Overview

Many doctors in Germany were convinced that they were the chosen people to create a healthy, racially pure Volkskoerper (body of people) and by doing so, establishing a racial utopia. As strong supporters of National Socialism, they welcomed the founding of the Third Reich. After Hitler acceded to power, German physicians joined the SS in particular. During the twelve years of the Nazi era, seven percent of German doctors became members of the SS. The average membership of the population was only 0.6 percent. Moreover, doctors were also overrepresented as a profession, with teachers consisting less than half a percent and musicians only three percent. Only lawyers had a larger share in the SS than doctors. The average income of German doctors extremely increased after 1933, even exceeding the income of lawyers. The Nazi doctors of the human experiments also joined the SS in large numbers. German doctors were far more reluctant to join the NSDAP than the SS. Before 1933, only seven percent of all German doctors joined the NSDAP (Nazi party). They joined the party when it seemed opportune to do so, in 1933, and particularly in 1937. In 1933, physicians consisted almost a quarter of all academic professionals in the NSDAP. Most doctors joined the NSDAP in 1937, with a membership rate of 43 percent of the total profession. German physicians sat on the fence during the first years of the Nazi era, insecure about the effects of the new regime on their profession. By 1937, the Third Reich had won their trust for several reasons. The NSDAP had solved the economic crisis and had reorganized the medical profession. Moreover, the regime had solved the Jewish question in the medical sector.

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9781801580588

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