I walked home from work tonight at 9pm after missing the last bus on my route because I stayed to visit the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Museum traveling exhibit Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race which is in the Countway Library at Harvard Medical School through July 17th. After viewing the exhibit, we went into the conference center for the public program where we learned more about physician involvement in the Nazi regime and heard from Irene Hizme, a twin who was an Auschwitz child survivor thanks to a nurse that hid her under her skirt when they went to gas the remaining twins whom they were doing "medical" experiments on (she was a guinea pig while her twin brother was the control.
How could doctors be involved in organized torture and mass murder when medicine is to help cure? Physicians were called on to select who should die. During Hitler's reign about 50% physicians supported the Nazi party. Using Eugenics to eliminate weak genes for the master race. This started with sterilization of those with infectious germs, alcoholism, malformations and eventually lead to what most of us think of when we think of Nazi Germany and concentration camps. What I found interesting was the U.S. had 30 states that had sterilization laws, "Fitter Family" contests were held, using a US hereditary chart, if you were a WASP, you and your family were a fitter family. Most older physicians more than likely were taught from the anatomy book created by one of the Nazi physicians who used cadavers he acquired from camps to study the human body. These doctors were not tried for eugenics but for experiments done on humans. What is interesting is in the US criminals and others were being used for experiments and injected with cancer, hepatitis and syphilis (and not give penicillin to treat). There are some parallels between what was done in the 40s and what we are doing today (genetic testing/screening for genetic disease, physician assisted suicide, criminal punishment) the only difference is in the 40s, they were state sponsored while now it is an individual choice. Such an interesting program and encourage you to take a look as this is something most history books do not discuss.
Photo is from part of the exhibit "10 Commandments for Choosing a Mate" and reads:
1. Remember that you are a German
2. If you are hereditarily healthy, you should not remain unmarried
3. Keep your body pure (of venereal diseases)
4. You should keep your mind and spirit pure!
5. As a German choose only a spouse of the same or Nordic blood
6. In choosing a spouse, ask about his ancestors
7. Health is a requirement also for physical beauty
8. Marry only for love
9. Seek a companion in marriage and not a playmate
10. You should wish for as many children as possible
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