[HOLOCAUST DOCTORS SURVIVORS IN ISRAEL 1945-1952: FROM EARLY POSITIONS TO PROFESSIONAL INTEGRATION].

INTRODUCTION: The encounter between Holocaust doctor survivors and the Israeli society was part of the whole encounter between Holocaust survivors and the Israeli society. The present thesis aimed at evaluating the integration process of Holocaust doctor survivors in the Israeli health care system from 1945 until the end of 1952. Between these years about 1350 doctors arrived in Israel, the vast majority of them Holocaust survivors.

CONCLUSIONS: Their rapid entrance to work provided the healthcare system with professional manpower, contributing their share during a tough period of the nation's history. The doctors themselves gained the opportunity for rapid professional recovery and social integration, all at the same time. The individual contributions of each of these doctors constitute a significant collective contribution. It is an inspiring story of personal and universal human victory.

DISCUSSION: There are similarities between the absorption of all Holocaust survivals in Israel with regard to the motives of immigration and the feelings towards the absorption places and organizations. But Holocaust doctor survivors didn't stay too long and moved out rather quickly. The beginning was difficult. They were absorbed in each of the healthcare fronts, but especially in new clinics established in immigrant-concentrated areas, in hospitals dedicated to lung diseases and in psychiatric hospitals. They started at low professional levels, but as soon as 1952, they could be found in management positions. This was indicative of their professional advancement and the willingness of the medical establishment to absorb and promote.