Phases in the Postwar German Reception of the “Euthanasia Program” (1939–1945) Involving the Killing of the Mentally disabled and its Exploitation by Neuroscientists

The killing of disabled patients with mental diseases during 1939–1945 is regarded as the precursor to the Holocaust. Although known at least since the Nuremberg Doctors Trial (1946–1947), the reception accorded these crimes against humanity varied (and evolved through time) depending on the parties: the old establishment, the younger generation, the different political interests, and the jurists, the theologians, the historians, the medical authorities. I attempt to distinguish five phases in the debate in light of the political background between 1945 until the present.