1121 THE FATE OF LEOPOLD CASPER AND ALEXANDER VON LICHTENBERG

Abstract

You have accessJournal of UrologyHistory of Urology1 Apr 20101121 THE FATE OF LEOPOLD CASPER AND ALEXANDER VON LICHTENBERG Friedrich H. Moll, Matthis Krischel, and Heiner Fangerau Friedrich H. MollFriedrich H. Moll Cologne, Germany More articles by this author , Matthis KrischelMatthis Krischel Ulm, Germany More articles by this author , and Heiner FangerauHeiner Fangerau Ulm, Germany More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2010.02.2318AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The name of Leopold Casper (1859-1959) and Alexander von Lichtenberg (1880-1949) is well established in the field of urology. Their international reputation as medical researchers had been presented at several times. It is interesting that the time during the rule of the National Socialists is not yet mentioned. Within general German research projects the field of urology normally isn' t on focus. In the early 1930s, urology was more heavily represented by Jewish physicians than were most other fields of German medicine. When Nazi race laws were instated in 1933, all Jewish public servants, including university professors, were forced out. Leopold Casper and Alexander von Lichtenberg were two examples of the many fine scholars and physicians expelled at that time. When in 1935 the Reich Citizenship Law was passed, Lichtenberg and Casper, like many of their colleagues, had been deprived of his basic civil rights. In 1936, Jews were banned from practicing law and medicine, effectively preventing them from exerting any influence in education, politics, higher education and industry. When von Lichtenberg was forced out of his position at St. Hedwig hospital in 1936, he emigrated first to Hungary and later to Mexico.Leopold Casper found his way to the States via France with many difficulties to be solved.While Nazi health and racial policy under the banner of “Volksgesundheit” claimed to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation by cleansing its impurities, one of which the Jews were perceived to be, the regime not only committed horrible atrocities like euthanasia and genocide, but also killed or forced into exile many of Germany's finest scholars and medical practitioners. Through the example of Casper and von Lichtenberg, this brief study is intended to suggest the effect Nazi policy had on the development of the specialty of urology during that time. METHODS Time related new sources from German and European archives and the US with assistance of the W. P. Didusch Center for Urologic history were reviewed and analyzed in a hermeneutical manner. RESULTS The biographies are a contribution to a methodical differentiated historiography especially dealing with the history of urology and we will present first results of the German research project concerning the involvement of urology in the Nazi system. CONCLUSIONS The study is intended to suggest the dimensions Nazi policy had on the specialty of urology. In its general perspective, the project tries to understand the role the “Third Reich” in the history of urology in Germany and Europe. © 2010 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 183Issue 4SApril 2010Page: e434 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2010 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.MetricsAuthor Information Friedrich H. Moll Cologne, Germany More articles by this author Matthis Krischel Ulm, Germany More articles by this author Heiner Fangerau Ulm, Germany More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...