The unique 1935 sound film of the Amsterdam’s Great Synagogue Choir (1,2,3) was made by the popular Polygoon journalist Jo Levi.
Wondering who Jo Levi was , I searched online, and found this picture below (20241107_1) with Jo Levi. Jo Levi is the second man from the left in this postwar photo of Polygoon men, posted by former Polygoon editor Fredo Krooshof at Cinecentrum Hilversum (4).
Polygoon Men • Miracles•Media • 20241107_1 | Source Cinecentrum Hilversum : Left to Right : Cees v.d. Wilden – Dir. Polygoon Haarlem; Jo Levi – Red. Pol.jnl; Philip Bloemendal – Red. and comm. Pol.jnl; Man in the background – name unknown; Gé Bresser – Procurator Polygoon; RVD man – name unknown (4).
Jo Levi together with Philip Bloemendal directed the Dutch cinema news for Polygoon. Philip Bloemendal , nicknamed “The voice of the Netherlands” , was for 40 years (from 1946 to 1986) the Dutch cinema newsreel announcer, voice-over, and editor . His voice-overs are The Voice of the postwar Dutch Polygoon news reels.
“Where they are not, nothing is happening” was the motto (5) of the cameramen of the Polygoon newsreel company in Holland.
May 1931 , two dutch newsreel companies, Polygoon in the city of Haarlem, and Profilti in The Hague, were competing to have the premiere of the first Dutch cinema newsreel with sound. Below a May 17, 1931 Polygoon interview (6) with former cyclist and sportsman W.W. van der Vet on the occasion of his 85th birthday (20241107_2).
6. Opa Vet (sportopa) voor de microfoon. Published 17 May 1931. Polygoon Hollands Nieuws (producer) / Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid (Open Beelden archive)
Citation info : Polygoon Journalist Jo Levi • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • 20241107
First edition posted 20200425 via Vimeo at 1-memo•com.
Recent evidence :
Trump’s Speeches, Increasingly Angry and Rambling, Reignite the Question of Age
“Former President Donald J. Trump vividly recounted how the audience at his climactic debate with Vice President Kamala Harris was on his side. Except that there was no audience. The debate was held in an empty hall. No one “went crazy,” as Mr. Trump put it, because no one was there.”
Citation info : Trump’s Cabaret • Fake News USA • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • @1MEMO 20241104 • TakeNode 6bfd12c2-ab05-4568-8436-9a179dcfe314
Geluidsopname ter Groote Synagoge • NIW 15 Nov 1935 • Miracles•Media • 20241025
Friday, 15 Nov 1935 • NIW (1)
“Sound recording at the Great Synagogue
The jubilee of the N.I.H.S., which has attracted interest in our community in many circles, has also attracted the attention of Polygoon, the well-known sound journalists. They wanted to record something specific of this jubilee and in honor of the jubilee on the sound film and insert it as part of the cinema newsreels this week. Chief cantor I. E. Maroko and the synagogue choir, led by his well-known conductor S. H. Englander, were prepared to perform a synagogue song. And so the recording took place last Wednesday evening in the Great Synagogue. When we came to take a look at the Synagogue, which was already decorated for the occasion, at 8 o’clock, all preparations had been made. A number of lamps, together 25,000 candles strong, provided sufficient lighting. The choir sang Psalm 118, while Mr. Maroko sang the solos. The recording, which was made under the direction of the popular Polygoon man Jo Levi, and in which Max Tak was present, will certainly attract the interest of the cinema-loving public and for those who do not regularly go to the cinemas, we can certainly recommend a visit this time.”
This NIW 1935 news (1) describes the ‘sound film’ was made Wednesday 13 Nov 1935 under the direction of Polygoon man Jo Levi.Below the ‘sound film’ and first part of my description, as posted Aug 20, 2019 (2).
November 1935, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the NIHS Jewish Community of Amsterdam (orthodox Ashkenazi congregation started 1635) the dutch film factory Polygoon brought this unique cinema sound newsreel of the Amsterdam Choir of the Great Synagogue led by choirmaster Samuel Henri (Sam) Englander, with a solo perfomance by chazzan (cantor) Izrael Eljasz Maroko in the Great Synagogue (inauguration building 1671) – now home to the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam, Holland (2).
