Tödliche Wissenschaft: Die Aussonderung von Juden, Zigeunern und Geisteskranken, 1933-1945 (Rororo aktuell)

by Benno Müller-Hill

German

Genres: Science, Medicine

187 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published April 28, 1988

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author, a German geneticist, ends his survey of the collaboration of scientists with the politics of the Nazis by writing: "To sum up, it is the duty of human geneticists to predict the possible social consequences of genetic research and to act accordingly. I fear that new eugenics will again become kakogenics with massive misuse of genetic knowledge. Indeed, I would be most happy if I am proven wrong by history."

With a contribution by James D. Watson, "Murderous Science" illustrates the abuse of genetic research in terms of the period of Nazi rule, 1933-45. The implications, however, are much broader, this book serving to caution us about the potential abuse of scientific research in many fields. In the case of Germany, the motive was primarily political. In the case of the Allies during the war, the motive for the development of nuclear physics was both political and military. In the contemporary world, as noted in the Watson essay, the motivation is often economic. In all these cases, the fruits of scientific research are often employed toward effects damaging to persons, to populations, to the planet. In light of this, the author pessimistically questions the ideal of unfettered, open scientific research.

[K De · Rating 5 out of 5]

Benno Muller-Hill is a biologist who has a deep interest in the role of German science with the Nazi programs of euthanasia. The exploration is embodied in his book "Murderous Science". He writes about the involvement of geneticists, anthropologists, and psychiatrists in the extermination of Gypsies, mental patients, and Jews with a emphasis on the early stages of the war. The corruption of the institutes of higher learning and research, mainly the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes, by the Nazi government and its SS component. Of the first half of book which is covered.

The second half of the book are interviews with scientists and associates. It is not informative because to the person everyone denies their knowledge of extermination programs like T4 or 14f13 by SS offices. Denies the fact their superiors or colleagues had knowledge or actually participated in the writing of expert papers that lead to patients in psychiatric institutes being exterminated begs credulity.

This is a important book in the expanding literature of Nazi extermination programs and the involvement of German sciences. Well worth reading the translated English version.