The Anatomy of Murder : Ethical Transgressions and Anatomical Science During the Third Reich

Of the many medical specializations to transform themselves during the rise of National Socialism, anatomy has received relatively little attention from historians. While politics and racial laws drove many anatomists from the profession, most who remained joined the Nazi party, and some helped to develop the scientific basis for its racialist dogma. As historian and anatomist Sabine Hildebrandt reveals, however, their complicity with the Nazi state went beyond the merely ideological. They progressed through gradual stages of ethical transgression, turning increasingly to victims of the regime for body procurement, as the traditional model of working with bodies of the deceased gave way, in some cases, to a new paradigm of experimentation with the "future dead." CONTENTS FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ABBREVIATIONS AND GERMAN TERMS INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 HISTORY OF RESEARCH ON MEDICINE AND ANATOMY IN NATIONAL SOCIALISM Chapter 2 ANATOMY AND RELATED SCIENCES BEFORE 1933 Chapter 3 THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE NS STATE AND ANATOMISTS Chapter 4 THE NS STATE AND THE ANATOMISCHE GESELLSCHAFT Chapter 5 ANATOMISTS WHO BECAME VICTIMS OF NS POLICIES Chapter 6 ANATOMISTS WORKING IN NS GERMANY Chapter 7 NS VICTIMS AND THE USE OF THEIR BODIES FOR ANATOMICAL PURPOSES Chapter 8 THE SCIENCE OF ANATOMY IN NATIONAL SOCIALIST GERMANY Chapter 9 AFTER THE WAR Chapter 10 DEVELOPMENTS IN PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN ANATOMY Chapter 11 ANATOMY—ON THE EDGE OF CULTURE APPENDIX INDEX Introduction History of research on medicine and anatomy in National Socialism Anatomy and related sciences before 1933 The interaction between the NS state and anatomists The NS state and the Anatomische Gesellschaft Anatomists who became victims of NS policies Anatomists working in NS Germany NS victims and the use of their bodies for anatomical purposes The science of anatomy in NS Germany After the war Developments in professional ethics in anatomy Anatomy : on the edge of culture. Of the many medical specializations to have been transformed by the rise of National Socialism, anatomy has received little attention. As historian and physician Sabine Hildebrandt reveals, anatomists progressed through gradual stages of ethical transgression. "This volume explores how the study of anatomy was conducted during the governance of the Third Reich, from the Third Reich's involvement with university anatomy departments to how the Third Reich implemented protocols for anatomists"-- Provided by publisher