The Spiegelgrund-Complex: Pediatrics, Therapeutic Pedagogy, Psychiatry, and Youth Welfare under National Socialism

Am Spiegelgrund, originally an exclusively topographic term, during WW II designated one of the most important killing facilities in the ‘children’s euthansia’ program. It was part of the City of Vienna’s public health and welfare system. Its creation in 1940 coincided with attempts to establish Therapeutic Pegagogy as a new discipline in Germany, based on the principles of race hygiene and dominated by the influence of medical doctors. With ‘children’s euthanasia’ an organisation was created that allowed the permanent selection and extermination of children who were deemed of little or no biological or economic value to the German body politic. Everywhere, children and youths were assessed, segregated, and selected in order to separate the ‘worthy’ from the ‘unworthy.’ Between 1940 and 1945, altogether 789 children and youths lost their lives in the Spiegelgrund facility. The systematic identification of potential victims for this campaign was only possible due to the cooperation of numerous institutions and individuals. The most important among them was the City of Vienna’s Children Admittance Center (KÜST), but there were also important connections to Vienna University, most importantly to the Pediatric Clinic under Prof. Franz Hamburger. One of his assistants, Dr. Elmar Türk performed lethal tuberculosis experiments on children from Spiegelgrund. The head of the clinic’s Ward for Therapeutic Pedagogy (Heilpädagogische Abteilung), Dr. Hans Asperger, was also responsible for transferrals of children to the Spiegelgrund clinic.Am Spiegelgrund, originally an exclusively topographic term, during WW II designated one of the most important killing facilities in the ‘children’s euthansia’ program. It was part of the City of Vienna’s public health and welfare system. Its creation in 1940 coincided with attempts to establish Therapeutic Pegagogy as a new discipline in Germany, based on the principles of race hygiene and dominated by the influence of medical doctors. With ‘children’s euthanasia’ an organisation was created that allowed the permanent selection and extermination of children who were deemed of little or no biological or economic value to the German body politic. Everywhere, children and youths were assessed, segregated, and selected in order to separate the ‘worthy’ from the ‘unworthy.’ Between 1940 and 1945, altogether 789 children and youths lost their lives in the Spiegelgrund facility. The systematic identification of potential victims for this campaign was only possible due to the cooperation of numerous institutions and individuals. The most important among them was the City of Vienna’s Children Admittance Center (KÜST), but there were also important connections to Vienna University, most importantly to the Pediatric Clinic under Prof. Franz Hamburger. One of his assistants, Dr. Elmar Türk performed lethal tuberculosis experiments on children from Spiegelgrund. The head of the clinic’s Ward for Therapeutic Pedagogy (Heilpädagogische Abteilung), Dr. Hans Asperger, was also responsible for transferrals of children to the Spiegelgrund clinic

From scientific exploitation to individual memorialization: Evolving attitudes towards research on Nazi victims’ bodies

During the Third Reich, state-sponsored violence was linked to scientific research on many levels. Prisoners were used as involuntary subjects for medical experiments, and body parts from victims were used in anatomy and neuropathology on a massive scale. In many cases, such specimens remained in scientific collections and were used until long after the war. International bioethics, for a long time, had little to say on the issue. Since the late 1980s, with a renewed interest in the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes, a consensus has increasingly taken hold that research on human tissues and body parts from the Nazi era is inadmissible, and that such specimens should be removed from scientific collections and buried. The question of what to do with scientific data obtained from these sources has not received adequate attention, however, and remains unsolved. This paper traces the history of debates about the ethical implications of using human tissue or body parts from the Nazi period for scientific purposes, primarily in the fields of anatomy and neuropathology. It also examines how this issue, from after the war until today, influenced the establishment of legal and bioethical norms on the use of human remains from morally tainted sources, with a particular emphasis on Germany and Austria. It is argued that the use of such specimens and of data derived from them is unethical not only because of potential harms to posthumous rights of the victims, but also because such use constitutes a moral harm to society at large

The problematic legacy of victim specimens from the Nazi era: Identifying the persons behind the specimens at the Max Planck Institutes for Brain Research and of Psychiatry

Although 75 years have passed since the end of World War II, the Max Planck Society (Max-Planck Gesellschaft, MPG), successor to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft, KWG), still must grapple with how two of its foremost institutes—the KWI of Psychiatry in Munich and the KWI for Brain Research in Berlin-Buch—amassed collections of brains from victims of Nazi crimes, and how these human remains were retained for postwar research. Initial efforts to deal with victim specimens during the 1980s met with denial and, subsequently, rapid disposal in 1989/1990. Despite the decision of the MPG’s president to retain documentation for historical purposes, there are gaps in the available sources. This article provides preliminary results of a research program initiated in 2017 (to be completed by October 2023) to provide victim identifications and the circumstances of deaths

