Blind in the right eye? The practice of awarding honorary memberships by German and Austrian dental societies (1949-1993) to Nazi dentists: A study on the role of National Socialism in post-war dentistry

Escaping Nazi Germany: Jewish refugee dentists and their post-emigration careers in the United States of America

This study is the first to examine the collective of dental lecturers and scientists who emigrated from Nazi Germany to the United States of America. We pay special attention to the socio-demographic characteristics, emigration journeys, and further professional development of these individuals in the country of immigration. The paper is based on primary sources from various German, Austrian, and United States archives and a systematic evaluation of the secondary literature on the persons concerned. We identified a total of eighteen male emigrants. The majority of these dentists left the "Greater" German Reich between 1938 and 1941. Thirteen of the eighteen lecturers were able to find a position in American academia, mainly as full professors. Two-thirds of them settled in New York and Illinois. The study concludes that most of the emigrated dentists studied here succeeded in continuing or even expanding their academic careers in the USA, although they usually had to retake their final dental examinations. No other destination country for immigration offered similarly favorable conditions. Not a single dentist decided to remigrate after 1945.

Historical review: the German Neurological Society and its honorary members (1952-1982)

BACKGROUND

As part of a larger project commissioned by the German Neurological Society (DGN), this paper focuses on the DGN's German and Austrian honorary members. In particular, the question of whether former membership in the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) or other Nazi organizations was an obstacle to becoming an honorary member in the years 1952-1982, and whether victims of the Nazi regime were also considered for honorary membership.

RESULTS

From the early 1950s to the early 1980s, the DGN awarded honorary membership to 55 individuals. Of these, 27 were German or Austrian citizens who were physicians during the Nazi era, and 17 of the 27 (63%) were members of the NSDAP, Storm Troopers (SA), or Schutzstaffel (SS). In the early postwar period, honorary membership was much less frequently awarded to former Nazi Party members than in the years around 1980. Sir Ludwig Guttmann, the only neurologist forced to emigrate, received his honorary membership in 1971. Brief biographies of Hans Jacob, Gustav Bodechtel, Karl Kleist, and Ludwig Guttmann outline exemplary careers and life histories, in addition to highlighting key issues such as concurrent research on "euthanasia" victims, denazification procedures, forced emigration, and the contemporary mindset in the Federal Republic of Germany.

CONCLUSIONS

Apparently, a "Nazi past" did not play a decisive role in the selection process for honorary members within the DGN until at least the 1980s. Aside from Guttmann, no other neuroscientist expelled from Germany was honored. With these practices, the Society marginalized its Jewish colleagues for a second time.

Nazi dentists before British courts: aspects on the role of the German dental profession in the Third Reich

This study is the first to identify and investigate German dentists tried for war crimes by British courts after 1945. Drawing on wide-ranging archival court documents and sources from various international archives, we found and studied 11 dentists from the Third Reich who were put on trial, the majority of whom were accused of manslaughter, homicide or being accessories to murder. Of the accused, two were sentenced to death while the rest (n = 9) were forced to serve prison sentences. After their release, all nine of these dentists were able to resume and advance their professional careers in Germany, most as owners of a private dental practice (n = 8) and one as a clinic director. Many settled in small towns, where they became esteemed members of their local communities.

Political continuity or a new beginning? The re-foundation of the "German Society for Pathology" and its politics in postwar Germany

In 1948, about 70 pathologists decided to reconstitute the "Deutsche Pathologische Gesellschaft" (German Pathological Society). With Arnold Lauche, a new president was elected; at the same time, the organization was renamed the "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pathologie" (German Society of Pathology). But did these two obvious changes really mark a new beginning, a conscious turning away from the Nazi ideology that had significantly shaped the policies of the professional associations until 1945? The present paper pursues this very question. It examines the personnel and political course set by the German Society of Pathology, and takes a close look its first representatives - Arnold Lauche, Georg B. Gruber und Edmund Randerath - and their professional activities. Special attention is paid to their positions during the Third Reich, their denazification processes and their dealings with the past in the early postwar period. This also includes the Society's policy towards Jewish colleagues marginalized in the Third Reich. The article is based on archival material from the Federal Archives in Berlin, various university archives, and Gruber's estate. In addition, a critical analysis of the relevant secondary literature was conducted. During the Third Reich, Lauche, Gruber, and Randerath were involved in National Socialism to varying degrees. Their board activities in the postwar period stood for personal and political continuity which also included the Society's policy towards former members of the Nazi Party and Jewish colleagues. The article concludes that there was no clean break with the Nazi past; Gruber in particular, who had already played a leading role in the Society in the Third Reich, continued to exert considerable influence. The German Society for Pathology also failed to bring persecuted Jewish colleagues into its midst - former members of the Nazi Party were given preference both in board positions and in the awarding of honors.