Letters
Ethics History and humanities
Volume 199 - Issue 5

German doctors apologise for the crimes perpetrated by Nazi doctors

Author:  George M Weisz

Med J Aust 2013; 199 (5): 326-327. || doi: 10.5694/mja13.10571
Published online: 2 September 2013
In reply: I thank Winterton for providing important information about Austria’s attitude towards its participation in Nazi atrocities. Nazi crimes perpetrated in Austria include those at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, where over a quarter of a million inmates perished. The Austrian government has acknowledged this by establishing the Mauthausen Memorial. However, the Austrian Medical Association remains silent. Recall Irmfried Eberl, the Austrian doctor who was the ...
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In reply: I thank Winterton for providing important information about Austria’s attitude towards its participation in Nazi atrocities.

Nazi crimes perpetrated in Austria include those at the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, where over a quarter of a million inmates perished. The Austrian government has acknowledged this by establishing the Mauthausen Memorial. However, the Austrian Medical Association remains silent. Recall Irmfried Eberl, the Austrian doctor who was the commandant of the Treblinka extermination camp. Also Austrian was the Hartheim “children’s hospital”, where doctors gassed with carbon monoxide up to 30 000 children with physical deformities, mental deficiencies or emotional disturbances.

After more than 70 years, it is still necessary to recall these atrocities as an educational endeavour and to prevent any repetition.

Author

  • George M Weisz1
  • 1. School of Humanities, University of New England, Armidale, NSW.

Correspondence: gmweisz1@aol.com

Competing interests

No relevant disclosures.
View this article on Wiley Online Library

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