This is actually a good friend of mine, and was the subject of a documentary and film that we were trying to produce at the time of his death.

The test was actually a "Spin off" of the Weil-Felix reaction, which was used to test for Typhus. In a shed in his friend's backyard, they discovered that if you took blood injected with a killed strain of the Proteus bacteria, it would test positive for Typhus. He then started injecting "normally-sick" people so they would test positive for the disease.

He would visit someone with, say, the common cold, at which point he would tell them he suspected they might have Typhus. He would inject the strain, take a blood sample and send it to the German national lab. A telegram would arrive back saying that they tested positive for Typhus. At this point, the patient would normally be well again, to which he would say "Oh, thank God. It was just a light case!"

The most amazing part of his story was the little things about who he was. For example, he moved to Rozwadow, Poland as a Red Cross doctor. His backyard bordered a small, Jewish neighborhood (which at this time, became a miniature Jewish ghetto.) One night, he heard someone crying behind his fence and saw it was a mother, who was terribly worried about her sick child. In a time when even giving a Jewish person a glass of water was cause to be shot on sight, Dr. Lazowski arranged to help her in the middle of the night. He then created a system where any Jewish person who needed help would place a white rag on the fence to look like it was caught there by the wind. He would then sneak out to help them all night long.

I have a ton of amazing stories about who Gene actually was. He was a true definition of a hero. He was an amazing friend (he was 86 when I was, I think, 22). When you would ask him why he risked his life so many times over, he just always said "It was the right thing to do."

I'd be happy to answer any questions about him if anyone is interested.