Last week Dr. Martin Buchband, one of the world’s leading ear, nose and throat specialists, died in New York at the age of eighty.
He was not only a well known medical authority, but also a great human being. A doctor of the old school, who gave all his patients, rich and poor, exalted and lowly, the same devotion and care.
The walls of his office were lined with signed autographs of famous people who had been his patients. Great singers are always concerned with the condition of their throats. No wonder therefore that some of the world’s leading opera stars entrusted their throats to the exclusive care of Dr. Buchband, Other prominent patients of his were Vice President Henry Wallace, Artur Rubinstein, Otto Preminger.
“Who of your famous patients impressed you most,” I once asked the doctor.
He pointed to a photograph of Albert Einstein.
“He was the most modest man imaginable. Once I asked him how it felt to be a person who had contributed so much to the progress of mankind? The great physicist answered: “I really didn’t do anything. It just came out from me.”
“This was not false modesty,” Buchband continued. “Einstein meant what he said.”
Einstein was very absentminded. Once he came to Buchband, wearing shoes, but no socks. It was winter and Einstein had a cold. The doctor scolded the physicist: “Why do you run around without socks?”
‘To wear socks is foolish’, Einstein replied.
It’s a pity that Dr. Buchband never got around to write his memoirs.
The doctor was born in Przemyl in Galicia. After finishing school in his hometown, he entered the Medical School of Vienna University. During World War I he served in the army medical corps and became assistant to Dr. Heinrich von Neumann, the famous ear, nose and throat specialist, who was also a proud and observant Jew. He was quick to notice the great abilities of the young student and invited him to continue as his assistant after demobilization. Buchband was only too glad to do so.
He served as assistant to Dr. Neumann until 1936. From 1924 until 1936 he also taught at the Medical School of Vienna University.
While serving with Dr. Neumann, Buchband treated so of the world’s most famous people: Writers, artists, statesmen and royalty. To mention only a few: Britain’s Edward VII, King Alfonso of Spain and Queen Maria of Roumania.
In 1934, Dr. Neumann was called from Vienna to Bucharest to perform an operation on Titulescu, Foreign Minister of Rumania. He took Dr. Buchband along.
While at his hotel in Bucharest, Dr. Buchband was approached by a Rumanian woman. She fell to his feet. “Save my son,” she begged. Her child was suffering from advanced sepsis as a result of an infection of the middle ear. This was before the era of antibiotics and the case seemed hopeless. Buchband hesitated to operate. He had not come to treat this case. Chances of a successful operation were slim – if he failed, people would put the blame on the “specialists” from Vienna.
Professor Neumann directed him to perform the operation. It proved a complete success. The child’s life was saved. His hearing faculties were not impaired.
Later Dr. Buchband learned that the children’s father was a leader of Cuza’s rabid anti-Semitic party. The elated parent showered the doctor with thanks. “How can I repay you?” he asked.
“Every morning when you wake up, say to yourself: A Jewish doctor saved the life of my child,” Buchband replied.
From 1936-1937, Dr. Buchband was director of the ear, nose and throat department of Vienna’s Rothschild Hospital.
In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria. Shortly after the “Anschluss”, fifteen armed men in Nazi uniforms forced their way into Buchband’s home. They pushed the doctor into a chair and warned him not to move. “One move and we will kill you, Jewish swine.”
Several men kept him at gun point for three hours, while the others ransacked the apartment. The ordeal ended only after a young Nazi official arrived and ordered the men to get out. After they left, he introduced himself as the meningitis stricken boy, whose life the doctor had saved ten years earlier by operating on him.
Buchband received an invitation to practice in Turkey. However, John C. Wiley, who was then U.S. Consul General in Vienna and a friend, patient of the doctor advised him to settle in the U.S. and arranged his immigration visa.
In New York he opened a private practice. He also taught for ten years at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University and worked at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
Before long his private office became a meeting place of celebrities. People came from afar to consult him. With most he would converse in their own language. In addition to speaking Yiddish, English and German, he was fluent in Polish, French and Italian.
Children received “special” treatment. The pockets of the doctor’s white coat were always filled with goodies for the little ones. Miss Lotta Erda, Dr. Buchband’s devoted assistant for thirty years explained. With a gentle pat and special kind of smile he filled the little hands with sweets, and as if by magic, without tears or resistance, the children were ready to offer ears, nose and throat to the doctor’s probing fingers.
The doctor’s wife Lily died five years ago . He then restricted his practice. Last fall he retired.
Dr. Buchband is survived by his son Peter, daughter-in-law Wally and two grandchildren, Richard and William.
The Jewish Press, Friday, February 20, 1976