The Lancet Commission on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust: historical evidence, implications for today, teaching for tomorrow

Czech, Herwig; Hildebrandt, Sabine; Reis, Shmuel P; Chelouche, Tessa; Fox, Matthew; González-López, Esteban; Lepicard, Etienne; Ley, Astrid; Offer, Miriam; Ohry, Avi; Rotzoll, Maike; Sachse, Carola; Siegel, Sari J; Šimůnek, Michal; Teicher, Amir; Uzarczyk, Kamila; von Villiez, Anna; Wald, Hedy S; Wynia, Matthew K; Roelcke, Volker

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(23)01845-7

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…The Lancet Commission report and its universal messages have striking global and local relevance with timely implications and recommendations. It hopes to engender a "critical reflection on the connections between the historical and contemporary values and ethics of health professionals" [1] as part of professional training which impacts health professionals' role in society including global conflicts. Grappling with the history of the medical profession's pervasive complicity in Nazism and the Holocaust supports development of morally conscious and resilient health professionals who will thus be able to dispel false healthcare narratives with factual misinformation [6] and who would subsequently act as evidencebased, [6] morally grounded "enlightened change agents" [7].…”

Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…History-informed professional identity formation, as introduced and elaborated on within the Lancet Commission report, states that the moral responsibility for speaking up is essential for the health professional [1]. The Statement accompanying the report thus condemns Hamas' crimes "in the strongest terms, " and denounces the "perpetrators' use of their own people (including patients and staff in health-care facilities) as human shields" [3].…”

Section: A Perspective On Implications Of the Report Of The Lancet Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However with extraordinary speed after 1933, it crossed into conduct: first, systematic pseudo-legal discrimination and ultimately, a program of technocratic genocide" [45]. History informs us that even within Germany of the 1930s, so highly developed in academia with many Nobel laureates, the Nazification of medical education and the health professions [1] espoused ethics codes in medical faculties which included teaching about the unequal worth of human beings and the moral imperative of preserving a "pure" Aryan people. The Zeitgeist supported the authoritarian role of the physician, and the priority of a twisted public health over that of humane individual patient care [46].…”

Section: Medical Journals Academia and The War In Gazamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The recently released report of The Lancet Commission on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust [1] calls for the teaching of this tragic and distinctive history to be required in all health professions education in order to foster health professionals who are ethically resilient, resistant to coercion and temptation, and morally courageous, speaking up when necessary [1]. It thus addresses the moral education of health professionals, including underlining their unique responsibilities as well as those of their academic institutions and professional associations to eliminate antisemitism, racism, and all forms of discrimination [1]. The inclusion of medicine and the Holocaust in the curriculum is meant to "….provide an opportunity to reflect on the role of the doctor in society" [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inclusion of medicine and the Holocaust in the curriculum is meant to "….provide an opportunity to reflect on the role of the doctor in society" [2]. In this vein, the report also recommends adding the detection and prevention of war crimes, mass atrocities, human rights violations, crimes against humanity and genocide to the ethos of medicine and desired health professionals' competencies [1,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Hamas massacre of Oct 7, 2023, and its aftermath, medical crimes, and the Lancet commission report on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust

Reis,

Wald

2024

Isr J Health Policy Res

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Background The report of the Lancet Commission on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust, released in November 2023, calls for this history to be required for all health professions education, to foster morally courageous health professionals who speak up when necessary. Main body The report was released a month after Hamas’ October 7 invasion of Israel, with the accompanying massacre of over 1200 people, taking of civilian hostages, and gender-based violence. These acts constitute crimes against humanity including genocide. Post-October 7, war in Gaza resulted, with a legitimate objective of Israel defending itself within international law. The authors discuss an accompanying Statement to the report condemning Hamas crimes and denouncing the perpetrators’ use of their own civilians as human shields, including in healthcare facilities, and with the Hamas attack unleashing immense and ongoing suffering in Israel and beyond. With some exceptions, the medical literature shows a marked absence of condemnation of Hamas atrocities and includes unsubstantiated criticisms of Israel’s military. A significant surge in global antisemitism including on university campuses since October 7, 2023, has occurred; and health professionals, according to the Commission, have a special responsibility to fight antisemitism and discrimination of all kinds. In this context, the authors discuss the controversy and criticism regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion education programs (“DEI”) including such programs failing to protect Jews on campuses, especially as the U.S. President Biden’s “The U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism,” released in May 2023, calls for the inclusion of issues of antisemitism and religious discrimination within all DEI education programs. The authors support an evidence-based approach to the Hamas massacre, its aftermath and its relevance to health professionals both within medicine and their global citizenship, including refuting the international community accusations and anti-Israel libel. Conclusions The report of the Lancet Commission on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust has striking relevance to the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023 and its aftermath. This is further conveyed in an accompanying Statement, that describes the report’s implications for contemporary medicine, including: 1) provision of skills required to detect and prevent crimes against humanity and genocide; (2) care for victims of atrocities; (3) upholding the healing ethos central to the practice of medicine; and (4) fostering history-informed morally courageous health professionals who speak up when necessary.

