Dissecting the history of anatomy in the Third Reich—1989–2010: A personal account

Current status of identification of victims of the National Socialist regime whose bodies were used for anatomical purposes

“…First inquiries during the 1980s into the possibility of anatomical specimens stemming from NS victims still existing in German anatomies were initially focused on the possible remains of Jewish citizens (Seidelman, ). However, studies since then have shown a much wider variety of NS victims being delivered to anatomical departments.…”

“…In Tübingen, students' inquiries and an investigation by the municipal authority (Schönhagen, ) led to the realization that bodies of NS victims had been used and buried in the local cemetery, and the question of a continued existence of specimens hailing from these bodies arose. This, together with the October 1989 admission by the MPI acknowledging the existence of brain‐specimens from NS victims, finally prompted the broadcasting of regional and national TV programs on the subject in late 1988 and early 1989 (Weindling, ; Seidelman, ). An international outcry followed and the Israeli Religion Minister demanded from German chancellor Helmut Kohl the delivery of all remains of NS victims for proper burial (Dickman, 1989).…”

Humane Education: The Tool for Scientific Revolution in Brazil

“…These regulations were based on patient autonomy and reinforced the doctrine of informed consent (Jochen -Vollmann, 1995;Vollmann and Winau, 1996;Reich Minister of the Interior, 1931). Unfortunately, these legal parameters were not enough to protect vulnerable humans during the Nazi period, as described in the Nuremberg Trials (Nuremberg Military Tribunals, 1946); nor did they prevent other unethical human experimentation across the Western world (Comisióntécnica, 2011; Frieden and Collins, 2010;Horner, 1999;Seidelman, 2012). These historical accounts bring to mind the power relations involved in human and animal experimentation, where sentient beings are transformed into scientific instruments (Comisión-técnica, 2011;Horner, 1999;Teixeira, 2011;Torrey and Yolken, 2010).…”

Nazi Medicine—Part 2: The Downfall of a Profession and Pernkopf's Anatomy Atlas

“…The signatures with Nazi symbols, coupled with images in the atlas of a circumcised and cachectic man shorn of hair caused some to suspect that Pernkopf used cadavers of Jewish concentration camp victims for dissections [4,5,21,25,31]. In 1995, fueled by an article that recounted the stormy days of Vienna Medical School's World War II past [13], medical professors from North America [22,23,26,27,38], Canada [30], and the United Kingdom [14] reexamined Pernkopf's history and his involvement in medical atrocities [21].…”