Abstract

The participation of German physicians in medical experiments on innocent people and mass murder is one of the most disturbing aspects of the Nazi era and the Holocaust. Six distinguished historians working in this field are addressing the critical issues raised by these murderous experiments, such as the place of the Holocaust in the larger context of eugenic and racial research, the motivation and roles of the German medical establishment, and the impact and legacy of the eugenics movements and Nazi medical practice on physicians and medicine since World War II.

Based on the authors' original scholarship, these essays offer an excellent and very accessible introduction to an important and controversial subject. They are also particularly relevant in light of current controversies over the nature and application of research in human genetics and biotechnology.

Francis R. Nicosia is the Raul Hilberg Distinguished Professor of Holocaust Studies at the University of Vermont. He is the author of The Third Reich and the Palestine Question, and co-author of The Columbia Guide to the Holocaust.

”Brief and synthetic as the essays are, they will…be of most use to students or to those new to the field. However, they provide engaging reading for those with more in-depth knowledge too.”  ·  Journal of Modern History

"Educators and students owe a debt of gratitude ... all of the articles in this anthology are readily accessible to the non-specialist without compromising the cutting-edge scholarship that informs them."  · ISIS

"This in an engrossing book ... morally challenging to all physicians."   · Journal of the American Medical Association

"... extraordinarily valuable essays combine perspectives from history, sociology, demography, and anthropology."  · Choice

"Excellent introductory and concluding chapters summarize the explanatory factor that historians have so far singled out."  · History: Reviews of New Books

"... excellent orientation for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as physicians and the general public ... All in all, this is a stimulating set of essays that deserves a wide readership."  · H-German

Jonathan Huener is assistant professor of History at the University of Vermont where he teaches courses on the Holocaust, German history, and Polish history. He is the author of the forthcoming book German Deeds, Polish Soil, Jewish Shoah: Auschwitz Memory and the Politics of Commemoration.