Hans Asperger, National Socialism, and “race hygiene” in Nazi-era Vienna

Abstract Background Hans Asperger (1906–1980) first designated a group of children with distinct psychological characteristics as ‘autistic psychopaths’ in 1938, several years before Leo Kanner’s famous 1943 paper on autism. In 1944, Asperger published a comprehensive study on the topic (submitted to Vienna University in 1942 as his postdoctoral thesis), which would only find international acknowledgement in the 1980s. From then on, the eponym ‘Asperger’s syndrome’ increasingly gained currency in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the conceptualization of the condition. At the time, the fact that Asperger had spent pivotal years of his career in Nazi Vienna caused some controversy regarding his potential ties to National Socialism and its race hygiene policies. Documentary evidence was scarce, however, and over time a narrative of Asperger as an active opponent of National Socialism took hold. The main goal of this paper is to re-evaluate this narrative, which is based to a large extent on statements made by Asperger himself and on a small segment of his published work. Methods Drawing on a vast array of contemporary publications and previously unexplored archival documents (including Asperger’s personnel files and the clinical assessments he wrote on his patients), this paper offers a critical examination of Asperger’s life, politics, and career before and during the Nazi period in Austria. Results Asperger managed to accommodate himself to the Nazi regime and was rewarded for his affirmations of loyalty with career opportunities. He joined several organizations affiliated with the NSDAP (although not the Nazi party itself), publicly legitimized race hygiene policies including forced sterilizations and, on several occasions, actively cooperated with the child ‘euthanasia’ program. The language he employed to diagnose his patients was often remarkably harsh (even in comparison with assessments written by the staff at Vienna’s notorious Spiegelgrund ‘euthanasia’ institution), belying the notion that he tried to protect the children under his care by embellishing their diagnoses. Conclusion The narrative of Asperger as a principled opponent of National Socialism and a courageous defender of his patients against Nazi ‘euthanasia’ and other race hygiene measures does not hold up in the face of the historical evidence. What emerges is a much more problematic role played by this pioneer of autism research. Future use of the eponym should reflect the troubling context of its origins in Nazi-era Vienna

Annals of Anatomy Anatomischer Anzeiger / Nazi victims on the dissection table The Anatomical Institute in Innsbruck

Since Vienna Universitys 1997/98 inquiry into the background of Eduard Pernkopfs anatomical atlas, German and Austrian anatomical institutes have been forced to confront their past, particularly the widespread procurement of bodies of victims of National Socialism. This paper focuses on the Anatomical Institute in Innsbruck, which received bodies from an unusually broad array of sources: from prisoners executed at Stadelheim Prison in Munich, prisoners of war from three different camps, military personnel sentenced to death by martial courts, patients from a psychiatric hospital, and several bodies of Jewish Holocaust victims. As in other comparable cases, these bodies were used for scientific publications and medical teaching until long after the war. The Anatomical Institutes collection is currently undergoing a detailed analysis in order to identify any human remains dating from the Nazi period. At the Institute of Histology and Embryology, recent research has led to the discovery of approximately 200 histological slides pertaining to at least five individuals who had been executed under the Nazi regime. In a number of cases, the specimens had been provided by Prof. Max Clara, head of the Leipzig Institute of Anatomy. This study is based on an analysis of the Innsbruck Anatomical Institutes unusually detailed records and numerous documents from various archives, including files pertaining to an inquiry into the institute held after the war by the French occupation authorities.(VLID)490090

What Should Be Done with Pernkopf’s Anatomical Illustrations? A Commentary from the Medical University of Vienna

Thanks to a recent donation by Elsevier, the Medical University of Vienna now holds in its collections the known existing original paintings for Eduard Pernkopf's Atlas of Topographic and Applied Human Anatomy. This atlas is widely considered a pinnacle of the art of anatomical illustration. However, it is severely tainted by its historical origins. Pernkopf was a high-ranking National Socialist and co-responsible for the expulsion of hundreds of Jewish scientists and students from the university. Also, the Vienna Institute of Anatomy, which Pernkopf headed, received during the war the bodies of at least 1377 people executed by the regime, many for their political views or acts of resistance, including at least seven Jewish victims. Although it is impossible to individually identify the people used for the atlas, it is to be assumed that a considerable number of the paintings produced during and after the war are based on the bodies of these victims. Against this background, and out of respect for the victims, use of Pernkopf's atlas in medical teaching and training should be — wherever possible without compromising medical outcomes — reduced to a minimum. Given the strong variability of human anatomy, even the most detailed anatomical illustrations cannot replace teaching and training in the dissection room. As the experience at the Medical University of Vienna and elsewhere demonstrates, Pernkopf's atlas is far from irreplaceable. In keeping with the stipulations of the contract of donation, the Medical University of Vienna considers the Pernkopf originals primarily as historical artifacts, which will support the investigation and teaching of this dark chapter of the history of medicine in Austria, out of responsibility towards the victims. Table of Contents image credit: Medical University of Vienna, MUW-AD-003250-5-ABB-35

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

The work of the Commission and the Commission meetings were generously supported by the Israel Medical Association, Azrieli Foundation, Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah, the AvrahamHerman Research Institute of Contemporary Jewry, the Vienna MedicalAssociation, the Max Planck Society, the German Association forInternal Medicine, the German Association for Psychiatry, and the German Association for Pediatrics. This Commission owes its existence to William E Seidelman, who first approache