Unethical medical research under National Socialism: Leopoldina and Max Planck Society publish database for science and remembrance
Reports and Proceedings
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 20-Nov-2025 12:11 ET (20-Nov-2025 17:11 GMT/UTC)
There were tens of thousands of human victims of coerced medical research under the German National Socialist regime. An important approach to processing these crimes involves raising awareness of the individual fates of those affected and thus giving them back their names and histories. Professor Dr Patrick Cramer, President of the Max Planck Society, and Professor Dr Bettina Rockenbach, President of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, emphasised this point during a press conference to present the first online database that offers systematic access to the names and biographies of victims of unethical medical research under National Socialism. The database encourages remembrance, research, and historical reflection. It was developed as part of the joint research project “Brain Research at Institutes of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society in the Context of National Socialist Injustices”, which is funded by the Max Planck Society.
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