Google Doodle celebrates 122nd birthday of Dr. Mod Helmy, an Egyptian-German doctor

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Google Doodle on Tuesday celebrates the 122nd birthday of an Egyptian-German medical doctor, Dr. Mod Helmy. He was born in 1901 in Khartoum, Sudan, to a German mother and an Egyptian father.

During the Holocaust, Dr. Helmy risked his life to rescue Jewish people.  The artwork in Google Doodle represents his Egyptian and German background which has been illustrated by Berlin-based guest artist Noa Snir. It captures Dr.

Helmy's open-hearted nature with his arms outreached around the community.  In 1922, Dr. Helmy moved to Germany for studies in medicine. After this, he completed his training at the Robert Koch Hospital, now called Krankenhaus Moabit in Berlin.

He was then appointed as the head of the urology department. However, the hospital fired all of its Jewish staff when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933. After a few years, Dr.

Helmy also lost his position because he was subjected to discrimination and persecution by the Nazis.  Dr. Helmy was then arrested in 1939 along with other Egyptian nationals. They released him because of his severe illness.

However, he was still under the strict ruling to a police report.  Further, the Nazis barred him from marrying his German fiancée and forced him to become another doctor’s assistant. Dr. Helmy also wrote sick notes to innocent people that helped them escape hard labor.  He had put his life in danger when Nazis targeted Dr.

Helmy. He had hidden his Jewish patient, Anna Boros, who would have been deported to a concentration camp by the Nazis. But he managed to keep her safe.  Dr.