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Asperger's Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna
Hans Asperger, the pioneer of autism and Asperger syndrome in Nazi Vienna, has been celebrated for his compassionate defense of children with disabilities. But in this groundbreaking book, prize-winning historian Edith Sheffer exposes that Asperger was not only involved in the racial policies of Hitler’s Third Reich, he was complicit in the murder of children.
As the Nazi regime slaughtered millions across Europe during World War Two, it sorted people according to race, religion, behavior, and physical condition for either treatment or elimination. Nazi psychiatrists targeted children with different kinds of minds—especially those thought to lack social skills—claiming the Reich had no place for them. Asperger and his colleagues endeavored to mold certain "autistic" children into productive citizens, while transferring others they deemed untreatable to Spiegelgrund, one of the Reich’s deadliest child-killing centers.
In the first comprehensive history of the links between autism and Nazism, Sheffer uncovers how a diagnosis common today emerged from the atrocities of the Third Reich. With vivid storytelling and wide-ranging research, Asperger’s Children will move readers to rethink how societies assess, label, and treat those diagnosed with disabilities.
As the Nazi regime slaughtered millions across Europe during World War Two, it sorted people according to race, religion, behavior, and physical condition for either treatment or elimination. Nazi psychiatrists targeted children with different kinds of minds—especially those thought to lack social skills—claiming the Reich had no place for them. Asperger and his colleagues endeavored to mold certain "autistic" children into productive citizens, while transferring others they deemed untreatable to Spiegelgrund, one of the Reich’s deadliest child-killing centers.
In the first comprehensive history of the links between autism and Nazism, Sheffer uncovers how a diagnosis common today emerged from the atrocities of the Third Reich. With vivid storytelling and wide-ranging research, Asperger’s Children will move readers to rethink how societies assess, label, and treat those diagnosed with disabilities.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2018
430 people are currently reading
6744 people want to read
About the author
Edith Sheffer
4 books56 followersEdith Sheffer is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Her current book, Asperger's Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna (W. W. Norton, 2018) investigates Hans Asperger’s creation of the autism diagnosis in the Third Reich, examining Nazi psychiatry's emphasis on social spirit and Asperger's involvement in the euthanasia program that killed children considered to be disabled.
Sheffer's prize-winning first book, Burned Bridge: How East and West Germans Made the Iron Curtain (Oxford University Press, 2011), challenges the moral myth of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War’s central symbol -- revealing how the Iron Curtain was not simply imposed by Communism, but emerged from the everyday actions of ordinary people. Her next book, Hidden Front: Switzerland and World War Two, tells an in-depth history of a nation whose pivotal role remains unexposed yet was decisive in the course of the Second World War.
Her current book, Asperger's Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna (W. W. Norton, 2018) investigates Hans Asperger’s creation of the autism diagnosis in the Third Reich, examining Nazi psychiatry's emphasis on social spirit and Asperger's involvement in the euthanasia program that killed children considered to be disabled.
Sheffer's prize-winning first book, Burned Bridge: How East and West Germans Made the Iron Curtain (Oxford University Press, 2011), challenges the moral myth of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War’s central symbol -- revealing how the Iron Curtain was not simply imposed by Communism, but emerged from the everyday actions of ordinary people. Her next book, Hidden Front: Switzerland and World War Two, tells an in-depth history of a nation whose pivotal role remains unexposed yet was decisive in the course of the Second World War.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 307 reviews
September 2, 2019
This is the story of how a fuzzy psychiatric diagnosis was given to unfortunate children by doctors who knew they were condemning these children to horrible deaths.
It's the story of how these children's honest, heartbreaking, willingly given, naive answers to questions posed by their doctors could mean the difference between being allowed to live or condemned to die.
It's a story about how killing a child became a completely reasonable way to treat a diagnosis of asocial behavior.
Sheffer lays out a meticulously-argued and well-documented case that the work of Hans Asperger was grounded in the racial-purity ideologies of National Socialism.
It's a chilling book not only for the documentation of atrocity, but also for the way Sheffer draws correlations to the present--how these same prejudices against children who are different continue to affect child psychiatry today, where unusual behavior is still pathologized. 'Social skills' have continued to be an unqualified good in the psychiatric treatment of children, and it was in Nazi Germany and Austria that asociability first became a pathology in need of a cure. Sheffer spends a long time pulling together the way an autistic-spectrum personality was id'd as deviant in large part because these children weren't attracted to group activities like the Hitler Youth--a deviation from the norm that could not be tolerated. It feels that these threads of dominant-culture prejudice still exist today, where practitioners assume a priori that it is better for a child to be part of a group, and to behave like the group behaves, no matter how uncomfortable the group makes the child feel.
Sometimes a small lens allows the greater horror to be seen and understood, if only fleetingly. Asperger's diagnostic program sent at most 10,000 children to their death, and what is that when compared with 6 million? But Sheffer makes an important connection between this relatively small tragedy of autistic children and the fate of six million Jews. She reminds us that the same notion of eugenic purity drove all of these horrific decisions: the National Socialist murder of Jews, homosexuals, mentally ill, and asocial deviants all stemmed from a pseudo-scientific thesis about eugenics and social improvement, a thesis that allowed people who committed atrocious acts to claim their actions were scientific and rational and therefore justifiable.
It's the story of how these children's honest, heartbreaking, willingly given, naive answers to questions posed by their doctors could mean the difference between being allowed to live or condemned to die.
It's a story about how killing a child became a completely reasonable way to treat a diagnosis of asocial behavior.
Sheffer lays out a meticulously-argued and well-documented case that the work of Hans Asperger was grounded in the racial-purity ideologies of National Socialism.
It's a chilling book not only for the documentation of atrocity, but also for the way Sheffer draws correlations to the present--how these same prejudices against children who are different continue to affect child psychiatry today, where unusual behavior is still pathologized. 'Social skills' have continued to be an unqualified good in the psychiatric treatment of children, and it was in Nazi Germany and Austria that asociability first became a pathology in need of a cure. Sheffer spends a long time pulling together the way an autistic-spectrum personality was id'd as deviant in large part because these children weren't attracted to group activities like the Hitler Youth--a deviation from the norm that could not be tolerated. It feels that these threads of dominant-culture prejudice still exist today, where practitioners assume a priori that it is better for a child to be part of a group, and to behave like the group behaves, no matter how uncomfortable the group makes the child feel.
Sometimes a small lens allows the greater horror to be seen and understood, if only fleetingly. Asperger's diagnostic program sent at most 10,000 children to their death, and what is that when compared with 6 million? But Sheffer makes an important connection between this relatively small tragedy of autistic children and the fate of six million Jews. She reminds us that the same notion of eugenic purity drove all of these horrific decisions: the National Socialist murder of Jews, homosexuals, mentally ill, and asocial deviants all stemmed from a pseudo-scientific thesis about eugenics and social improvement, a thesis that allowed people who committed atrocious acts to claim their actions were scientific and rational and therefore justifiable.
May 16, 2018
Stop BEFORE you attach a label of autism or Asperger's Syndrome to a child -- yours or anyone else's -- and READ this book. This is one of the most important books I have read in years in how it gives context and meaning to a concept society has accepted as fact. When you read the roots and evolution of this "diagnosis" ("autistic"), your heart will break, your anger will rise and you will be shocked at the flimsy and scant research on which it is based.
The diagnosis has roots in the Nazi "racial purity" movement, which had its own reasons for promoting Gemut, that is, the collective soul within the individual, and exterminating innocent children who could not be indoctrinated into Nazi concepts of "society" or who operated just a bit differently. Lorna Wing, who took Hans Asperger's ideas and popularized them, says: "I wish I hadn't done it. I would rather throw all labels away today and move toward the dimensional approach (observing children on their own unique merits)."
It is time to stop misunderstanding and ostracizing individuals who don't immerse in large societal groups in the same fashion. This book's brilliant author Edith Sheffer concludes: "Society is becoming increasingly sensitive to nuance in issues of race, religion, gender, sexuality and nationality. As appreciation of neurodiversity now grows, we might begin to see the perils of a totalizing label based on varying traits, since labels affect the treatment of individuals, and treatment affects their lives. The history of Asperger's and autism should underscore the ethics of respecting every child's mind and treating those minds with care -- showing how society can shape a diagnosis."
I couldn't agree more. Please read this book. I recommend having a light biography or novel nearby to alternate with reading "Asperger's Children" because learning what Nazi Vienna did to these children is just too disturbing to absorb without some sort of distraction.
The diagnosis has roots in the Nazi "racial purity" movement, which had its own reasons for promoting Gemut, that is, the collective soul within the individual, and exterminating innocent children who could not be indoctrinated into Nazi concepts of "society" or who operated just a bit differently. Lorna Wing, who took Hans Asperger's ideas and popularized them, says: "I wish I hadn't done it. I would rather throw all labels away today and move toward the dimensional approach (observing children on their own unique merits)."
It is time to stop misunderstanding and ostracizing individuals who don't immerse in large societal groups in the same fashion. This book's brilliant author Edith Sheffer concludes: "Society is becoming increasingly sensitive to nuance in issues of race, religion, gender, sexuality and nationality. As appreciation of neurodiversity now grows, we might begin to see the perils of a totalizing label based on varying traits, since labels affect the treatment of individuals, and treatment affects their lives. The history of Asperger's and autism should underscore the ethics of respecting every child's mind and treating those minds with care -- showing how society can shape a diagnosis."
I couldn't agree more. Please read this book. I recommend having a light biography or novel nearby to alternate with reading "Asperger's Children" because learning what Nazi Vienna did to these children is just too disturbing to absorb without some sort of distraction.
March 4, 2023
Gemüt. A fogalom magyarra csak körülményesen fordítható le: egyfajta lelkület, amivel az egyén a közösséghez képes kapcsolódni. A nácik számára kulcsjelentőséggel bírt, hisz számukra az ember értékét elsősorban az határozta meg, mennyire volt képes résmentesen illeszkedni a nép, a Volk homogénnek elgondolt csoportjába. Akiknek ez ment, a jövő részeként számítottak rájuk. Akiknek viszont nem, azok problémát jelentettek. És itt jönnek be a képbe a gyermekpszichológusok.
Sheffer könyve tulajdonképpen egy komplett szakma elemi korrumpálódásával és totális erkölcsvesztésével foglalkozik. Központi témája az a fájdalmas folyamat, amikor egy tudományos hipotézis találkozik egy autoriter rendszer ideológiai elképzeléseivel, és aláveti magát neki. Ez a hipotézis a korai autizmus-elmélet volt, ami tökéletesen passzolt a náci fajvédő hitvalláshoz – némi módosítással ugyanis ki lehetett hozni belőle, hogy a közösséghez való tartozás képtelensége (a Gemüt-hiány) egyfajta mentális betegség, amit kezelni kell. Létrehozták hát a Gyógyító Nevelés iskoláját, amelyben hitet tettek amellett, hogy akit csak lehet, megmentenek a nemzetnek. (Fontos különbségtétel: nem magának vagy a családjának, hanem a "nemzetnek".) „Meggyógyítják”. Persze a dolgoknak van ez másik oldala is: azok, akik megjavíthatatlanok. Velük is kell kezdeni valamit. Ők alkalmasint ezt a nemzet megtisztításának nevezték. Én gyermekgyilkosságnak. Tömeges gyermekgyilkosságnak.
