Doctors incomplete work-up of the Nazi period

German Medical Association: Medical crimes in National Socialism inadequately elucidated

24.03.2011

The German Medical Association (BÄK) has discovered significant gaps in the treatment of the behavior and the life situation of physicians in Germany during the time of National Socialism. The on behalf of the BÄK deals with the subject Professor of Modern History, Robert Jütte, has the state of research now in the book „Medicine and National Socialism: Balance and Perspectives of Research“ released.

The Professor of Modern History and Head of the Institute for the History of Medicine of the Robert Bosch Foundation (Stuttgart) has dealt extensively with the current state of research on the National Socialist past in medicine on behalf of the BÄK and presented existing gaps in the workup. It is clear that „Doctors (...) in the time of National Socialism actively participated in the systematic murder of the sick“ said the President of the German Medical Association, Jörg-Dietrich Hoppe, at the presentation of the research report.

Enlightenment gaps in the medical history of National Socialism
Although numerous research studies have dealt with the history of medicine in National Socialism and in particular the crimes in the concentration camps and the murder of the mentally ill and disabled was discussed, there are still significant gaps in the medical history of the Nazi past, according to Professor Robert Jütte. The head of the Institute for the History of Medicine had presented the state of research on behalf of the BÄK and pointed out existing gaps. For example, the history of Jewish doctors and hospitals has so far been little illuminated. According to Prof. Jütte, the role of the Jewish physicians, who were still considered at the beginning of the Hitler era, has not been much studied either „Krankenbehandler“ of Jews worked. Of the more than 8,000 Jewish physicians who worked in Germany before the Nazi era, only around 700 were still active in 1938, explained Prof. Jütte in his research report. The history of Jewish hospitals as well as the procedure with old and sick civilians remain largely unclear until today, so the expert's conclusion on the medical history of National Socialism.

Doctors were actively involved in the killing of patients
The mass killing of mentally ill and disabled people is also presented by Prof. Jütte in his research report. What became known under the concept of euthanasia and was supposed to contribute to the purity of the race in the eyes of the National Socialists, describes nothing but the murder of hundreds of thousands of people, the expert explained. Also experiments, such as the chances of survival after an airplane in the water were carried out with living humans. Forced sterilization to prevent contamination of the "Aryan race" were also relatively widespread in the period of National Socialism. Overall, the research report raises „Medicine and National Socialism: Balance and Perspectives of Research“ a bleak light on the past in German medicine. The list of inhumane atrocities seems endless. According to Prof. Jütte, at least 300,000 mentally ill and mentally handicapped were murdered during the Nazi period and 400,000 forced sterilizations were carried out. Jörg-Dietrich Hoppe, President of the German Medical Association, emphasized: „Doctors actively participated in the systematic murder of the sick in the time of National Socialism“ and who was not actively involved, looked away and kept silent.

Jörg-Dietrich Hoppe sees the German Medical Association here in a special responsibility to clarify the medical history from the time of National Socialism. He himself was probably the last BÄK president, who had personally experienced the time and the more important is the historical work, explained Hoppe. Further research was planned to close the remaining gaps and to provide the young medical students with an overview of the central themes of the National Socialist health policy and the underlying inhumane Weltanschauung. In the present research report the health care and medical research under National Socialism, the medical practice as well as the fractures and the continuities after the end of the war 1945 are already presented very vividly. But to this day, the history of medicine at this point remains extremely incomplete, emphasized Prof. Jütte. (Fp)