Notes
1. Today I found this article on the Polygoon ‘sound recording’ (2) in the dutch weekly ‘Nieuw Israelietisch weekblad’ (Transl: New Israelite Weekly) of Friday, November 15, 1935. URL Delpher.nl (retrieved 20241025) .
Dutch transcript
Geluidsopname ter Groote Synagoge
Het jubileum der N.I.H.S., dat de belangstelling in vele kringen op onze gemeente heeft gevestigd, heeft ook de aandacht getrokken van Polygoon, de bekende geluidsjournalisten. Men wilde n.l. iets specifieks van dit jubileum en ter eere van het jubileum op de geluidsfilm vastleggen en dit deze week als onderdeel in de bioscoopjournaals inlasschen. Oppervoorzanger I. E. Maroko en het sjoelkoor, onder leiding van zijn bekenden dirigent S. H. Englander, werden bereid gevonden om een synagogaal gezang ten gehoore te brengen. En zoo vond Woensdagavond j.I. de opname plaats in de Groote Synagoge. Toen wij om 8 uur een kijkje kwamen nemen in de reeds in feesttooi gestoken Synagoge, waren alle toebereidselen getroffen. Een aantal lampen, tezamen 25.000 kaarsen sterk, zorgde voor voldoende belichting. Het koor zong Psalm 118, terwijl de heer Maroko de soli zong. De opname, welke onder leiding van den populairen Polygoonman Jo Levi geschiedde, werd vervaardigd en waarbij o.a. Max Tak tegenwoordig was, zal zeer zeker de belangstelling van het bioscoopminnend publiek trekken en zij, die niet geregeld in de cinema’s komen, kunnen wij ditmaal zeker een gang daarheen aanbevelen.
St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, July 1989 • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • 20241019_1 • TakeNode af426345-4fb3-48a3-8d5e-4368c56826aa
Venue of the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Anglo–Danish–Dutch Diabetes Group*, Oxford (UK) July 5–9, 1989.
The first international meeting were our new concept was presented, of pancreatic islet isolation in the University of Wisconsin Solution (UW-Solution or UWS) a solution designed recently for preservation of a donor pancreas during cold storage prior to transplantation.
Quote :
“…A few months ago, we adopted an entirely new approach to islet isolation. Recently a new cold storage organ preservation solution was developed at the University of Wisconsin, the UW solution, allowing long term, 24 to 72 h, cold storage of the canine pancreas. Since islet isolation is largely performed in the cold, we tested this preservation solution as the isolation medium throughout the isolation procedure. This slide shows that using the UW solution, purity has increased to over 90%…”
In addition our first successful pre-clinical transplant, we had performed the last month, was reported as breaking news at the end of the talk.
Quote :
“Three weeks ago we did our first autotransplantation of isolated islets from the whole gland by retrograde infusion into the spleen. The dog is doing fine: fasting glucose amounts to 5-6 mM and postprandial glucose between 6-8 mM ; postprandial insulin increases 6-7 fold. Thank you.”
St Edmund Hall, Oxford, 1989, 7th Meeting ADDD Group • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • 20241019_2 • TakeNode ca40adf0-3b86-4ada-93a8-126c6768d420
Notes
Seventh Annual Meeting Anglo Danish Dutch Diabetes Group • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • 20241019_3 • TakeNode bffdea47-9464-4f7b-8299-ec299d41ca4d
* Group supported through the Nordisk UK Professional Programme.
Van der Burg MPM, Gooszen HG, Scherft JP, Terpstra JL, Frölich M, Guicherit OR, Lemkes HHPJ, Bruijn JA. The isolation of canine pancreatic islets for transplantation. Seventh Annual Meeting Anglo Danish Dutch Diabetes Group, Oxford (UK) July 5–9, 1989.
Van der Burg MPM, Gooszen HG, Guicherit OR, Jansen JBMJ, Frölich M, Lamers CBHW. The mechanism of pancreatic duct obliteration induced hyperglycemia. Seventh Annual Meeting Anglo Danish Dutch Diabetes Group, Oxford (UK) July 5–9, 1989.