Brutális látni, ahogy orvosok és nővérek ezrei minden kétség nélkül részt vettek annak a valaminek a működésében, amit Sheffer „diagnózisrezsimnek” nevez. Ennek lényege, hogy a rendszer mindazok tömegeit, akiket nem tudott belegyömöszölni a maga szűk kategóriáiba, a szakma rendelkezésére bocsátott. A szakma pedig alázatosan mozgósította szellemi kapacitásait, és kirostálta köztük a még használhatóakat, a többiekre pedig ráhúzott valamilyen (gyakran mondvacsinált) diagnózist, és mehettek a levesbe. Nem, nem gázkamrába küldték őket, dehogy – hisz kultúremberek vagyunk, kérem szépen! -, egyszerűen addig adagolták nekik a barbiturátokat, addig hagyták őket ellátatlanul az ágyukon heverni, amíg meg nem állt a szívük. Aztán beírták az orvosi kartonjukra, hogy „tüdőgyulladás”. Nincs itt semmi látnivaló, oszoljunk. Nem kellett ahhoz sok, hogy az ember gyereke ilyen sorsra jusson: viselkedési problémák, a szülők alkoholizmusa (amit gyakran az "örökletes terheltség" szinonimájaként használtak), enyhe értelmi fogyatékosság, hiperaktivitás, vagy épp ellenkezőleg: autista viselkedési jegyek, mind-mind elegendő indokot jelenthettek arra, hogy az érintett megkapja a beutalóját a Spiegelgrund „szanatóriumba”, a halál előszobájába*. Nehezen feldolgozható tény továbbá, hogy sokakat szüleik jóváhagyásával szállítottak ebbe az intézménybe. Kevés ocsmányabb dolog akad, mint azok a hálálkodó levelek, amiket úgynevezett apák és anyák küldtek a Spiegelgrundnak gyermekük halála után. Nehéz ilyenkor moderálni magam, és úriasan nem kimondani, mit és hová tegyen egy izgatott, nagyméretű állatfaj ezen szülők vonatkozásában.
("Gyógyító nevelés" a Spiegelgrundon.)
Nem lehet eléggé hangsúlyozni: az, ami a Spiegelgrundon történt, nem szélsőség, hanem az egész rendszer lényegi eleme. Olyan eseménysor, amelyen megfigyelhető a tökéletesre csiszolt együttműködés az elkövetők különböző szintjei – elsősorban a bürokrácia és az orvostársadalom – között. És az egyik elkövető maga Asperger, az Asperger-szindróma névadója.
Persze Asperger nem volt náci. Nem lépett be a pártba. Katolikus volt. Sőt, mint a háború után kiderült: direkt ellenálló. Igaz ugyan, hogy ezt semmi más nem támasztja alá, mint a saját szavai. No most simán meglehet, Asperger ideológiailag elkötelezetlen volt**. Fogadjuk el. De fontos csavar lett a gépezetben, egyik garanciája annak, hogy az zavartalanul zakatolhatott. Ha maga nem is vett részt az eutanáziaprogramban, nem írt alá közvetlen utasítást arra vonatkozóan, mely gyermekeket kell halálra ítélni, de egyáltalán nem okozott gondot neki, hogy a (gyakran önkényes és homályos kritériumok alapján) menthetetlennek ítélt gyerekeket a Spiegelgrundra helyeztesse át saját intézményéből. Miközben pontosan tudta (mert pontosan tudnia kellett), hogy aki bemegy oda, az általában nem jön ki. Úgyhogy igazából kit érdekel, hogy per def náci volt-e? Elkövető volt.
Mellesleg (vagy nem mellesleg) mondom: Asperger a világháború után hosszú évtizedekig nem foglalkozott az autizmus kérdésével – kutatásait csak a hetvenes években melegítették fel újra amerikai pszichológusok, gondosan kiszerkesztve belőle mindent, ami nácinak hathatott. Hogy mit csinált ehelyett a docens úr? Például megtalálta a hitét, és hosszas eszmefuttatásokat publikált arról, hogy ha valaki magában őszintén megbánja bűneit, akkor feloldozást nyerhet. Őszintén, de főleg: magában. Hm, elég olcsó módszernek tűnik, nem tudom, Jézus lájkolná-e. Szerintem ha egy bűnt magam ellen követek el, akkor oké, bánjam meg magamban. Hisz végtére is az én bizniszem. De az emberek ellen elkövetett bűnöket az emberek előtt, hangosan kell megbánni. Különben annyit is ér a bűnbánat.
* Amikor azt olvassuk, hogy gyermekeket „kóros empátiahiány” miatt ítélnek pusztulásra, ökölbe szorul az embernek mindene. Gyilkosok, akik az áldozat empátiahiányára hivatkoznak.
** Bár fontos megjegyezni, hogy autizmus-elméletét a náci hatalomátvétel után folyamatosan a rendszer fazonjára szabta, így az egyre radikálisabb lett. Hogy ezt ideológiai okokból vagy megfelelési kényszerből tette-e, azt nem tudjuk. De engem mondjuk nem is érdekel.
Sheffer könyve tulajdonképpen egy komplett szakma elemi korrumpálódásával és totális erkölcsvesztésével foglalkozik. Központi témája az a fájdalmas folyamat, amikor egy tudományos hipotézis találkozik egy autoriter rendszer ideológiai elképzeléseivel, és aláveti magát neki. Ez a hipotézis a korai autizmus-elmélet volt, ami tökéletesen passzolt a náci fajvédő hitvalláshoz – némi módosítással ugyanis ki lehetett hozni belőle, hogy a közösséghez való tartozás képtelensége (a Gemüt-hiány) egyfajta mentális betegség, amit kezelni kell. Létrehozták hát a Gyógyító Nevelés iskoláját, amelyben hitet tettek amellett, hogy akit csak lehet, megmentenek a nemzetnek. (Fontos különbségtétel: nem magának vagy a családjának, hanem a "nemzetnek".) „Meggyógyítják”. Persze a dolgoknak van ez másik oldala is: azok, akik megjavíthatatlanok. Velük is kell kezdeni valamit. Ők alkalmasint ezt a nemzet megtisztításának nevezték. Én gyermekgyilkosságnak. Tömeges gyermekgyilkosságnak.
Brutális látni, ahogy orvosok és nővérek ezrei minden kétség nélkül részt vettek annak a valaminek a működésében, amit Sheffer „diagnózisrezsimnek” nevez. Ennek lényege, hogy a rendszer mindazok tömegeit, akiket nem tudott belegyömöszölni a maga szűk kategóriáiba, a szakma rendelkezésére bocsátott. A szakma pedig alázatosan mozgósította szellemi kapacitásait, és kirostálta köztük a még használhatóakat, a többiekre pedig ráhúzott valamilyen (gyakran mondvacsinált) diagnózist, és mehettek a levesbe. Nem, nem gázkamrába küldték őket, dehogy – hisz kultúremberek vagyunk, kérem szépen! -, egyszerűen addig adagolták nekik a barbiturátokat, addig hagyták őket ellátatlanul az ágyukon heverni, amíg meg nem állt a szívük. Aztán beírták az orvosi kartonjukra, hogy „tüdőgyulladás”. Nincs itt semmi látnivaló, oszoljunk. Nem kellett ahhoz sok, hogy az ember gyereke ilyen sorsra jusson: viselkedési problémák, a szülők alkoholizmusa (amit gyakran az "örökletes terheltség" szinonimájaként használtak), enyhe értelmi fogyatékosság, hiperaktivitás, vagy épp ellenkezőleg: autista viselkedési jegyek, mind-mind elegendő indokot jelenthettek arra, hogy az érintett megkapja a beutalóját a Spiegelgrund „szanatóriumba”, a halál előszobájába*. Nehezen feldolgozható tény továbbá, hogy sokakat szüleik jóváhagyásával szállítottak ebbe az intézménybe. Kevés ocsmányabb dolog akad, mint azok a hálálkodó levelek, amiket úgynevezett apák és anyák küldtek a Spiegelgrundnak gyermekük halála után. Nehéz ilyenkor moderálni magam, és úriasan nem kimondani, mit és hová tegyen egy izgatott, nagyméretű állatfaj ezen szülők vonatkozásában.
("Gyógyító nevelés" a Spiegelgrundon.)
Nem lehet eléggé hangsúlyozni: az, ami a Spiegelgrundon történt, nem szélsőség, hanem az egész rendszer lényegi eleme. Olyan eseménysor, amelyen megfigyelhető a tökéletesre csiszolt együttműködés az elkövetők különböző szintjei – elsősorban a bürokrácia és az orvostársadalom – között. És az egyik elkövető maga Asperger, az Asperger-szindróma névadója.
Persze Asperger nem volt náci. Nem lépett be a pártba. Katolikus volt. Sőt, mint a háború után kiderült: direkt ellenálló. Igaz ugyan, hogy ezt semmi más nem támasztja alá, mint a saját szavai. No most simán meglehet, Asperger ideológiailag elkötelezetlen volt**. Fogadjuk el. De fontos csavar lett a gépezetben, egyik garanciája annak, hogy az zavartalanul zakatolhatott. Ha maga nem is vett részt az eutanáziaprogramban, nem írt alá közvetlen utasítást arra vonatkozóan, mely gyermekeket kell halálra ítélni, de egyáltalán nem okozott gondot neki, hogy a (gyakran önkényes és homályos kritériumok alapján) menthetetlennek ítélt gyerekeket a Spiegelgrundra helyeztesse át saját intézményéből. Miközben pontosan tudta (mert pontosan tudnia kellett), hogy aki bemegy oda, az általában nem jön ki. Úgyhogy igazából kit érdekel, hogy per def náci volt-e? Elkövető volt.
Mellesleg (vagy nem mellesleg) mondom: Asperger a világháború után hosszú évtizedekig nem foglalkozott az autizmus kérdésével – kutatásait csak a hetvenes években melegítették fel újra amerikai pszichológusok, gondosan kiszerkesztve belőle mindent, ami nácinak hathatott. Hogy mit csinált ehelyett a docens úr? Például megtalálta a hitét, és hosszas eszmefuttatásokat publikált arról, hogy ha valaki magában őszintén megbánja bűneit, akkor feloldozást nyerhet. Őszintén, de főleg: magában. Hm, elég olcsó módszernek tűnik, nem tudom, Jézus lájkolná-e. Szerintem ha egy bűnt magam ellen követek el, akkor oké, bánjam meg magamban. Hisz végtére is az én bizniszem. De az emberek ellen elkövetett bűnöket az emberek előtt, hangosan kell megbánni. Különben annyit is ér a bűnbánat.
* Amikor azt olvassuk, hogy gyermekeket „kóros empátiahiány” miatt ítélnek pusztulásra, ökölbe szorul az embernek mindene. Gyilkosok, akik az áldozat empátiahiányára hivatkoznak.
** Bár fontos megjegyezni, hogy autizmus-elméletét a náci hatalomátvétel után folyamatosan a rendszer fazonjára szabta, így az egyre radikálisabb lett. Hogy ezt ideológiai okokból vagy megfelelési kényszerből tette-e, azt nem tudjuk. De engem mondjuk nem is érdekel.
