Nazi Origins of an Anatomy Text: The Pernkopf Atlas-Reply

Abstract

In Reply. — Pernkopf Anatomy is published by Urban & Schwarzenberg, our German subsidiary. We regard very seriously the issues raised in these letters and support the recommendation from Drs Israel and Seidelman for an expert inquiry into the Pernkopf anatomy atlas. In a letter to Seidelman (August 29, 1996), we suggested that such an inquiry should be conducted by the University of Vienna Faculty of Medicine where Pernkopf was dean and head of the Department of Anatomy before and during World War II. We are also prepared to provide financial support. We continue to publish Pernkopf Anatomy because of its scientific merit and the fact that, to date, no concrete evidence exists to substantiate Pernkopf's use of cadavers originating from Nazi concentration camp victims. We pursued our own inquiry including, but not limited to, conversations with authors and illustrators who worked on the atlas after Pernkopf died in 1956, letters from present