Citation info : ADD Diabetes Group 1989, St Edmund Hall, Oxford • Michel van der Burg • Miracles•Media • 20241019 • URL 1-memo•com
Pancreatic Islet Transplantation • Isolation & Transplantation of Islets of Langerhans • 1988 to early 1990s • Islet Transplant Laboratory • Leiden University Hospital • 20240912_1 (Note 1)
Grants
In 1988, we started a project with unique integration of two important trends in research into the treatment of diabetes by transplantation at the Leiden University Hospital (AZL) in Leiden, with major grants from the dutch Ministry of Welfare, Health and Culture (WVC) and the dutch Diabetes Fund (Diabetes Fonds Nederland).
Grants diabetes research • Newspaper Leidsch Dagblad, June 24, 1988 (Note 2)
The generous grants were received — as reported June 24, 1988 in both the dutch newspaper Leidsch Dagblad (2) and in Cicero, the biweekly publication of the Leiden Medical Faculty and University Hospital (3), as a result of our preliminary research over the previous five years into improving the technique of pancreas transplantation, and more recently the development of a technique for isolating the Islets of Langerhans from the pancreas, which produce hormones such as insulin. The idea behind this is, that these isolated islets, after injection into the body, will restart and maintain insulin production.
Questions
What is the consequence of the loss of normal nerve connections to the islets during transplantation? What are the consequences of transplantation of only a segment of the pancreas, or islet transplantation, when fewer islets are available? What is the consequence after transplantation of the different insulin drainage route, where the insulin does not follow the normal path directly to the liver? To what extent do transplantation procedures disrupt the normal architecture and interactions of islets, the pancreas, and other parts of the gastro-intestinal system, and the blood sugar regulation in the body?
Project
With the hope of answering these questions, the grants supported an ambitious new project supervised by Hein Gooszen, integrating two concomitant PhD projects for detailed islet function studies in both experimental pancreas transplantation, by Onno Guicherit (4) , as well as islet isolation by Michel van der Burg (5) in the same model.
A special feature of the experimental design in this preclinical model is that the results of functional studies in the experimental animal can be compared with such functional studies with the isolated islets from the pancreas, where the direct effect on the islets is investigated during perifusion tests in our laboratory (6).
That same month, June 1988, we began research to improve the method of islet isolation in our laboratory, with the assistance of Jane Field, who had come over that month at our invitation from Minneapolis, where she was a key member of the Surgical Research lab, University of Minnesota (led by David Sutherland).
The introduction of this Minneapolis method for islet isolation significantly improved the yield of isolated islets in our Islet Transplant Lab.
New concept : University of Wisconsin solution (UWS) for islet isolation
Next , early 1989 , our Islet Transplant Lab took a major step forward in a new approach to isolation and purification of the islets by replacing the islet isolation solution (the general used basic physiological salt solution or tissue culture solution) with a novel organ preservation solution : the University of Wisconsin solution (UWS). The method of choice nowadays in clinical islet transplantation centers. More on this introduction of UWS will soon be posted here. A reprint of a first poster presented in Minneapolis, Sep. 1989, is now online here (7).
Program
June 1989 our Surgery Department (Leiden University) started an additional project, for ‘auto’ transplantation of isolated islets : Isolation of the islets from the canine pancreas and transplantation of the isolated islets ca 4 hours later in the same animal (8).
Thus, from 1989, we studied the insulin secretion of the isolated islets in perifusion experiments in the laboratory (‘in vitro’) in comparison with both the islet function ‘in vivo’ after transplantation of the isolated islets, and in the concomitant pancreas transplantation experiments — in support of our clinical pancreas transplantation program in Leiden.
