Élie Buzyn (7 January 1929 – 23 May 2022) was a Polish-born French orthopedic surgeon, of

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

origin, a survivor and witness of

The Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Biography

Buzyn was born in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, Poland. Initially, he was with his family in the

Łódź Ghetto The Łódź Ghetto or Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Łódź) was a Nazi ghetto established by the German authorities for Polish Jews and Roma following the Invasion of Poland. It was the second-largest ghetto in all of ...

. As early as January 1945, in front of the advance of the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, the Nazi authorities transferred the prisoners to the

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

, during the Death Marches. Arriving at the Buchenwald camp, he had his shoes stolen. After that, his feet froze. In the infirmary, he was told that he must have both feet amputated to prevent the development of gangrene. Frightened, he ran away from the infirmary and returned to his barracks. A Russian soldier, hearing about what had happened, recommended that he soak his feet alternately in cold and hot water. After a few days and nights, his legs began to heal. Later, he lived in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

for seven years, before it became the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

; then, after a short stay in France, he spent two years in

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

. In 1956, he moved permanently to France and received a medical degree, and later became a surgeon. He testified to his desire to forget, which led to him being deprived of his liberty. After 50 years of silence, he decided to testify about his life to ghetto and camp survivors. Buzyn annually visited

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. He was knighted in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

in 2014 and commanded an

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

in 2017. Élie Buzyn was the husband of Etty Buzyn, psychologist, psychoanalyst and writer. He was the father of

Agnès Buzyn Agnès Buzyn (; born 1 November 1962) is a French hematologist, university professor, medical practitioner and politician who served as Minister of Solidarity and Health in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe from May 2017 to Feb ...

, president of the College of the High Authority for Health then

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from 2017 to 2020. He died on 23 May 2022 at the age of 93.

References

External links

* Élie Buzyn, grands entretiens, JB Peretie INA 2005 (vidéo et transcription
Elie Buzyn. Grands Entretiens Patrimoniaux — Ina.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buzyn, Elie 1929 births 2022 deaths People from Łódź Nazi-era ghetto inmates Polish Holocaust survivors Łódź Ghetto inmates Knights of the Legion of Honour Commandeurs of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Auschwitz concentration camp survivors Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Holocaust commemoration French orthopedic surgeons Polish emigrants to France Polish people of Jewish descent French people of Polish-Jewish descent 20th-century French Jews 21st-century French Jews