Pernkopf & Co – Anatomy during the Nazi Period and its Relevance for Today

Institute for Ethics, Collections & History of Medicine

in cooperation with the Department of Anatomy

Medical University of Vienna

This interdisciplinary symposium will provide new insights into the history of anatomy during the National Socialist (Nazi) period and its relevance for today.

Following a general overview of the topic, a first panel of presentations will focus on new research on body procurement at the anatomical institutes of Breslau, Erlangen and Vienna under the Nazi regime.
A second panel will present insights into the complicity of the anatomical sciences before, during and after the Nazi period, as well as research on the provenance of human remains from Nazi victims in the legacy collections of the Max-Planck-Society.
A final panel will offer reflections on historical anatomical images derived from bodies of Nazi victims such as Eduard Pernkopf’s through the lens of curatorial and archival practice, as well as the fine arts. These images have proved to be “uncontainable”, as they have proliferated in the anatomy literature as copies, tracings and derivatives. Now, they are part of the training data for generative Artificial Intelligence – continuing to haunt our collective anatomical gaze.

More details soon.