Carola Sachse

What Research, to What End? The Rockefeller Foundation and the Max Planck Gesellschaft in the Early Cold War

Between 1946 and 1948, the Rockefeller Foundation (RF) sent four representatives to Germany for extended visits to investigate how it could become involved in reconstructing the country. They were particularly interested in reorganizing the educational and science systems in a democratic manner and in reintegrating the conquered aggressor into the “family of nations.” They held numerous meetings with leading representatives of the Max Planck Gesellschaft (MPG), the successor to the world-famous Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft (KWG), which had received considerable amounts of funding from the RF until the late 1930s, even after the Nazis came to power. As a result of its evaluation, the RF declined to provide the same level of support for the postwar MPG as it had for the prewar KWG. Although an obvious reason for the RF to distance itself from the KWG would be the latters involvement in the crimes of the Nazi regime, as suggested by Paul Weindling in his analysis of the RFs funding policy for biomedical research in Germany in general, neither the RF interviews nor the evaluation reports mentioned the involvement of KWG scientists in biomedical crimes during the Third Reich. The reports did not even mention the Nuremberg medical trial, which took place between December 1946 and August 1947.

Introduction: A Comparative Perspective

This essay collection uses comparative history to illuminate the history of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft, KWG) under National Socialism. Each chapter juxtaposes one or more of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes (KWI) during the Third Reich with comparable scientific institutions in the United States, Soviet Union, Japan, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Norway. Fascist, democratic, and communist regimes are compared. Most countries were either at war with or occupied by Germany during World War II. The interaction of social forces and social norms with science and scientists is explored, including in particular the self-interest of scientists and science during wartime. The most specific aspect of science under National Socialism appears to be science without moral boundaries (entgrenzte Wissenschaft).

The Pugwash conferences and the global Cold War : scientists, transnational networks, and the complexity of nuclear histories

This introductory essay elucidates the purpose and major themes of the special issue. The contributors to the issue provide an in-depth look at the Pugwash Conferences for Science and World Affairs (usually referred to as just Pugwash) to explore important themes in Cold War history. Among other topics covered in the issue are the impact of Pugwash in many countries, the nature of its organization, and the distinctive way in which it worked, as well as its importance for the relationship between scientists and the Cold War states and its role as a political actor and as a transnational actor. All of these issues and more make Pugwash a compelling subject for scholars of the Cold War.

Apology, responsibility, memory. Coming to terms with Nazi medical crimes: the example of the Max Planck Society

In June 2001, the then president of the Max Planck Society addressed a formal apology to survivors of Nazi medical crimes. Starting from this ritual of repentance, the paper examines the participants’ diverse views of how to deal with the medical crimes of National Socialism. In comparison with the DGPPN, it asks about possibilities of going beyond historical retrospection to fulfil the imperative of remembrance.