Grey anatomy: Reconsidering the legacy of Nazi medicine through Eduard Pernkopf's “Topographische Anatomie des Menschen”

In 1989, the third English edition of the Pernkopf anatomy text was published. It received positive reviews in several medical journals. In under a decade, however, Pernkopf's political affiliations, the Nazi symbols contained within the atlas, and the dubious origins of the bodies used as models in the text came to light.

The resulting debate concerned itself primarily with the relationship of the text to the holocaust, many arguing that the text should be expunged from medical literature. This thesis, however, examines the factors that led to the delay in the reevaluation of the atlas within the neglected contexts of the history of anatomy and medical practice. It argues that the delay in the reevaluation of the Pernkopf text can not be attributed to ignorance. Rather the long postponement in the reevaluation of the text was the result of a fundamental ideological shift in the public perception of Nazi medicine.