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The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide Paperback – May 16, 2017

by Robert Jay Lifton (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 138 ratings
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The Nazi Doctors
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Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize





With a new preface by the author





In his most powerful and important book, renowned psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton presents a brilliant analysis of the crucial role that German doctors played in the Nazi genocide. Now updated with a new preface, The Nazi Doctors remains the definitive work on the Nazi medical atrocities, a chilling exposé of the banality of evil at its epitome, and a sobering reminder of the darkest side of human nature.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    592 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Basic Books
  4. Publication date
    May 16, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    6.05 x 1.75 x 9.2 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0465093396
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0465093397
  8. Lexile measure
    1460L
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A powerful reminder not only of what happened, but of the monumental evil done by particular human beings who were trained to heal and cure."―Robert Coles, Boston Globe

"This is not only one of the most important works on medical ethics yet written. It also breaks through the frontiers of historiography to provide a convincing psychological interpretation of the Third Reich and the crimes of National Socialism. No one will be able in my view to write perceptively about those times in the future without referring to this interpretation."―Neal Ascherson, New York Review of Books

"A must read.... The book as a whole stands without competition in the English language."―Raul Hilberg, author of Destruction of the European Jews

"This profound study ranks with the most insightful books on the Holocaust."―PublishersWeekly

About the Author

Robert Jay Lifton is Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at John Jay College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He is also director of the Center on Violence and Human Survival. Dr. Lifton is the author of many books, including The Nazi Doctors and Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima, which won the National Book Award.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; 2nd edition (May 16, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 592 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0465093396
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465093397
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1460L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.32 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.05 x 1.75 x 9.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 138 ratings

