[Richard Koch's life in national socialism and in Soviet emigration]

The Jewish historian and theorist of medicine, Richard Koch, teaching in Frankfurt/Main, fled in 1936 from National Socialist Germany to the USSR where he lived in the Caucasian spa Essentuki until his death in 1949. Here he worked as a doctor and continued his scientific work, especially on the foundations of medicine in natural philosophy. None of his works of this time were published. Koch was a scientific outsider in the USSR, and he was aware of this. However, he tried to make his views compatible with official doctrines. In 1947 he lost his employment at the medical clinic of Essentuki, and his material situation grew worse. It is still an open question whether this development was related to an increasingly anti-Jewish atmosphere in the USSR that was linked with the Stalinist "purges", as Koch himself appeared to believe. Before his flight from Germany Koch did not show any tendency towards communism or the political left at all. His attitude towards Soviet society and Stalin was mixed: cautious criticism was accompanied by strong expressions of commitment to Stalin and Koch's new Socialist home. The question to what extent Koch's comments showed his true convictions must remain without a definite answer. At least in part they can be understood as precautions in threatening circumstances. The opportunity of a remigration to Germany after 1945, however, was turned down by Koch.