Discovery of Nazi tissue samples in Vienna: Tragic fates of children revealed

Discovery of Nazi tissue samples in Vienna: Tragic fates of children revealed

As part of a research project at MedUni Vienna on the history of brain research during National Socialism, remains of tissue samples from victims of Nazi “euthanasia” were discovered. These finds were made during the digital indexing of the historical collection of the Department of Neuropathology and Neurochemistry. The identified tissue samples include microscopic sections and paraffin-embedded samples that come from a total of nine children, six of whom were killed in the Viennese “child euthanasia” institution Am Spiegelgrund and three in the Brandenburg institution Görden. In 2002, human remains of Nazi victims were buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery, and another burial took place in Görden in 2003.

The Rector of MedUni Vienna, Markus Müller, emphasizes the importance of ethical principles in medical science. In view of the historical burdens, the university is actively committed to coming to terms with the past. Romana Höftberger emphasizes the need to learn from the past and consistently combat unethical behavior in medicine. Herwig Czech sees the discovery of the tissue samples in the larger scientific-historical context of research on human remains from Nazi injustice contexts.

Context of Nazi brain research

In the years 1940 to 1945, institutions such as the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in Berlin conducted extensive research on the brains of victims of the mass murder of mentally ill and mentally disabled people. About 700 brains were examined during this time. The systematic creation of the research plan was legitimized by a formal letter from Adolf Hitler to Karl Brandt and Philipp Bouhler, dated September 1, 1939. As part of the so-called “Aktion T4”, around 70,000 psychiatric patients were killed by gassing from January 1940 to August 1941.

It is estimated that a total of around 185,000 psychiatric patients died, with the addition of another 80,000 deaths from Polish, Soviet and French institutions bringing the death toll to over 260,000. The idea behind “euthanasia” was the destruction of chronically ill and disabled patients in order to restructure institutional psychiatry, supported by a eugenic ideology that included sterilizations to eradicate genetic defects.

Scientific entanglements

The involvement of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in “euthanasia” is undeniable. Under the leadership of Professor Hugo Spatz from 1937, the focus of research shifted to diseased brains. Close connections between the KWI and the Brandenburg-Görden State Institute were the key to carrying out the medical crimes. Julius Hallervorden, an outstanding scientist of the time, obtained brains from “euthanasia” victims, including children. By 1944, a total of 1,179 brains had been examined, 707 of which probably came from “euthanasia” victims. Despite the end of these mass killings, research continued in a similar vein, and the gruesome story continues to raise ethical questions today.

Through the discovery of the tissue samples in Vienna, the MedUni Vienna is once again the focus of the examination of the National Socialist past and its impact on today's medical ethics.