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Robert Jay Lifton

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
138 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Marie
5.0 out of 5 stars Lifton's book is a monumental achievement in multiple disciplines
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2024
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The length and subject of "The Nazi Doctors" may initially be off-putting, but once you pick it up, it's extremely difficult to put down (although I would recommend taking short breaks due to the atrocities Lifton documents). Lifton approaches his subject as a resourceful investigative journalist (read how he managed to schedule interviews with and coax information out of the "Nazi doctors" who were still living), and, through excellent, evidence-based journalism, he moves into complex, intertwining examinations of history, science, philosophy, religion, culture, and personality development, and how all of this coalesced into the "perfect storm" of Hitler's appeal, rise to power, and the power and phenomenon (historically, philosophically, culturally, emotionally, scientifically) of the Third Reich. Everything you expect from this book is here, and far more, but just as instructive as his chapter on Josef Mengele (who makes the Marquis de Sade look like a Harlequin Romance writer) is Lifton's chapter on "'The Human Being in an SS Uniform': Ernst B," a "Nazi doctor" whose life was spared by the testimony of the Auschwitz survivors. Also, Lifton's meticulous and far-ranging interviews make it very clear that Nazi genocide was not solely directed against those individuals of Jewish descent, but included anyone, of any ethnicity, including Czech, Polish, Russian, and Roma, who was not considered "Aryan" (to paraphrase one interviewee, Aryans were considered "super-human," anyone else was considered "sub-human," and Jews were considered "non-human"). And even if you were technically "Aryan," you could still be sentenced to "mercy killing" if you were determined to be "feeble-minded" or "defective" (physically and/or mentally): see chapters "Sterilization and the Nazi Biomedical Vision" and "'Euthanasia': Direct Medical Killing." Lifton also reveals how the many aspects of Nazi "philosophy" were contradicted by practical reality, such as the fact that many "Nazi doctors" were subpar technically and therefore dependent upon the superior experience and technical training of the subhuman/non-human "prisoner doctors" and often relied upon the "inferior" non-Nazi doctors for their medical education and technical training (also the Nazis had to "dance around" the "defective" definition somewhat as one member of the Nazi "elite," Joseph Goebbels, had a deformed right foot due to a congenital disorder and wore a metal brace and special shoe).
3 people found this helpful
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5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read!
Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2021
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I read this a few years ago for research purposes but as it turns out, I never wrote a review for it. This study is absolutely fundamental for understanding the phenomena of medical killing and the psychology of the nazi doctors performing euthanasia and graduating to becoming the main perpetrators in the Auschwitz genocide. After conducting multiple interviews with the surviving nazi doctors, Dr. Lifton completed an unparalleled study that allows a rare glimpse into a psyche of a healer turned killer following the nazi indoctrination and succumbing to its pseudo-scientific goals and methods. By explaining how the idea of “healing” the German nation by turning it against “the enemy” - the Jews - gradually led to an experimental phase (euthanasia T4 program) and later, to the actual industrial scale annihilation of millions, Dr. Lifton paints a truly terrifying picture of a similar transformation that the nazi doctors were undergoing. Explaining their coping mechanisms from a psychiatrist’s POV, Dr. Lifton explains how seemingly decent men could turn into sadistic monsters experimenting on human beings as though they were guinea pigs and performing selections on the Auschwitz ramp under the pretext of the medical - and ideological - necessity. Some adapted astonishingly quickly and even thrived in the hell of Auschwitz (Dr. Mengele); the rare few refused to have anything to do with the atrocities and tried their best to remain healers. But each doctor underwent a similar transformation, the doubling as Dr. Lifton calls it, in order to preserve their psyche and protect it from self-destruction as the sense of guilt would be far too overwhelming. I could go on and on about this study, but you really should read it for yourself to truly appreciate its historical and scientific value. A must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the Holocaust and the doctors’ role in it.
20 people found this helpful
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Jon Hughes
5.0 out of 5 stars An in-depth look at horrors we must never forget
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2018
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OK, I can see many people would not want to say a book about the horrors of the Nazi medical experiments is a good book, but this is an amazingly well researched, extremely comprehensive book written in the 1980s, when many victims of these inhuman monsters were still alive to tell their stories. We live in a time so distant from WWII now that many younger people don't even know what it was about, and we must never forget, especially in the current political climate. What you learn from this book is the theory behind what these people did, accompanied by in-depth profiles of the men themselves, each quite different, but all equally deluded about the value of human life. Or, some human life, as we find that they were men who loved their families, who could be good husbands and fathers and still torture and kill those they saw as less human, less worthy, with cold calculation. Endlessly interesting, and horrible at the same time.
13 people found this helpful
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Davida B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2022
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Powrrful book..I got it because highly recommended..fills in the gaps of our his-story
One person found this helpful
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Le Q
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad but detailed read on German medical atrocities of WWII
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2019
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For those wondering WHY Germans and Germany went through with the Holocaust, this is a must read. It explains the underlying philosophies in medicine and heredity at the time. Very helpful to putting some order of understanding into what simply can't make sense.
8 people found this helpful
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GOD gave us another day!
5.0 out of 5 stars How evil can prevail when good men do nothing.
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2019
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How the Jewish people were used and abused for their religion. The hate that still is here today!
8 people found this helpful
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Paul
5.0 out of 5 stars This is disturbing fare
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
As a history buff, I've read many books on the Civil War, WW2 and general history; Goss's book on Andersonville is very interesting. I was fascinated by how a people as a whole could be so cruel to other human beings as the Germans were in the brief history of the third Reich. I thought this book might help explain it. I got less than about 100 pages in I had to put it down. The information is detailed and, I am sure, truthful. It's just disturbing.
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Kevin Conklin
5.0 out of 5 stars A well written book
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2018
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A very well written book, it was a good read .
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Top reviews from other countries

Carlotta
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and educational
Reviewed in Italy on December 9, 2022
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This book was recommended to me by a friend. I've been always fascinated with Nazi Germany and I read a lot of material about it with the purpose of understanding more its layers, how and why it was so evil. This analysis focuses on Nazi Doctors, German doctors during the Nazi period, and concentration camps survivors who were doctors. I've always asked myself what went through the mind of monsters like Mengele, but I forgot that Nazi Germany was more than this. A great read. I think it should be talked about more.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Robert J. Lifton
Reviewed in Germany on June 30, 2022
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I have admired the work of Robert J. Lifton for a long time. His focus on the effects of war and violence has been illuminating for my work with the morals of violence.
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Muhammad Nizam Bin Mohtar
4.0 out of 5 stars A well written book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reviewed in Singapore on June 26, 2023
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A well written book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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