April 24, 2018
This book was extremely hard to get through, but well worth it. The brutality of the Nazi regime has been well-documented, but this was especially hard to read. I found it interesting, especially in light of the current administration and the creeping rise of fascism. It was disconcerting to see how intertwined fascism was with medicine and psychiatry - and how autism and Asperger’s work was so tied into and related to the Nazi ideals. I have a lot of thoughts on this book, and I’m still working through my reaction. Well-researched, and there’s a lot more still to examine with this topic.
October 19, 2018
Being an Aspergian that was diagnosed in the second grade, I felt that this was something that I needed to read. I feel that it was important to learn about the namesake for my condition and who Dr. Hans Asperger really was. I knew that he was an Austrian pediatric psychiatrist that examined patients that showed social awkwardness and how he saw intellectual light in some of these subjects that he referred to as his "little professors," but there was also a sense of question with how he practiced in Nazi territory during the Second World War and how diversity was not embraced during this period of time. There was also speculation that Dr. Asperger himself was a member of the Nazi party or that he at least was involved with the extermination of disabled children in Austria. This book explains as much as can possibly be explained on the subject and brings into light who Dr. Asperger was, what his role really was, and gives us the clearest possible answer as to whether or not he was a hero or a villain to those that were mentally disabled during the Third Reich. When I say "clearest possible answer," though, we are still referring to a stained glass as far as the ability to view the situation is concerned.
The first thing that grabbed my attention regarding how Dr. Asperger was described is the thought I had in mind as I read the text. This is from the introduction, page 21:
"Asperger was neither a zealous supporter nor an opponent of the regime. He was an exemplar of this drift into complicity, part of the muddled majority of the populace who alternately conformed, concurred, feared, normalized, minimized, repressed, and reconciled themselves to Nazi rule."
Simply put, Dr. Asperger was a compliant citizen to his country. He was not a hero in the vein of Oskar Schindler or Irena Sendler, but at the same time, he was not an immediate aggressor to the Nazi cause, even if he benefited from the departure of Jewish doctors and had mentors that were Nazi thinkers and exterminators. While Dr. Asperger never became a member of the Nazi party, he did join organizations that supported their causes or held their support. Dr. Asperger was a Catholic and remained a Catholic, which was acceptable as long as it did not interfere with his practices. His greatest efforts as a doctor, though, were how he tried to find redeemable attributes in his patients and particularly had the greatest fascination in those that possessed traits that would make up the condition that bears his name to this day. If there were patients of his did not have redeemable attributes and proved to be a greater burden than asset to the country as a whole, they would be sent to Spiegelgrund, the chief institution for mentally disabled children in Nazi Vienna where they could ultimately face euthanasia.
This book was really accessible in how it laid everything out to me the reader. There was a great deal of concentration on the subject matter of what was being presented and was not a biography about Dr. Asperger, but more so a history about Dr. Asperger's impact on children with mental disabilities or conditions in Vienna during the Nazi regime. While we do learn much more about Dr. Asperger, his work in child psychiatry, and his choices and practices, we also learn about the clinic in which he worked, the children that went to this clinic, and about Spiegelgrund and its conditions, a place where evidence shows Dr. Asperger signed those patients of his that he found could not be redeemed.
The reason I am giving this book five stars is because I cannot think of a better text that specifically deals with this issue and does so in an accessible way. While this book has a lot more to do with the general child psychiatry of Nazi Vienna and ultimately the connection that Dr. Asperger has with them, we do learn a lot more about the truth behind Dr. Asperger's legacy and how it is ultimately very hard to judge whether or not he truly was an antagonizing figure during the Holocaust. Either which way, I think that it is a book I feel more people need to read and it will certainly help them develop a greater understanding behind the way diagnosis takes shape and whether or not it does more to help or hurt those that are diagnosed. There is a lot to chew on as far as the information in this book is concerned.
The first thing that grabbed my attention regarding how Dr. Asperger was described is the thought I had in mind as I read the text. This is from the introduction, page 21:
"Asperger was neither a zealous supporter nor an opponent of the regime. He was an exemplar of this drift into complicity, part of the muddled majority of the populace who alternately conformed, concurred, feared, normalized, minimized, repressed, and reconciled themselves to Nazi rule."
Simply put, Dr. Asperger was a compliant citizen to his country. He was not a hero in the vein of Oskar Schindler or Irena Sendler, but at the same time, he was not an immediate aggressor to the Nazi cause, even if he benefited from the departure of Jewish doctors and had mentors that were Nazi thinkers and exterminators. While Dr. Asperger never became a member of the Nazi party, he did join organizations that supported their causes or held their support. Dr. Asperger was a Catholic and remained a Catholic, which was acceptable as long as it did not interfere with his practices. His greatest efforts as a doctor, though, were how he tried to find redeemable attributes in his patients and particularly had the greatest fascination in those that possessed traits that would make up the condition that bears his name to this day. If there were patients of his did not have redeemable attributes and proved to be a greater burden than asset to the country as a whole, they would be sent to Spiegelgrund, the chief institution for mentally disabled children in Nazi Vienna where they could ultimately face euthanasia.
This book was really accessible in how it laid everything out to me the reader. There was a great deal of concentration on the subject matter of what was being presented and was not a biography about Dr. Asperger, but more so a history about Dr. Asperger's impact on children with mental disabilities or conditions in Vienna during the Nazi regime. While we do learn much more about Dr. Asperger, his work in child psychiatry, and his choices and practices, we also learn about the clinic in which he worked, the children that went to this clinic, and about Spiegelgrund and its conditions, a place where evidence shows Dr. Asperger signed those patients of his that he found could not be redeemed.
The reason I am giving this book five stars is because I cannot think of a better text that specifically deals with this issue and does so in an accessible way. While this book has a lot more to do with the general child psychiatry of Nazi Vienna and ultimately the connection that Dr. Asperger has with them, we do learn a lot more about the truth behind Dr. Asperger's legacy and how it is ultimately very hard to judge whether or not he truly was an antagonizing figure during the Holocaust. Either which way, I think that it is a book I feel more people need to read and it will certainly help them develop a greater understanding behind the way diagnosis takes shape and whether or not it does more to help or hurt those that are diagnosed. There is a lot to chew on as far as the information in this book is concerned.
February 8, 2022
Teb reportaż to zbiór faktów - a takie lubię najbardziej. Szczególnie jeśli temat jest tak ważny. Tutaj autor przeprowadza nas przez całą karierę Aspergera, ale również rysuje to jak wygladała cała psychiatria i pedagogika w Austrii początku XX wieku (od wspierania rozwoju młodych ludzi do ich eutanazji). Ciekawym jest przyglądanie się temu jak tytułowy lekarz idzie z duchem narodu i przechodzi od nacisku na indywidualną diagnozę i szukanie różnorodności w pacjencie, do wysyłania tych „szkodliwych społecznie” na śmierć.
Autor słusznie punktuje odwieczny problem diagnozy w spectrum autyzmu - czyli dysproporcje płciowe. Pokazuje że już Asperger doszukiwał się przejawów nadzwyczajnej inteligencji u chłopców, podczas gdy dziewczynkom nie poświęcał tyle uwagi, a ich mówienie w sposób dorosły nazywał „oklepanym i prymitywnym”.
Na koniec dowiadujemy się czemu odchodzimy od diagnozowania zespołu Aspergera, na rzecz rozumienia neurofunkcjonowania jako spektrum. Moik zdaniem jest to lektura obowiązkowa dla każdego psychologa i pedagoga.
Autor słusznie punktuje odwieczny problem diagnozy w spectrum autyzmu - czyli dysproporcje płciowe. Pokazuje że już Asperger doszukiwał się przejawów nadzwyczajnej inteligencji u chłopców, podczas gdy dziewczynkom nie poświęcał tyle uwagi, a ich mówienie w sposób dorosły nazywał „oklepanym i prymitywnym”.
Na koniec dowiadujemy się czemu odchodzimy od diagnozowania zespołu Aspergera, na rzecz rozumienia neurofunkcjonowania jako spektrum. Moik zdaniem jest to lektura obowiązkowa dla każdego psychologa i pedagoga.
January 24, 2021
És te gondoltad volna, hogy Asperger, akinek a nevével olyan könnyen dobálózunk mindenféle fura, bogaras szokás és szeretnivaló, különc tévészereplő kapcsán, náci tömeggyilkos volt? Én se.
Nem tudom, képes leszek-e jól összefoglalni mindent, ami erről a könyvről a fejemben kavarog...
Először is: nagyon fontos könyvnek tartom, és sokkal több embernek kellene olvasnia. Nagyon specifikusnak tűnik a témaválasztása, de ez ne riasszon el senkit, húsbavágó kérdésekről szól, amin minél többen elgondolkodunk, annál jobb...
Aztán: minden olyan munkát üdvözlök, ami emlékeztet rá, a Harmadik Birodalom tervei és "eszméi" mennyire túlmutattak azon, hogy ki kell irtani a zsidókat. Már ez éppen elég szörnyű önmagában is, de ráadásul ez csak az egyik fogaskerék volt abban a gépezetben, amit beizzítottak a nácik, hogy megteremtsék a megfelelő körülményeket a tökéletes német faj uralkodásához.
Ez a könyv bemutatja, hogyan lehet "fennkölt" ideák mögé bújtatni a színtiszta gonoszságot (fú, de nem jó ez a szó, pont ez a könyv is arról szól, nincs olyan, hogy gonoszság, emberek vannak). A cél nem ám a pusztítás, ó, dehogy! A cél az építés! Teremtsük meg a színtiszta esszenciájában létező német embert, aki a közért munkálkodik, aki érti és érzi és éli ezeket az eszméket: csak semmi kicsapongás és különcködés, legyünk rendezettek, udvariasak, szorgalmasak, égjen bennünk a Gemüt lángja, vagyis a közösségi szellemé! Minden cselekedetünk a német államot építse, hogy büszke kebellel tekinthessünk közös munkánk gyümölcsére, egy virágzó közösségre.
Csak ne lennének bizonyos hátráltató elemek, például azok a fránya gyerekek, akik visszabeszélnek, akik nem képesek JÓL kapcsolódni társaikhoz, akik engedetlenek, akik befelé figyelnek. Vagy akik testi, szellemi fogyatékosak, ugyebár tőlük hogyan is várhatnánk, hogy építsék a nemzetet...
Na, hát így. Minden a nemes cél érdekében történt, ugye. És hogy ebben több száz gyerek aktív meggyilkolása segített, hát azt mindig ki lehet magyarázni utólag. Ki lehet?
Ami szerintem a legfontosabb ebben a könyvben, emlékeztető jellegén túl, hogy megmutatja, a pszichiátriai diagnózisok sem mentesek koruk kontextusától.
Ma már senkinek eszébe se jutna azon agyalni, kinek az érdeke lehetett az autizmus fogalmának megszületése. Hát, az autizmus fogalma van, és sokaknak segít is, hogy megtalálják ezt a címkét, szülőknek, már felnőtt embereknek, akik egész életükben érezték, valami nem oké. Az autizmus diskurzus, ahogy én a pálya széléről látom, él és virul: sokat szó esik a női autizmusról, arról, hogy ez nem betegség, hanem állapot (de lehet, már ezt is rosszul írom), csodás szakemberek dolgoznak együtt az autistákkal, hogy gördülékenyebben menjen az élet nekik és környezetüknek.
