Alfred Abraham Weinstein
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Dr. Alfred Abraham Weinstein (November 30, 1908 -- February 25, 1964).[1] was an American World War II veteran and a practicing surgeon.[2] Weinstein graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Medical School in 1933 and five years later moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1938 to teach surgery at Emory University.[3]
Early Life[edit]
Alfred A. Weinstein was born on November 30th of 1908 to Michael (November 30, 1883 -- May 10, 1954) and Florence Weinstein (September 3, 1884 -- February 8, 1961).[1] Alfred Weinstein grew up in Massachusetts with his three sisters; Mrs. Marion Epstein, Mrs. Ida Gan, and Mrs. Dorothy Weisman, and two brothers; Daniel Weinstein and Samuel Weinstein.[3]
Dr. Weinstein was a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University where he also earned a Phi Beta Kappa Key. After earning his MD degree from Harvard Medical School, Weinstein did post graduate work there in surgery.[3]
World War II Service[edit]
Prior to the United States involvement in World War II, Weinstein volunteered for army service in 1940. Six months after joining the United States Army, Weinstein volunteered for overseas service and was sent to the Philippines.[4] Weinstein arrived in the Philipines in 1941 and in April of 1942 Japan entered Batan. Following Japans entry, Weinstein then spent the next 3 and a half years as a prisoner of war.[4]
Prisoner of War[edit]
In Dr. Alfred Abraham Weinstein's memoir, Barbed Wire Surgeon, he describes some of the ways Mutsuhiro Watanabe, a WWII Japanese prison guard, abused prisoners of war between 1942 and 1945.[2] Mutsuhiro Watanabe was infamous among the prisoners at Tokyo's Ōmori POW camp during World War II and he ended up on General Douglas MacArthur's list of the forty most wanted war criminals in Japan. Louis Zamperini, a famous WWII veteran, also recorded his experiences involving Mutsuhiro "The Bird" Watanabe in the New York Times bestseller Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption written by the bestselling author, Laura Hillenbrand.[5] In Hillenbrand's book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, she refers to a part of Dr. Alfred Weinstein's experience with Mutsuhiro "The Bird" Watanabe, "Meanwhile, two POW physicians, Richard Whitfield and Alfred Weinstein, hatched a plan to poison the Bird with massive doses of atropine and morphine"(Hillenbrand, pg. 293).[5] Hillenbrand briefly writes about Weinstein's brave attempts to put an end to the POW's suffering under The Bird. Both Louis Zamperini and Alfred Weinstein tried and failed to kill Mutsuhiro Watanabe during their times as POW's at Ōmori.[5]
Post-war Life[edit]
Like many other WWII veterans, Alfred Weinstein struggled upon first re-entering American society as a free man. Weinstein had to overcome his PTSD that followed him as a result of the horrible experiences he managed to survive as a prisoner of war in Japan.[2]
Memoir[edit]
In a republication of Barbed-Wire Surgeon, Brian Weinstein, Dr. Alfred A. Weinstein's grandson, wrote a short forward explaining some of the details of how the book was written. When addressing the writing and publication of the memoir, Brian Weinstein comments, "It is unique in that Al [Dr. Weinstein] began writing it almost immediately after arriving home from his release as a POW in the Philippines and Japan"(Barbed-Wire Surgeon, Forward).[2] Dr. Alfred Weinstein's book is written with vivid detail because of how soon after returning home he began writing it. His body had not even fully healed from the physical abuses he endured when he started writing his memoir.[4]
PTSD & Healing[edit]
Dr. Alfred Weinstein's grandson, Brian Weinstein, noted, "I suppose that by doing so, he also began the long journey of emotional healing that one might desperately need in order to cope with such unimaginable trauma"(Barbed-Wire Surgeon, Forward).[2] Brain Weinstein mused that perhaps the recollection of his [Dr. Weinstein's] time as a POW was a key factor in his healing from those horrific experiences.
On March 15, 1948, Dr. Alfred A. Weinstein talked with journal editor, Wright Bryan, in a radio interview with the Atlanta Journal.[4] When Wright Bryan asked Weinstein why he wrote his book, Barbed-Wire Surgeon, Weinstein explained,"I wrote a book to avoid the disintegration of my own personality"(Views of the News, Radio Interview, 1948).[4] Weinstein spoke of how the horrors he had experienced as a POW in Japan haunted his dreams after the War ended and he had been liberated. In the radio interview, Weinstein added that "The Wily Bird [Mutsuhiro Watanabe] continued to whip me nightly until I put him down on paper"(Views of the News, Radio Interview, 1948).[4]Writing about the trials and abuses he experienced helped cure Weinsteins PTSD.
