Thirty Neurological Eponyms Associated with the Nazi Era

Abstract

In the 1920s, the neurosciences in Germany were world-class. Then came Hitler’s regime, and with it 2 distinct changes happened to the research milieus in Berlin and elsewhere. First, the persecution of Jews and others deprived Germany of many of its most outstanding scientists. Second, numerous German and Austrian physicians became active in National Socialist (NS)-euthanasia programs. In recent years, the medical community has become more aware of the ethical burden associated with eponyms derived from scientists of the Third Reich. Yet a list of these eponyms with emphasis on clinical neurology is still missing. This paper therefore reviews 30 neurological eponyms derived from 29 physicians who lived in the Nazi era. Among them are victims who were forced out of the country or murdered in concentration camps, protestors who risked their academic careers and often their lives, beneficiaries who published on brains from ‘euthanized’ children, and collaborators who were directly involved in the planning and execution of NS-euthanasia programs.

Nonoriginal Malappropriate Eponymous Nomenclature

“…Franz Wegener (Wegener's granulomatosis) was a member of the Nazi party and may have been involved in human experiments at the Łodz Jewish ghetto [3]. Many other examples have been reported, including Asperger's syndrome, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome [4]. René Leriche's eponymous distinction has also been questioned on the grounds that he was active in the Vichy government and responsible for denouncing Jewish physicians [5].…”

“…René Leriche's eponymous distinction has also been questioned on the grounds that he was active in the Vichy government and responsible for denouncing Jewish physicians [5]. However, several eponymous diseases are named after victims of Nazi persecution, including Lewy-body dementia, Niemann-Pick's disease, Pompe's disease and Wallenberg's syndrome [4].…”

Robert Wartenberg, MD (1887–1956)

“…He married Baroness Isabelle von Sazenhofen in 1929, but soon the Nazis' virulent regime of anti-Semitism [1] forced him to flee Germany in 1935. After junior appointments in Neurology at the University of California, he was eventually appointed Clinical Professor of Neurology in 1952.…”

Tainted eponyms in medicine: the "Clara" cell joins the list

“…We should also appreciate a fact that is often overlooked, namely that some eponyms honour victims and survivors of the Nazi regime, and not the perpetrators [14,15]. Neurology, another field with considerable eponymophilia, provides some evidence in this regard: Tinel's test, for example, honours a physician who fought in the French resistance movement during the Second World War, whereas Joannes Cassianus Pompe, after whom a glycogen storage disease is named, was executed for his participation in the Dutch resistance movement [15].…”

“…Neurology, another field with considerable eponymophilia, provides some evidence in this regard: Tinel's test, for example, honours a physician who fought in the French resistance movement during the Second World War, whereas Joannes Cassianus Pompe, after whom a glycogen storage disease is named, was executed for his participation in the Dutch resistance movement [15]. Should we perhaps keep those eponyms, as they clearly honour brave and upright people?…”