I Am Not a “Provider”

The term was first used by the German Third Reich to devalue and demean Jewish physicians as medical professionals (1). Jewish physicians were not allowed to refer to themselves as “arzt” (translated as “doctor”), but instead had to use the word “behandler,” which roughly translates to “provider.”Alongwith the humiliation of this imposed term, these physicians endured other professional restrictions in the 1930s. They could not hang out a shingle and could not prescribe medicines to patients who were not Jewish.