Munich anatomy and the distribution of bodies from the Stadelheim execution site during National Socialism

Publication date: Available online 2 February 2017
Source:Annals of Anatomy - Anatomischer Anzeiger
Author(s): Mathias Schütz, Jens Waschke, Georg Marckmann, Florian Steger
During the reign of National Socialism (NS) anatomical institutes regularly received bodies of executed prisoners in steadily increasing numbers. After 1939, the execution site at Stadelheim prison in Munich supplied not only Munich Anatomical Institute but also the institutes in Erlangen, Innsbruck and Würzburg. Due to the disappearance of the Munich body journals, the exact dimension and procedure of body procurement from Stadelheim remained unknown for 70 years. After consultation of a wide range of sources, including rediscovered fragments of the body journals, it is now possible to give an almost comprehensive account of the developments. This article deals with the attempts at recovering information on body procurement from Stadelheim prison during the NS period, having already indicated the significance of Munich Anatomical Institute in organizing the distribution of bodies. Thereafter, it addresses the number and distinct groups of Stadelheim prisoners, executed and delivered to the four anatomical institutes, the differences in the handling of their bodies, and the extent to which in particular the Munich Anatomical Institute profited from the massive increase in executions. Finally, it unveils the role of the Munich Anatomical Institute in distributing those bodies among the anatomical institutes during the Second World War, making it not only the main beneficiary but also the interim center of this process.



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