Nursing lecture notebooks of Hedwig Lehmann (1919-2002)

Five lecture notebooks of Hedwig (Hedy) Lehmann when she was a medical student, covering the period 1941-1945. These items shed light on the curriculum and teaching methods in nursing training in England during the Second World War period. With additional original and copy documents relating to H Lehmann and her nursing career, and transcript of an interview H Lehmann gave to historians Sybille Baumbach and Beate Meyer in London May 1991 investigating the history of the Jewish community in Hamburg during the years up to and including the Second World War.

1941-2008

5 volumes, 3 files (1 box)

Chronological

The material was donated by Lehmann's son David 21/04/2008. An additional notebook (MS.8600a) was donated in January 2013.

Hedwig ('Hedy') Lehmann was born 19 August 1919. She left her home in Hamburg, Germany, in 1939, aged 19. She was amongst the last groups of Jewish people to leave Nazi Germany whilst it was still possible to safely and legitimately do so. Entering England as a refugee she initially settled in Streatham, South West London, and spent some time learning English before studying to become a nurse. With the aid of the Nursing Department of the Co-Ordinating Committee for Refugees, Bloomsbury House, London, she was able to obtain testimonials from Hamburg. During the first part of her training, Apr 1941-Apr 1943, she qualified for the Certificate of Training from the London County Council Hospital Training Schools for Nurses. She sat in Sept and Oct 1945 the General Nursing Council Final State examinations. Hedy Lehmann qualified as a State Registered Nurse (SRN) and State Fever Nurse (SFN). She married A W F Charlton in 1945 and practised in nursing both before and after having a family.

After 1960 Lehmann re-entered the nursing profession at West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth. At this time she had two young children aged about eight years old and worked on part-time basis as a Staff Nurse. The ward she worked on specialised in orthopaedic treatment, notably for elderly patients and young people who had had motor-cycling accidents. A few years after this she transferred to the medical team of Glaxo Laboratories at their Greenford site, as a Nursing Sister, at some point becoming a full-time member of the team. In Sep 1979, aged 60 years old, she entered temporary employment in her existing post and transferred to the Glaxo Sefton Park site. Lehmann remained in her nursing position there until retirement in April 1980.

Hedwig Lehmann died in Southall, Middlesex, on 16 Jun 2002.

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