Fatebenefratelli Hospital

Fatebenefratelli Hospital (officially Ospedale San Giovanni Calibita Fatebenefratelli) is a hospital located on the western side of the Tiber Island in Rome. It was established in 1585 and is currently run by the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God. The hospital is said to have sheltered many different fugitives during the German occupation of Rome (1943-1944), including some Jews. Between 2007 and 2012 two books by Pietro Borromeo and Pius XII's apologist Gordon Thomas claimed that the hospital sheltered a large number of Jews under the cover of an invented "k" syndrome. However, no historical evidence of this event has been found and testimonial evidence is contradictory.

Fatebenefratelli Hospital
Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God
Geography
LocationRome, Italy
Coordinates
History
Opened1585
Links
Websitewww.fatebenefratelli-isolatiberina.it
ListsHospitals in Italy

History

The origins of the hospital on the Tiber Island date to before 1000 AD, when an ancient temple dedicated to the Greek god of medicine, Asclepius, was replaced by a sanctuary dedicated to Bartholomew the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. The sanctuary provided aid for local populations of beggars, the poor, and the sick. During the mid-sixteenth century, begging was banned in Rome and the shelter was converted into a fabbriche della salute ("health factory").[1]

In 1539 Saint John of God founded the religious institute, the Brothers Hospital, in Granada, Spain. The institute was recognized in 1572 by Pope Pius V and was nicknamed "Fatebenefratelli", a phrase used by the saints while inviting passersby to do charity. The epithet means "You do well, brothers[, for God's sake]". In 1581, the Brothers Hospital founded a new hospital called "Casa degli Orfanelli" ("House of Orphans") in Piazza di Pietra, with around 20 beds.[2] Two members of the institute, Brother Pietro Soriano and Brother Sebastiano Arias, moved to the Tiber Island.[1] In 1585, the institute purchased a monastery with the help of Pope Gregory XIII; the monastery had previously been occupied by the Benedictine Sisters until 1573 and later by the Brotherhood of the Bolognese. The pontiff also granted them the adjoining church of St. John Calybita.[2]

Fifteen saints settled on Tiber Island and introduced health care measures. During the 1656–57 plague outbreaks in Rome, the hospital specialized in the treatment of plague patients and formed a school to teach its staff to deal with epidemics. The hospital was recognized by the Special Commission of Health during the 1832 cholera outbreaks in Rome.[1]

Eight years after the capture of Rome in 1870, the hospital management was dissolved in 1878. Three individuals bought the hospital for "private industry and interest". These three "mysterious" people were three friars who acted as buyers in disguise to elude the law still in force against possessing the work of religious hospitals. In 1892, the old management of the hospital was restored. During the nineteenth century, the hospital was strengthened against the floods of the Tiber River with the erection of surrounding walls. This construction was interrupted by World War I and resumed in 1922. The hospital added ophthalmology and fluoroscopy units, considered the first of their kind in Rome.[1]

"Rome under the German Occupation and the Italian Social Republic (September 1943- June 1944)"
Syndrome K was put on patient papers to indicate that the sick person wasn't sick at all, but Jewish. We created those papers for Jewish people as if they were ordinary patients, and in the moment when we had to say what disease they suffered? It was Syndrome K, meaning 'I am admitting a Jew', as if he or she were ill, but they were all healthy.

—Adriano Ossicini, 2016[3]

Initially, the hospital was used as a hospice on the premises of the San Giovanni Calibita Church. Later, it was expanded into a modern hospital by Dr. Giovanni Borromeo, who joined in 1934, with the help of Father Maurizio Bialek.[4]

In 1938, Italy introduced antisemitic laws that expelled Jews from all aspects of civic life. World War II broke out in 1939. In June 1940 Italy entered the war. Bu 1941, the situation of the Jews had worsened considerably as the laws had become increasingly harsher. In 1941, at the request of his professor and mentor, Marco Alamjà, Prof. Borromeo allowed Almajà's nephew, the Jewish doctor Vittorio Emanuele Sacerdoti to work there. According to Sacerdoti's interview given to the Shoah Foundation [5], the family had been able to buy him a false identity. After the Armistice, of September 8th, 1943, Rome fell under the control of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic and its Nazi allies. In the same interview, Sacerdoti stated that he had a relative living in the Jewish quarter across the street from the hospital and he provided medical assistance to many Jews who had no other access to care.