Hát, ez a könyv hátborzongató élességgel figyelmeztet rá, hogy ne feledjük el egy-egy diagnózis történeti gyökerét. Asperger éveken át azon dolgozott, hogy kiszűrje azokat a gyerekeket a rendszerből, akik nem feleltek meg a náci eszménynek (figyelem: nagy hányaduk echte német származású!), és aztán a megfelelő bánásmódban részesítse őket. Ebben pedig segítségére volt a diagnózis kialakítása.
Nagyon sokszor eszembe jutott Thomas Szasz Az elmebetegség mítosza című könyve, aki szintén történelmi kontextusba helyezi, hogyan is alakultak ki a mentális betegségek kórképei. Ó, ne higgyük, hogy a háttérben mindig az adott kliens érdekeiért folyt a munka...
Az ember ilyen könyvek elolvasása után kicsit másként tekint a DSM-5-ra, illetve elgondolkodik azon, vajon mit mond el korunkról, hogy manapság kérdés nélkül mindenkire aggatjuk a "nárcisztikus" diagnózist.
A könyv nagyszerűen van felépítve, először bemutatja az embereket, a kort, akik között, amiben Asperger élt és alkotott, róla is kapunk egy leírást, majd megmutatja, mi is zajlott ezekben az intézményekben, nevezetesen a Spiegelgrundot, ahol a gyerekek kínzása és elpusztítása történt. Hát, ez életem egyik legnehezebb olvasmánya volt, emlékeztetett Zimbardo Lucifer-hatására. Nem részletezném, de tényleg elgondolkodtam rajta, van-e mélyebb pontja az emberi létmódnak, amikor gyerekeket módszeresen, hidegvérrel kínzunk és pusztítunk el, a modernkori Európában, a tudomány és kultúra fellegvárában.
Itt állt össze a kép, ami másnak már lehet, hogy teljesen egyértelmű, de én csak most jöttem rá, hogy a nácizmus egy szekta volt, és tényleg hátborzongató, hogyan voltak képesek ezt a szektás szemléletet nemzeti szintre emelni.
Mégis, a könyv utolsó fejezetét tartom a legértékesebbnek. Ez a fejezet annyira erős, üzenetében, hogy komolyan, a szőr felállt a hátamtól tőle. Egyrészt leírja, hogy akkor járunk jól, ha nem a könnyebb utat keressük a náci időszak alatt működő emberek esetében, hanem mindenkit egyénekként vizsgálunk. Van benne egy bekezdés, ami leírja, hogy egy nap alatt egy átlagember egymást ellenmondó "motivációk" szerint cselekedhetett: délelőtt még segített elrejtőzni zsidó szomszédjának, délben szemrebbenés nélkül elsétált a "zsidóknak tilos a bemenet" tábla előtt a boltban, majd átment az utca túloldalára a zsidó árushoz, akinél olcsóbb volt a kenyér, délután meg végignézte, ahogy elhurcolják a másik zsidó szomszédját.
Asperger mentett meg gyerekeket, jól bánt gyerekekkel, más gyerekeket meg hidegvérrel küldött a halálba vagy kínzott meg minden ok nélkül. Nem lépett be a pártba és katolikus maradt, ami a háború után valószínűleg a bőrét mentette meg, viszont aktívan hozzájárult egy náci halálgyár olajozott működéséhez. Most akkor mit mondhatunk el róla? Hova soroljuk?
A szerző az autistákról is azt írja, akkor járunk jól, ha egyénként nézzük őket, és nem egy szűkös kategóriába akarjuk őket beszuszakolni. Ez persze, mint mondtam, a nehezebb út, sokkal egyszerűbb kategóriákat alkotni és jobbra vagy balra sorolni az embereket. Csak, mint tudjuk, ennek kissé rossz konnotációi vannak...
A könyv kitér rá, hogyan alakult Asperger és diagnózisának utóélete, hogy érdekes módon, amikor bevették a DSM-4-be, valahogy nem néztek utána az ő múltjának. Az https://www.autism-society.org/ is ennyit ír csak róla:
"Asperger’s syndrome (also known as Asperger’s Disorder) was first described in the 1940s by Viennese pediatrician Hans Asperger, who observed autism-like behaviors and difficulties with social and communication skills in boys who had normal intelligence and language development."
Pedig létkérdés, hogy emlékezzünk ezekre a dolgokra, arra, hogy mindig kérdezzük meg, "ez kinek az érdeke", akár a pszichiátriai diagnózisok esetében is. És arra, hogy a nácik esetében sem feltétlenül szerencsés az ők-és-mi szembeállítás, mert Asperger is büszkén állíthatta magáról a háború után, ő nem volt náci, hiszen sose lépett be a pártba. Végül is ő gyógyítónak tartotta magát, saját bevallása szerint azon munkálkodott, hogy jobb legyen a gyerekeknek, családoknak, közösségnek, nemzetnek.
Nem tudom, képes leszek-e jól összefoglalni mindent, ami erről a könyvről a fejemben kavarog...
Először is: nagyon fontos könyvnek tartom, és sokkal több embernek kellene olvasnia. Nagyon specifikusnak tűnik a témaválasztása, de ez ne riasszon el senkit, húsbavágó kérdésekről szól, amin minél többen elgondolkodunk, annál jobb...
Aztán: minden olyan munkát üdvözlök, ami emlékeztet rá, a Harmadik Birodalom tervei és "eszméi" mennyire túlmutattak azon, hogy ki kell irtani a zsidókat. Már ez éppen elég szörnyű önmagában is, de ráadásul ez csak az egyik fogaskerék volt abban a gépezetben, amit beizzítottak a nácik, hogy megteremtsék a megfelelő körülményeket a tökéletes német faj uralkodásához.
Ez a könyv bemutatja, hogyan lehet "fennkölt" ideák mögé bújtatni a színtiszta gonoszságot (fú, de nem jó ez a szó, pont ez a könyv is arról szól, nincs olyan, hogy gonoszság, emberek vannak). A cél nem ám a pusztítás, ó, dehogy! A cél az építés! Teremtsük meg a színtiszta esszenciájában létező német embert, aki a közért munkálkodik, aki érti és érzi és éli ezeket az eszméket: csak semmi kicsapongás és különcködés, legyünk rendezettek, udvariasak, szorgalmasak, égjen bennünk a Gemüt lángja, vagyis a közösségi szellemé! Minden cselekedetünk a német államot építse, hogy büszke kebellel tekinthessünk közös munkánk gyümölcsére, egy virágzó közösségre.
Csak ne lennének bizonyos hátráltató elemek, például azok a fránya gyerekek, akik visszabeszélnek, akik nem képesek JÓL kapcsolódni társaikhoz, akik engedetlenek, akik befelé figyelnek. Vagy akik testi, szellemi fogyatékosak, ugyebár tőlük hogyan is várhatnánk, hogy építsék a nemzetet...
Na, hát így. Minden a nemes cél érdekében történt, ugye. És hogy ebben több száz gyerek aktív meggyilkolása segített, hát azt mindig ki lehet magyarázni utólag. Ki lehet?
Ami szerintem a legfontosabb ebben a könyvben, emlékeztető jellegén túl, hogy megmutatja, a pszichiátriai diagnózisok sem mentesek koruk kontextusától.
Ma már senkinek eszébe se jutna azon agyalni, kinek az érdeke lehetett az autizmus fogalmának megszületése. Hát, az autizmus fogalma van, és sokaknak segít is, hogy megtalálják ezt a címkét, szülőknek, már felnőtt embereknek, akik egész életükben érezték, valami nem oké. Az autizmus diskurzus, ahogy én a pálya széléről látom, él és virul: sokat szó esik a női autizmusról, arról, hogy ez nem betegség, hanem állapot (de lehet, már ezt is rosszul írom), csodás szakemberek dolgoznak együtt az autistákkal, hogy gördülékenyebben menjen az élet nekik és környezetüknek.
Hát, ez a könyv hátborzongató élességgel figyelmeztet rá, hogy ne feledjük el egy-egy diagnózis történeti gyökerét. Asperger éveken át azon dolgozott, hogy kiszűrje azokat a gyerekeket a rendszerből, akik nem feleltek meg a náci eszménynek (figyelem: nagy hányaduk echte német származású!), és aztán a megfelelő bánásmódban részesítse őket. Ebben pedig segítségére volt a diagnózis kialakítása.
Nagyon sokszor eszembe jutott Thomas Szasz Az elmebetegség mítosza című könyve, aki szintén történelmi kontextusba helyezi, hogyan is alakultak ki a mentális betegségek kórképei. Ó, ne higgyük, hogy a háttérben mindig az adott kliens érdekeiért folyt a munka...
Az ember ilyen könyvek elolvasása után kicsit másként tekint a DSM-5-ra, illetve elgondolkodik azon, vajon mit mond el korunkról, hogy manapság kérdés nélkül mindenkire aggatjuk a "nárcisztikus" diagnózist.
A könyv nagyszerűen van felépítve, először bemutatja az embereket, a kort, akik között, amiben Asperger élt és alkotott, róla is kapunk egy leírást, majd megmutatja, mi is zajlott ezekben az intézményekben, nevezetesen a Spiegelgrundot, ahol a gyerekek kínzása és elpusztítása történt. Hát, ez életem egyik legnehezebb olvasmánya volt, emlékeztetett Zimbardo Lucifer-hatására. Nem részletezném, de tényleg elgondolkodtam rajta, van-e mélyebb pontja az emberi létmódnak, amikor gyerekeket módszeresen, hidegvérrel kínzunk és pusztítunk el, a modernkori Európában, a tudomány és kultúra fellegvárában.
Itt állt össze a kép, ami másnak már lehet, hogy teljesen egyértelmű, de én csak most jöttem rá, hogy a nácizmus egy szekta volt, és tényleg hátborzongató, hogyan voltak képesek ezt a szektás szemléletet nemzeti szintre emelni.
Mégis, a könyv utolsó fejezetét tartom a legértékesebbnek. Ez a fejezet annyira erős, üzenetében, hogy komolyan, a szőr felállt a hátamtól tőle. Egyrészt leírja, hogy akkor járunk jól, ha nem a könnyebb utat keressük a náci időszak alatt működő emberek esetében, hanem mindenkit egyénekként vizsgálunk. Van benne egy bekezdés, ami leírja, hogy egy nap alatt egy átlagember egymást ellenmondó "motivációk" szerint cselekedhetett: délelőtt még segített elrejtőzni zsidó szomszédjának, délben szemrebbenés nélkül elsétált a "zsidóknak tilos a bemenet" tábla előtt a boltban, majd átment az utca túloldalára a zsidó árushoz, akinél olcsóbb volt a kenyér, délután meg végignézte, ahogy elhurcolják a másik zsidó szomszédját.
Asperger mentett meg gyerekeket, jól bánt gyerekekkel, más gyerekeket meg hidegvérrel küldött a halálba vagy kínzott meg minden ok nélkül. Nem lépett be a pártba és katolikus maradt, ami a háború után valószínűleg a bőrét mentette meg, viszont aktívan hozzájárult egy náci halálgyár olajozott működéséhez. Most akkor mit mondhatunk el róla? Hova soroljuk?
A szerző az autistákról is azt írja, akkor járunk jól, ha egyénként nézzük őket, és nem egy szűkös kategóriába akarjuk őket beszuszakolni. Ez persze, mint mondtam, a nehezebb út, sokkal egyszerűbb kategóriákat alkotni és jobbra vagy balra sorolni az embereket. Csak, mint tudjuk, ennek kissé rossz konnotációi vannak...
