Mohamed (Mod) Helmy moved from Cairo to Berlin in 1922 to study medicine. In 1932 he began working in a hospital in Berlin-Moabit. As an Egyptian Muslim, he was regarded as “non-Aryan” by the National Socialists, but was able to continue practicing. His contract was not renewed in 1937 and he opened a private practice. Many of his patients were Jewish.
In 1939 Helmy and nine other Egyptian citizens were arrested. The aim was to force the release of Germans imprisoned by the British in Egypt. He was granted early release in 1940 and allowed to practice again from 1942.
When his 16-year-old patient Anna Boros was to be deported in March 1942, Helmy took her in and employed her as a medical assistant in his practice, alleging she was Egyptian. He also supported some of her relatives with food and hiding places. His patient Frieda Szturmann helped with this work.
Helmy’s apartment was searched in 1944. He then claimed Anna Boros was his niece and found temporary accommodation for her in Berlin and Dresden.
Mod Helmy was honored as an Unsung Hero in 1962 and posthumously as Righteous Among the Nations in 2013.
