Pioneering in Health in Alto Uruguai

The Hospital Israelita Leonardo Cohen began to be built in 1929, by the ICA - Jewish Colonization Association, a colonization company that administered the former Jewish Colony of Quatro Irmãos, an extensive area of ​​93 thousand hectares, which in the last 30 years gave rise to 7 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul.

It was designed to offer safe births, surgeries and health treatments, for Jews and non-Jews, free of charge, providing care with specially hired European doctors, coming from countries such as Germany, Hungary, Romania and Austria.

They were doctors of the highest level, from institutions of excellence, however, due to their Jewish origin, in times of the rise of Nazism in Europe, they needed to leave the continent and find safe routes for themselves and their families. One of them was the Jewish Colonization Project of Baron and Baroness Hirsch, a couple of philanthropists who transferred, in an organized manner, thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe, in situations of poverty and persecution, to new colonies in the Americas.

The Colony of Quatro Irmãos, in Alto Uruguai, Rio Grande do Sul, next to Erechim, was the last one implemented by the Project, which began in the middle of the 19th century.

The Hospital Israelita Leonardo Cohen had a delivery room, operating room, recovery room, hospitalization area and administrative area, with medical and nursing staff, midwives and electricity generators.

It was built under the supervision of English engineers, using wood from the region itself, chosen and treated using high quality processes, which has allowed the building's longevity to this day.

Its longest-lasting clinical director was Dr Otto Goldberg, who provided field care in the First World War, and left a legacy of stories of bravery and improvisation to save lives. His medical license exam in Rio Grande do Sul was taken in Latin.

Another notable character was Dona Francisca Mermelstein, midwife, who later had a long career in Porto Alegre, at Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa, with a legion of grateful families, several doctors using her services and knowledge, and thousands and thousands of births performed, in hospitals and homes.

Leonardo Cohen was an Administrator of the ICA, of the Jewish Colonization Association, the administration company for these colonies, and named after the Hospital.

Hundreds of people were born in the hospital, with the striking curiosity that, from these families from the Jewish colony of Quatro Irmãos, there were a significant number of descendants dedicated to medical careers in a notable way.

It went down in history as a social and third sector community effort, of societies that took on the challenge of resolving their difficulties and moving towards the future.

Currently, the building, with exhibitions, is part of the Polo de Turismo Histórico Judaico de Quatro Irmãos e Região, is open for visits (next to the Prefeitura de Quatro Irmãos), and is undergoing continuous repairs.