The Nazi regime was founded upon the conviction that “inferior” races and individuals had to be eliminated from German society so that the fittest “Aryans” could thrive. The Nazi state fully committed itself to implementing a uniquely racist and antisemitic variation of eugenics to “scientifically” build what it considered to be a “superior race.” By the end of World War II, six million Jews had been murdered. Millions of others also became victims of persecution and murder through Nazi “racial hygiene” programs designed to cleanse Germany of “biological threats” to the nation’s “health,” including “foreign-blooded” Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), persons diagnosed as “hereditarily ill,” and homosexuals. In German-occupied territories, Poles and others belonging to ethnic groups deemed “inferior” were also murdered.
In response to the medical community’s interest in Deadly Medicine, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum established its Science and Medicine Initiative to augment medical ethics education in the healthcare professions. The Initiative is creating collaborative opportunities to explore the implications for contemporary bioethics by presenting the history in Deadly Medicine to prompt exploration of such 21st-century ethical issues as the rapid advances in genetics and medicine, and the value of individual lives, especially those of people considered to be disabled.
Sponsored by the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics of the Stony Brook University School of Medicine. Presented by Stony Brook University with the generous support of the Samuel H. and Maria Miller Foundation. Co-sponsored by the Center for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Relations.
Deadly Medicine is organized and circulated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Deadly Medicine has been made possible by the Lerner Foundation and Eric F. and Lore Ross.
This exhibition is not suitable for young children.
April 6 - June 12, 2009
Open Most Mondays through Fridays, 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm
Exhibition Reception:
Monday, April 27, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm