Pathology As a Crime: Analysis of Dissection Protocols from Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, 1944-1945
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2019-01-09 Pathology as a Crime: Analysis of Dissection Protocols from Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, 1944-1945 Tannenbaum, Jessica Tannenbaum, J. (2019). Pathology as a Crime: Analysis of Dissection Protocols from Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, 1944--1945 (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109443 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Pathology as a Crime: Analysis of Dissection Protocols from Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, 1944–1945 by Jessica Tannenbaum A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY CALGARY, ALBERTA JANUARY, 2019 © Jessica Tannenbaum 2019 Abstract The present thesis examines 161 dissection protocols that were produced in the Flossenbürg concentration camp between July 1944 and April 1945. After an introductory overview of the history of pathology and an outline of the history of the Flossenbürg camp, the study describes the protocols in regards to formal and qualitative criteria. The analysis scrutinizes the conclusions or so-called diagnoses of the dissectors at the end of each protocol from a forensic perspective. All prisoner deaths that occurred in the context of a concentration camp are considered criminal or unnatural, having occurred under obscure circumstances. The present study shows how the allegedly objective language of medicine and pathology often covers up medical crimes, such as missing treatment or prevention of infectious diseases, improper abdominal surgeries, starvation, polytrauma, executions, and neglect, instead of uncovering them. This confirms what former prisoners had testified to in the immediate postwar period. The thesis furthermore attempts to provide a more probable cause of death in three exemplary cases. Finally, it evaluates the scientific nature of the dissection protocols. It concludes that the Flossenbürg dissection protocols should be described as arbitrary experiments on humans (eigenmächtige Versuche am Menschen) but that they do not incorporate any necessary scientific criteria, nor were they created with truly scientific questions in mind. From the available historical evidence, the study concludes that the dissections were performed on deceased inmates to satisfy personal curiosity if not voyeurism stemming from a deeply misanthropic and criminal ideology of Germanic supremacy. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Frank Stahnisch, as well as the whole staff of the University of Calgary’s History Department for accepting the adventure and for welcoming me as an international graduate student. The support has been friendly, warm, and exceptional. This is not limited to but includes generous funding through the department as well as the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Without this, my journey would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my fellow graduate students Michelle, Shawn, Louis, Andres, Daniel, Jaqueline, Rebecca, Nicholas, Stacey, and Rogelio for providing helpful feedback on parts of the manuscript. At the ITS, I would like to thank the archivist Kim Dresel for being always helpful, friendly, and approachable as well as Elke Helmentag for granting permission to publish some of the original source material. At the Flossenbürg Memorial Site I would like to thank the historians and archivists Annabelle Lienhardt and Johannes Ibel for their kindness and support. Without my family, however, it would have been a lonely and a much less grounded journey. Thank you to my husband and two children for reminding me of your love and showing me again and again the magic of a mischievous smile, of the touch of a hand, or simply how lucky we are to be able to debate whether a room is in fact tidied up or not. I dedicate this thesis not only to my children, but to all the little dreamers in my life. iii Table Of Contents ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... III TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. IV LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ VI LIST OF FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS............................................................................ VII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, NOMENCLATURES ............................................................... VIII INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 1 Sources ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Historiography ....................................................................................................................... 12 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 16 Terminology ........................................................................................................................... 17 Names and Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................ 19 Structure ................................................................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER 1: THE HISTORY OF PATHOLOGY AND THE CONTEXT OF NECROPSIES IN GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS ................................................ 23 1.1 THE MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY ............................................................................................... 23 1.2 THE HISTORY OF PATHOLOGY AND DISSECTION IN EUROPE ................................................. 25 1.3 GERMAN PATHOLOGY BETWEEN 1933 AND 1945 .................................................................. 34 Pathologists and the so-called “Euthanasia” Program ........................................................ 36 Pathologists and their Work on the Bodies of Concentration Camp Inmates ....................... 37 iv 1.4 THE HISTORY OF THE FLOSSENBÜRG CONCENTRATION CAMP BETWEEN 1938 AND 1945 .... 43 CHAPTER 2: THE PROTOCOLS ............................................................................................ 49 2.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE SOURCE MATERIAL .............................................................................. 50 2.2 A QUALITATIVE APPROACH TO THE VICTIMS ....................................................................... 63 2.3 EXAMPLES............................................................................................................................. 66 The Transcripts ...................................................................................................................... 67 The Translations .................................................................................................................... 68 3. ASSESSING THE FLOSSENBÜRG DISSECTION PROTOCOLS ................................. 78 3.1 NAZI EXPERIMENTS AND PSEUDOSCIENCE IN THE HISTORIOGRAPHY .................................... 80 3.2 THE ROLE OF THE PHYSICIANS .............................................................................................. 87 3.3 ARBITRARY EXPERIMENTS .................................................................................................... 98 4. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................... 107 EPILOGUE ................................................................................................................................ 116 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 119 Consulted Archives .............................................................................................................. 119 Primary Sources................................................................................................................... 119 Websites ............................................................................................................................... 120 Secondary Literature ........................................................................................................... 123 APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................. 132 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................. 140 APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................. 141