Carl Fried was a medical doctor, who along with Lothar Heidenhain had systemized radiotherapy of benign diseases in the 1920s. In 1940 Fried wrote his book "Radium and Roentgentherapia". He was born in Bamberg to a Jewish family on July 22, 1889 and had two siblings, his sister Elsa and brother Stephan. His father, Wilhelm Fried was a hops-trader. He was one of the few published exile-poets in Brazil. In 2016, a special bronze plate was laid in memory of Dr. Carl Fried.
Surgeon in Worms
Carl studied medicine in Berlin and Munich, considering it a privilege. Jews were denied positions in public services, such as administration, army, and justice, as well as in social life situations despite the fundamental equality of Jews stated in the Constitution of the First Reich in 1871.
Prof. Lothar Heidenhain from Worms am Rhein is known in medical history. He performed the first successful operation of a diaphragmatic hernia. In 1920, he recruited the young surgeon Carl Fried. Fried received recognition on different occasions from the city council. Carl and Emilie Gertrud (Trude) Fried had 2 sons, Rainer and Robert.
Reichsbund Jewish Frontline Soldiers (RJF) During his years in Worms, he was one of the RJF-Chairmen. The military defeat in World War I and the economic problems thereafter called for a scapegoat. The Jews with a marginal percentage of 0.9% of the German population and their relatively good economic position made them the ideal target. Therefore, German Jews tried to remind the public of the fact that 100.000 fellow Jews had fought on the side of the German army and 12.000 had fallen.
Carl Fried planned and realized the Worms Memorial for fallen members of the Israeli congregation of Worms in World War I. Gerold Boennen, chief archivist of Worms, pointed out that this monument had not been mentioned in literature and almost forgotten, like so many other Jewish memories.
In 1929 Fried left Worms for a senior position in the newly established Radiology and X-ray Treatment Department in the Breslau Jewish Hospital.
Radiation Therapy according to "Fried and Heidenhain"
Few examples of early radiotherapy (1896 – 1920) W.C. Roentgen discovered the x-ray in December 1895. In the following year, L. Freund in Vienna was the first to use x-rays for treatment in a benign lesion. Since Heidenhain was interested in this particular specialty, he sent Fried to Vienna. Radiation therapy in very small doses was at that time considered the strongest measure for the reduction of inflammation. Even severe bacterial inflammation was treated with radiation when other methods failed. Unlike today, radiotherapy was used in the early years more for benign diseases than malignant tumors. During the early period, pioneers in many countries gathered their observations from the treatment of small numbers of patients.
A few examples out of literature are Sotnikov for childhood rheumatism in Kiev in 1898, Williams in 1902 and Mayo in 1904 for Morbus Basedow in the United States, Anders, Dahland and Pfahler in 1906 for Osteoarthritis in the United States.
First systemized studies since 1923
Around 1923 the character of radiotherapy studies of benign diseases changed. Fried published about 100 papers; many of them with his teacher Heidenhain.
In 1924 their team dealt with pyogenic inflammations.
In 1925 Schaefer asserted: "Long before Heidenhain, works have been published on the favorable effects of X-rays dealing with inflammation. Heidenhain and Fried, nonetheless, are to be commended on their work of using the X-rays systematically. Since their lecture in 1924, the results of various clinics have been investigated and confirmed by the majority."
Concerning inflammations, v. Pannewitz and Kohler both in 1927 confirmed the notability of Heidenhain and Fried.
The two doctors in Worms established a logo in the scientific world. A number of medical writers refer to this as the standard set in Worms: "Radiation Therapy according to Heidenhain and Fried".
What is characteristic for their work?
First systemized examinations
Critical thinking about self-deception? Large number of patients in 1924 X-ray dosage measurement Innovative priority of discovering the smallest possible dose Standardized Radiation technic Safety for patients and personnel Requirements for follow-up inspection Limitation to difficult and serious cases. General surgical aspects as the guiding principle of action Exclusion of certain conditions as inflammation in large body cavities, stiff thick-walled cavities and empyema Bacteriological and experimental analysis of the reaction of small radiation dosage