Universität zu Köln

Karenberg, Axel, Fangerau, Heiner and Martin, Michael (2020). Neurologists and neuroscientists during the Third Reich: attempt at an assessment. Nervenarzt, 91 (SUPPL 1). S. 128 - 146. NEW YORK: SPRINGER. ISSN 1433-0407

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Abstract

On behalf of the German Neurological Society (DGN) former presidents, honorary presidents and honorary members were checked for possible formal or ideological affiliations with National Socialism (NS) 75 years after the NS dictatorship. When the DGN was reformed in 1950, 6 of the 7 founding fathers were former members of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), which is in strong contrast with the traditional narrative of a new beginning. The first four (Pette, Schaltenbrand, Vogel and Doring) and in total 10 out of 13 incumbent presidents until 1976 (Zulch, Bay, Hirschmann, Jung, Bauer, Behrend) as well as honorary president Bodechtel had belonged to the NSDAP, Storm Troopers (SA), or Schutzsstaffel (SS). Approximately two thirds of the German and Austrian honorary members appointed until 1985 had been associated with the NS system or the NS ideology (e.g. Becker, Birkmayer, Jacob, Reichardt, Seitelberger, Tonnis and von Weizsacker). The individual attitude of neuroscientists towards eugenics ranged from approval to refusal and a few had been involved with (Appellate) Hereditary Health Courts. None of the physicians considered here were directly involved in killing patients but several of them knew of the concomitant research in the context of euthanasia. Others used research resources generated during the euthanasia-programme and after 1945. The only professor of neurology who conducted ethically inacceptable human experiments was Georg Schaltenbrand. Almost all neurologists could pursue their career after the war, sometimes after having undergone lengthy denazification trials but very few of them were willing to face up to their past. Categorizations, such as collaborators, beneficiaries and physicians with ambivalent roles should be replaced by a more differentiated assessment. When dealing with the past of German neurology it would be advisable to resort to a categorization of remembrance instead of naming awards after incriminated persons.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Karenberg, Axel UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Fangerau, Heiner UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Martin, Michael UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-347100
DOI:	10.1007/s00115-019-00851-6
Journal or Publication Title:	Nervenarzt
Volume:	91
Number:	SUPPL 1
Page Range:	S. 128 - 146
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 EPONYMS Multiple languages Clinical Neurology; Psychiatry Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/34710