Matthew Wynia’s interest in the medical crimes committed by the Nazis during World War II was born in a moment of curiosity.
The director of the University of Colorado Center for Bioethics and Humanities on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus was invited by the U.S. Holocaust Museum to a special exhibit entitled “Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race.” It explored the role of medicine during the rise of the Nazis but the most infamous part of this history – medical experiments done on prisoners – was just a small piece of the exhibit.
“This history started the evolution of modern medical ethics, yet we hardly ever talked about it, except for the experiments.”
– Matthew Wynia, director of the CU Anschutz Center for Bioethics and Humanities
“I was surprised how much of this history I didn’t know and really shocked at how influential it seemed,” said Wynia, MD, MPH, FACP. “This history started the evolution of modern medical ethics, yet we hardly ever talked about it, except for the experiments.”
Central tool in Nazis’ national vision
The more he learned, the more he realized the profound and often ignored connections between German medicine and Nazi ideology. The Nazis described their nation as a “biocracy,” where biological features were viewed as the key to societal success. The Nazis, he explained, saw medicine as a central tool in shaping their national vision of “racial purity,” using medical science to justify policies of eugenics, forced sterilizations, mass murder and, eventually, genocide.
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“Medicine was a leading force in the development of this ideology,” Wynia said. “Murder and genocide were framed as public health measures, and the Nazis themselves saw their entire society through a perverted medical lens.”
That revelation sparked a deeper commitment to uncovering how this dark chapter of history continues to influence modern medical ethics. Wynia began collaborating with experts across the world, describing how the legacies of Nazi medical experiments still shape contemporary ethical debates about research ethics. But the more he delved into the history, the more he realized that studying the past is crucial to understanding the present and for navigating current and future healthcare challenges.
“To me, one of the things that really stands out about this history is the failure, not just of individual doctors, but of the entire profession,” Wynia said.
Launch pad for discussion on ethics
His studies eventually led him to the Medical Review Auschwitz: Medicine Behind the Barbed Wire conference in Krakow, Poland.
“It’s uncommon to have a conference that is specifically targeting this topic and hosting it in Poland where there’s an opportunity for attendees to see the places where some of these atrocities took place,” Wynia said. “I immediately started to think about how we could bring trainees and use it as a launching pad to talk about the larger history of medical involvement in Nazism and the Holocaust.”
Three years ago, Wynia partnered with the Piotr Gajewski, MD, PhD, FACP, in Poland, the main conference organizer, as well as Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD, at Harvard Medical School, Tessa Chelouche, MD, from Israel and others to bring an international group of young medical professionals to the conference. They combined the conference experience with tours of the Jewish ghetto in Krakow, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and other unique on-site experiences. He wanted to move the conversation away from traditional classrooms and bring professionals face-to-face with the places and people directly involved on or impacted by the Holocaust.
“Without Piotr and his amazing team, plus some key gifts to our center from Dr. Bill Silvers and others, this never would have happened,” said Wynia. “It’s truly an international collaboration, and it’s so gratifying to see it impacting learners from around the world.”
‘Emotional inheritance of survivors’
The medical trainees from Israel often have family connections that they share with the group. This year, pediatrician Moran Ezri described how her grandfather endured horrific medical experiments performed by infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele and survived.
“Today we rely on people like Moran to carry the emotional inheritance of the survivors and share it with the next generation,” Wynia said. “Having someone like her at the conference makes the experience more visceral. Through her eyes, we see the lasting impact of the trauma endured by those who survived the camps.”
Wynia hopes the conference will continue getting funded to help ensure history doesn’t get lost in the shadows.
“Witnessing the stories from across the whole spectrum compels those attending this conference to think about how they are going to shape the future of medicine and what decisions they make to prevent such atrocities from happening again,” he said.
For more on the conference:
The Medical Review Auschwitz: Medicine Behind the Barbed Wire conference is organized by the Polish Institute for Evidence Based Medicine (PIEBM) headed by chair Piotr Gajewski, MD, PhD, FACP. The 2024 event featured 16 prominent historians, educators, clinicians and filmmakers from around the world. A complete list can be found here. A full list of organizers and others involved in the event can be found on the website.
Photo at top: (Left) Matthew Wynia leads a workshop in Krakow with medical professionals from CU, Harvard and Israel. (Upper right) Ghetto Heroes Square, where some 2,000 Jews deemed "unfit to work" by Nazi physicians were executed in just 24 hours; large chairs commemorate the victims. (Lower right) within these cramped, suffocating walls, countless women were forced to endure unimaginable suffering; this building in Birkenau stands as a grim reminder of the brutality and inhumanity the Jews faced.