A könyv kitér rá, hogyan alakult Asperger és diagnózisának utóélete, hogy érdekes módon, amikor bevették a DSM-4-be, valahogy nem néztek utána az ő múltjának. Az https://www.autism-society.org/ is ennyit ír csak róla:
"Asperger’s syndrome (also known as Asperger’s Disorder) was first described in the 1940s by Viennese pediatrician Hans Asperger, who observed autism-like behaviors and difficulties with social and communication skills in boys who had normal intelligence and language development."
Pedig létkérdés, hogy emlékezzünk ezekre a dolgokra, arra, hogy mindig kérdezzük meg, "ez kinek az érdeke", akár a pszichiátriai diagnózisok esetében is. És arra, hogy a nácik esetében sem feltétlenül szerencsés az ők-és-mi szembeállítás, mert Asperger is büszkén állíthatta magáról a háború után, ő nem volt náci, hiszen sose lépett be a pártba. Végül is ő gyógyítónak tartotta magát, saját bevallása szerint azon munkálkodott, hogy jobb legyen a gyerekeknek, családoknak, közösségnek, nemzetnek.
July 7, 2022
Y esto es lo que pasa cuando a una sociedad rota y sin rumbo se le inculca una falsa idea de superioridad genética y moral.
Quiero sorprenderme e indignarme por todo lo que esta sociedad resentida hizo y permitió, pero estaría fingiendo. Ya nada me sorprende. Sin embargo, este libro trata sobre algo más. ¿Cuántos descubrimientos científicos trascendentales fueron realizaron por científicos nazis durante el Tercer Reich, e incluso después de su caída? Demasiados. Muchos de ellos sirviéndose de seres humanos supuestamente inferiores para sus estudios y experimentos.
El período nazi es para muchos una época negra, enteramente negra. Pero el ámbito científico parece estar más allá del bien y del mal. Sus ideas y descubrimientos siguen presentes hoy. El hombre que le dio su nombre al síndrome de Asperger es un ejemplo perfecto de esto. Un hombre bueno y compasivo con los niños que el consideraba aptos y curables, niños que se podían adaptar a la sociedad nacionalsocialista, e increíblemente despiadado con aquellos considerados «discapacitados o genéticamente contaminados», aquellos niños difíciles y asociales. Para ellos, el diagnóstico de este hombre sólo presagiaba muerte.
Asperger fue un asesino que se salvó de caer junto a muchos de sus colegas nazis, escapando del castigo en vida y muriendo con su reputación intacta. Este libro intenta hacer justicia.
Quiero sorprenderme e indignarme por todo lo que esta sociedad resentida hizo y permitió, pero estaría fingiendo. Ya nada me sorprende. Sin embargo, este libro trata sobre algo más. ¿Cuántos descubrimientos científicos trascendentales fueron realizaron por científicos nazis durante el Tercer Reich, e incluso después de su caída? Demasiados. Muchos de ellos sirviéndose de seres humanos supuestamente inferiores para sus estudios y experimentos.
El período nazi es para muchos una época negra, enteramente negra. Pero el ámbito científico parece estar más allá del bien y del mal. Sus ideas y descubrimientos siguen presentes hoy. El hombre que le dio su nombre al síndrome de Asperger es un ejemplo perfecto de esto. Un hombre bueno y compasivo con los niños que el consideraba aptos y curables, niños que se podían adaptar a la sociedad nacionalsocialista, e increíblemente despiadado con aquellos considerados «discapacitados o genéticamente contaminados», aquellos niños difíciles y asociales. Para ellos, el diagnóstico de este hombre sólo presagiaba muerte.
Asperger fue un asesino que se salvó de caer junto a muchos de sus colegas nazis, escapando del castigo en vida y muriendo con su reputación intacta. Este libro intenta hacer justicia.
February 19, 2023
2,5/5
Mylący tytuł, bo"dzieci Aspergera" to tylko ok. 1/3 książki. Cała reszta to opis ośrodka Spiegelgrund gdzie zostało zamordowanych 789 dzieci oraz powtarzanie w kółko o higienie rasowej i braku ducha społeczności który musi być eliminowany. Sam Hans Asperger jest przedstawiony neutralnie, choć tak naprawdę był interesowny i wyrachowany w swoich działaniach i opiniach. Nie wstąpił do NSDAP, ale do innych liczących się organizacji w Austrii, często zmieniał swoją narrację w publikacjach, w zależności od sytuacji politycznej i społecznej. Po wojnie unikną kary i przez dekady dalej głosił poglądy o "psychopatii".
Zastanawia mnie też w opisie książki mamy słowo "nazizm", ale w środku to słowo występuje tylko 6 razy, zostało zastąpione "nowym socjalizmem". Nie wiem czy to wina tłumaczenia, czy jakiejś dziwnej poprawności amerykańskiej.
Sam temat niezwykle trudny, ważny, ale nie uważam, że autorka dobrze wykonała swoją pracę.
Mylący tytuł, bo"dzieci Aspergera" to tylko ok. 1/3 książki. Cała reszta to opis ośrodka Spiegelgrund gdzie zostało zamordowanych 789 dzieci oraz powtarzanie w kółko o higienie rasowej i braku ducha społeczności który musi być eliminowany. Sam Hans Asperger jest przedstawiony neutralnie, choć tak naprawdę był interesowny i wyrachowany w swoich działaniach i opiniach. Nie wstąpił do NSDAP, ale do innych liczących się organizacji w Austrii, często zmieniał swoją narrację w publikacjach, w zależności od sytuacji politycznej i społecznej. Po wojnie unikną kary i przez dekady dalej głosił poglądy o "psychopatii".
Zastanawia mnie też w opisie książki mamy słowo "nazizm", ale w środku to słowo występuje tylko 6 razy, zostało zastąpione "nowym socjalizmem". Nie wiem czy to wina tłumaczenia, czy jakiejś dziwnej poprawności amerykańskiej.
Sam temat niezwykle trudny, ważny, ale nie uważam, że autorka dobrze wykonała swoją pracę.
November 11, 2018
Not about Aspergers but gemut gemut gemut and Nazi Vienna: If you want to learn about gemut you should read this book. If you want to learn about Aspergers do not read this book. I’ll summarize it for you. Aspergers was involved in the extermination of children (not directly) during the Nazi regime but changed his tune after the war ended. A syndrome was named after him by a lady who didn’t know all the terrible things he did. That is all. A book did not need to be written she could’ve written the paper.
June 21, 2018
That hurt.
September 14, 2022
TW: Abuse, eugenics, death, murder, experimentation, (all these on children), vomit, Holocaust, antisemitism, ableism
Note: this review comes from an autistic person
This book touched on many of the cases and horrible treatments of disabled people that was also covered in the book "Hitlers forgotten Victims" by Suzzane E. Evens. However, while the latter didn't mention Asperger or Autism, this book has a bigger focus on that, as well as the horrendous eugenics of the nazi party. Both are excellent to read together. This book however was not (from what I can find) written by an autistic person but rather Edith Sheffer has an autistic child. This always sets off my red flag radar, however she seems to navigate everything with care and understanding. There is a bit of a messy conclusion on "what is autism" and how perhaps medical science will evolve to more clinically catagotize the differing aspects into more concise catagories, but then there is a swing towards the dangers of labels, and honestly I don't really know what the message was meant to be there. I don't like non-autistic people trying to come into the conversation of how a group they are not a part of should view labels, but that aside it was a really important and heartbreaking read. Definitely make sure you have the spoons for this. The tldr though? Hans Asperger was responsible for death and furthering eugenics and is not the autism hero history has painted him to be.
Note: this review comes from an autistic person
This book touched on many of the cases and horrible treatments of disabled people that was also covered in the book "Hitlers forgotten Victims" by Suzzane E. Evens. However, while the latter didn't mention Asperger or Autism, this book has a bigger focus on that, as well as the horrendous eugenics of the nazi party. Both are excellent to read together. This book however was not (from what I can find) written by an autistic person but rather Edith Sheffer has an autistic child. This always sets off my red flag radar, however she seems to navigate everything with care and understanding. There is a bit of a messy conclusion on "what is autism" and how perhaps medical science will evolve to more clinically catagotize the differing aspects into more concise catagories, but then there is a swing towards the dangers of labels, and honestly I don't really know what the message was meant to be there. I don't like non-autistic people trying to come into the conversation of how a group they are not a part of should view labels, but that aside it was a really important and heartbreaking read. Definitely make sure you have the spoons for this. The tldr though? Hans Asperger was responsible for death and furthering eugenics and is not the autism hero history has painted him to be.
July 12, 2023
I finished this book two days ago. I've had this tab open to write a review since. I'm not sure what to say. Some things in life feel too big to describe. This is one of those things.
The events that take place in this book are shocking. We live in a world where children are cherished. We protect those weakest among us and make accommodations so that disabled people can participate in our society. I guess we naturally assume that's how it's always been.
Asperger's Children shows that is not the case.
When I was diagnosed with autism, the person conducting my test said, "The type of autism you have would have been called Asperger's Syndrome five years ago."
Naturally, I wanted to know more about Asperger's Syndrome. What does it mean to have Asperger's? What is the history of the disability? How has Asperger's affected my life? Who was Hans Asperger?
For 70 years, Hans Asperger was celebrated as a hero who helped shield autistic children from Nazis in Vienna. Asperger insisted that he saved as many children as possible from the Kinder-Euthanasie program -- the child euthanasia program.
Through unprecedented access to Asperger's private files, Edith Sheffer dispels the myth of Hans Asperger by showing that not only did he participate in the Kinder-Euthanasie program, he actively changed his opinions concerning children with disabilities to mirror Nazi beliefs.
Asperger knowingly and willingly sent children to Am Spiegelgrund, where they were killed. Some of the children did have physical disabilities Asperger wouldn't have been able to conceal them even if he tried. Still, many - especially girls - Asperger didn't like for various trivial reasons.
Many children were abandoned by their parents because their parent's sense of gamut (a stupid German idea that examines how one fits into society) was more important than their children.
Sheffer examines the files of children under Asperger's care. It is heartbreaking. She finds letters expressing hope and a desire to return home that was never delivered because the children were killed before the mail was sent. She unearths letters from family members thanking Asperger for killing their children.
There's so much to cover. It seems another shocking revelation is revealed on every page.
If you are interested in the history of Asperger's, this book is required reading. It isn't an easy read, though. So brace yourself. Prepare to see the worst of humanity -- but also the best. Through stories of survivors and those who risked their lives to save children, Sheffer builds a complete picture of what it meant to have autism in Nazi Vienna.
The events that take place in this book are shocking. We live in a world where children are cherished. We protect those weakest among us and make accommodations so that disabled people can participate in our society. I guess we naturally assume that's how it's always been.
Asperger's Children shows that is not the case.
When I was diagnosed with autism, the person conducting my test said, "The type of autism you have would have been called Asperger's Syndrome five years ago."
Naturally, I wanted to know more about Asperger's Syndrome. What does it mean to have Asperger's? What is the history of the disability? How has Asperger's affected my life? Who was Hans Asperger?
For 70 years, Hans Asperger was celebrated as a hero who helped shield autistic children from Nazis in Vienna. Asperger insisted that he saved as many children as possible from the Kinder-Euthanasie program -- the child euthanasia program.
