Anatomy in the Third Reich: an outline, part 3. The science and ethics of anatomy in National Socialist Germany and postwar consequences

Abstract

Anatomists in National Socialist (NS) Germany did research on materials from animals and humans, including tissues from the bodies of NS victims. The research was competent but rarely innovative. This may be due to the isolation of the German research community from international developments, as well as to the dismissal of a great number of successful anatomists for racial or political reasons. Other research was unproductive because of its foundation in the pseudoscience of racial hygiene. Anatomists in the Third Reich acted according to a new set of medical ethics favored by the NS regime. Not the individual human being but the "body of the people" as a whole was the object of this ethics. Every action was ethical that ensured the health of the German people, including sterilization, so-called euthanasia, and finally mass murder. Anatomists made use of the opportunities given to them by the NS regime, which led to the postmortem utilization of the bodies of NS victims. After the war, most anatomists retained their positions and NS history was not discussed until the later 20th century. Since then, historical research and public discussions have led to an increased awareness of questions of ethics in anatomy. The history of anatomy in the Third Reich illustrates that the theory and practice of a science is dependent on the political system it exists in, and that the scientists' competence not only in their science but also in politics and ethics is a prerequisite for the freedom of science.

The Anatomische Gesellschaft and National Socialism: An analysis based on newly available archival material

“…Even if anatomists were involved in this Nazi-typical development of science (Hildebrandt, 2009) and if leading "racial" anthropologists like Eugen Fischer were members of the society, the AG and its meetings were obviously not their preferred forum. Looking through the programs of the meetings 1934 to 1939 reveals only one contribution with the term (human) race in its title -a talk about Neanderthals.…”

The women on stieve's list: Victims of national socialism whose bodies were used for anatomical research

“…Later, he used the increasing number of executed women during the Third Reich for further exploration of his theories (detailed report on this in Winkelmann and Schagen, 2009). While the politically conservative Stieve was probably not a convinced National Socialist, he used the professional opportunities offered to him by the NS regime without compunction and was rather convinced of the ethical righteousness of his work (Oleschinski, 1992;Noack, 2007;Schagen, 2007;Hildebrandt, 2009c). After the war, he was questioned among others by the Soviet occupying forces and the university administration about his activities during the Third Reich but was not prosecuted and was ultimately exonerated (Schagen, 2007;Winkelmann and Schagen, 2009).…”

La utilización de cadáveres y órganos en la investigación y docencia médica. Lecciones de la historia

“…Es necesario retirar de los á mbitos docentes todos los cadá veres, ó rganos o restos de dudoso origen y darles una sepultura respetuosa, como se hizo con los que se albergaban durante el nazismo en centros de investigació n y facultades de medicina 29 . Tambié n es cuestionable el uso de cadá veres con fines docentes o comerciales, procedentes de ejecuciones.…”