Updated: 17-05-2025
Added: 31-07-2023
Vitamin D put on the market by Merck1 company from Darmstadt commonly used in the Ghetto in the form of an oily solution contained in small bottles, 10 ccm each.
The preparation, intended for curing osteomalacia (the softening of the bones), was regarded in the ghetto as “miracle cure” and therefore in dire shortage. In illicit trade, prices increased by thousands-percents (in January 1944, 10 cm2 cost 100 Mk, in May 1944 – 300 Mk). Very seldomly obtainable at dispensaries. Many families sold their bread in order to get hold of vigantol for their sick relatives at extortionate prices, albeit doctors warned about overestimating this “tonic.”.
Peter Wertheimer
Footnotes
1 Merck – pharmaceutical company headquartered in Darmstadt whose origins date back to the Merck family pharmacy founded in 1668. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, new owner Henrich Emanuel Merck managed to isolate and produce alkaloids of high purity, contributing to the rapid development of the company. Still existing today as Merck Sharp & Dohme (Merck & Co., Inc. in the U.S.), the company continues to manufacture Vigantol.