By Trust Betrayed: Patients, Physicians, and the License to Kill in the Third Reich

By:

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis
In September of 1939, immediately after he started World War II by sending an invading army into Poland, Adolf Hitler signed an order declaring war on his fellow German citizens-- that is, those of his fellow citizens who were crippled, mentally ill, or disabled. The directive was given to two of Hitler's closest associates, Dr. Karl Brandt, his personal physician, and Reichsleiter Philip Bouhler, the chief of his chancellery. They were to set up a program that enabled German physicians to kill anyone deemed "unworthy of life." Under the influence of the then-fashionable apocalyptic theories of eugenics, many German doctors greeted this blood-chilling idea as a "technological breakthrough" and an example of the new regime's advanced thinking, while the majority simply accepted it without protest. Despite this acceptance, and a barrage of propaganda in books, movies, newspapers, and magazines attempting to justify euthanasia, public outrage began to grow. Because of the resistance of brave disabled people and because of the public sermons of important clergy, including Clemens von Galen, the Bishop of Munster, Hitler rescinded his official order, suffering the only major policy reversal of his twelve years in power. Despite the absence of an official order, however, the doctors who had been authorized to kill continued to do so without any fear of reprisal or prosecution. More than 200,000 people were killed under the program throughout the war and even, in some cases, during the occupation that followed the war.
Copyright:
1990

Book Details

Book Quality:
Excellent
Book Size:
333 Pages
ISBN-13:
9780805007497
Publisher:
Henry Holt & Company
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Hugh Gregory Gallagher
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
History, Military, Nonfiction, Disability-Related
Submitted By:
Kari G
Proofread By:
mary stephens
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

Reviews

No Rating Yet