Neuroscientists at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in the "Third Reich": OskarVogt-HugoSpatz-WilhelmTönnis

Abstract

The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute (KWI) for Brain Research in Berlin-Buch was one of the key institutions enmeshed in the euthanasia program between 1939 and 1945, generating scientific knowledge by dissecting the brains of murdered patients. As aconsequence, this institution and its early years have attracted the attention of historians for years. The neuroanatomist Oskar Vogt (1870-1959), director of the KWI until 1937 and his wife Cécile (1875-1962) who were both appointed honorary members of the German Neurological Society (DGN) in 1952, concentrated on the microstructure and brain architecture of healthy and "elite" brains. Vogt's successor, Hugo Spatz (1888-1969), shifted research activities towards pathology of the central nervous system (CNS) and incorporated psychiatric and military institutions into the institute's network. Spatz had been amember of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) since 1938. As acting director of the KWI he was responsible for the dissections performed by Hallervorden on murdered patients. After the war Spatz tried to justify his actions. Years after the unveiling of these relationships the DGN decided in 1998 to rename the Hugo Spatz award. Wilhelm Tönnis (1898-1978), the German pioneer of neurosurgery had been amember of the National Socialist Air Corps since 1933 and amember of the NSDAP since 1937, finally joining the NS Medical Association in 1938. After the war he played down his affiliation to NS divisions. When his denazification trial had ended he pursued his career in the young Federal Republic of Germany. In 1976 he was elected honorary member of the DGN, 2 years before his death.