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The "Reichsgesundheitsamt" under National Socialism - BgVV presents its exhibition during the Science Summer

27/2001, 11.09.2001

In 1935 the "Research Institute for Eugenics and Demographics" was set up within the "Reichsgesundheitsamt". Under its director, Robert Ritter, it provided the pseudoscientific basis for the extermination and forced sterilisation of thousands of Sinti and Roma. The goal of this murderous science was not to examine scientific hypotheses but to provide a posteriori the scientific evidence for existing racist positions. "Gypsy research" is the focal point of the exhibition "The Reichsgesundheitsamt under National Socialism" which deals with another dark chapter in the history of the public authority: the human experiments in the concentration camp Buchenwald. 158 people were victims of the "scientific experiments" in the course of which a typhus vaccine was tested in concentration camp prisoners. In conjunction with the Science Summer Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wippermann, Professor for Recent History at the Free University Berlin, is staging tours of the exhibition which is housed in the library of the Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine in Berlin-Dahlem.

Originally the exhibition was intended for employees of the Federal Health Office (BGA). However, because of the considerable interest shown by the public at large, it was later integrated into the Historical Collection of the Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine in order to make it accessible on a permanent basis to the general public. Outside the Science Summer the exhibition can be visited by making an appointment through the BgVV Press and Public Relations Office and it can also be borrowed. The latter could be of interest for schools wishing to deal with National Socialism in a visual manner. An accompanying brochure provides information about the history behind it and the aims of the exhibition.

Science tours, also taking in the former location of the Research Institute for Eugenics under National Socialism, begin on 12.9 at 15h00, on 13.9 at 14h00, at 14.9 at 12h00 and on 16.9 at 16h00. The meeting point is always the underground station Dahlem-Dorf. During the Long Night of Sciences on 15 September 2001 the tour begins from the same spot at 18h00.

The brochure "Long Night of the Sciences" contains details about the science tours.

BgVV extends a cordial invitation to all interested parties!

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