The recent apology from the German Medical Association is commendable, but it fails to mention many of the victims of Nazi medicine
On 23 May 2012, the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer [BAK]) issued a declaration — significantly, in Nuremberg — acknowledging the crimes perpetrated by their predecessors during World War II and asking for forgiveness. Several leading medical journals have responded with commentaries or editorials.1-4 My present reflections expand on those in a previous article,4 by providing further historical background to the BAK declaration and considering it in the context of Australian medicine.
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Livingston EH. German medical group: apology for Nazi physicians’ actions, warning for future. JAMA 2012; 308: 657-658.
- 2. Kolb S, Weindling P, Roelcke V, Seithe H. The art of medicine. Apologising for Nazi medicine: a constructive starting point. Lancet 2012; 380: 722-723.
- 3. Reis S. Reflections on the Nuremberg declaration of the German medical assembly. Isr Med Assoc J 2012; 14: 532-534.
- 4. Weisz GM. Comment on the German Medical Association declaration. Isr Med Assoc J 2012; 14: 531.
- 5. Nadav D. Medicine and Nazism. Jerusalem: Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2009.
- 6. Weisz GM. The darkest page in the history of medicine. Remember Nazi medicine. Newsletter of the Centre for Comparative Genocide Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, 1995; 1: 11-13.
- 7. Weisz GM. Nazi medicine and racial policy. Hektoen International. http://www.hektoeninternational.org/Nazi_medicine_&_racial_policy.html (accessed Nov 2012).
- 8. Kater MH. Doctors under Hitler. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press, 1989.
- 9. Herta Oberheuser. Jewish Virtual Library. http://jewishvirtual library.org/jsource/biography/hober.html (accessed Oct 2012).
- 10. Mounika Reddy. Nuremberg Code: first international code of human research. http://nut.bz/31o9pq5v/ (accessed Oct 2012).
No relevant disclosures.