'Arzteführerschule Alt-Rehse'--the main educational centre for promotion of Nazi medicine ideology in Germany during 1935 - 1943.
In Nazi Germany 1933-1945 the medical profession played an important role, not only within the health sector but also for ideological purposes. Some physicians committed criminal acts during the war, for example in concentration camps, and where later put on trial at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946-1947, some of them also sentenced to death. What is little known outside Germany is the existence of a specialised political leader school for physicians, dentists, midwives, pharmacists, and health officials at Alt-Rehse, a small village north of Berlin in the province of Mecklenburg, Northern Germany. Supported by historical documents it can be shown that the ideological training at Alt-Rehse was structured, politically effective, and well appreciated by the many attending students visiting the school. There is reason to believe that former Alt-Rehse students took part in Nazi criminal acts of war, but this is hard to prove as all documents were captured by the Russian Army at the end of the Second World War and have until now not been traced. Documents have shown that also many foreign visitors came to Alt-Rehse, from the UK, Sweden, Japan, and other countries during the pre-war years. The lessons from Alt-Rehse include how a totalitarian ideology can shape the professional role of health workers.
Nilsson
Peter M
PM
Dept of the History of Medicine, Univ of Lund, Sweden. Peter.Nilsson@med.lu.se
Bergkvist
Göran
G
Peters
Anja
A
Köpp
Wolfgang
W
D004497:Education, Dental / Q000266:history; D005858:Germany; D049673:History, 20th Century; D008880:Midwifery / Q000193:education / Q000266:history; D028683:National Socialism / Q000266:history*; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000266:history*