“The eyes of tens of thousands of inmates were fixed on the doctors in the camp, their only recourse for medical treatment and assistance. The doctors worked under an enormous amount of pressure, never encountered anywhere else, from their sense of commitment and responsibility. When all else failed, a prisoner’s last resort and hope was that a Polish doctor might dispense treatment and help him survive.”
Professor Kępiński was a far-sighted visionary when he wrote that, “The Nazi Germans did not achieve their aim, they did not cleanse the world despite the millions of victims, [. . .] but they demonstrated what the outcome of a crazy ideology might be. Let us hope that the smoke of Auschwitz will be a warning for people not to become overwhelmed and blinded by hatred and contempt for other people. Ready-made formulas for thought and action and blind obedience to orders may bring very dangerous consequences, and that is why we must take full responsibility for our thoughts, emotions, and deeds. [. . .] The anus mundi of the concentration camps revealed the full range of human nature – from barbaric cruelty to heroism, love, and self-sacrifice.”8 The aim of the 'Medical Review - Auschwitz' Project is to show these two faces of humanity in the medical context.
Bibliography
1. Ryn Z.J., ed.: Psychiatria obozów koncentracyjnych i prześladowań politycznych: bibliografia prac Katedry Psychiatrii CMUJ 1960–2002. [Psychiatry of the Concentration Camps and political oppression: publications by the Chair of Psychiatry at the Jagiellonian University Medical College, 1960–2002]. Kraków: PAN, 2003
2. Gościński, I.: ‘Prof. dr Józef Bogusz – prezes Towarzystwa Lekarskiego Krakowskiego w latach 1959–1993.’ PL-O, special edition, 2004; 61: 3–5
3. Jakubik A., and Masłowski J.: Antoni Kępiński – człowiek i dzieło. Warszawa: PZWL, 1981
4. Masłowski J.: ‘Dr Stanisław Kłodziński.’ Biul. Tow. Op. Oświęc., 1996; 29: 37–41
5. Początek, A.: Stanisław Kłodziński: więzień hitlerowskich obozów koncentracyjnych, działacz społeczny, dokumentalista. Katowice: Sapientia, 2003
6. Ryn Z.J.: ‘Mgr Jan Masłowski: wspomnienie o Janie Mieczysławie Masłowskim.’ Med. Prakt. Psychiat., 2016, 2: 84–88
7. Ryn Z.J., ed.: Medycyna za drutami obozu. Kraków: WUJ, 2010. English translation: Medicine Behind the Barbed Wire of the German Concentration Camp, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Przegląd Lekarski, 2013
8. Kępiński A.: ‘Anus mundi.’ PL-O, 1965; 1: 150–152
Antoni Kępiński