbite. His front-line experiences and fervent personal commitment to the preservation of human life – as evidenced by numerous awards that have been preserved to this day – shaped the Sibiu physician, instilling in him a deep sense of humanity.
Christmas with the Enemy
Khotyn is a city in southwestern Ukraine. It had about 11,000 inhabitants in 2004 and is located northeast of Chernivtsi, in the historical region of Bessarabia. It is especially known for its late medieval fortress near a historical crossing over the Dniester River. Due to this strategically important location, Khotyn was the scene of repeated significant battles over the centuries with a correspondingly frequent change of rulers. Before World War II, it was also an important center of Jewish life in Bessarabia.
Due to the war in Ukraine, it is possible that this information is no longer up to date.
"We talked about the professors there [in Berlin], about common experiences at the front, like typhus and leave. After the dinner and a lot of Polish schnapps, the Russian military personnel went back to their positions. [...] I didn't think I would ever hear from him again."
Transylvania is a historical landscape in modern Romania. It is situated in the center of the country and is populated by about 6.8 million people. The major city of Transylvania is Cluj-Napoca. German-speaking minorities used to live in Transylvania.
Arad is a city in western Romania. The city is inhabited by about 160,000 people and is in the northern part of the historical Banat region, or in the southern part of the Kreish region. Within Romania, Arad belongs to Transylvania.
Moscow (population 2023: 12,412,154) is the capital of the Russian Federation and the most populous city located entirely in Europe. It is located in the west of the country. Moscow is also the capital of the Central Russian Federal District. With a population of 13,149,803, the administrative unit City of Federal Importance Moscow includes several other localities. The city is by far the most important political, economic, scientific and cultural center of the country.
Moscow was built around the 11th/12th century. The creation of the fortifications (Kremlin) is dated to the beginning of the second half of the 12th century. In the 13th century, Moscow became the capital of a sub-principality of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. In the 14th century, the princes of Moscow established themselves as the rulers of the entire Rus. However, in 1247-1480 Rus was subject to tribute to the Golden Horde which devastated Moscow in 1238. In 1571, the almost completely wooden city was burned down by Tatar troops. At this time, however, Moscow was the undisputed center of power in Russia. The first higher education institution in Russia was opened in the city in 1687 and it's first university in 1775. Peter the Great moved the capital to St. Petersburg in 1712. In addition to the loss of power, weakened by riots and plagues, its development lagged behind that of the new capital. The invasion of Napoleon's troops in 1812 brought a deep break in Moscow's development, and the city's population set fire to their houses to defend themselves. The reconstruction that quickly began gave Moscow a modern cityscape.
In the 1890s, Moscow's population exceeded 1,000,000, and shortly after the October Revolution in 1917 and the transfer of the capital of Russia and the Soviet Union to Moscow in 1918, the city's population surpassed that of St. Petersburg. Moscow experienced an enormous expansion of its public infrastructure, and numerous showpiece buildings were constructed up until the Second World War. However, the partly considerable expansion of living space was never able to keep pace with the population growth, which could not be slowed down by various immigration restrictions, some of which still apply today. However, the city also grew as a result of incorporations, particularly in 1960 and 2012.
In 1980, Moscow hosted the Summer Olympics. In the following years, however, the growing crisis in the Soviet Union also affected the city, which, following the decentralized movements in the republics and unrest in Russia itself, was finally directly affected by the attempted coup in 1991. After the final collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, Moscow remained the capital of Russia, a much smaller but still the largest country in the world in terms of area. Since then, the city center in particular has been increasingly characterized by modern, prestigious buildings. The reconstruction of churches that were destroyed or repurposed during the Soviet era, the renovation of buildings from the pre-Soviet era in the city center and the expansion of the transport infrastructure on the outskirts are further features of the city's development in the post-Soviet era.
"I got as far as his office, and to legitimize my presence there, I showed Elanski two photographs of my father and Elanski at the command post on that Christmas of 1917. Elanski expressed his pleasure again and again and invited me to his home. However, because I was under constant surveillance, this visit never took place."
However, the meeting helped to refresh the friendship: "Elanski sent gifts of books to Sibiu."
Romania is a country in southeastern Europe with a population of almost 20 million people. The capital of the country is Bucharest. The state is situated directly on the Black Sea, the Carpathian Mountains and borders Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine and Moldova. Romania was established in 1859 from the merger of Moldova and Wallachia. Romania is home to Transylvania, the central region for the German minority there.
The Soviet Union (SU or USSR) was a state in Eastern Europe, Central and Northern Asia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It emerged from the so-called Soviet Russia, the successor state of the Russian Empire. The Russian Soviet Republic formed the core of the union and at the same time its largest part, with further constituent republics added. Their number varied over time and was related to the occupation of other countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Soviet republics that existed only for a short time (Karelo-Finlandia) or the division or merger of Soviet republics. In addition, there were numerous autonomous republics or other territorial units with an autonomy status that was essentially limited to linguistic autonomy for minorities.
Before its formal dissolution, the USSR consisted of 15 Soviet republics with a population of approximately 290 million people. At around 22.4 million km², it was the largest territorial state in the world at the time. The Soviet Union was a socialist soviet republic with a one-party system and an absence of separation of powers.
