TY - JOUR
T1 - The problematic legacy of victim specimens from the Nazi era
T2 - Identifying the persons behind the specimens at the Max Planck Institutes for Brain Research and of Psychiatry
AU - Weindling, Paul
AU - Hohendorf, Gerrit
AU - Hüntelmann, Axel C.
AU - Kindel, Jasmin
AU - Kinzelbach, Annemarie
AU - Loewenau, Aleksandra
AU - Neuner, Stephanie
AU - Palacz, Michał Adam
AU - Zingler, Marion
AU - Czech, Herwig
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Brain research
KW - German-occupied Poland
KW - Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft (KWG)/Kaiser Wilhelm Society
KW - Max Planck Institute for Brain Research (MPIBR)
KW - Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (MPIP)
KW - Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG)/Max Planck Society
KW - Nazi Germany
KW - Nazi “euthanasia”
KW - Typhus (Fleckfieber)
KW - human tissues
KW - neuropathology
KW - prisoners of war (POWs)
KW - research ethics
KW - victims of Nazi persecution
KW - “race hygiene”
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117298085&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0964704X.2021.1959185
DO - 10.1080/0964704X.2021.1959185
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85117298085
SN - 0964-704X
VL - 32
SP - 218
EP - 239
JO - Journal of the History of the Neurosciences
JF - Journal of the History of the Neurosciences
IS - 2
ER -