Through unprecedented access to Asperger's private files, Edith Sheffer dispels the myth of Hans Asperger by showing that not only did he participate in the Kinder-Euthanasie program, he actively changed his opinions concerning children with disabilities to mirror Nazi beliefs.
Asperger knowingly and willingly sent children to Am Spiegelgrund, where they were killed. Some of the children did have physical disabilities Asperger wouldn't have been able to conceal them even if he tried. Still, many - especially girls - Asperger didn't like for various trivial reasons.
Many children were abandoned by their parents because their parent's sense of gamut (a stupid German idea that examines how one fits into society) was more important than their children.
Sheffer examines the files of children under Asperger's care. It is heartbreaking. She finds letters expressing hope and a desire to return home that was never delivered because the children were killed before the mail was sent. She unearths letters from family members thanking Asperger for killing their children.
There's so much to cover. It seems another shocking revelation is revealed on every page.
If you are interested in the history of Asperger's, this book is required reading. It isn't an easy read, though. So brace yourself. Prepare to see the worst of humanity -- but also the best. Through stories of survivors and those who risked their lives to save children, Sheffer builds a complete picture of what it meant to have autism in Nazi Vienna.
November 3, 2018
Il mio voto è più sulle 4 stelle, comunque contenuto molto interessante, ben calibrata la parte storica con tutta quella legata alla psichiatria degli anni 40. Poco spazio invece alle storie e ai casi singoli dei bambini,cosa che sarebbe stata molto più interessante e particolare che nn leggere la situazione generale e condizioni di diagnosi legate al determinato Istituto o scuola speciale.
July 5, 2022
This has been on my tbr list for a while, since I saw it on a must read list online.
This is definitely hard-hitting, and the brutal methods of murder only add to this. Other parts of the book mention a children's clinic in Vienna called Spiegelgrund, where over 700 patients were euthanised and sterilised under force.
This is definitely hard-hitting, and the brutal methods of murder only add to this. Other parts of the book mention a children's clinic in Vienna called Spiegelgrund, where over 700 patients were euthanised and sterilised under force.
May 29, 2018
The inclusion of Asperger syndrome on the autism spectrum in the 1990s gave hope to many individuals and their loved ones who struggled to make sense of their unique personality and behavioral characteristics. Little has been made, though, of the circumstances by which Asperger’s was brought to light, and its relation to Nazi eugenics. This exhaustively and meticulously researched volume, though, tells the fascinating and chilling story of the Nazi cleansing of the population of “undesirables,” those whose sicknesses, deformities, and mental defects made them a liability to Hitler’s notion of a perfect Aryan society. This included the systematic killing of children, under the auspices of euthanasia and questionable treatment programs. Hans Asperger was part of this regime of doctors and psychologists who were complicit in the murder of children at institutions throughout German occupied territory.
Sheffer’s book sheds light not only on Asperger’s role in these horrifying Nazi atrocities, but she also paints a backdrop of the dawning of Nazi eugenics in Austria’s famed medical societies and institutions, and goes into the aftermath of the war, with information on both the perpetrators and survivors. The discussion throughout of the concept of Gemüt, a German term which connotes a feeling of and fervent enthusiasm for the success of the community or the state as a whole, was very interesting, and drew parallels for me to the nationalistic, populist fervor that is being drummed up in some areas of politics today. The purging of intellectuals from institutions and appointing those with a lack of scientific achievement to high positions also draws disturbing parallels to the state of politics today.
I saw some reviews that felt the book was too scholarly in tone, but I found it highly readable. Definitely the best read of the year for me.
Sheffer’s book sheds light not only on Asperger’s role in these horrifying Nazi atrocities, but she also paints a backdrop of the dawning of Nazi eugenics in Austria’s famed medical societies and institutions, and goes into the aftermath of the war, with information on both the perpetrators and survivors. The discussion throughout of the concept of Gemüt, a German term which connotes a feeling of and fervent enthusiasm for the success of the community or the state as a whole, was very interesting, and drew parallels for me to the nationalistic, populist fervor that is being drummed up in some areas of politics today. The purging of intellectuals from institutions and appointing those with a lack of scientific achievement to high positions also draws disturbing parallels to the state of politics today.
I saw some reviews that felt the book was too scholarly in tone, but I found it highly readable. Definitely the best read of the year for me.
July 12, 2022
Bardzo dobry reportaż. Nadal nie mogę zrozumieć dlaczego to się musiało dziać….
May 20, 2018
Heavier read than expected as for me as it seemed closer to a textbook resource than a general audience book. Very detailed history of the subject which does provide a strong retrospective thought process for the reader of how individuals with disabilities have been treated and current direction of supports and services.
My thanks to goodreads and the book's sponsors for the opportunity to read this book and extend my knowledge of the history of the subject covered.
My thanks to goodreads and the book's sponsors for the opportunity to read this book and extend my knowledge of the history of the subject covered.
March 20, 2021
Una historia durísima sobre las instituciones psiquiátricas para menores de edad en el Tercer Reich.
Desasosiego, ira e incomprensión es lo que me ha producido este libro.
He tenido hasta pesadillas.
No es un libro que vuelva a releer por mi salud mental, aun así reconozco que es una parte de la historia, que espero, no se vuelva a repetir.
Desasosiego, ira e incomprensión es lo que me ha producido este libro.
He tenido hasta pesadillas.
No es un libro que vuelva a releer por mi salud mental, aun así reconozco que es una parte de la historia, que espero, no se vuelva a repetir.
May 10, 2019
Nazis, children killing without mercy, and child psychiatrists applying psychotherapeutic solutions in the desire of creating a perfect state from a master race, what’s not to like? All that ugly background is necessary in order to understand the context and meaning of the original diagnosis of autism. This book did something better than the 10 or so other books I’ve read in the last year or so on Autism by explaining what it really means to have the label high functioning autism, or what the WHO (World Health Organization) refers to as Aspergers, or what I (and others) call neurodiversity.
Hitler lays out his madness in his incredibly vile autobiography, ‘Mein Kampf’. One needs to actually read it in order believe for themselves what a nutcase he really was. Those ramblings in that book are the foundations for the ‘Nazi science’ that the Vienna physicians were to put into practice and which are ably presented in this book, ‘Asperger’s Children’.
Hitler makes a point to say that for the ‘National Socialist Worker Party’ the word ‘socialist’ stands for ‘social revolution’ (not socialist democrats or Marxist) and the individual was only meant to serve the nation and its aims as long as they conform to the stifling norms of the one ‘true Aryan class’ and any deviation from that master class would not be permitted. This is the background in which the label high functioning autism springs out of.
Anyone who was not contributing to that spirit of nationhood was considered anathema to the cause of National Socialism and would lack ‘Gemüte’ and all high functioning autistics lacked Gemüte according to Nazi science and all low functioning autistics would be eliminated since they would be considered by the Nazis a burden to the state. As the author mentioned in a typical math class the students were asked ‘if an idiot is institutionalized and the state must pay four Reich marks a day to keep them there, and they live for 40 years how much would that cost the Fatherland?’
Even in the insanity that surrounds this story telling, I understood the label Aspergers and what it means better than any other book has explained it to me. Spread throughout the book and within the paradigm of National Socialism they would take it as a given that people should in order to be a good citizen of the Reich must have an unhealthy preoccupation with social concerns, delusions of superiority when dealing with fellow colleagues, an obsession with conforming to the norm, play mind games while interacting with other neurotypical Nazis, and use non-verbal cues to manipulate and pretend to intuitively mind read another person often through eye contact. All of those traits would describe the neurotypical Nazi and are in some degree one way or another antithetical to who the autistic usually is. That is to say, in general, a high functioning autistic is not overly preoccupied with social concerns, does not seek superiority when dealing with others, does not conform to the norm just for the sake of the norm, does not pretend to intuitively read the mind of others, and behaves as if they are blind when communicating with others face to face since visual cues and body motions are not processed by them.
Hans Asperger and his fellow child psychiatrists took it as a given that any deviation from the stifling norm was a psychotherapy and needed behavior remediation or elimination (euphemism for murder) in order to serve the National Socialist State. This book does a wonderful job at looking how the autistic label was formulated and the background that still permeates some thinking today.
Hitler lays out his madness in his incredibly vile autobiography, ‘Mein Kampf’. One needs to actually read it in order believe for themselves what a nutcase he really was. Those ramblings in that book are the foundations for the ‘Nazi science’ that the Vienna physicians were to put into practice and which are ably presented in this book, ‘Asperger’s Children’.
Hitler makes a point to say that for the ‘National Socialist Worker Party’ the word ‘socialist’ stands for ‘social revolution’ (not socialist democrats or Marxist) and the individual was only meant to serve the nation and its aims as long as they conform to the stifling norms of the one ‘true Aryan class’ and any deviation from that master class would not be permitted. This is the background in which the label high functioning autism springs out of.
Anyone who was not contributing to that spirit of nationhood was considered anathema to the cause of National Socialism and would lack ‘Gemüte’ and all high functioning autistics lacked Gemüte according to Nazi science and all low functioning autistics would be eliminated since they would be considered by the Nazis a burden to the state. As the author mentioned in a typical math class the students were asked ‘if an idiot is institutionalized and the state must pay four Reich marks a day to keep them there, and they live for 40 years how much would that cost the Fatherland?’
Even in the insanity that surrounds this story telling, I understood the label Aspergers and what it means better than any other book has explained it to me. Spread throughout the book and within the paradigm of National Socialism they would take it as a given that people should in order to be a good citizen of the Reich must have an unhealthy preoccupation with social concerns, delusions of superiority when dealing with fellow colleagues, an obsession with conforming to the norm, play mind games while interacting with other neurotypical Nazis, and use non-verbal cues to manipulate and pretend to intuitively mind read another person often through eye contact. All of those traits would describe the neurotypical Nazi and are in some degree one way or another antithetical to who the autistic usually is. That is to say, in general, a high functioning autistic is not overly preoccupied with social concerns, does not seek superiority when dealing with others, does not conform to the norm just for the sake of the norm, does not pretend to intuitively read the mind of others, and behaves as if they are blind when communicating with others face to face since visual cues and body motions are not processed by them.
Hans Asperger and his fellow child psychiatrists took it as a given that any deviation from the stifling norm was a psychotherapy and needed behavior remediation or elimination (euphemism for murder) in order to serve the National Socialist State. This book does a wonderful job at looking how the autistic label was formulated and the background that still permeates some thinking today.
April 7, 2023
Kurde, dość nudna.
October 30, 2019
This is one of the most chilling books I’ve read. The individual stories of suffering, abandonment, fear, and death are heartbreaking, but not the hardest part of the book. Even harder is the thought of people setting themselves up to decide whether a child’s life is worth living based on their perceived usefulness. It is sickening. Then to realize that the men who developed and applied those theories and standards to the most vulnerable of society are still influencing diagnoses today is more than frightening.
The author goes out of her way to fairly present the nurses, doctors, social workers, and families caught up in these philosophies and times, but even offering as an excuse culture, peer pressure, and political climate does little to exculpate them. In the end, they willingly sent children to their deaths. No matter the reason, that is just pure evil.
