Anatomical departments in Bavaria and the corpses of executed victims of National Socialism

While it is known that the bodies of executed victims of National Socialism (NS) were used for anatomical research and teaching, detailed studies are still missing for many anatomical departments. This analysis focuses on the institutes in Bavaria. From 1933 on the institutes of Munich, Würzburg and Erlangen were actively involved in and competed over the procurement of bodies of NS victims, particularly between 1937 and 1941. While the body supply was sufficient thereafter it became again critical in the first years after the war. During that period, anatomists complained about a lack of bodies for dissection courses and tended to use the corpses remaining from the NS-period for teaching purposes. Their position was supported by the popular view that resistance fighters were seen as traitors to the Fatherland and not as honorable political victims. At the same time, relatives and aid organizations were in search of the dead victims of German terror. These conflicting interests created a situation full of tension, in which Philipp Auerbach, state commissioner for religious, political and racial victims of the Nazis in Bavaria, played a crucial role.