Berthold Kihn (1895-1964) and the NS "Euthanasia": Profile of a Perpetrator

Abstract

In historical sciences, there is no consensus on how to understand the transition from eugenic sterilization to "euthanasia". The aim of this article was to investigate this question based on the historical-critical method, using the example of the perpetrator profile of Berthold Kihn. His pseudoscientific way to "euthanasia", however, did not have an eugenic foundation. Literature- and archival studies were carried out. For the first time, attention was paid to relevant Franconian and familial archival sources. Moreover, documents of the Jena University Archive were compared to those of the concentration camps of Buchenwald and Oranienburg. After professional as well as private dilemma, the neuroinfectiologist Kihn set a focus on the "eradication of the inferiors". Apart from Kihn's role in central "euthanasia" and "childrens' euthanasia", which has been clearly demonstrated, we found actual hints of his additional involvement in decentral "euthanasia". This is shown using the example of the prominent patient Felix von Papen. Kihn was no racial hygienist, he did not make his mark as an eugenicist. His professional and private dilemma may - among other things - have motivated him, to join a politically promoted movement. Further comparative research in the profiling of NS perpetrators may contribute to a better differentiation of the transition from eugenics to "euthanasia".