This book is an excellent look at man’s capacity for evil. Apart from God’s direct command of, “Thou shalt not kill”, society has proven a very fickle defender of the weak. The author sees the problem of the historical evil and fears for what that means for people today and in the future, but she does not see the solution. So without an understanding of God’s mercy, grace, and sovereignty, this could be a very depressing book.
Parts of this book are very brutal. There were also several curse words. I would recommend it only for a very mature audience.
The author goes out of her way to fairly present the nurses, doctors, social workers, and families caught up in these philosophies and times, but even offering as an excuse culture, peer pressure, and political climate does little to exculpate them. In the end, they willingly sent children to their deaths. No matter the reason, that is just pure evil.
This book is an excellent look at man’s capacity for evil. Apart from God’s direct command of, “Thou shalt not kill”, society has proven a very fickle defender of the weak. The author sees the problem of the historical evil and fears for what that means for people today and in the future, but she does not see the solution. So without an understanding of God’s mercy, grace, and sovereignty, this could be a very depressing book.
Parts of this book are very brutal. There were also several curse words. I would recommend it only for a very mature audience.
December 10, 2018
This book has a lot of shocking and important information. That said, it’s more focused on child psychiatry and it’s treatments in Nazi Vienna with Hans Asperger as a loose thread tying it together. I understand you need context, but I thought it would be more about his specific work. What I did learn was stomach-churning. The fact that his name lives on is horrific to a large group of people.
July 24, 2023
Niesamowicie wyważona i mocno oparta na dokumentach i świetnym zapoznaniu się z tematem przez autora. Wyłuszczone są problemy diagnozowania, pokazane są jak ewoluowały pewne aspekty badań i to jak różne może być podejście lekarza. A do tego wszystkiego dobrze scharakteryzowany czas historyczny i doskonale wyjaśnione co i dlaczego się stało.
Jest to książka przerażająca, w wielu momentach najzwyczajniej w świecie potrzebowałam ją odłożyć i rozchodzić to co przeczytałam.
Dobrze jest tu tez pokazana ewolucja w diagnozowaniu osób w spektrum autyzmu.
Nie jest to prosta lektura, ale warto, nie tylko jeżeli interesujecie się tematami psychiatrii i psychologii.
Jest to książka przerażająca, w wielu momentach najzwyczajniej w świecie potrzebowałam ją odłożyć i rozchodzić to co przeczytałam.
Dobrze jest tu tez pokazana ewolucja w diagnozowaniu osób w spektrum autyzmu.
Nie jest to prosta lektura, ale warto, nie tylko jeżeli interesujecie się tematami psychiatrii i psychologii.
October 12, 2018
This is, quite possibly, the hardest book I have ever read. Not because it is poorly written, but because of the subject matter. There have been two books that I have read that have reduced me to tears, and this is one of them.
Let me just start out by saying, for context, that I was diagnosed with "Asperger's Syndrome" almost a decade ago (I'm now 31). In sharp contrast to what children endured with a similar diagnosis in Nazi Vienna (of course my particular diagnosis did not exist at that time, not until 1994 in fact), I felt, not so much happiness, as a sense of relief when I found out. I got my diagnosis quite a bit later in life than some children do, this also meant, in my case, that I spent a substantial amount of time wondering what was so different about me earlier in life, but I was high-functioning enough to mostly fly under the radar of being clinically diagnosed with anything, just trying to adjust as best as I could.
Now, when the modern study of Autism began in the 1930's, so was the rise of Fascism, and the Third Reich in Nazi Germany. In its essence, that is what this book is a history of. The history of Autism and Nazism actually dovetail together in a unfortunate way. Back then, the rise of the Third Reich brought about the idea that the people, "Volk", needed to possess "Gemüt" to be a functional piece of the National Community. "Gemüt" does not really have a perfect translation to English, but think of it as having possession of a soul that is community minded, and for the advancement of the state. As the tide of Nazism escalated, so too did the attitude towards people viewed as lacking "Gemüt". Unfortunately, children (some Autistic, some with other diagnoses, some arbitrarily marked for death) were the first victims of the Nazi aim to create a physiologically and racially pure Volksgemeinschaft, or "People's Community".
Now I want to take a moment to extol the virtues of Edith Sheffer here, she has put together a book that contains some horrific history of what life was like for children with disabilities of all kinds and the suffering they endured during Nazi rule: Torture, experimentation, and being "euthanized", yet somehow she managed to do it thoughtfully, without interjecting her own opinions for the vast majority of the book, while simultaneously not coming off as cold and callous. I really appreciate that, for the most part, this is a pure work of history, meticulously researched, yet with an undeniably touching undertone. We are left to judge these historical figures for ourselves. The book itself is neither an indictment, nor a defense, just the historical facts.
As for my own judgement of Hans Asperger, while it is undeniable that he saved lives, he also knowingly sent some to their deaths at Spiegelgrund clinic. It's impossible now, to know how many died as a result of his actions (or inaction), and while he never actively participated in any of these deaths himself, for me, the fact that he was an enabler of death is enough. He seems to be a figure that was misogynistic, antisemitic, and while he may never have joined the Nazi Party, was indeed an ardent supporter of some colleagues who were, and whom he knew were actively involved in the child euthanasia program. It's hard to reconcile the good with so much evil for me. Was he a product of his time? Maybe, and while I am judging through the lens of history, I don't see that as an excuse for his part in those atrocities. I don't particularly want his named attached to me in any way.
If the essence/body of this book is pure history, its heart is in the story of the children who lived, and died during that time and place. And with that, comes the idea of labels. I have always struggled with trying to define myself, and even after the relief of finding out that indeed, there is something different about me, we are all different in our own ways, some more so than others. The children of Nazi Vienna did not have the luxury of trying to define themselves, they were essentially dehumanized. The idea of being persecuted, just for being different from the normal is abhorrent to me, and while it is less of a problem these days, there are still parallels between the present day, and the way things were during Nazi rule. Indeed, unnervingly, it seems to be becoming more common to be persecuted again for race, religion, gender, etc. Thankfully though, these days there is a strong voice that opposes ideas of persecution, and it is increasingly important to remember, and to not repeat the mistakes of the past. May we never forget.
With that, I'll leave you with some of the more poignant words for me from the Acknowledgments: "labels are powerful, with histories and consequences that reach far beyond the individuals who issue them."
*A note to the author on the chance you see this review* - I just wanted to personally thank you for writing this book, it can't have been an easy task, but certainly, I think, it was an important one. Learning about the history of Autism, and indeed, some history of Nazi Europe that I had no idea about has been harrowing, but enlightening for me. I hope everyone reads this book, it has given me so much to think about. So again, Thank you. <3
- John-Michael Lelievre
Let me just start out by saying, for context, that I was diagnosed with "Asperger's Syndrome" almost a decade ago (I'm now 31). In sharp contrast to what children endured with a similar diagnosis in Nazi Vienna (of course my particular diagnosis did not exist at that time, not until 1994 in fact), I felt, not so much happiness, as a sense of relief when I found out. I got my diagnosis quite a bit later in life than some children do, this also meant, in my case, that I spent a substantial amount of time wondering what was so different about me earlier in life, but I was high-functioning enough to mostly fly under the radar of being clinically diagnosed with anything, just trying to adjust as best as I could.
Now, when the modern study of Autism began in the 1930's, so was the rise of Fascism, and the Third Reich in Nazi Germany. In its essence, that is what this book is a history of. The history of Autism and Nazism actually dovetail together in a unfortunate way. Back then, the rise of the Third Reich brought about the idea that the people, "Volk", needed to possess "Gemüt" to be a functional piece of the National Community. "Gemüt" does not really have a perfect translation to English, but think of it as having possession of a soul that is community minded, and for the advancement of the state. As the tide of Nazism escalated, so too did the attitude towards people viewed as lacking "Gemüt". Unfortunately, children (some Autistic, some with other diagnoses, some arbitrarily marked for death) were the first victims of the Nazi aim to create a physiologically and racially pure Volksgemeinschaft, or "People's Community".
Now I want to take a moment to extol the virtues of Edith Sheffer here, she has put together a book that contains some horrific history of what life was like for children with disabilities of all kinds and the suffering they endured during Nazi rule: Torture, experimentation, and being "euthanized", yet somehow she managed to do it thoughtfully, without interjecting her own opinions for the vast majority of the book, while simultaneously not coming off as cold and callous. I really appreciate that, for the most part, this is a pure work of history, meticulously researched, yet with an undeniably touching undertone. We are left to judge these historical figures for ourselves. The book itself is neither an indictment, nor a defense, just the historical facts.
As for my own judgement of Hans Asperger, while it is undeniable that he saved lives, he also knowingly sent some to their deaths at Spiegelgrund clinic. It's impossible now, to know how many died as a result of his actions (or inaction), and while he never actively participated in any of these deaths himself, for me, the fact that he was an enabler of death is enough. He seems to be a figure that was misogynistic, antisemitic, and while he may never have joined the Nazi Party, was indeed an ardent supporter of some colleagues who were, and whom he knew were actively involved in the child euthanasia program. It's hard to reconcile the good with so much evil for me. Was he a product of his time? Maybe, and while I am judging through the lens of history, I don't see that as an excuse for his part in those atrocities. I don't particularly want his named attached to me in any way.
If the essence/body of this book is pure history, its heart is in the story of the children who lived, and died during that time and place. And with that, comes the idea of labels. I have always struggled with trying to define myself, and even after the relief of finding out that indeed, there is something different about me, we are all different in our own ways, some more so than others. The children of Nazi Vienna did not have the luxury of trying to define themselves, they were essentially dehumanized. The idea of being persecuted, just for being different from the normal is abhorrent to me, and while it is less of a problem these days, there are still parallels between the present day, and the way things were during Nazi rule. Indeed, unnervingly, it seems to be becoming more common to be persecuted again for race, religion, gender, etc. Thankfully though, these days there is a strong voice that opposes ideas of persecution, and it is increasingly important to remember, and to not repeat the mistakes of the past. May we never forget.
With that, I'll leave you with some of the more poignant words for me from the Acknowledgments: "labels are powerful, with histories and consequences that reach far beyond the individuals who issue them."
*A note to the author on the chance you see this review* - I just wanted to personally thank you for writing this book, it can't have been an easy task, but certainly, I think, it was an important one. Learning about the history of Autism, and indeed, some history of Nazi Europe that I had no idea about has been harrowing, but enlightening for me. I hope everyone reads this book, it has given me so much to think about. So again, Thank you. <3
- John-Michael Lelievre
April 28, 2025
it is three books in one:
1) an account of the Nazi child euthanasia programme as it unfolded in Vienna, at the Am Spiegelgrund facility: who was killing children, how they were doing it, which biases and prejudices informed their murders, what happened to the survivors and perpetrators after the war; as for me, it is the best part of the book, insightful (especially if you know Foucault's idea of mental disorder being a social construct and need a good example to illustrate it) if harrowing.
2) an account of the Nazi psychiatry: who practiced it in Vienna, which ideas, biases, and prejudices it was based on, which ideas it rejected, which institutions it cannibalized in the early 1930s, how it turned these instituitions into the source of the manpower for the child euthanasia programme in the late 1930s; a good part as well.
3) the story of Hans Asperger, how he built his career, how he wrote his thesis, how he was involved in the child euthanasia programme, and what happened to him after the war; the weakest part because it is clear it should have worked as the link between 1) and 2) but doesn't really do the job.
