Stop and think for a moment about the word doctor and words that are frequently associated with people who have jobs in the medical field. What adjectives immediately come to mind when trying to describe medical experts? A few adjectives that are classically thought of when asked this question are ethical, caring, honest and compassionate. Certainly in today’s world, patients would most definitely expect their doctors to inhibit all four of these characteristics. However, in Nazi Germany this surely was not the case. During the Holocaust, doctors helped carry out the Nazi regime’s murderous policies by actively participating in Nazi extermination plans. These plans not only contributed to the mass killing of Jews, but also the unethical killing of “degenerates,” communists, Gypsies and many other groups of people whom the Nazis thought were unworthy of life. So, what exactly was it that lead these doctors to deviate from their standard, ethical methods and engage in such immoral acts? What was their rationale? Their motivation? How important was their participation to the success of the Nazi’s plans? As identified through research, The Nazi doctors played an extremely vital role in the sequential destruction of the Jews along with many other groups …show more content…
Eugenics was at the very center of Nazi ideology during the Holocaust. Nazi eugenics specifically included social policies laid out by Hitler and his followers aimed at strengthening the Aryan race, otherwise known as the “master race.” In order to reach their ultimate goal of empowering the nation and creating an uncontaminated and pure German race, the Nazis encouraged citizens to reproduce with the “right” type of people through forced sterilization and also eliminated those who seemed to be unfit through