“A Dark Chapter in Military Medicine: Nazi Physicians and Holocaust Medicine” Lecture on Monday, January 28
As part of the Ruth and John Moskop History of Medicine Lecture Series, the Medical History Interest Group invites you to attend “A Dark Chapter in Military Medicine: Nazi Physicians and Holocaust Medicine.” This lecture, presented by Sheena M. Eagan, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioethics and Interdisciplinary Studies, begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Evelyn Fike Laupus Gallery, fourth floor Laupus Library.
The atrocities committed by physicians during WWII represent one of the darkest chapters in medical history. Despite the historical work detailing physician involvement in these war-crimes, many people do not realize the role that medical practitioners played throughout the Holocaust. In fact, physicians were intimately involved and joined the Nazi party in greater numbers than any other professional group.
This presentation will explore how medical practitioners, medical ideology, and medical language were used throughout the Holocaust of WWII. We will explore how physicians came to be involved with the National Socialist Party, due to its positioning as a form of ‘applied biology,’ as well as the establishment of the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Ärztebund (National Socialist Physicians League). We will then briefly explore the better-known history of Holocaust medicine, exploring physician involvement in forced sterilization, institutionalized killing (Child Euthanasia, T4 Program, Wild Euthanasia, Operation 14f13, The Final Solution), and medical experimentation.
Sheena Eagan is a medical ethicist with advanced and specialized training in military medical ethics, the history of medicine, and public health. Dr. Eagan has published original research and presented papers on the topics of military medical ethics, military medical history, bioethics, and public health ethics. She has also lectured with the International Committee of Military Medicine, as part of their annual military medical ethics workshop, and the NATO Center for Excellence in Military Medicine. Finally, Dr. Eagan has been recognized and affiliated with the Center for Medicine After the Holocaust since 2010. As part of this role, she is trained to educate medical students, and physicians about medicine during the holocaust using history and ethics.
This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.
The lecture will also feature a pop-up display.
Directions to the library and parking information
If you are on main campus, you can ride the 302 Bus from the Main Campus Student Center to the Allied Health Sciences Building. Here is the schedule for the 302.
Lectures may be video recorded.
Learn more about the MHIG lectures and view an archive of previous recordings.
The image above is of Auschwitz concentration camp, “Rail lines leading to the Death Gate.” Source: Wikimedia Commons Date: September 26 2006 Author: Bookofblue Permission: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.