Helmut Diefenthal
German radiologist
Carl Helmut Diefenthal (March 20, 1924, Berlin, Germany – June 30, 2019, Minneapolis, US) was a German-born American medical missionary, professor, and radiologist who spent more than 25 years working in the Tanzanian town of Moshi. He and his wife founded the Kilimanjaro School of Radiology in the late 1980s.
Early years and education
Diefenthal was born in March 1924 in Berlin, Germany to a Jewish father. During Hitler's rise to power, the family's insurance firm was shuttered and his father was jailed twice, only escaping being sent to a concentration camp because of his marriage to a Lutheran woman. Diefenthal faced significant troubles in earning his medical degree due to his ancestry. He was eventually conscripted into the German Army during World War II as a medic. Though initially sent to Stalingrad, the Battle of Stalingrad saw him diverted to Crimea and Kyiv instead. Following the war, he was able to attend medical school at the Free University of Berlin and attended Martin Niemöller's St. Anne's Church in Dahlem. He met Rotraut "Ro" Garstka at Church and the two married in 1952.
“Helmut Diefenthal” enters the record as german radiologist. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Helmut, Diefenthal and German can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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