Dr. med.
Hermann Simon
1877 - 1942

Hermann Simon was born in Marienbad, now Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic, as the third of four children to the merchant Salomon Simon and his wife Charlotte, née Altschul. In 1887, the family moved to Vienna, where Hermann Simon attended the Academic Gymnasium, graduating with his Matura (general qualification for university entrance) on October 5, 1895. Starting in the winter semester of 1895, he studied medicine at the University of Vienna, passing his exams on July 9, 1900, on July 13, 1901, and on March 12, 1902. Hermann Simon was awarded his doctorate on March 22, 1902.

Education and place of work

Hermann Simon received his clinical training in the 1st medical department of the Imperial General Hospital in Vienna under both Prof. Pal, Prof. Kova, and Prof. Ortner. He was also an assistant doctor in the surgical department under Prof. Moseig von Moorhof and in the gynecological department under Prof. Schauta.

In 1914, he married Marianne Neuhöfer.

His son Robert Franz was born on January 23, 1915. In 1909, Hermann Simon was listed in the alphabetical directory of spa doctors practicing in Karlsbad with a practice called “Golde Krone” on Alte Wiese street. In 1916, he opened the dietary health resort “Esplanade” together with Dr. Eugen Erenyi.

At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, Karlsbad was regarded as very well-known spa resort with a high volume of international guests. Statistics from 1912 indicated 17,871 spa guests from Europe outside of Austria, Hungary, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Germany, with 3,463 from America. Numerous consulates visited and Hermann Simon was the Argentine vice-consul.

In October 1925, Dr. Simon traveled by ship to Bilbao, possibly continuing on to Buenos Aires. In 1934, he traveled via Southampton to New York. The reason for this trip is unknown. In the passenger list, he is listed as the Argentine consul, still residing in Germany.

Following 1933

With the Munich Agreement in October 1938, Czechoslovakia was forced to cede the Sudetenland to the German Reich. As a result, Jewish doctors were subject to the regulations for Jews that had been in force in the German Reich since 1933. On November 28, 1938, his practice was provisionally placed under the control of a lawyer.

Dr. Simon fled to Prague and lived there in Schwerinstrasse in the XII district. For administrative purposes and in order to apply for a passport, he required a certificate from the Mayor’s Office in Karlsbad, which he applied for on January 16, 1939. According to the files of Police Headquarters II in Prague, he was able to flee to Argentina.

He died there on May 18, 1942; the further circumstances of his life and death are unknown.

In 1943, he was stripped of his German citizenship and his property was confiscated.