Final Words

I didn't find an opportunity to post before we left Germany, so I'm doing my last post now. Visiting the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry was incredible! Real, original, primary sources that they let us just handle and look at. WOW. Even if they were in German. The subject of racial hygiene just seems to get more complicated every time we hear about it. While I think that most people agree that the way the Nazis went about fixing the perceived problem, the historian and doctor of psychology presenting to us brought up an eerie thought...that the topic, and people acting on their convictions, is still around. Genocide still happens, and with the advent of genetic manipulation, science is getting closer to the point where it might be able to make genomic adjustments that can eliminate certain forms of genetic disorders. The question is, who decides what counts as a disorder, and should changes be made without an individual's consent? Medical ethics is so interesting....

It seems that some scientific ideas that were originally fairly harmless were morphed and warped to suit certain aims that eventually resulted in Aktion T-4 and the Holocaust - a series of rationalizing small steps that snowballed into much more. Thinking about how things might have happened and what the regular German might have thought just make me worry that if we aren't careful, a similar situation could arise. I just hope that we as future scientists and professionals will have the insight to steer clear of creating situations which might lead to such destruction and grotesque repression.

While all of this was still churning in my mind, we visited Dachau. Our guide spoke if the awful conditions and atrocities committed. The night before, Dr. Wasser had given a lecture about the Nuremburg doctors trial and what some of the doctors had done. During both that lecture and again at Dachau, I found myself getting angry at the people who did those things. How stupid, how awful, how I can't even put my disgust, no that's not even the right word, into words. As Julie said, quoting an inscription at the memorial site, NEVER AGAIN. Prior to this experience, I was unsure about whether or not torture should be allowed or not, but now I am convinced that torture should not be allowed. Period. And as for detaining people without cause indefinitely, no sireebob.

Anyway, enough with the heavy stuff. We had a nice train ride back, then a wonderful fest. Nancy and I met a man from Munich while our group was waiting to be seated. He was very nice, and let us know that the best beer in the world was to be had at the beerhouse we were getting ready to enter. I think he might have been biased though. :)

Though our flight from Paris to Houston was 2 hours late leaving the airport, the return trip was not bad, and so far I don't feel too much jetlag...Overall, this trip was a wonderful experience that I am so glad I got to be a part of and share with the delightful people who went and those who we met in Germany.