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Section: Main Textmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Perspective On Implications Of the Report Of The Lancet Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Medical Journals Academia and The War In Gazamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Hamas massacre of Oct 7, 2023, and its aftermath, medical crimes, and the Lancet commission report on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust

Reis,

Wald

2024

Isr J Health Policy Res

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Luxenburger's 1939 Essay on “Schizophrenia and its Hereditary Circle”

Kendler,

Klee

2024

American J of Med Genetics Pt B

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In 1939, Hans Luxenburger published a detailed overview of the current status of schizophrenia genetics research, reaching six major conclusions. First, schizophrenia is clearly a hereditary disease. Second, however, schizophrenia is not the hereditary trait itself but rather the consequences of a slowly developing biological progress, the nature of which remains entirely unknown. Third, the full manifestation of the disorder requires certain environmental influences that must come into play. In around 30% of cases, the environment can inhibit hereditary factors so that the predisposition does not manifest in schizophrenia. Fourth, the mode of inheritance of schizophrenia remains unknown, although recessivity is more likely than dominance and monomerism is more likely than polymerism. Fifth, current evidence suggests that schizophrenia is likely etiologically homogenous. Sixth, schizophrenia is part of a hereditary circle that includes “normal” variants of the human personality (schizothymia), a pathological version of this dimension (schizoidia), and other schizophrenia‐like delusional syndromes. Luxenburger is skeptical of efforts to clarify further Mendelian transmission models in the absence of pathophysiological markers because schizophrenia cannot serve as a typical phenotype for genetic analysis. By contrast, he strongly supports empirical work on hereditary prognosis, which does not depend on assumptions about any particular phenotype–genotype relationship.

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The history of the Vienna Protocol on dealing with Holocaust era human remains and its resonance with ethical considerations in African American bioarcheology

Hildebrandt

2024

American Journal of Biological Anthropology

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The Vienna Protocol on How to Deal with Holocaust Era Human Remains describes what to do when possibly Jewish human remains are found. Based on Jewish medical ethics, it responds to the 2014–2017 discoveries of human remains stemming from biomedical contexts of the Nazi period. Among the finding sites were the Dahlem campus of the Free University of Berlin, the Medical University of Strasbourg, and Max Planck Institute archives. The Vienna Protocol is unique among similar recommendations on Nazi era human remains in its representation of the voices of those who suffered violence and were targeted as victims by Nazi persecution. In addition to discussing the ethics of dealing with physical human remains, these recommendations address the use of images (i.e., visual data) from the bodies of victims of Nazi violence. This paper presents the historical background of the Vienna Protocol and its impact. It also offers a first analysis as to why, at the time of the protocol's formulation, its authors were unaware of its resonance with ethical considerations from African American bioarcheology and a new ethical culture in bioanthropology. Potential reasons for this disconnect may include the historic marginalization of the voices of black scholars in anthropology within the wider scientific community. However, more detailed studies are needed to analyze similarities and differences between the histories and continuities of antisemitism and racism in Europe and the U.S.A., and their ties with scientific theories and practices of disciplines that gain knowledge from human remains.

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The Lancet Commission on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust: historical evidence, implications for today, teaching for tomorrow

Cited by 18 publications

References 272 publications

The Hamas massacre of Oct 7, 2023, and its aftermath, medical crimes, and the Lancet commission report on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust

The Hamas massacre of Oct 7, 2023, and its aftermath, medical crimes, and the Lancet commission report on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust

Luxenburger's 1939 Essay on “Schizophrenia and its Hereditary Circle”

The history of the Vienna Protocol on dealing with Holocaust era human remains and its resonance with ethical considerations in African American bioarcheology

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