Customer Reviews
Physician heal thyself - By: JA Foxton, 30 Apr 2007 
This is a very carefully researched book which deserves to be read. It not only covers the involvement by doctorsin medical killing but also investigates their psychology. For those interestedin medical ethics I'm sure it would be worth reading.
The first half of this book charts the historical progression from direct medical killing of those deemed to be 'life unworthy of life' (often mental patients) through to the most complete expression foundin Auschwitz. We see how the medical ideal can be twisted by subverting it to the 'higher' ideal of caring for the health of the social organism by surgically removing the 'ailing' parts.
We are presented with the complex factors involvedin this process. The religious, visionary component of the 'world blessing' which the Nazi's have to offer & the purported modelling of the SS on the Jesuits. The scientific component with the interestin eugenics & the 'research' which is carried out. Rudolf Hess declared that National Socialism is 'nothing but applied biology.' And the sensein which some of it is just part of the zeitgeist. The author suggests that there was a fearin Germany that they could fall behind work which was being donein the USA on eugenics. In addition there is the sense of humiliation & disintegration which remains from the First World War. There was a widely accepted right-wing theory that Germany hadn't been militarily defeated but had been undermined by strikesin munitions factories which had been orchestrated by Communists & Jews.
From here, the author offers brief biographies & psychological profiles of Ernst B., Josef Mengele & Eduard Wirths before turning his attention to the psychology of genocide.
There is also an examination of how the development of 'professionalism' resultsin detachment & objectivity - a psychological 'doubling' which the author has shown to be presentin each of his case studies. He suggests that this splitting of the psyche is an important factorin leading towards genocide. Not just doctors but any profession would be advised to reflect on the author's message here & to examine to what extent their professionalism compromises their integrity as a human being.
As you may anticipate, there are moments when this book proves upsetting. It is not an easy read. However, I never felt that the unpleasant incidents were recountedin a gratuitous way. It reminded me of Henry Charles Lea's 'A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages.' You may wish to try to get hold of Lea's book (3 volumes) to compare & contrast.
If you wish to learn about the holocaust, this is the book. - By: , 18 May 2000 This book was the best that I have read. It was a required reading & I went into it with a bad attitude. But, as soon as I began to read it I realized that this was a really good book. I recommend it too anyone that wishes to know what Hitler & his men were thinking. It provides an excellent discription & analysis of what the Nazi Doctors were thinking & the emotional stress that they were going through. It is definatly not for the weak.
An Extraordinary Work - By: , 31 Dec 1998 Robert Jay Lifton has written an exceptional work, thoroughly & painstakingly researched, & above all, he presents an analysis of the psychopathology of the Nazi doctors that is so well-thought out & well-presented that I recommend this book above all others for my students of criminal profiling. His discourse on the nature of evil & its place & usein society is unmatchedin any book I have read to date. Pat Brown, Director/Investigative Criminal Profiler/The Sexual Homicide Exchange of Washington DC & Vicinity
A disturbing account of Nazi Germany - By: , 02 Nov 1998 I have not picked up "Nazi Doctors"in years, but just seeing it on my book shelf awakens the images that the book produces. It was so disturbing & descriptive that I was unable to finish it. The book was handed down by my father, a medical doctor, whom couldn't finish it either. It's excellently written, but not for the weak.
A detailed account - By: , 29 Oct 1998 If you only read one book about doctors under Hitler then this is the one. Lifton not only focuses on the leading medical figuresin the Third Reich, but also includes eyewitness testimony & disturbing accounts from victims. He offers numerous theories on how medical professionals turned into dispassionate killersin the name of "scientific research." A must read for anyone interestedin behavioral pathology.
