Carl August Krauspe (1895-1983)—Founder and honorary member of the “European Society of Pathology” and “politically reliable” National Socialist

doi:10.1016/j.prp.2018.12.001

Pathology - Research and Practice

Volume 215, Issue 2, February 2019, Pages 395-403

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prp.2018.12.001 Get rights and content

Abstract

The name of the Hamburg pathologist Carl August Krauspe (1895–1983) is closely linked to the history of the “European Society of Pathology” (ESP) and the “German Pathological Society” (DGP): He was one of the founding fathers of the ESP, became its vice president, and was appointed an honorary member in 1983. From 1953–1962 he also served as secretary of the DGP and editor of the association's proceedings. In 1962/63 he finally held the chairmanship of the DGP.

Most of the publications about Carl Krauspe accordingly pay tribute to these professional functions and offices. Hardly mentioned – let alone critically discussed – is the fact that Krauspe joined the “Nazi Party” (NSDAP), the Storm Detachment (SA) and other Nazi organizations after Hitler's “seizure of power”. The content and tenor of Krauspe’s reports on politically exposed colleagues have also hardly been examined.

With this in mind, the present study pursues the goal of exploring Krauspe’s political role and his possible involvement in National Socialism. It is based on previously unexamined archival sources and a reanalysis of the relevant research literature.

The paper points out that Krauspe willingly served the Nazi regime during the Third Reich. Thanks to his “loyalty to the party” he was able to significantly advance his own career after 1933. In addition, individual examples show that Krauspe’s “expert reports” on colleagues before 1945, but also in post-war Germany, were obviously ideologically influenced. After 1945 he failed to make a late personal contribution to the making of amends for Nazi injustice.

Section snippets

Introduction: the life and work of Carl Krauspe

Carl August Krauspe (Fig. 1) [1] was born on July 19, 1895 in Insterburg, East Prussia. He was the son of a local Protestant-Lutheran family doctor [[2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]]. In Insterburg he attended elementary school and subsequently the Humanistische Gymnasium, which he left in March 1914 with the university entrance qualification ("Abitur"). He then studied medicine at the universities of Königsberg, Berlin and Greifswald, with interruptions due to the First World War (June 1915

Scientific questions

While Krauspe's professional work and his commitment to the ESP and DGP in Europe and Germany have been acknowledged in several publications, something of a blind spot seems to exist regarding his role in the “Third Reich”. Prüll alone set a small footnote in which he addressed Krauspe's relationship to National Socialism – this is all the more remarkable because the actual focus of his substantial habilitation thesis was on the history of pathology [28]. As to the biographical contributions on

Material and methods

The study is based on numerous archival sources on Carl Krauspe, some of which have been evaluated for the first time. They were found in the "Federal Archives" ("Bundesarchiv") in Berlin-Lichterfelde (BArch Berlin), the "Compensation Archives" ("Lastenausgleichsarchiv") of the Federal Archives in Bayreuth (BArch - LAA Bayreuth), in record of the former GDR (BStU Berlin), the University Archives of the Humboldt University in Berlin (HU/UA Berlin), the Medical History Museum at the University

Results

Krauspe's role in the “Third Reich” and his activities in post-war Europe can be divided into three areas:

Discussion

It can be demonstrated from the evaluated archival sources that the former DGP president Carl Krauspe served the Nazi regime. He clearly did not belong to the convinced National Socialists of the first hour, but to the group of opportunists who joined the Nazi movement in 1933. In so doing, he managed a political balancing act: On the one hand, he quickly penetrated the circle of the most influential Nazi physicians and succeeded in being perceived there as a guarantor loyal to the party line.

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^☆: This paper was produced as part of the DGP-funded research project on the "Role of Pathology and its Representatives in the Third Reich". We would like to thank Michaela Thal for her librarian support.

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Carl August Krauspe (1895-1983)—Founder and honorary member of the “European Society of Pathology” and “politically reliable” National Socialist☆

Abstract

Section snippets

Introduction: the life and work of Carl Krauspe

Scientific questions

Material and methods

Results

Discussion

Pathol. - Res. Pract.

Pathol. - Res. Pract.

Pathol. - Res. Pract.

Pathol. - Res. Pract.

Carl August Krauspe (Gedenkblatt)

Verh. Dtsch. Ges. Pathol.

Personal Documents of the NSDAP/ Party Correspondence, R 9361-II/577254 (Carl Krauspe), Document No. 1614

Ärzte in Ost- und Westpreussen

Carl Kaiserling

Professor Werner Hueck

Dtsch. Med. Wschr.

Pathologie in Leipzig

Pathologe

Personal Documents of the NSDAP/ Party Correspondence, R 9361-II/577254 (Carl Krauspe), Personal Data (UK 6072)

Zur Geschichte der Allgemeinen Pathologie und Pathologischen Anatomie an der Albertus-Universität in Königsberg i. Pr., Beilage zum Osterrundbrief 1969 der Ostpreußischen Arztfamilie

Personal Documents of the NSDAP/ Party Correspondence, R 9361-II/577254 (Carl Krauspe), Document No. 1612

Higher Education – Lecturer and Personnel Files, IV 1339 (Carl August Krauspe), Judgement of the Chamber of Appeal

Higher Education – Lecturer and Personnel Files, IV 1911 (Carl August Krauspe)

100 Jahre Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pathologie (1897–1997)

Pathologe

Plastische Chirurgie. Ästhetik – Ethik – Geschichte

History of the European Society of Pathology

Editorial: IX Europäischer congress für pathologie in Hamburg vom 19.–24. September 1983

Pathologe

Vor 100 Jahren: Von Finnland bis Italien hoch geehrt. Der Pathologe Prof. Dr. Carl August Krauspe wurde am 19. Juli 1895 in Insterburg geboren

Ostpreußenblatt

Medizin am Toten oder am Lebenden? Pathologie in Berlin und in London, 1900–1945

Minds, Microscopes and Molecules. The First Fifty Years of the European Society of Pathology

Holdings of the Former NS Archive of the State Security of the GDR, R 4901/23678 (Carl Krauspe)

University Teacher Index ("Hochschullehrerdatei"), R 4901/13269 (Carl Krauspe)

NSDAP-Gaukartei, R 9361-IX/23030146 (Carl Krauspe)

Personal Documents of the NSDAP/ Party Correspondence, R 9361-II/577254 (Carl Krauspe)

Personal Documents of the NSDAP/ Party Correspondence, R 9361-II/577258 (Carl Krauspe)

Dept. FFM/A–Z, Denazification File Carl Krauspe

Holdings of the Former NS Archive of the State Security of the GDR, R 4901/23678 (Carl Krauspe), Questionnaire of the NSDAP

Die Architekturen der Deutschen Arbeitsfront. Eine nationalsozialistische Kontrollorganisation als Planungsinstrument, Thesis

Dept. FFM/A–Z, Denazification File Carl Krauspe, Registration Sheet of Carl Krauspe

Holdings of the Former NS Archive of the State Security of the GDR, R 4901/23678 (Carl Krauspe), Expert Opinion by Martin Staemmler

Holdings of the Former NS Archive of the State Security of the GDR, R 4901/23678 (Carl Krauspe), Vote of the Referee Werner Jansen

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Das Personenlexikon Zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945

Rassenpflege im völkischen Staat

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