Nurses in Nazi Germany: moral choice in history

the most recent cases and legal developments in Germany, Britain, USA, Australia, and the Netherlands helps to fill this gap. Taking the approach of a critical commentator on historical sources, the author presents a wide range of positions in the Jewish and Christian traditions, the medical profession, law, and philosophy (including the contributions by Friedrich Nietzsche and Peter Singer). In particular, he examines the influence of Social Darwinist, eugenic, and utilitarian thought on German discourse in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which prepared-via Karl Binding's and Alfred Hoche's notorious Die Freigabe der Vernichtung lebensunwerten Lebens (1920)-the ideological ground for the Nazi "euthanasia" programmes. Benzenhofer's account of these killing programmes includes some new details on the initial case of active euthanasia performed in 1939 on the handicapped "child Knauer". While medical historians will be familiar with several of the key texts discussed in this book, such as Thomas More's Utopia (1516) or Adolf Jost's Das Recht auf den Tod (1895), the summaries of relevant court decisions and medical guidelines in Germany during the late 1970s to 1990s (partly reprinted in an appendix) are particularly useful. Benzenh6fer's analysis of these recent developments points to the growing importance of patient directives on limitations of therapy in terminal illness ("patients' wills") and the dangers of proxy consent to withdrawal of treatment in cases of persistent vegetative state. It also illustrates an emerging medical and legal consensus on passive euthanasia, whereas active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide remain highly controversial and illegal. As for the Netherlands, where active euthanasia is not prosecuted if certain procedural safeguards have been observed, the problem of a "euthanasia mentality", which may undermine truly voluntary decision-making and hamper the progress of palliative care, is highlighted. The author abstains from drawing broader historical conclusions or from developing a general ethical position on the subject. Nevertheless, this volume will serve well for teaching purposes and for anyone who seeks concise information on the historical dimensions of euthanasia.