What went wrong? Edith Sheffer took pains to stay balanced and correct while proving that Asperger should be seen as a man tainted by his involvement in the Nazi crimes and Asperger's syndrom has, in its essence, a Nazi ideological core and should be discarded, if possible with the concept of autism itself. And it is this correctness that didn't let her prove most of her claims.
In her account, Asperger turns out to be a right-wing fellow traveller, not a hardcore Nazi, though he indeed had blood on his hands due to his involvement in the child euthanasia programme - Edith Sheffer proved his involvement beyond doubt. He also built his career so fast and so well because the Nazi had destroyed other schools of thought, though it was actually the ideas of Heilpädagogik that he picked up, summed up, and, up to a certain point, moved forward in his thesis while adding some of his own right-wing ideas and peppering it all with the Nazi rhetoric (and the tragic irony of the situation is that he, a right-winger, arguably moved their research in a more humane direction than Leo Kanner in the US, who used more or less the same ideas to create his own vision of autism). As for the Nazi core of Asperger's syndrome, this claim remained far-fetched to me since it took the preface to his thesis, where most of the Nazi rhetoric is concentrated, at face value, which isn't what you should do while reading a text written under the ideological pressure: the structure of Aspreger's thesis reminds me too much the usual tactic employed by the Soviet academics, when they deliberately concentrated the expected communist rhetoric in the preface or in the first pages of the work to shield their not-so-communist ideas in its main bulk. And, of course, the claim that autism as an idea is also stained with the Nazi idea of Gemüt wasn't quite proved as well since the idea of autism was in fact shaped by Leo Kanner's restrictive vision, which caused a great deal of harm, not Asperger's syndrome, and Asperger's ideas expanded it only a few decades ago to actually make the situation better, not worse.
All in all, read Steve Silberman's Neurotribes first to get a clear view of how the idea of autism was changing during the last century and then read this book to correct his representation of Asperger as a person and add a crucial historic context to his biography and ideas.
1) an account of the Nazi child euthanasia programme as it unfolded in Vienna, at the Am Spiegelgrund facility: who was killing children, how they were doing it, which biases and prejudices informed their murders, what happened to the survivors and perpetrators after the war; as for me, it is the best part of the book, insightful (especially if you know Foucault's idea of mental disorder being a social construct and need a good example to illustrate it) if harrowing.
2) an account of the Nazi psychiatry: who practiced it in Vienna, which ideas, biases, and prejudices it was based on, which ideas it rejected, which institutions it cannibalized in the early 1930s, how it turned these instituitions into the source of the manpower for the child euthanasia programme in the late 1930s; a good part as well.
3) the story of Hans Asperger, how he built his career, how he wrote his thesis, how he was involved in the child euthanasia programme, and what happened to him after the war; the weakest part because it is clear it should have worked as the link between 1) and 2) but doesn't really do the job.
What went wrong? Edith Sheffer took pains to stay balanced and correct while proving that Asperger should be seen as a man tainted by his involvement in the Nazi crimes and Asperger's syndrom has, in its essence, a Nazi ideological core and should be discarded, if possible with the concept of autism itself. And it is this correctness that didn't let her prove most of her claims.
In her account, Asperger turns out to be a right-wing fellow traveller, not a hardcore Nazi, though he indeed had blood on his hands due to his involvement in the child euthanasia programme - Edith Sheffer proved his involvement beyond doubt. He also built his career so fast and so well because the Nazi had destroyed other schools of thought, though it was actually the ideas of Heilpädagogik that he picked up, summed up, and, up to a certain point, moved forward in his thesis while adding some of his own right-wing ideas and peppering it all with the Nazi rhetoric (and the tragic irony of the situation is that he, a right-winger, arguably moved their research in a more humane direction than Leo Kanner in the US, who used more or less the same ideas to create his own vision of autism). As for the Nazi core of Asperger's syndrome, this claim remained far-fetched to me since it took the preface to his thesis, where most of the Nazi rhetoric is concentrated, at face value, which isn't what you should do while reading a text written under the ideological pressure: the structure of Aspreger's thesis reminds me too much the usual tactic employed by the Soviet academics, when they deliberately concentrated the expected communist rhetoric in the preface or in the first pages of the work to shield their not-so-communist ideas in its main bulk. And, of course, the claim that autism as an idea is also stained with the Nazi idea of Gemüt wasn't quite proved as well since the idea of autism was in fact shaped by Leo Kanner's restrictive vision, which caused a great deal of harm, not Asperger's syndrome, and Asperger's ideas expanded it only a few decades ago to actually make the situation better, not worse.
All in all, read Steve Silberman's Neurotribes first to get a clear view of how the idea of autism was changing during the last century and then read this book to correct his representation of Asperger as a person and add a crucial historic context to his biography and ideas.
February 13, 2020
Autorka przedstawia szczególny wycinek XX-wiecznej historii na styku medycyny i polityki.
Hans Asperger był austryjackim psychiatrą, który obecnie znany jest jako "odkrywca" zaburzenia nazwanego od jego nazwiska. Nie on jest jednak głównym bohaterem książki. Wydaje się, że jest on jedynie przedstawicielem całej grupy lekarzy zaangażowanych w nazistowski plan eksterminacji wszelkich mniejszości. Autorka skupia się na procedurze zabijania dzieci uznanych za "nieprzydatne" Trzeciej Rzeszy. Historia bolesna i z pewnością warta szczegółowego zbadania i opowiedzenia.
Sheffer podejmuje próbę zbadania tego tematu i przedstawienia jak najdokładniejszych danych.
I tu pojawia się mój pierwszy zarzut. Brak tu siły jaką niesie dobra narracja. Książkę te chwilami czyta się jak opracowanie statystyczne. Ta statystyka prawdopodobnie ma pokazywać ogrom zła, ale jest tak przedstawiona, że nudzi. Spora cześć książki poświęcona jest opisaniu zależności i relacji między ważnymi psychiatrami zaangażowanymi w przedstawioną tu zbrodnię i ma to trochę charakter kroniki towarzyskiej. Sporo tu także historii konkretnych dzieci skazanych na śmierć. Każde z tych dzieci zasługuje na pamięć, ale schematyczne przedstawienie ich losów robi wrażenie repetytywności. Niektóre fragmenty to wręcz łopatologiczne tłumaczenie, że krzywdzenie kogokolwiek to zło. Brak tu subtelności, która pozwalałaby wzruszyć się losem opisanych w książce ofiar. Niekończące się cytaty i słowa w cudzysłowiu drażnią i utrudniają płynne czytanie.
Niewiele z treści tej książki poruszyło mnie lub spowodowało, że miałem ochotę poszukać głębiej. Raczej nie polecam, chyba, że ktoś jest bardzo zainteresowany tematem bo publikacja jest oryginalna.
Hans Asperger był austryjackim psychiatrą, który obecnie znany jest jako "odkrywca" zaburzenia nazwanego od jego nazwiska. Nie on jest jednak głównym bohaterem książki. Wydaje się, że jest on jedynie przedstawicielem całej grupy lekarzy zaangażowanych w nazistowski plan eksterminacji wszelkich mniejszości. Autorka skupia się na procedurze zabijania dzieci uznanych za "nieprzydatne" Trzeciej Rzeszy. Historia bolesna i z pewnością warta szczegółowego zbadania i opowiedzenia.
Sheffer podejmuje próbę zbadania tego tematu i przedstawienia jak najdokładniejszych danych.
I tu pojawia się mój pierwszy zarzut. Brak tu siły jaką niesie dobra narracja. Książkę te chwilami czyta się jak opracowanie statystyczne. Ta statystyka prawdopodobnie ma pokazywać ogrom zła, ale jest tak przedstawiona, że nudzi. Spora cześć książki poświęcona jest opisaniu zależności i relacji między ważnymi psychiatrami zaangażowanymi w przedstawioną tu zbrodnię i ma to trochę charakter kroniki towarzyskiej. Sporo tu także historii konkretnych dzieci skazanych na śmierć. Każde z tych dzieci zasługuje na pamięć, ale schematyczne przedstawienie ich losów robi wrażenie repetytywności. Niektóre fragmenty to wręcz łopatologiczne tłumaczenie, że krzywdzenie kogokolwiek to zło. Brak tu subtelności, która pozwalałaby wzruszyć się losem opisanych w książce ofiar. Niekończące się cytaty i słowa w cudzysłowiu drażnią i utrudniają płynne czytanie.
Niewiele z treści tej książki poruszyło mnie lub spowodowało, że miałem ochotę poszukać głębiej. Raczej nie polecam, chyba, że ktoś jest bardzo zainteresowany tematem bo publikacja jest oryginalna.
October 20, 2018
This is the toughest book review I’ve ever written. Not since the 7th grade when Mrs. Fuller forced me to read a report to our reading class. I read a biography of George Washington’s portraitist Gilbert Stuart. He painted the portrait of Washington you carry in your wallet. I confessed I liked the book to a chorus of snickers.
If you read for enjoyment don’t even look at the cover of this book. The title Asperger’s children is misleading. It has little to do with autism. If you think of Asperger as a child advocate who saved unusual children from Nazi genocide, the kind of guy Spielberg would immortalize in a movie, a fellow Nazi combatant like Schindler, don’t read this book. This book is a dark cloud with no silver lining.
In the Germany of today, the author wrote, when a child misbehaves in school, if the teacher is very upset she might say, “If you don’t behave I’ll send you to Spiegelgrund!” I can’t think of a comparable English Word to invoke such fear in children.
If you believe your conceptual system should be periodically rattled or you need empathy training, this book is for you. If you want to know just how difficult it would be to ‘walk through a valley in the shadow of death and fear no evil,’ read this book. I highly recommend this book if you consider yourself a mature adult or if you want to be a mature adult.
If you read for enjoyment don’t even look at the cover of this book. The title Asperger’s children is misleading. It has little to do with autism. If you think of Asperger as a child advocate who saved unusual children from Nazi genocide, the kind of guy Spielberg would immortalize in a movie, a fellow Nazi combatant like Schindler, don’t read this book. This book is a dark cloud with no silver lining.
In the Germany of today, the author wrote, when a child misbehaves in school, if the teacher is very upset she might say, “If you don’t behave I’ll send you to Spiegelgrund!” I can’t think of a comparable English Word to invoke such fear in children.
If you believe your conceptual system should be periodically rattled or you need empathy training, this book is for you. If you want to know just how difficult it would be to ‘walk through a valley in the shadow of death and fear no evil,’ read this book. I highly recommend this book if you consider yourself a mature adult or if you want to be a mature adult.
February 10, 2020
I have a son with Asperger's syndrome and one with high functioning autism. This book was really hard to get through. I kept picturing their faces and how they would be considered less than human and not worth the effort back during WW2. I had no idea that the Germans were killing their own children just because they were different. Books don't normally make me cry, but this one did. Prepare to be sad deep down in your soul.
Sara | Book Confessions of an ExBallerina
Sara | Book Confessions of an ExBallerina
June 19, 2018
Eye opening book on the history of Dr. Asperger in Nazi Vienna. Disturbing treatment of children and evils of euthanasia. The Autism and Aspergers spectrum was a death sentence. Author reveals so much about how the doctors had no real compassion for children who didn't fit the perfect citizen. Disturbing to know this is where these labels originated from. Won book from Goodreads and Edith Sheffer, thank you!
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