Notes
1) Pancreatic Islet Transplantation • Isolation & Transplantation of Islets of Langerhans • 1988 to early 1990s • Islet Transplant Laboratory • Leiden University Hospital • 20240912_1 • michelvanderburg•com | TakeNode 5b5ca362-2adf-497a-b2be-a83e47617017 | Image edit based on : Pancreatic islet transplantation • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media • Thesis Repository Leiden University https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3486604
Captions in Note 9
2) Subsidie voor onderzoek suikerziekte. Leidsch Dagblad, June 24, 1988 (leiden.courant.nu) • 20240912_2 • michelvanderburg•com
3) Diabetesonderzoek | AZL krijgt grote subsidies voor diabetesonderzoek | by Sylvia van Leeuwen in Cicero, June 24th, 1988 (ISSN 0920-2900), the biweekly publication of the Academic Hospital and Leiden Medical Faculty | 20240912_3 • michelvanderburg•com | Download PDF article below : file 20240912_3_CICERO
4) Onno R. Guicherit. Long-term metabolic sequelae of beta cell mass reduction, systemic venous drainage and denervation of the canine pancreas : experimental studies in relation to clinical pancreas transplantation. (Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) , Leiden University)(S.l.: s.n.), (ISBN print: 9789090072319, 9090072314), 1994: 149 p. URL WorldCat https://search.worldcat.org/en/title/69433794
5) Michael P.M. van der Burg. Pancreatic islet transplantation: studies on the technique and efficacy of islet isolation and transplantation. (Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) , Leiden University), Boskoop: M.P.M. van der Burg | Miracles.Media (ISBN electronic, pdf, 9789080216402 ; ISBN print 9789080216419, 9080216410), 1994: 192 p. URL Thesis Repository Leiden University https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3486604
9) Pancreatic Islet Transplantation • Isolation & Transplantation of Islets of Langerhans 1988 to early 1990s • Islet Transplant Laboratory • Leiden University Hospital • 20240912_1 • michelvanderburg•com | TakeNode 5b5ca362-2adf-497a-b2be-a83e47617017 |
Captions Image 20240912_1 :
1. Paul Langerhans
2. Section of the normal dog pancreas showing islets stained reddish-brown (immunostained for insulin)
3. Michel van der Burg, watching the dog islet isolation procedure in the Minneapolis surgical research laboratory (University of Minnesota), September 1989, with Philippe Morel and Pericles Tzardis
4. Experimental Surgery Laboratory in Leiden, June 1988, with (left to right) Hein Gooszen, Jane Field (Minneapolis), and Onno Guicherit, starting the surgical procedure for canine islet isolation
5. The pancreas (segment) is removed
6. Islet Transplant Laboratory in Leiden, at the start of islet isolation, with infusion of the collagenase solution via the ducts in the dog pancreas (whole gland for islet transplantation) – collagenase leaking from the pancreas is recirculated using a roller pump
7. During collagenase digestion at 37-39°C the pancreas falls apart, shown here in a low magnification microscopy image of pancreatic exocrine tissue, and a free-ed small blood vessel
8. Dissociated pancreatic tissue, on ice
9. Tissue is further dispersed in the cold isolation solution (here RPMI tissue culture solution is used), by aspiration in a syringe, and sieved to remove undigested fragments, ducts and vessels ~ demonstrated here by Jane Field (Minneapolis), with the introduction of the Minneapolis isolation procedure, June 1988, in our Islet Transplant Laboratory in Leiden
10. Microscopy of tissue suspension, with a low purity of the islets (stained red by dithizone) obtained by density separation in Dextran gradients (in Hanks’ solution) after islet isolation in the RPMI tissue culture solution (dark-brown exocrine fragments remain unstained)
11. Pure islet suspension obtained by density separation in Percoll gradients (in University of Wisconsin solution) after islet isolation in the University of Wisconsin solution (islets are only slightly stained due to poor diffusion over the cell membrane in the preservation solution)
12. Section of highly purified islets obtained by Dextran density separation after isolation in the University of Wisconsin solution
13. Islets are autotransplanted by infusion in the spleen of the dog
14. Transplanted islet in section of the spleen of one of the dogs shortly after the onset of fasting hyperglycemia at three months posttransplant (immunostained for insulin), 1989
15. Highly purified human islets obtained by Percoll density separation after isolation in the University of Wisconsin solution (immunostained with gold for insulin; not counterstained), July 1990
Pancreatic islet transplantation • Michel van der Burg • Miracles.Media | QR code (link to Thesis Repository Leiden University) https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3486604
Citation info : Pancreas & Islet Transplantation Program • 20240912 | Michel van der Burg | michelvanderburg•com
“Breakthrough in research into treatment of diabetics. Discovery by doctors of Leiden University Hospital” …headlines the Dutch newspaper ‘Leidsch Dagblad’ (1).
