Discretion is advice.

This is a minute murder.

On the 14th of December, 1865, a Polish carpenter and his wife welcomed their new son into the world.

Swerin Klosowski entered into a life of opportunity.

Instead of apprenticing with his father and becoming a carpenter, as was commonly done in Poland in those days,

Swerin apprenticed with a surgeon.

He was still young and he didn't take part in any major surgeries or practices that doctors would be trained in today.

But Swerin learned how to apply leeches and perform bloodlettings, and apparently he was pretty good at it.

His master, Moshko Rappaport, said that Swerin was diligent.

He always had, quote, exemplary conduct and studied with zeal, the science of surgery.

Another source said that Swerin was very skillful assistant to patients.

So it was perhaps no surprise when Swerin enrolled in the studies of practical surgery at the

Warsaw-Praga Hospital. But perhaps what was a surprise was how long Swerin actually stayed there.

He was only there for three months studying before he dropped out.

He stayed on another year at the hospital, working as a nurse and sometimes a doctor's assistant,

but it looked like Swerin's medical career had come to an abrupt end. Shortly after, he moved to

London in the U.K., where he settled in in the East End and became a hairdresser's assistant.

It looked like Swerin had officially swapped the scalpel for the scissors.

He was apparently good enough to open up his own barbershop within about a year of moving to London.

It's difficult to say how long it took him for sure as his

entry date into the UK is a little bit of a mystery, but it's safe to say that he was living,

working, and running his own establishment in London by 1889. The shop was located in Cable

...