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Norman Ananda
UWRT 1102
Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
10 November 2015
Medical Science and Ethics under the Nazis: A Research review
During the Holocaust, German scientists and physicians carried out
painful and lethal experiments on individuals who were deemed inferior
by the Nazis such as Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and the disabled. Often
described as cruel and inhumane, these experiments were conducted with
no regard to ethics and claimed the lives of thousands of concentration
camp prisoners. Despite this fact, the experiments have greatly
influenced the laws in which modern science and medicine operate.
The book Racial Hygiene discusses how biomedical science operates
under government influence and how it was used as a tool to advance the
agenda of the German National Socialist movement during the Holocaust.
The image of the Nazis are usually painted as irrational, jack-booted
fanatics. Even though the National Socialist movement of the Nazi party
tends to be portrayed as one that is anti-intellectual, this assumption is
only partially true and somewhat misleading (Proctor 283). Robert Proctor
points out that this negative imagery fails to appreciate: (1) the extent to
which the National Socialist movement appealed to academics and
intellectuals, (2) the extent to which the Nazis were able to draw upon the

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imagery, results, authority of science, and (3) the extent to which the Nazi
ideology informed the practice of science (283).
In a way, one could say that science and politics formed a mutual
relationship during the Holocaust. As the academics supported Nazi
propaganda, so did the Nazi regime provide financial support towards
scientific endeavors. Although most can see that scientific discoveries has
its merits which help the survival and advancement of humankind one
should always be reminded to take into consideration the true cost of
these findings.
Ethics in biomedical science have come a long way since the
holocaust. New laws and codes have been established following the tragic
loss of thousands of lives during the Shoah. The most significant one in
particular is the inception of the Nuremberg Code.
Contributed in large by Dr. Leo Alexander, an American psychiatrist,
neurologist, educator, and author, the Nuremberg Codes established a set
of ethics and principles for human research and experimentation. It was
quite surprising that even though Dr. Alexander was of the opinion that
protection of research subjects were not the main lesson to be learned
under the Nazis, his commentaries on the atrocities of Nazi medicine
played such a tremendous impact on the creation of the Nuremberg code
(Jotkowitz 869).
We should be grateful and remember the lives that were given up
for the advancement of science, but we should also remind ourselves that

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sometimes sacrifices must be made in order for good to take place. As an


example, Rabbi Ephraim Oshry responds to a question asked on the
subject of giving a caesarean section on a deceased body in order to save
a babies life: When saving a life is involved we are not concerned with
desecration of the dead (Jokowitz 890). Desecration of the deceased
would normally violate ethics based off morals set by the Jewish Ideology.
I hope that my inquiry explanation has adequately illustrated idea
that the lives of many were not lost in vain. While difficult, I believe that
my sources and interpretation worked together to illustrate how ethics
and biomedical science has advanced under the influence of the Nazis.
Even though human lives were lost, humanity has furthered itself from
sacrifices through scientific findings and policies that were established
after the suffering of many that would benefit the lives of many
generations to come.

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Works Cited
Proctor, Robert. Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under The Nazis. Harvard UP,
1988. Print.
Jotkowitz, A. "The Holocaust and Medical Ethics: The Voices of the
Victims." Journal of Medical Ethics Vol. 34.No. 12: 869-70. BMJ. Web. 21
Sept. 2015

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Peer Review
I was unable to obtain a classmates paper in a timely manner due
to my internet being down. May I possibly have an extension to do so?

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