As I Saw It: In the Soviet Union, in Israel, in Auschwitz, in Anesthesiology, in Dentistry, in Politics, by Sylvan Myron Elliot Shane – Baltimore 1968 – dedicated copy by the author.
The fascinating book by Jewish American dentist and anesthesiologist Dr. Shane (1918-2010). Shane is renowned for historical changes, the “balanced anesthesia” technique he developed enabling patients to increase breath rate during anesthesia, reducing risk of respiratory collapse. In early 1920s Dr. Shane was invited to Soviet Union to demonstrate his innovative anesthesia method, on that trip he visited many countries in Europe, Asia and parts of Africa. At the end of the war Dr. Shane visited devastated Warsaw, Auschwitz and Majdanek camps and other places. In his book he exposes behind the scenes methods Nazis used for mass extermination in these camps through gas, naming all companies involved in this process, from materials suppliers to money routes, how the materials reached the camps and the extermination process itself. He exposes prewar economic ties between Germany and Soviet Union, and more. Shane tried visiting Israel during the Independence War but only reached the Egyptian border, having to return due to the ongoing war. After some time he finally reached Israel and describes great emotion feeling arriving in ancestral homeland “the land I stood before in my prayers for thirty-eight years, the land to which I contributed pennies as a child in familiar blue and white Jewish National Fund collection boxes”. Upon arrival he describes vividly the great gathering of exiles, how Jews arrived from all corners of world, Israel’s borders, and the new Israel. Dr. Shane continued describing tours to additional countries and his role instilling the anesthesia methods he developed around the world. In 1968 he ran as candidate for US Congress.
X, 390 [2] p. Very good condition.
