Is Asperger's Syndrome renamed for Nazi advocacy?

The Austrian physician Hans Asperger was a Nazi collaborator

Recent research by the Medical University of Vienna shows that the Austrian physician Hans Asperger, after whom the Asperger syndrome was named, was actively involved in the Nazi regime. He supported both the so-called euthanasia program of the Third Reich and the concept of racial hygiene.

Asperger is considered a pioneer in the field of child psychiatry and paediatrics, especially because of his pioneering contribution to the understanding of Asperger's syndrome. Medical historian Herwig Czech devoted eight years of research to his studies of the well-known physician. The historian presented the results in the journal "Molecular Autism".

The technical term Asperger syndrome is based on the work of Hans Asperger. According to recent research, the Austrian doctor is said to have been a Nazi collaborator and to bear the blame for numerous child murders. (Image: Photographee.eu/fotolia.com)

The dark side of Hans Asperger

Czech analyzed previously unaffected documents from state archives, including Asperger's personal and patient records. The historian's research showed that Asperger often referred children to the "Am Spiegelgrund" clinic, which was considered a collection center for children who, according to the regime, were considered "not worth living". There, nearly 800 children died between 1940 and 1945. Many of them were murdered.

At the time of naming this was unknown

The term Asperger's Syndrome was first introduced in London in 1981 by Dr. Ing. Lorna Wing shaped. She and other scientists, as well as the broader community of autism, have yet to know anything about Hans Asperger's close collaboration with the Nazis.

Terrifying comments in Asperger's files

Czech reports that Asperger's patients' files were used to assess sick children with comments such as "she must be an unbearable burden on her mother". For Czech, Asperger's complicity in the 789 child murders is beyond doubt, but there is no evidence that Asperger knew about the murders. He continued to work as a doctor for more than three decades.

Aspergers remedial education

According to Czech, Asperger was very proud of his "curative education", which was a pope under the Nazis. He referred to people with autism in certain cases as excellent soldiers and reliable workers. But Asperger also wrote about the need to take "restrictive measures" against these "incurable" patients, "out of responsibility to the German race".

Asperger syndrome as a medical term

Herwig Czech reports in a press release from the Medical University of Vienna: "Asperger's Syndrome is one of the most important medical terms from the German-speaking area named after a person." Many affected people would identify with the diagnosis and its namesake. For that reason alone, it is important to make known the history of the first description of autism by Asperger.

Will the Asperger syndrome now be renamed?

Many well-known doctors commented on the study. Renaming the syndrome is not unlikely. Simon Baron-Cohen, a professor of psychology at Cambridge University, is one of the leading autism experts. "We are aware that the publication of this article will cause controversy," he comments the study. The historical evidence had to be made accessible to the public.

More comments

Commenting on the study, Joseph Buxbaum, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the New York Icahn School of Medicine comments: "Herwig Czech's article convinced us that Asperger did not just do his best to survive under unbearable conditions, but that he was also complicit in taking action against the weakest members of society. "(vb)