The two lives of neurologist Helmut J. Bauer (1914–2008)

Abstract

In 2008, the internationally renowned neurologist and university professor Helmut Johannes Bauer died at the age of 93 years. In the numerous obituaries and tributes to him, the years between 1933 and 1945 are either omitted or simplified; the Nazi past of Helmut Bauer has hardly been explored. Based on original documents dating from the Third Reich and the early Federal Republic of Germany as well as relevant secondary writings, Bauer's life before 1945 was traced to gain knowledge of his exact activities and tasks during the Second World War. Bauer was actively involved in Nazi crimes. He was a member of the so-called Künsberg special command of the SS and also worked in a prominent position at the Institute for Microbiology as well as for the Foreign Department of the Reich Physicians' Chamber. After World War II, Bauer underwent denazification and, like many others, was able to pursue his further medical career undisturbed, building on the contacts he had already made during the Nazi period.

Historical review: the German Neurological Society and its honorary members (1952–1982)

“…As shown above by the example of Gustav Bodechtel, judgments were usually followed by successful appeals. The respective trials were made a mockery of when even members of the SA and SS were classified as “followers” and as “exonerated”; a status that applies especially to honorary members of the DGN, like Jacob, Zülch [ 40 ], and Bauer [ 83 ]. Hence the 1950s were shaped by a process of generous amnesty and reintegration of former Nazi supporters, which, when it concerned the past, was accompanied by a “consensus of silence,” leading to a continuation of elites.…”

Unsettling Realities of Nazism and the Legacy of the German Neurological Society

“…The life histories of Klaus Joachim Zülch, Helmut J. Bauer and Gustav Bodechtel are typical of many other neurologists. The key documents for the reconstructions of these biographies are now available 12,49–51 …”