Ulf Schmidt, Medical Films, Ethics and Euthanasia in Nazi Germany
The History of Medical Research and Teaching Films of the Reich Office for Educational Films/Reich Institute for Films in Science and Education 1933–1945
Abhandlungen zur Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaft Nr. 92
394 Seiten, 42 Abbildungen, broschiert
Euro 56,–
ISBN
978-3-7868-4092-3
Matthiesen Verlag
Im Sommer 1993 fanden Kinder im Stößensee bei Berlin 35mm-Filmrollen -
teilweise fragmentarisches medizinisches Filmmaterial der Reichsstelle
für den Unterrichtsfilm mit Aufnahmen von kranken und behinderten
Menschen. Die anfängliche Ratlosigkeit der Fachleute löste sich zunächst
in der Ãœberzeugung auf, dass es sich hier um 'apolitisches
wissenschaftliches Unterrichtsmaterial' handle. In dieser Studie wird
dagegen der Versuch unternommen, das Material in einen breiteren
ideologischen und politischen Kontext einzubetten, die Rolle der
verantwortlichen Institutionen und die Ethik des deutschen
Unterrichtsfilms im Lichte nationalsozialistischer Rassenideologie und
"Eugenik" zu erhellen und nicht zuletzt die Biographien der Menschen vor
und hinter der Kamera zu verstehen.
In the summer of 1993 children living in the suburb of Berlin-Spandau
repeatedly found 35mm film clippings nearby in Lake Stößensee. The film
reels showed fragmentary medical images of handicapped children and
adults which, as it turned out, had been produced by the Reich Office
for Educational Films during the Third Reich. Most experts, after an
initial confusion about the discovery, came to the conclusion that the
material was "apolitical scientific teaching material". This study,
however, locates the material, for the first time, in its broader
ideological and political context, explores the organisation and
responsible institutions, and investigates the culture of German medical
ethics as depicted in medical films in the light of Nazi racial
policies and eugenics. Behind the apparent scientific neutrality of the
film material, its alleged objectivity and technical accuracy, the study
attempts to find out about the lives of those behind and in front of
the camera's eye. Their biographies are key in understanding some of the
history of this neglected film genre. The material presented shows that
the idea of 'educational film' as a value-neutral means for school and
university instruction is misleading, and that further research into the
structures and mechanisms of Nazi racial education is necessary.