Marriage & Family[edit]
After his liberation from Japan at the wars end, Dr. Weinstein traveled back to the Philippines to find his fiancée, a woman named Hanna Kaunitz. Hanna was a Jewish Austrian refugee that Weinstein had met and grown close to in the Philippines before the war.[6]
With his wife Hanna, Weinstein had one daughter, Elsa Weinstein and two sons, Malcolm Weinstein and Ronald Weinstein.[3]
Legacy and Awards[edit]
Dr. Alfred A. Weinstein was a man of conviction. Not only was he known for his incredible WWII survival story, but also for his support of the Civil Rights Movement in America.[3] Following Weinstein's untimely death in 1964, an article was written in The Southern Israelite Newspaper about his convictions, "He [Weinstein] was concerned with the evolving struggle for human and civil rights and was a member of the Anti-Defamation League which has for years been a focal point in spreading constitutional privileges for all persons regardless of color, creed or race".[3] In the footnotes of Hillenbrand's book, she included, "Returning home to the postwar housing shortage, Weinstein took out a $600,000 loan, built an apartment complex in Atlanta, and offered the 140 family units to veterans...His rule banning KKK members drew threatening phone calls"(Hillenbrand Unbroken, pg. 361).[5] In response to the threats he received, Weinstein recounted, "I gave them my office and home address and told them I still had the .45 I used to shoot carabau [water buffalo] with."[5]
Weinstein stood up against the KKK in his community and gave several sermons that spoke against racism and anti-semitism.[7]
For his service in the United States Military, Weinstein was awarded three Presidential citations; a Bronze Star with five battle stars, two Purple Hearts, and a commendation from General Dwight D. Eisenhower.[3]
Dr. Alfred A. Weinstein won the Barton Prize for literature at Harvard in 1928 and the Muse Prize for literature in 1954. He was a fellow of the American Board of Preventative Medicine and a fellow of the American Geriatrics Society. Weinstein was also a member of the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Southeastern Surgical Congress, the National Industrial Medical Association, the American Medical Society, and the American Heart Association.[3]
Dr. Weinstein was a director of the Spalding Institute for Registered Nurses and he was chairman of the Board for Advancement of Medical and Nursing Education in Atlanta, Georgia.[3]
Death[edit]
Dr. Alfred A. Weinstein died at the age of 55 on February 25 of 1964, in a Boston hospital where he had underwent surgery three weeks prior to his death. Weinstein's funeral took place at the Chapel of Henry M. Blanchard on February 27 of 1964.
For photo's of Dr. Alfred Abraham Weinstein see the link referenced here.[1]
Citations[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Photos of Dr Alfred Abraham Weinstein - Find a..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 1908-1964., Weinstein, Alfred A. (Alfred Abraham). Barbed-wire surgeon. ISBN 978-1-937565-96-1. OCLC 973403296. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 "'Barbed Wire' Surgeon Dies; New Book Out on March 26, article clipping from 1964 The Southern Israelite Newspaper, Alfred A. Weinstein papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University".
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Audio Recorded Interview Views of the News, Alfred A. Weinstein papers, Emory University Archives, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University".
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 author., Hillenbrand, Laura, Unbroken : a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption, ISBN 978-1-9848-3762-2, OCLC 1047613388, retrieved 2022-08-06
- ↑ "Letter written from Alfred Weinstein to a Special Agent of the FBI, 1952, Alfred A. Weinstein papers, Emory University Archives, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University".
- ↑ "Audio Recording from Brotherhood Class, Central Presbyterian Church: "Jews, Judaism, and Jew Hatred,", Alfred A. Weinstein papers, Emory University Archives, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University".
Bibliography[edit]
- ‘Barbed Wire’ Surgeon Dies; New Book Out on March 26, article clipping from 1964 The Southern Israelite Newspaper, Alfred A. Weinstein papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
- Audio Recording from Brotherhood Class, Central Presbyterian Church: "Jews, Judaism, and Jew Hatred,", Alfred A. Weinstein papers, Emory University Archives, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
- “Dr Alfred Abraham Weinstein (1908-1964) - Find a...” Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/125671148/alfred-abraham-weinstein.
- Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. Ballantine Books, 2018.
- Views of the News, audio radio interview, 1948, Alfred A. Weinstein papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
- Weinstein, Alfred Abraham. Barbed-Wire Surgeon. Macmillan, 1961.
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