Dr. Haakon Sæthre: A Norwegian Neuroscientist and his Resistance against Nazi Germany

Dr. Haakon Sæthre was a leader of Norwegian neurology and psychiatry. He was resourceful, compassionate, and had immense pride in his independent homeland. He described Sæthre-Chotzen syndrome (acrocephalosyndactyly type III). When Nazi Germany occupied Norway during World War II, Sæthre fearlessly and actively resisted, from revoking his medical association membership, to hiding persecuted Jews as patients in his psychiatric ward and aiding in their escape to Sweden, to managing the largest “illegal” food warehouse in Oslo with Danish humanitarian aid. As a prominent and noticeable citizen, he was arrested and executed by the Nazis in reprisal for the resistance’s assassination of a hated Norwegian Nazi. His legacy lives on in Norway, where he was honored by a scholarship fund, a portrait and multiple plaques at Ullevål Hospital, and a street and memorial statue in his hometown. He was a hero, and should be remembered by all who practice neurology

Declining Use of the Hallervorden-Spatz Disease Eponym in the Last Two Decades

There has been a movement to rename Hallervorden-Spatz disease to pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration given Hallervorden and Spatz's complicity in murderous Nazi programs. Similar controversy surrounds Reiter syndrome, and 2 studies demonstrated decreased unqualified use of that eponym in the literature, but not in textbooks. There have been no similar studies regarding Hallervorden-Spatz disease. The authors performed a MEDLINE search (1990-2010) looking for unqualified use of Hallervorden-Spatz disease and performed statistical analysis. They defined "unqualified" as having no reference to the eponym's disfavored use. They then looked in 6 neurology textbooks. The authors identified 156 of 278 articles (56.1%) containing unqualified use of Hallervorden-Spatz disease. But there was a declining trend (P = .000), with 70/80 (87.5%) of articles from 1990 to 1999 and 86/198 (43.4%) from 2000 to 2010. There was also decreased unqualified use of the eponyms in textbooks, with all recent editions using pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration instead. The significant decrease in unqualified use of Hallervorden-Spatz disease is reassuring

New revelations about Hans Berger, father of the EEG, and his ties to the Third Reich

Hans Berger was a German neuropsychiatrist and head of the neurology department at the University of Jena, who discovered the human EEG. Many sources state that Berger was forced into retirement and suicide by the Nazis because he was at odds with the regime. In fact, Berger helped select his Nazi successor Berthold Kihn (also complicit in “euthanasia” murders), financially supported the Nazi SS, and was a willing participant on Nazi genetic health higher courts that reviewed appeals for forced sterilizations of neuropsychiatric patients. His motivations may be related to avoiding Nazi harassment, indoctrination by Nazi ideology, or less likely, career opportunism. His actions stand in contrast to colleagues who partially resisted the Nazis, and hopefully will serve as an example to future generations of neurologists regarding the danger of allowing one’s professional standing to be used as a tool to support the policies of tyranny and oppression