New Voices from the Camps: A Reflection on Women's Words and Medical Illustrations

The UN General Assembly designated Jan. 27 – the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau – as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, every member state of the UN has an obligation to honor the victims of the Nazi era and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.

In observance of this day of remembrance, a faculty panel will bring together the study of ethics in religion, silenced stories and social justice issues relative to the abuse of human bodies, including women survivors of the Holocaust who are beginning to speak about the sexual abuse they experienced in the concentration camps, and medical drawings created from the archives of the concentration camps. The panel will give voice to these experiences by presenting and reflecting on the “new evidence” for understanding the death camps.

CLU multimedia professor and medical illustrator Tim Hengst will discuss University of Vienna anatomist Eduard Pernkopf's four-volume anatomical atlas Topographical Anatomy of Man which was described by The New England Journal of Medicine in 1990 as "an outstanding book of great value to anatomists and surgeons." Its anatomical illustrations remain unsurpassed; however, a 1988 study revealed that Pernkopf and several of his artists were avid Nazis. Researchers remain deeply divided on what today's anatomists should do with an atlas that is both scientifically valuable and morally tainted.

Joining Hengst on the panel are CLU English professor Sig Schwartz, who teaches a course on Holocaust literature, and Pam Brubaker, a CLU professor emerita of religion. The one-hour presentation is free.

Click here for information on the "women's voices testimonials" projects.