Nazi persecutee and opponent of racial hygiene: The extraordinary life of the "ethnopathologist" Max Kuczynski (1890-1967).

The pathologist Max Kuczynski (1890-1967) gained recognition for his bacteriological research but is also considered the founder of the so-called ethnopathology. As a "non-Aryan," Kuczynski emigrated from Nazi Germany to Peru, where his elder son was later even to become president. However, the circumstances surrounding the end of Kuczynski's career in Germany are hardly known. This article takes this research gap as an opportunity to reconstruct his life, the circumstances of his emigration, and his work in South America. Numerous archival documents serve as sources. In the mid-1920s, Kuczynski developed "ethnic pathology," a new interdisciplinary approach that offered a counter-concept to the increasingly popular racial hygiene in Germany. But his career in Germany ended even before the Nazis came to power in 1933. He was dismissed from the Charité Pathological Institute in October 1932 at the instigation of its new director, Robert Rössle (1876-1956). Personal and financial reasons played a role, but Kuczynski's rejection of racial hygiene may also have been a decisive factor: Rössle himself turned increasingly to questions of racial hygiene in the Third Reich and used the corpses of Nazi victims for his research. It can be shown that the circumstances of Kuczynski's dismissal were already catalyzed by anti-Semitic and eugenic tendencies, which were to unleash themselves radically in Germany only a few months later - and even caught up with him in Peruvian exile.

Persecutee in the Third Reich, full professor in the GDR: The communist physician Carl Coutelle (1908-1993) and his post-war career as pathologist.

As an avowed communist, Carl Coutelle was one of the few (future) pathologists persecuted for purely political reasons in the Third Reich. Despite this peculiarity, his life has received little attention. The present article takes the existing research desideratum as an opportunity to elaborate on Coutelle's fate during the Nazi era, but also on his academic rise to the position of full professor at the University of Halle (GDR). The analysis is based on extensive files from various German archives. The article pursues a twofold question: On the one hand, it seems necessary to clarify how Coutelle's life between 1933 and 1945 can be characterized and classified, and on the other hand, it is of interest whether he owed his career in the GDR primarily to scientific merit or to state support. It can be shown that Coutelle's career path reflects the prevailing political power relations: With the beginning of the Third Reich, Coutelle was completely disenfranchised because of his political views; he was forced to emigrate, interrupted his nascent scientific career, and became actively involved in the international anti-fascist resistance. After the war, Coutelle became one of the protagonists of the socialist transformation and denazification of the health care system in the Soviet Occupation Zone. Now his career took the opposite course: Although his research performance was below average compared to other pathologists from the GDR, the avowed communist was appointed full professor - due to state intervention and against the declared will of the faculty in Halle.

Gatekeepers of Extermination: SS Camp Physicians and Their Scope of Action.

The role of camp physicians of the Waffen-SS ("Armed SS," military branch of the Nazi Party's Schutzstaffel) in the implementation of the Holocaust has been the subject of limited research, even though they occupied a key position in the extermination process. From 1943 and 1944 onward, SS camp physicians made the individual medical decisions on whether each prisoner was fit for work or was immediately subjected to extermination, not only at the Auschwitz labor and extermination camp but also in pure labor camps like Buchenwald and Dachau. This was due to a functional change in the concentration camp system during World War II, where the selection of prisoners, which had previously been carried out by nonmedical SS camp staff, became a main task of the medical camp staff. The initiative to transfer sole responsibility for the selections came from the physicians themselves and was influenced by structural racism, sociobiologically oriented medical expertise, and pure economic rationality. It can be seen as a further radicalization of the decision making practiced until then in the murder of the sick. However, there was a far-reaching scope of action within the hierarchical structures of the Waffen-SS medical service on both the macro and micro levels. But what can this teach us for medical practice today? The historical experience of the Holocaust and Nazi medicine can provide a moral compass for physicians to be sensitive to the potential for abuse of power and ethical dilemmas inherent in medicine. Thus, the lessons from the Holocaust could be a starting point for reflecting on the value of human life in the modern economized and highly hierarchical medical sector.

The ideological roots of Nazi eugenics in pathology and its pioneers Martin Staemmler, Ludwig Aschoff, Robert Rössle, and Georg B. Gruber.

