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Anschluss 1938: Aftermath on Medicine and Society 1 3 History of Medicine

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Anschluss 1938: Aftermath on Medicine and Society 1 3 History of Medicine wiener klinische wochenschrift The Central European Journal of Medicine 130. Jahrgang 2018, Supplement 5 Wien Klin Wochenschr (2018) 130:S279–S341 https://​doi.org/​10.1007/​s00508-​018-​1366-4 © The Author(s) 2018 “Anschluss” March 1938: Aftermath on Medicine and Society International Conference of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna, held in Vienna on 12th and 13th March 2018 Guest editors: Wolfgang Schütz, Linda Erker, Oliver Rathkolb and Harald H. Sitte With contributions from: Wolfgang Schütz, Oliver Rathkolb, Sybille Steinbacher, Carmen Birkle, Klaus Taschwer, Ilse Reiter-Zatloukal, Paul Weindling, Margit Reiter, Hemma Mayrhofer, Birgit Nemec, Georg Psota, Susanne Schuett, Michael Freissmuth, Herwig Czech, Markus Müller, Marianne Enigl, Franz Vranitzky, Gudrun Harrer, and Harald H. Sitte Correspondence: Wolfgang Schütz Cover Picture: “Günter Brus // Selbstbemalung II // 1964”, courtesy of the artist history of medicine Table of Contents Editorial: “Anschluss” 1938 – what do we still feel? S281 Wolfgang Schütz1 1. Fortified Democracy 1938/2018 S282 Oliver Rathkolb: The Neglected Factors Leading to the “Anschluss” 1938 S285 Sybille Steinbacher: Nazi German Policies of Expansion and the Response of Europe’s Great Powers S291 Marianne Enigl, Gudrun Harrer, Wolfgang Schütz, Franz Vranitzky: Panel Disussion 2. Expulsion of Excellent Scientists and Doctors S295 Carmen Birkle: Vienna as Medical Contact Zone: American Doctors in the Austrian Capital in the Late 1930s S300 Klaus Taschwer: The Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna before and after the “Anschluss” 1938. Numbers and Facts Reflecting a Dramatic Decline S304 Ilse Reiter-Zatloukal: The ‘Purge’ of Vienna’s Medical Profession 1938–1945 3. Sustained Injury to Medicine S307 Paul Weindling: Jewish Physicians in Vienna at the Time of the Anschluss, and their Contributions to Health Care S310 Margit Reiter: Denazification – Reintegration – Political Fields of Action: NS-tainted Doctors after 1945 S314 Hemma Mayrhofer: The Long Shadows of the NS-Period: Children with Disabilities at the “Steinhof” between 1945 and 1983 4. Submissive Medicine S317 Birgit Nemec: Knowledge Landscapes of Anatomy in Periods of Political Change S322 Georg Psota, Susanne Schuett: The ‘Nazification’ of Austrian Psychiatry S326 Michael Freissmuth, Harald H. Sitte: The Anschluss in 1938 and the Diaspora of Pharmacology in Vienna S329 Herwig Czech: Paediatrics and Curative Paedagogy in National Socialist Vienna 5. The Aftermath of the “Anschluss” on Austrian Medicine from 1945 to Today S333 Markus Müller 1 The editorial was not presented at the Conference. S280 Anschluss 1938: Aftermath on Medicine and Society 1 3 history of medicine Keywords: American medical students · Anschluss Editorial: “Anschluss” 1938—what do we still feel? 1938 · Austrian medicine · Austrian psychiatry · Cura- tive pedagogy · fortified democracy · history · Jewish Wolfgang Schütz, 2003–2015 President (“Rector“) physicians · Medical Faculty of the University of Vien- of the Medical University of Vienna, na · National Socialism · Nazi Germany · Nazi medicine · [email protected] NS-tainted doctors · Paediatrics in Vienna · Pernkopf’s anatomical atlas · Pharmacology in Vienna · Psychiatric After the annexation of Austria by the German Reich in Hospital “Am Steinhof” · University of Vienna · Vienna’s March 1938, 3,200 of the 4,900 Viennese doctors lost their medical profession licenses because they were Jewish and then were finally expelled from the country. Of the academic staff of the Summary The annexation of ustriaA by Nazi Germany Medical School of the University of Vienna, 52% were from 1938 to 1945, or “Anschluss”, was the darkest chap- forced to leave, mainly for racial, but also for political, ter in the country’s history. The contributions presented reasons, the largest exodus from a single faculty. Some in this paper demonstrate that we still feel the aftermath medical disciplines, such as pharmacology, suffered a of this horrible period. It was horrible not only because real diaspora (see contribution by Freissmuth and Sitte). Austria was a victim of Nazi terror, but, moreover, was a A process that in the German Reich took some years to perpetrator of it. While invading Austria, poorly prepared complete after takeover by the Nazis lasted only a few German troops were surprised to be received with cheer- weeks in the newly-accrued Ostmark1. In addition to the ing crowds, much less the overcrowded Heldenplatz Professional Civil Service Restoration Act of 1933, which during Hitler’s speech to the Austrian population on 15 made it possible to remove Jewish and politically