By
Daily Mail Reporter
Like other wartime nurses, those in
Nazi Germany selflessly tended to wounded soldiers in some of the
toughest conditions imaginable. But
they also had a more sinister side to their job - assisting with Third
Reich's 'experiments' including euthanizing the mentally handicapped and
other groups Hitler deemed 'undesirable' and assisting in the creation
of 'Super Race Children.'
A collection of harrowing photographs has captured these women, probably in the nursing profession's darkest hour.
Sinister: A nurse gives children of working mothers UV light treatments at a nursery in Berlin, Germany
The
actions of the Nazi doctors throughout the war are well documented but
the actions of the nurses and others who assisted them in their
controversial endeavors are often ignored.
Whether they were simply
following orders, or trying to help out, or fight for a cause they
believed in, these women are part of the diverse history of the nursing
profession.
But this collection of photographs captures the occupation in its probably its darkest hours.
Experiments: Nurses put babies under a sunlamp at the NSV, the welfare organisation of the Nazi party during World War II
Gas mask: A Nazi nurse fits a young girl with a government-issue gasmask, in 1937
Orphans: Three young orphaned homeless German children are led by a nurse to the Lichterfelde children's home, Berlin, in 1945
Lebensborn: A nurse at a Lebensborn nursing home tends to children involved in the 'Super Race' project
Under the horrific plan, children who didn't measure up were sent to concentration camps.
In 1939, the Nazi's went even further, traveling to occupied territories such as Poland to steal hundreds of thousands of Aryan-looking children.
Support: Troop support by nurses of the German Red Cross at a fast train with front vacationers at Saalfeld station, in 1941
Babies: Nurses with the National Socialist People's Welfare checking the health of two babies
Assisting the cause: Nazi General Erwin Rommel greets nurses in 1943
Flirting: A German nurse chats with an allied war correspondent while stationed at the fighting in France in 1944
The youngsters were transferred to Lebensborn clinics where they were 'Germanized' and then adopted out to SS families.
Children who refused to be indoctrinated were beaten, and often sent to concentration camps where they were killed.
Nurses performed tasks such as treating brown-haired children's hair with UV light in a bid to make it fairer.
Whether
they were simply following orders, or trying to help out, or fighting for a
cause they believed in, these nurses are part of the diverse history of
the nursing profession.
1 comment:
Hello dear author, this photos really captured my intention, I'm a students nurse in University of Ottawa, ON, Canada, and I will like to use one of the pictures here for research purpose, please let me know if there is copyright, do I need to contact anybody to have the permission to use it, especially the first Picture with the Nurse giving UV treatment(says from austrian archives/corbis ).
Post a Comment