This study examines the ideological roots of Nazi eugenics and racial hygiene in the medical field of pathology and its key figures Martin Staemmler (1890-1974), Ludwig Aschoff (1886-1942), Robert Rössle (1876-1956), and Georg B. Gruber (1884-1977). The focus is on their specific approaches to racial hygiene and its legitimization by pathology and its representatives. The study is based primarily on the scientific works and statements of these four pathologists on the content of racial hygiene and the impact of these contributions on Nazi eugenics and its practical implementation in the Third Reich. The paper provides three key findings: (1) Staemmler, Aschoff, Rössle, and Gruber each had a significant impact on the implementation of Nazi eugenics and the legitimization of the Third Reich's health and population policies. (2) They all proclaimed the superiority of the Volksgemeinschaft ('people's community') over the individual and pursued the major objective of ensuring Volksgesundheit ('national health') by preventing the spread of hereditary diseases through sterilizations. (3) The specific relationship to racial hygiene was different for each of the four pathologists: Staemmler had a direct vision of racial hygiene in a national socialist context, Aschoff was committed to the subject long before 1933 and used the Nazi rise to power to reaffirm and expand his position, Rössle and Gruber adopted racial hygiene ideas not until the mid-1930 s, but later radicalized their views and lent additional legitimacy to Nazi eugenics in theory and practice. (4) Albeit to varying degrees, all four pathologists bear some responsibility for the medical crimes that resulted from Nazi eugenics and the related policies. It can be concluded that Staemmler, Aschoff, Rössle, and Gruber made considerable contributions to the theory of Nazi eugenics and provided the much-needed scientific legitimization for the Third Reich's health and population policies.

From Germany to Venezuela: The two careers of the Jewish-born pathologist Rudolf Jaffé (1885-1975).

The pathologist Rudolf Jaffé (1885-1975) is considered one of the most important specialists of his time - even though he had to flee from the Nazis and attempt a professional restart in South America. The article examines the concrete background of his emigration to South America and the factors that enabled Jaffé to establish pathology as a scientific discipline in Venezuela. Various archival documents and materials from the private archives of Jaffé's descendants serve as sources. These documents are supplemented by relevant secondary literature. Jaffé's career can be divided into four phases: (1) Jaffé's broad education, which qualified him for his later work in Venezuela. (2) Jaffé's professional activity at the Senckenberg Institute of Pathology in Frankfurt. (3) His career peak in Germany as head of the Institute of Pathology in Berlin-Moabit, and finally (4) his forced emigration to Venezuela, where he became the doyen of the field of pathology. It can be shown that Jaffé's great scientific success, even after his emigration, was based on three factors: his exceptional personality, his broad, multifaceted training, and the special conditions in Venezuela.

From emigration to remigration: The Jewish pathologist Fritz Meyer (1875-1953) and his extraordinary life course.

Fritz Meyer (1875-1953) is undoubtedly one of the most enigmatic pathologists and internists of his time: He emerged early as a major researcher in the field of infectious diseases. Later, he also focused on heart and lung diseases and became a celebrity doctor who treated ambassadors and prominent contemporaries of the United States. The course of his life was as unusual as his professional activities: At the beginning of the Third Reich, Meyer experienced far-reaching repression due to his Jewish ancestry, which led to forced emigration to the USA. Although he achieved professional success in his new homeland, he returned to Germany in 1948 - as one of very few Jewish emigrants from the Third Reich. This article takes these peculiarities as an opportunity to take a closer look at Fritz Meyer: It recapitulates the biography and scientific merits of the Jewish pathologist and pays special attention to the background of his emigration to the USA and his later remigration to Germany. The central basis of the study are contemporary newspaper articles and various archival sources evaluated for the first time. These sources are compared with the sparse secondary literature on Meyer and other persecuted pathologists. The results of the study can be summarized in five points: (1) Meyer's research on infectious diseases - especially diphtheria, tuberculosis and serum therapy - was considered leading-edge at the time. (2) Meyer suffered widespread repression after 1933, which led him to emigrate to the United States in 1935. (3) Thanks to influential contacts, he was able to continue his professional career in the U.S. almost seamlessly. (4) In the postwar period, he decided to return to Germany, mainly out of attachment to Europe. (5) His reintegration in Germany seemed to be successful - however, he died only a few years after his remigration. The analysis leads to the conclusion that Meyer's social reintegration in postwar Germany was significantly facilitated by his professional reputation and his largely apolitical demeanor in public; nevertheless, it can be shown that he secretly lamented the lack of consciousness of guilt of the German postwar population. Several indications cast doubt on his intention to remain permanently in Germany. This includes the fact that he held on to his U.S. citizenship until the end of his life and that his wife remained in the United States.

Success or failure? Pathologists persecuted under National Socialism and their careers after emigrating to the United States.

This study examines the biographies of pathologists persecuted by the National Socialists after their emigration from the German Reich to the USA. The work is based on primary sources from various archives and a systematic evaluation of secondary literature on the persons concerned. The study yields five central results: (1) Out of 118 identified persecuted pathologists, a total of 91 persons left the German Reich, 60 of them demonstrably to the USA. (2) The majority of the pathologists immigrated to the USA between 1938 and 1941. (3) A good two thirds of the pathologists were (again) employed in the USA as university teachers, the majority in the leading position of Full Professor. (4) The preferred area of employment was the East Coast of the USA. (5) The labor market situation was particularly favorable for specialized pathologists. It can be concluded that the majority of the emigrated pathologists studied succeeded in continuing or even expanding their professional careers in the USA, with existing academic networks playing a noticeable role. Pathology thus occupies a special position in the context of the migration history of persecuted physicians under National Socialism.