Transfusion on the Burma Railway: The life of Jacob Markowitz

Abstract

At the surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942, over 100,000 men became prisoners of the Japanese. This included many medical officers who, over the ensuing years, treated men (and some women) suffering the ravaging effects of disease, worsened by the inhumane conditions of captivity. Many medical officers stand out for their work. One in particular, Jacob Markowitz, developed a blood transfusion service, under the most extreme conditions, for the sick working as slave labour on the Burma Railway. Although he qualified 20 years before the outbreak of war, little has been written of Markowitz’s early life, or of the impact of this on his war-time contributions.