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Hans Asperger

Ken said:
I just learned something yesterday that I find a bit disturbing. The label; Asperger comes from Johann Friedrich Karl (Hans) Asperger who was a Nazi pediatrician who sent children diagnosed with autism to be killed! Hans Asperger - Wikipedia

I am curious how many of you already knew this?
Click to expand...

I do not think the story is quite that simple. Modern focus has taken context out of the narrative. He was not perfect and did not always act in the interest of those in his care, but he did not join the Nazi party and therefore was not a Nazi doctor.

Living in Austria during Nazi occupation did not give a doctor many chances to be heroic. There certainly is evidence that he advocated for some of the children to be seen as gifted and therefore saved from the Spiegelgrund. As a doctor whose job is was to send children there, he did not have the authority to send no child there. There is an aspect of saving his own life, but it would be hard to see a different outcome if he were removed. In fact, if there would be a different outcome it could have very likely have been more children sent to Spiegelgrund.

The context of his time is not an easy one to look back upon with moral sanctimony. This is a time when social Darwinism was discussed openly in scientific circles as far away as the Natural History Museum in America. I have little doubt that Aspergers took this paradigm seriously and advocated it to a certain degree. However, it is very difficult to find much that he did personally to shape the discourse.
 
HidinginPlainSight said:
I do not think the story is quite that simple. Modern focus has taken context out of the narrative. He was not perfect
and did not always act in the interest of those in his care, but he did not join the Nazi party and therefore was
not a Nazi doctor.
Living in Austria during Nazi
occupation did not give a doctor
many chances to be heroic. There
certainly is evidence that he advocated for some of the children to be seen as gifted and therefore saved from the Spiegelgrund. As a doctor whose job is was to send children
there, he did not have the authority to send no child there. There is an aspect of saving his own life, but it would be hard to see a different outcome if he were removed. In fact, if there would be a different outcome
it could have very likely have been more children sent to Spiegelgrund.

The context of his time is not an easy one to look back upon with moral sanctimony. This is a time when
social Darwinism was discussed openly in scientific circles as far away as the Natural History Museum in America. I have little doubt that Aspergers took this paradigm seriously and advocated it to a
certain degree. However, it is very difficult to find much that he did personally to shape the discourse.
Click to expand...

'... Asperger sent at least 2 disabled children to the Am Spiegelgrund clinic, knowing they would be the subject of cruel experiments and be likely to beeuthanised under the Nazi programme named, post-bellum..'

From:-
Hans Asperger

You put that down to 'He was not perfect'!!?!
 
Aspergers_Aspie said:
'... Asperger sent at least 2 disabled children to the Am Spiegelgrund clinic, knowing they would be the subject of cruel experiments and be likely to be euthanised under the Nazi programme named, post-bellum..'

From:-
Hans Asperger

You put that down to 'He was not perfect'!!?!
Click to expand...
If it was only 2, he was a saint and a miracle worker. He could have sent hundreds if that was his mindset. There was nothing to prevent the Nazis from simply taking over his entire establishment if they were dissatisfied with him. Which is what they eventually did.

You don't have the slightest notion of what kinds of pressures are brought to bear on such a person.

He was neither a Mengele nor a concentration camp guard. OTOH he didn't sacrifice himself in a blaze of futile idealism. The real question is what kind of good has the doctor done since the war. You can say the same thing of most of the population of wartime Germany.
 
HidinginPlainSight said:
I do not think the story is quite that simple. Modern focus has taken context out of the narrative. He was not perfect and did not always act in the interest of those in his care, but he did not join the Nazi party and therefore was not a Nazi doctor.

Living in Austria during Nazi occupation did not give a doctor many chances to be heroic. There certainly is evidence that he advocated for some of the children to be seen as gifted and therefore saved from the Spiegelgrund. As a doctor whose job is was to send children there, he did not have the authority to send no child there. There is an aspect of saving his own life, but it would be hard to see a different outcome if he were removed. In fact, if there would be a different outcome it could have very likely have been more children sent to Spiegelgrund.

The context of his time is not an easy one to look back upon with moral sanctimony. This is a time when social Darwinism was discussed openly in scientific circles as far away as the Natural History Museum in America. I have little doubt that Aspergers took this paradigm seriously and advocated it to a certain degree. However, it is very difficult to find much that he did personally to shape the discourse.
Click to expand...
Unless you want to stay blind to it!
 
Au Naturel said:
If it was only 2, he was a saint and a miracle worker. He could have sent hundreds if that was his mindset. There was nothing to prevent the Nazis from simply taking over his entire establishment if they were dissatisfied with him. Which is what they eventually did.

You don't have the slightest notion of what kinds of pressures are brought to bear on such a person.

He was neither a Mengele nor a concentration camp guard. OTOH he didn't sacrifice himself in a blaze of futile idealism. The real question is what kind of good has the doctor done since the war. You can say the same thing of most of the population of wartime Germany.
Click to expand...
Hope you never have power over anyone different
 
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