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Draft:Alice Geist

  • Comment: More citations needed across every section of the draft. Every key assertion needs support from a reliable source. Paul W (talk) 19:41, 20 June 2026 (UTC)

Alice (Aliza) (Szursn) Geist (June 22, 1930 – May 28, 2025) was a Slovakian-born Israeli general surgeon and Holocaust survivor. She was a pioneer in Israeli medicine, as the first woman to complete her medical studies and surgical training within Israel, making her the country's first locally trained female general surgeon. She completed her advanced medical studies at Hadassah Medical Center and practiced surgery at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem from 1957 to 2000, performing operations on the wounded and providing medical service across many of Israel's wars.

Alice Geist
Dr. Alice Geist
Born(1930-06-22)June 22, 1930
Malacky, Czechoslovakia
DiedMay 28, 2025(2025-05-28) (aged 94)
Jerusalem, Israel
Alma materCharles University, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
Medical career
ProfessionGeneral surgeon

Early life and World War II

Geist was born as Alice (Alica) szuran on June 22, 1930, in Malacky, Slovakia, to Moritz (Mucky) szuran, a former cavalry officer, and Margit szuran-Pretzelmayer. Her family faced severe economic hardship during the Great Depression following her birth.

During the Holocaust, following the 1942 mass deportations of Slovakian Jews, her family faced an unimaginable existence. As anti-Jewish persecution intensified, Geist was hidden for a period by Catholic nuns at a local convent school. Later in the war, her family horrific losses; her mother and grandparents did not survive the holocaust.

Higher education and escape from Prague

Following the liberation of Czechoslovakia in 1945, Geist reunited with her father and brother in Malacky. In September 1949, she moved to Prague to pursue medical studies at the Charles University Faculty of Medicine. During her studies, the rise of the communist regime led to political purges, surveillance, and increasing anti-Semitism.

Fearing political persecution, Geist attempted to cross the border illegally late in 1952 alongside a group. The attempt was compromised by border guards, forcing her to retreat back to Prague and return to her medical classes undetected. Shortly thereafter, she successfully escaped Czechoslovakia and reached Berlin, before continuing her journey to immigrate to Israel aboard a ship in 1953. Upon arrival in Haifa, border officials registered her under the Hebrew name Aliza.

Surgical career and medical service in war

Upon her arrival in Israel, Geist completed intensive Hebrew language studies and wanted to resume her medical education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The faculty administration initially demanded that she repeat two years that she previously completed in Europe. Geist refused to yield, insisting on her right to demonstrate her professional knowledge, and demanded to take a series of examinations across all required medical fields. After successfully passing all exams and proving her academic standing, her prior studies in Prague were approved. She was admitted directly into the advanced fifth year of the medical program (which then operated out of temporary barracks on Prophets Street), graduating as one of the youngest students in her class. Geist completed her residency[1] and spent her four-decade career as a general surgeon at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, practicing from 1957 until 2000. In doing so, Geist achieved a historic milestone in the Israeli medical community, becoming the first woman to complete her entire surgical training and residency within the State of Israel, establishing her legacy as the first home-grown female general surgeon in the country. Earlier in her career, in January 1957, while completing her qualifications, also worked in the laboratory of the Hansen Leper Hospital in Jerusalem. She had previously completed her medical internship at the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. In her memoirs, she noted that over her extensive years in the profession, she managed emergencies and operated during so many wars that she could barely count them all.[2] As part of her work at Shaare Zedek, she took an active role in managing emergency medical triage, performing life-saving surgeries on the frontline during Israel's major wars, as well as caring for casualties from numerous terror attacks in the Jerusalem:

  • Six-Day War (1967): She worked continuously under heavy shelling at the hospital, which served as a primary trauma and casualty receiving center for the eastern front in Jerusalem while the route to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus was cut off. During this period, she managed urgent emergency triages and performed complex, life-saving surgeries on waves of wounded soldiers and civilians.[3]
  • War of Attrition (1967–1970) and Yom Kippur War (1973): She participated in the hospital's concentrated surgical efforts to receive, stabilize, and treat battlefield casualties evacuated to Jerusalem.
  • First Lebanon War (1982): She operated on and cared for wounded frontline soldiers who were airlifted and evacuated to hospitals in Israel.
  • Casualties of hostilities and terror attacks: Throughout her surgical career in Jerusalem, and particularly during periods of heightened tension and terror escalations in the city, she played a central role in admitting victims of bombings and mass-casualty attacks directed to Shaare Zedek, managing complex trauma operations to save the lives of wounded civilians and security personnel.
  • Gulf War (1991): She continued to work extended emergency shifts for consecutive days at the hospital under the threat of Iraqi Scud missile attacks, providing urgent surgical care while operating inside sealed rooms wearing gas masks.

Personal life and legacy

She married Benjamin (Benny) Geist on December 2, 1956, in Jerusalem. Benjamin later worked in the State Comptroller's Office. The couple had three children, eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Benjamin passed away on July 29, 1999.

In 1997, Geist began drafting her memoirs, culminating in the publication of her private autobiography, Against All Odds: The Life of a Jewish Child in Europe of the Twentieth Century, in 2015.[2] Geist died on May 28, 2025, in her 95th year, just a month shy of her 95th birthday.

Memoir

  • Geist, Alice (2015). Against All Odds: The Life of a Jewish Child in Europe of the Twentieth Century. Jerusalem: Graphit Press Ltd.

References

  1. ^ "List of University Graduates", Herut, May 2, 1957, The National Library of Israel.
  2. ^ a b Geist, Alice (2015). Against All Odds. Jerusalem: Graphit Press Ltd.
  3. ^ "אחרי מות" [Obituary Column], Haaretz, June 19, 2025. URL: https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/obit/2025-06-19/ty-article/00000197-87b7-da52-a9b7-afffb6920000

{{Authority control}} [[:Category:1930 births]] [[:Category:2025 deaths]] [[:Category:Women surgeons]] [[:Category:Charles University alumni]] [[:Category:Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni]]

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