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Edwin Katzen-Ellenbogen

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Edwin Katzenellenbogen
Katzenellenbogen in U.S. custody (April 1947)
Born
Edwin Maria Katzenellenbogen

(1882-05-22)May 22, 1882
Stanislau, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Austria-Hungary
DiedAfter 1955
NationalityGerman
American
OccupationPsychiatrist
Criminal statusDeceased
Conviction(s)War crimes
TrialBuchenwald trial
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment; commuted 12 years imprisonment

Edwin Maria Katzenellenbogen, also spelled Katzen-Ellenbogen (22 May 1882 – after 1955) was a Jewish American eugenicist and physician in the concentration camp of Buchenwald. Born in 1882 in Galicia, he attended a Polish Jesuit high school, and was a practicing Catholic.[1] In 1905 he graduated as a doctor from Leipzig University. He emigrated to the United States that year, where he was naturalized.[1] Katzenellenbogen worked as a eugenicist for the Carnegie Institution. At one point, he was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School.[2] Katzenellenbogen married Aurelia Pierce, the daughter of a Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice, whom he later divorced.[1]

Registration card of Edwin Katzenellenbogen as a prisoner at Buchenwald Nazi Concentration Camp

Katzenellenbogen returned to Germany in the 1930s. In 1943, he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. There, Katzenellenbogen collaborated with the Nazis as a doctor.[3] He became known for his cruelty especially towards French communists.[4]

Katzenellenbogen testifies during his trial

In September 1945, Katzenellenbogen was arrested in Marburg.[5] In the Buchenwald Camp Trial (part of the Dachau Trials), he was charged along with 30 others. Katzenellenbogen was accused of mistreating prisoners, and killing 1000 of them via lethal injection. He was one of the few physicians to show remorse at his trial. After being found guilty, Katzenelenbogen requested a death sentence, saying "You have placed the mark of Cain on my forehead. Any physician who committed the crimes I am charged with deserves to be killed. Therefore, I ask for only one grace. Apply to me the highest therapy that is in your hands."[6]

On August 14, 1947, Katzenellenbogen was sentenced to life in prison. He did not receive the death sentence he requested since military prosecutors failed to prove that he committed murder. Katzenellenbogen was instead only found guilty of committing non-fatal abuse.

Katzenellenbogen's sentence was later commuted to 12 years.[7] He was released from prison on September 26, 1953.[8] He returned to the U.S. and resumed practice as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst until at least the end of 1955.[9] He died some time after that.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Black, Edwin. "The Story of the New Jersey Doctor Who Helped Kill Prisoners at Buchenwald in the Name of Eugenics". Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. The George Washington University. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  2. ^ Samaan, A. E. (9 November 2020). From a "Race of Masters" to a "Master Race": 1948 to 1848. Library Without Walls, LLC. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-0-9964163-4-4.
  3. ^ Weindling, P. (29 October 2004). Nazi Medicine and the Nuremberg Trials: From Medical Warcrimes to Informed Consent. Springer. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-230-50605-3.
  4. ^ "Katzenellenbogen, Buchenwald Doctor, Denies Cruelty at War Crimes Trial". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  5. ^ "Der letzte von fünfundvierzig". Weltpresse - Unabhängige Nachrichten und Stimmen aus aller Welt. September 18, 1945.
  6. ^ Copjec, Joan (1996). Radical Evil. Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-911-8.
  7. ^ Buchenwald-Hauptprozess: Deputy Judge Advocate's Office 7708 War Crimes Group European Command APO 407 (United States of America v. Josias Prince zu Waldeck u. a. – Case 000-50-9), November 1947, pp. 58. (PDF[permanent dead link])
  8. ^ "Nazi Doctors (mostly SS) - Axis History Forum". forum.axishistory.com. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  9. ^ Charet, F. X. (1993). Spiritualism and the foundations of C.G. Jung's psychology. State University of New York Press.
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