In 2010, the German Radiological Society (DRG) commissioned Dr. Gabriele Moser, a historian of medicine at the University of Heidelberg, with a project exploring the history of the German Radiological Society during the era of the National Socialist dictatorship. The German Society for Radiation Oncology (DEGRO) joined the project in 2012 because of the DRG and DEGRO’s shared past. After initial publications by Dr. Moser in the two societies’ professional publications (RöFo – Fortschritte auf dem Gebiet der Röntgenstrahlen; Strahlentherapie und Onkologie), this exhibition seeks to provide an overview of this chapter in history. The project’s extensive research traces the criminal use of radiation in the service of National Socialist fanaticism about race while also documenting the careers of its scientists and practitioners. Furthermore, the findings include the biographies of radiologists who were persecuted and murdered in the years from 1933 to 1945, which were often quite difficult to locate and assemble.

The Boards of both societies would like to express their profound thanks to Dr. Moser for her work.

For the German Radiological Society:

Prof. Dr. Norbert Hosten, Greifswald

For the German Society for Radiation Oncology:

Prof. Dr. Michael Baumann, Dresden