Jens Martin Rohrbach: Deutsche Augenärzteschaft und NSDAP

Approximately 40–45 % of all German physicians joined the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) until 1945. Reasons for party membership are manifold and still a matter of debate. Very likely, the extraordinary high representation of medical doctors in the NSDAP was rather a result of active entry than recruitment by the party.

There are only few data concerning the willingness of ophthalmologists to become a party member („Parteigenosse“, „Pg“). According to the list of University teachers in Germany („Hochschullehrerkarte“; Federal Archive, Berlin), the list of the members of the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) of 1934 and especially the list of NSDAP-members (Federal Archive, Berlin) the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. Directors of German University eye hospitals (chairmen) were members of the NSDAP with a frequency of 23 % in 1933 and 48 % in 1938 as well as in 1943. The motivation for joining the party was most likely the perspective of acceleration of the academic career.

2. „Only“ 30 % of the ophthalmologists working in private praxis were „Pg“ (until 1945).

3. Both chairmen and ophthalmologists in private praxis were equally hindered to join the NSDAP between May 1^rst 1933 and May 1^rst 1937 when the party temporarily stopped registration.

4. The majority of ophthalmologists who joined the NSDAP were born between 1880 and 1900 and thus had taken part in World War I as soldiers or had experienced the times of need after WW I.

Only few ophthalmologists succeeded in the NS-hierarchy and probably only one ophthalmologist, Walther Löhlein from Berlin, came in personal contact with Adolf Hitler who was constantly in fear for his sight after his eye injury in October 1918. The „Law for the prevention of genetically disabled offsprings“ („Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses“) from July 14^th, 1933 separated ophthalmologists into two parties: those advocating sterilization to a high degree and those recommending sterilization only exceptionally. Interestingly, both groups consisted equally of NSDAP-members as well as of non-NSDAP-members.

To conclude, although ophthalmology was – in comparison with other medical disciplines – rather „unpolitical“ in the NS-era, ophthalmologists at that time were concerning NSDAP-membership and loyalty to the regime very likely neither „better“ nor „worse“ than the German physicians in general.

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