INTRODUCTION

Medicine under National Socialism raises profound questions about medical and research ethics. How was it possible that men and women sworn to the Hippocratic tradition of nihil nocere (to do no harm), trained as professionals in one of the most advanced scientific cultures, could disregard the dignity of human beings, ignore principles of informed consent, beneficence, and care and commit crimes of previously unseen proportions? Did they know that they were committing a crime, and how did they sanction their role? The history of medicine under Nazism strongly conflicts with traditional views and expectations of professional medical conduct, and thus needs to be assessed in its specific ideological and cultural context. The complexities surrounding these issues are an integral part of a wider political history of medicine and history of ideas. How do ideological and political formations shape the understanding of ethics and the code of conduct of the medical profession? How can we explain that most of the doctors did not value the life of the individual higher than their duty toward the state, the community, the party, or the Führer?

This chapter provides a contextualized and cross-cultural account of Nazi medicine and political ideology and discusses the extent to which medical ethics was shaped by racial theories and politics. Key ideological concepts of National Socialism such as its deeply rooted racism, racial hygiene, the concept of the Volkskörper (body politic), and anti-Semitism need to be addressed.