Universität zu Köln

Martin, Michael, Fangerau, Heiner and Karenberg, Axel (2020). In the twilight zone: honorary members of the German Neurological Society 1954-1982. Nervenarzt, 91 (SUPPL 1). S. 119 - 128. NEW YORK: SPRINGER. ISSN 1433-0407

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

From the mid-1950s to the early 1980s the German Neurological Society (DGN) appointed in addition to international physicians, numerous German physicians as honorary members. From a present day perspective, some of them are to be classified as incriminated with their commitment to the National Socialist movement and its health policy goals, which at times went far beyond a formal membership of the party and its organizations. Thus, there is no doubt about the volkisch views of the Wurzburg psychiatrist Martin Reichardt (1874-1966), which he articulated in lectures and publications. The Erb student Siegfried Schonborn (1874-1966), also a member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), was in contact with Karl Fahrenkamp, who advised Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler on medical issues. Hamburg-based Hans-Robert Muller (1901-1981), one of the founding fathers of the DGN, joined the Hitler party in 1937. In contrast, neurosurgeon Hans Kuhlendahl (1910-1992) was in addition a member of the Storm Troopers (SA). Hans Jacob (1907-1997), SA-Rottenfuhrer, party comrade and head of the Neuropathology Department at Hamburg University, profited by the euthanasia action: as part of the so-called concomitant research he examined ca. 40 brains of children who had been killed at the special departments in Langenhorn and Luneburg. Unlike his peers, the renowned neurogeneticist Peter Emil Becker (1908-2000) is today judged as an opportunistic bystander. He was one of the few who faced up to his NS past later in life, but the response he met was ambivalent because he withheld mention of his party membership. With respect to the honorary members, it remains an open question why 40 years after the end of the Third Reich the DGN still honored neurologists who in some cases had been heavily involved in the biopolitics of that era.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Martin, Michael UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Fangerau, Heiner UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Karenberg, Axel UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-347099
DOI:	10.1007/s00115-019-00850-7
Journal or Publication Title:	Nervenarzt
Volume:	91
Number:	SUPPL 1
Page Range:	S. 119 - 128
Date:	2020
Publisher:	SPRINGER
Place of Publication:	NEW YORK
ISSN:	1433-0407
Language:	German
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language HAMBURG; BECKER Multiple languages Clinical Neurology; Psychiatry Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/34709