The dutch newspaper ‘Leidsch Dagblad’ reports October 24, 1989, on a breakthrough in the treatment of diabetic patients…successful transplantation of the insulin producing ‘islets’ in dogs, after isolation of the islets using the UW organ storage solution (UWS)
The first successful transplant June 13, 1989 was a big step. Generally multiple pancreases are needed for an adequate number of purified islets for one transplant. Here the dog’s pancreas was used for the isolation of islets, that were injected back in the animals’ spleen.
‘The breakthrough in the research came when Van der Burg came up with the idea of using the UW organ storage solution — developed several years ago at the University of Wisconsin — for the preservation of the islets. This turned out to yield good results. The yield of pure islets could be increased using this method.’
Cicero
News based on story published Sep. 15th, 1989 by journalist Sylvia Van Leeuwen in Cicero, the biweekly publication of the Academic Hospital and Leiden Medical Faculty (2).
Ploeg, Gooszen and Van der Burg (left to right) discuss the achieved results, Monday Sep 4, 1989 at the Department of Surgery, University Hospital Leiden. Photo Tejo Ringers • 20240830_2 • michelvanderburg•com • TakeNode 3fc69a06-04bf-4f0d-bc77-cedb6d7b7f75
One more thing
We reported long-term function of the islet transplants (3,4). Failure after 3.5 years of a well-functioning islet transplant is puzzling. Nowadays, in clinical islet transplantation, failure of long-term functioning grafts in diabetic patients is still puzzling. Therefore, note (data not published before), that body weight of this autografted animal had increased to almost 150%, from 12.5 kg at the time of islet transplantation, to 18.0 kg at the time of graft failure 3.5 years later (Dec. 1992) — obviously, with an increased insulin demand that may have contributed to graft failure.
Notes
1) Doorbraak in onderzoek naar behandeling suikerpatiënten. Ontdekking door artsen Leids Academisch Ziekenhuis. (EN tr. “Breakthrough in research into treatment of diabetics. Discovery by doctors of Leiden University Hospital”) | by Gert Visser, in Leidsch Dagblad, Oct 24, 1989 | Dutch newspaper, URL https://leiden.courant.nu/issue/LD/1989-10-24/edition/0/page/15
The background in the image here (20240830_1), is the original color slide of the ‘Islets of Langerhans’ showing in the newspaper.
2) ‘Eilandjes’ getransplanteerd | by Sylvia van Leeuwen in Cicero, Sep. 15th, 1989 (ISSN 0920-2900), the biweekly publication of the Academic Hospital and Leiden Medical Faculty | 20240830_3 • michelvanderburg•com Download PDF article, file 20240830_3_CICERO
4) Van der Burg MPM, Guicherit OR, Jansen JBMJ, Frölich M, Lamers CBHW, Lemkes HHPJ, Bruijn JA, Gooszen HG. Function and survival of intrasplenic islet autografts in dogs. Diabetologia 39, 37–44 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00400411
5) Van der Burg MPM, Gooszen HG, Ploeg RJ, Guicherit OR, Scherft JP, Terpstra JL, Bruijn JA, Frölich M. Pancreatic islet isolation with UW solution: a new concept. 4th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation, Barcelona (Spain) November 1–4, 1989.
6) The islet transplant news was first reported by me at an invited lecture July 8, 1989 for the Anglo Danish Dutch Diabetes Group meeting in St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, Oxford (UK) : Van der Burg MPM, Gooszen HG, Scherft JP, Terpstra JL, Frölich M, Guicherit OR, Lemkes HHPJ, Bruijn JA. The isolation of canine pancreatic islets for transplantation. Seventh Annual Meeting Anglo Danish Dutch Diabetes Group, Oxford (UK) July 5–9, 1989.
7) Leiden Islet Laboratory History • 20240803 | Michel van der Burg | michelvanderburg•com
Citation info : Islet Transplantation Breakthrough in Leiden University Hospital • 20240830 • Michel van der Burg • michelvanderburg•com