unde- March 1938. Everything was well prepared for the arrival sirable civil servants, the anti-Semitic and racial laws of of the German occupiers: already the years before, sub- 1935 (“Nuremberg Laws“) took effect immediately. The sidiaries of the NSDAP were active in Austria, and there fact that the outlaw and arbitrary arrest of Jews and po- were suddenly hundreds of thousands of swastikas and litical dissenters went so smoothly can be ascribed to the flags available and an extreme and sophisticated sys- active participation of many of their compatriots, who tem of denunciation. Many Austrians, including doctors, were by no means reserved in denouncing and humili- achieved leading positions during the Nazi period. Doc- ating them. tors represented the highest proportion of Austrian aca- The following thirteen contributions and a panel dis- demics who were members of the NSDAP (though it is cussion serve three purposes: worth noting that many of their Jewish colleagues had a) To combat the ignorance of National Socialist crimes, already been expelled from the country), and they were which has increased due to the progressive loss of con- heavily implicated in committing ethical misconduct, in temporary witnesses. We should always be aware of particular in the execution of the “euthanasia” T4-pro- the most grievous blow to medicine which physicians gramme, where handicapped children and adults were dealt at that time, bringing the profession to rock bot- killed. After World War II, many tainted physicians and tom. Today it seems beyond the imagination of many, university professors were reinstated in their former po- of how crimes committed by physicians would have sitions and had the opportunity of a post-war career. This been averted if they, as a closed group, would had op- was the main reason for the general backlog in research posed the regime only by holding onto the simplest and development in Austria in comparison with most premise of medical practice, namely observing Hip- countries of the Western world. pocrates’ generally understood basic principle: pri- marily not to harm patients entrusted or entrusting to Acknowledgements: The 2018 Conference was initiat- them (“primum non nocere“). However, they did not ed by the Alumni Club of the Medical University of Vien- do this, and that means that doctors were not set apart na and organized as well as financially supported by the from other professions—in spite of the high ethical re- University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vi- sponsibility they should have had. They, moreover, ac- enna. Celestine and Tricia O’Shaughnessy proofread the cepted that state arbitrariness prevailed over medical manuscript, Daniela Prinz helped edit it. ethics, and they accepted it not for fear for their liveli- hoods or lives, but primarily for their careers. b) To encourage understanding that Austrian medicine takes into account the crimes and malpractices com- mitted by their own field during the Nazi period. As recently as 1991, the Federal Chancellor, Franz Vran- itzky, first publicly acknowledged the responsibil- ity of Austria for the events occurring between 1938 Wolfgang Schütz () Medical University of Vienna 1 Ostmark was the name used by Nazi propaganda after the anne- 1090 Vienna, Austria xation to replace that of the formerly independent Federal State of [email protected] Austria. 1 3 Anschluss 1938: Aftermath on Medicine and Society S281 history of medicine and 1945 (see report of the panel discussion). Before 1. Fortified Democracy this admission, Part One of the Moscow Declaration of 1943, which stated that Austria was the first victim of Nazi aggression, was eagerly accepted as the whole The Neglected Factors Leading to the and uncontested truth by post-war Austrian politi- “Anschluss” 1938 cians. Due to this obstinately persisting interpreta- tion which ignores Part Two of the Moscow Declara- Oliver Rathkolb, Institute for Contemporary History, tion, namely the censure of Austria as a participant University of Vienna, [email protected] in Hitler’s War, many international medical as well as scientific congresses or conferences, where Austria Events leading up to the annexation of Austria [1, 2] acted as host, were characterized by the reservations and refusals of Jewish scientists to participate. Even At the time of annexation by Nazi Germany in March today, in those countries where many displaced peo- 1938, Austria was still an authoritarian state ruled by a ple found refuge at the time, Austria is seen as repress- chancellor dictator. Since Adolf Hitler’s seizure of pow- ing its darkest past rather than coming to terms with it. er in early 1933, the pressure of a connection to National The latest example is the exposure that Hans Asperger, Socialist Germany increased. The Christian Social Chan- renowned for the widely-used
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