Dr. med.
Richard Appel
1899 - 1987

“Richard Appel was born in Bonn on January 14, 1899,  as the son of the merchant Abraham Appel. After attending elementary school in Coesfeld i. W., he attended the humanistic high school in Euskirchen. He joined the army on April 1, 1917. Discharged in December 1918, he received his school-leaving certificate from the Königliches Gymnasium in Bonn on the basis of the emergency school-leaving examination. He then began studying medicine in Münster i. W., where he passed the preliminary medical examination in May 1921. During the clinical semesters, he studied in Bonn, where he passed the state examination in May 1923”, writes Richard Appel in his doctoral thesis. In 1925, Appel was awarded his doctorate at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn with the thesis “Die Plattflußbehandlung nach der operativen Methode von Becher”, which he wrote at the charitable orthopaedic sanatorium Hüfferstiftung in Münster. The first report at the University of Bonn was written by the surgeon Carl Garré.

Appel’s mother was Rosalie Appel, née Hertz. The family was of the Jewish faith.

Education and Places of Work

Richard Appel initially wanted to specialize in orthopedics and worked at the Hüfferstiftung, an early orthopedic clinic in Münster. However, he only pursued this field for a short time. After receiving his license to practice medicine in 1924, Appel worked as a general practitioner in Bad Oeynhausen. He interrupted his work during the winter months of 1926 to train in internal medicine in Berlin, London, Paris, and Heidelberg. He also delved into X-ray diagnostics. In 1929, Appel bought his own X-ray machine. By 1930, he had a large and successful practice in Bad Oeynhausen, including an X-ray laboratory. The practice employed a second physician as Appel’s assistant and three medical technicians.

1933, Flight to India (Madras, now Chennai) via England

Richard Appel was the only Jewish doctor in Bad Oeynhausen who had experienced the boycott of Jewish businesses and his own practice on April 1, 1933. SA men appeared at his office, scared away patients, posted guards in front of his office and denied patients access; they also removed Richard Appel’s doctor’s sign at the entrance to the office (according to Appel’s report in his compensation file, LArch NRW, Abt. OWL). In the same month, in April 1933, his medical license was revoked.

Appel then fell ill and was temporarily incapacitated. He closed his practice, left his home and office equipment behind, and left Germany in October 1933, first seeking refuge in England. There he lacked the funds and time to take the necessary examinations to obtain a license to practice medicine.

With the help of a British colonial official he knew, Richard Appel was able to move to India and settle in Madras (the city was renamed Chennai in 1996). He was one of the few newcomers from abroad to receive a license to practice medicine there after six months. He ran a practice in Madras from mid-1934.

Richard Appel arranged for his parents, Abraham and Rosalie Appel, and his brother, Herbert Appel, to escape to India.

His sister, Liesel (Lisette) Appel-Herzberg, a physician in Bonn, also lived temporarily in Madras with her husband, Dr. Moritz Herzberg.

Richard Appel had to interrupt his practice in Madras several times due to illness. During these periods his practice was continued by a substitute. Appel repeatedly traveled to Switzerland for treatments in Basel. In 1945, Appel passed on his practice in Madras to his successor, practiced only occasionally himself (including in the Nilgiris district of Madras province), and left India for good in November 1952. Since then he lived in London, obtained a license to practice medicine, and began practicing in Wimpole Street, London, in January 1954. His parents, Abraham and Rosalie Appel, had already moved from India to London via Colombo in July 1949, where Richard Appel’s sister, Dr. Liesel Appel-Herzberg, was staying.

Richard Appel died in London on May 21, 1987 at the age of 88. His burial place has not yet been documented.