Pernkopf's Atlas supplementary material: Home

Citation: Anteby, R., & Hildebrandt, S. (2021). Limited use of a Nazi-era anatomy atlas in the operating theater: Remembering the victims. The Israel Medical Association Journal, 23(9), 605–606.

Annotation: A letter discussing ethical concerns of a limited, conditional use of the Pernkopf atlas.

Citation: Coombs, D. M., & Peitzman, S. J. (2017). Medical students’ assessment of Eduard Pernkopf’s Atlas: Topographical anatomy of man. Annals of Anatomy, 212, 11–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aanat.2017.02.011

Annotation: The first-year class at Drexel University College of Medicine was surveyed to determine their awareness of the Pernkopf Atlas. The relationship between the level of self-reported knowledge and whether students would advocate removal of the atlas was statistically significant (p = .013). The authors concluded that discussing ethical violations in medical history, especially the Pernkopf atlas, must attain a secure place in medical school curricula, and more specifically, within a bioethics course.

Citation: Czech, H., Weindling, P., & Druml, C. (2021). From scientific exploitation to individual memorialization: Evolving attitudes towards research on Nazi victims’ bodies. Bioethics, 35(6), 508–517. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12860

Annotation: This paper traces the history of debates about the ethical implications of using human tissue or body parts from the Nazi period for scientific purposes, primarily in the fields of anatomy and neuropathology. It also examines how this issue, from after the war until today, influenced the establishment of legal and bioethical norms on the use of human remains from morally tainted sources, with a particular emphasis on Germany and Austria. It is argued that the use of such specimens and of data derived from them is unethical not only because of potential harms to posthumous rights of the victims, but also because such use constitutes a moral harm to society at large.

Citation: MacIntyre, C. R., King, C. L., & Isaacs, D. (2006). Ethics and access to teaching materials in the medical library: the case of the Pernkopf atlas. Medical Journal of Australia, 184(5), 254–255. https://doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00224.x

Annotation: This article discusses the medical library’s role to provide access to scientific information, inform users when texts do not meet ethical standards and the importance of consistent policies for managing controversial information.

Citation: Polak, R. J. A., Seidelman, W., Elbaum, L., & Hildebrandt, S. (2021). The Vienna Protocol: Recommendations/Guidelines for the handling of future discoveries of remains of human victims of Nazi terror "Vienna Protocol" for when Jewish or possibly Jewish human remains are discovered. Journal of Biocommunication, 45(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/jbc.v45i1.10829

Annotation: The Vienna Protocol is a religious and ethical analysis which addresses how to deal with the Jewish or possibly Jewish remains and images from the Holocaust. It has been considered a model for people of other faiths and beliefs.

Citation: Roelcke, V., Hildebrandt, S., & Reis, S. (2021). Announcing the Lancet Commission on Medicine and the Holocaust: Historical evidence, implications for today, teaching for tomorrow. The Lancet (British Edition), 397(10277), 862–864. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00157-4

Annotation: The Lancet Commission on Medicine and the Holocaust will examine the role of physicians as perpetrators in the Nazi state.

Citation: Yee, A., Zubovic, E., Yu, J., Ray, S., Hildebrandt, S., Seidelman, W. E., Polak, R. J. A., Grodin, M. A., Coert, J. H., Brown, D., Kodner, I. J., & Mackinnon, S. E. (2019). Ethical considerations in the use of Pernkopf’s Atlas of Anatomy: A surgical case study. Surgery, 165(5), 860–867. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.surg.2018.07.025

Annotation: This investigation aims to provide a historic and ethical framework for questions concerning the use of the Pernkopf Atlas in the management of anatomically complex and difficult surgical cases, with special attention to implications for medical ethics drawn from Jewish law.