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| Dr Robert Jay Lifton |
THE NAZI DOCTORS:
Medical
Killing and
the
Psychology
of Genocide © |
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314 |
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| AUSCHWITZ: THE RACIAL CURE |
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beginning his family viewed the Nazis as more or less
disreputable, the worst element of the society. But by the mid-1930s, the
“spectacular” economic successes of the regime began to change that
impression, along with the emerging “enthusiasm of … young
people.” His father moved grudgingly toward approval of Hitler in a
tortuous, not uncharacteristically German, manner, asking, “How is it
possible that such a primitive man can reach such an influential
position?” and concluding, “It can only be that he isn't so primitive
but just pretends to be.” Ernst B. himself reacted with parallel
convolution: always antagonistic and yet respectful toward the Prussian
military culture, he was struck by the fact that “the conservative,
Prussian military men, especially the young ones, started to become very
National-Socialistic,” which led him to think that “there must be
more to it [National Socialism] … something more there.”
But
he was to develop a much stronger bond with the Nazis in a way that was both
serendipitous and calculated. When completing his medical studies in the middle
and late 1930s, he gained the impression that one had to take part in an
officially sponsored organization. Wishing to avoid the paramilitary ones, he
joined a student “scientific society.” He was immediately drawn into
a competition the group sponsored for finding an indigenous German product
(rather than having to bring one in from the outside) that could be used for a
culture medium in bacteriological work. Partly perhaps on the basis of his
knowledge of nature, B. “got a good idea,” located the indigenous
product, and suddenly found himself in the extraordinary situation of “a
student having a laboratory, two assistants, and a prize.” He was now
“a scientist who received strong praise from the Party,” a man with a
“good start” who had “the good fortune to get political support
even though my topic … was not political.” Now he was in the position
of “not just receiving commands” but of taking leadership in advising
scientific teams on what could be grown in certain Bavarian forests, and what
must be cut down in order to make room for such growth. He received an
additional prize in a more public ceremony, which caused him only one problem:
his wife-to-be thought him a “top Nazi” and avoided him for some
time. He completed his medical studies with a flourish, proud of the fact that
his thesis on his discovery of the local culture medium was a “fine thing
… about twenty lines, I think, no more.”
This special
Erlebnis, or “experience” (his term for the entire sequence),
undoubtedly influenced his decision to join the Party at the time: “Not
only because in a practical sense I had to [for getting an assistantship at a
clinic] but with a positive feeling… [and with] no obligation, no
force.” He did, in fact, obtain a coveted assistantship and a good
hospital connection at his university while retaining his position in the
bacteriological department and even, in 1939, being awarded a two-year
scholarship for study abroad — thwarted only by the outbreak of the war.
He began to observe less positive features of the regime during two
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THE NAZI DOCTORS:
Medical Killing and the
Psychology of
Genocide
Robert J. Lifton
ISBN 0-465-09094
©
1986 |
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Back |
Page 314 |
Forward |
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