From guillotine to dissection table—First insights into the Breslau institute of anatomy during the Nazi period

Abstract Anatomy in Nazi Germany—in its work with bodies of the regime's victims—is arguably the most extreme example of state‐sanctioned abuse of power over bodies of the dead in medicine. This history is highly relevant today because it contributed to the formulation of basic tenets of research ethics in the Nuremberg Code and allows for history‐informed reasoning regarding anatomical body procurement and education. However, detailed information on anatomy institutes in Nazi Germany and its territories is often missing. This study offers first results of an investigation of activities at Breslau anatomy 1933 to 1945 (today Wrocław), including anatomists' politics and anatomical body procurement. In 1945, this anatomical institute ceased to exist when Breslau became Polish. Like their peers throughout Nazi Germany, Breslau anatomists coordinated the handover of bodies of the executed from prison with the authorities. Archival documentation reveals that Breslau anatomy received bodies of at least 30 executed prisoners. In addition, the body register of the city morgue was examined, disclosing the transfer of 442 unclaimed bodies to the anatomical institute from 1937 to 1944, more than half of them children. Also among them were 29 bodies of prisoners and Eastern European forced laborers. All these bodies were used in anatomy education, and the executed were preferred in research studies and dissertation theses, as documented in 16 publications. These findings confirm the close collaboration of Breslau anatomists with the Nazi regime, and their acceptance of the use of Nazi victims' bodies as an unquestioned professional opportunity.