During the Nazi raid of the Jewish ghetto in Rome on October 16, 1943, Jewish escapees sought refuge at the hospital. Sacerdoti remembered to have let in 27 people and others joined for a total of 60 people. He then asked Borromeo for permission and Borromeo "did not oppose it" as long as they would leave soon. Sacerdoti believed that many of them were among the 1000 Jews arrested during the month after October 16th.

In his interview, Sacerdoti stated that "k" was for Koch, the tuberculosis sector of the hospital and that the doctors used it as a code word for the many categories of fugitives passing through the hospital: partisans, former fascists, deserters, POW, aristocrats linked to the royal family that the Germans regarded as traitors, and, eventually Jews.

In his memoir, Adriano Ossicini stated that the name was invented by Sacerdoti. However in his interview, Sacerdoti stated that "k" was a simple internal joke and he didn't know how it came up. As the story went from an anecdote to an account of mass rescue, Ossicini began to state that he had invented the name. The only two sources of this story however are Ossicini and Borromeo's son.

Borromeo's son also claims that Frà Maurizio and Borromeo installed an illegal radio transmitter in the hospital basement and made contact with General Roberto Lordi of the Italian Royal Air Force. In another version of the story, he claims that Lordi was working for the resistance from the hospital and that his father went to see him at the prison of Via Tasso before he was killed. However, no source related to Roberto Lordi's life mentions the link with Borromeo and/or the Fatebenefratelli. Sacerdoti's deposition indicates that there was no political activity at the hospital. No other source about the existence of a radio at the Fatebenefratelli is known. After World War II, Borromeo was lauded by Government of Italy for his work and was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. He died in the hospital on 24 August 1961.[4]

Departments

The hospital has following departments:[6]

  • Cardiology
  • General surgery
  • CRTI
  • Endocrinology
  • Gastroenterology
  • Medicine
  • Nephrology and Dialysis
  • Neurology
  • Oncology
  • Orthopedics
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Otolaryngology
  • Radiotherapy
  • Neonatal Intensive Care
  • Urology

Services and surgeries

Following are the services provided and surgeries performed at the hospital:[7]

Surgeries

  • General Surgery
  • Systemic Amyloidosis Surgery
  • Surgery Cholesterol and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
  • Hematology Surgery
  • Medicine Surgery
  • Neurological Surgery
  • Ophthalmology Surgery
  • Dentistry Surgery
  • Orthopedic Surgery
  • Otolaryngology Surgery
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Skin ulcers Surgery
  • Urology Surgery
  • Oncology and DH Surgery
  • Disability support Surgery
  • Food intolerances Surgery

Services

  • Acupuncture Clinic
  • Allergy Clinic
  • Anesthesiology Clinic
  • Angiology and Sclerosing Clinic
  • Cardiology Clinic
  • Dermatology Clinic
  • Endocrinology Clinic
  • Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy Clinic
  • Nephrology and Dialysis Clinic
  • Homeopathy Clinic
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic
  • Pathological anatomy
  • Laboratory Analysis
  • Psychology and Psychotherapy
  • Radiology
  • Outpatient Service of Aesthetic Medicine
  • Dietary Service
  • Transfusion Service

Awards

On 21 June 2016, the hospital was honored as a "House of Life" by the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.[3]

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References
  1. "Storia dell'Ospedale: Cenni storici sull'Isola Tiberina" [Hospital History: Historical notes on the Tiber Island] (in Italian). Fatebenefratelli hospital. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  2. "L'ospedale Fatebenefratelli" [Fatebenefratelli Hospital] (in Italian). isolatiberina. Archived from the original on 2018-02-14. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  3. Hu, Caitlin (8 July 2016). "AKA 'Morbo di K': An Italian doctor explains 'Syndrome K,' the fake disease he invented to save Jews from the Nazis". Quartz Media LLC. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  4. Bartrop, Paul R. (2016). Resisting the Holocaust: Upstanders, Partisans, and Survivors: Upstanders, Partisans, and Survivors. ABC-CLIO. pp. 36–38. ISBN 978-1-61069-879-5. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  5. https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/vha41839
  6. "Reparti" [Departments] (in Italian). Fatebenefratelli hospital. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  7. "Ambulatori e Servizi" [Surgeries and services] (in Italian). Fatebenefratelli hospital. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
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