Doctors of Infamy

Doctors of Infamy: The Story of the Nazi Medical Crimes (1947) is a book by Alexander Mitscherlich and Fred Mielke which begins with a statement on the intention of its publication and includes a documentation of the Doctors' Trial in Nuremberg that was held from 9 December 1946 until 20 August 1947.^[1]

In Germany, the first edition appeared in 1947. It was the interim report of the umbrella organization of doctors' associations in Western Germany who had sent out a commission of six observers to the Nuremberg trials. This commission was headed by young Mitscherlich because none of the established colleagues would have taken on this task in their own name.^[2] This edition appeared before the trial was closed and met with an action for injunction by certain doctors. As a result of the trial, some parts of the study were eliminated in the subsequent enlarged edition of 1949 which was the final report on the part of the doctors' associations. From 1960 onwards the book was made available in German in a paperback edition. For the 1977 reprint of this edition, Mitscherlich wrote a new preface. The most recent edition is the 18th impression of 2012.

Editions

• Alexander Mitscherlich and Fred Mielke, Doctors of infamy. The story of the Nazi medical crimes, translated from German by Heinz Norden. With statements of 3 American authorities identified with the Nuremberg medical trial and a note on medical ethics by Albert Deutsch, xxxix, 172 pages, Ill. with 16 pages of photographs; 8. Henry Schuman, New York 1949

Previous editions in German

• Alexander Mitscherlich, Fred Mielke, Das Diktat der Menschenverachtung. Der Nürnberger Ärzteprozeß und seine Quellen, 175 pages, Lambert Schneider, Heidelberg 1947
• Alexander Mitscherlich, Fred Mielke (Eds.), Wissenschaft ohne Menschlichkeit. Medizinische und Eugenische Irrwege unter Diktatur, Bürokratie und Krieg, Lambert Schneider, Heidelberg 1949

1960 paperback edition in German

• Alexander Mitscherlich, Fred Mielke (Eds.), Medizin ohne Menschlichkeit. Dokumente des Nürnberger Ärzteprozesses Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt 1960, ISBN 3-596-22003-3; in 1977, Alexander Mitscherlich contributed a new preface (alone, since his colleague Fred Mielke had died in 1959); most recent edition: 18th impression, Fischer Taschenbuchverlag, Frankfurt am Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-596-22003-8

Literature

• (About the English edition, in German) Julius Brandel, „Das Diktat der Menschenverachtung. Deutsche Aerzte versuchen ein amerikanisches Buch gegen Nazi-Aerzte zu verhindern“, in: Aufbau, Volume 15, 18 February 1949, No. 7, page 19, columns a–c.

References