“An event never before experienced in the history of medicine worldwide is realized here.” Episode 3 of Dig Where You Stand picks up the story where we left off. By examining a recent significant discovery of ancestral human remains in Berlin - when pits filled with human bones were found in 2014 - we continue the story of how German scientists harvested human bodies in the name of racist and unethical science. This episode covers a harrowing chapter of German history, telling the story of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institute of Anthropology, Human heredity and Eugenics: Its founding by Eugen Fischer in 1927; the work of Karin Magnussen and Joseph Mengele; the memoir of Miklos Nyiszli; and how researchers based in Berlin asked for and were sent human bodies and body parts from Auschwitz. These crimes were brought back to public attention in Berlin in 2014, when workers digging a trench at the Free University came across pits filled with human bones. The University's failure to respond meant that seven sacks of human remains were burned by the municipal crematorium. In this final episode of Dig Where You Stand season one, we look at how the dead continue to return and ask what responsibility these human remains should demand of us.
Content warning: There are some disturbing descriptions and violent scenes discussed in this episode.
Some relevant links you'll find interesting:
- Götz Aly’s controversial article in the BZ: https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/mensch-metropole/knochenfunde-auf-dem-fu-gelaende-alle-spuren-weisen-nach-auschwitz-li.162699
- And FU’s response: https://www.fu-berlin.de/presse/informationen/fup/2021/fup_21_110-erwiderung-knochenfunde/index.html
- Video: “Bone fragments held by the Nazis get funeral in Berlin | AFP”: https://youtu.be/2g-OL-z_t9w?si=_yrifO9vf0ipicwJ
- Audio of Te Herekieke came from the exhibition Unpacking Colonialism film made by Sofia Leikam. Watch it (and other videos) here: https://unpacking-colonialism.gbv.de/te-herekiekie-herewini/
Follow us on Instagram @digwhereyoustandshow and visit us at digwhereyoustand.show to stay up to date. DWYS is created by Ben Schuman-Stoler and Peter Matthews. It’s produced by Kollo Media in partnership with The Berliner magazine. Episode 3 was produced by Ben Schuman-Stoler, Peter Matthews, and Rowan Ben Jackson.
Mix and sound by Rowan Ben Jackson. Check out his website here: https://fearofmissingaudio.com/
Follow Kollo Media and The Berliner on Instagram @kollomedia and @theberlinermag
Thanks to Susan Pollock, Te Herekiekie, Christian Vogel, Ilja Labischinski, and everyone we spoke to for this episode.
Thanks to Laurens von Oswald for the music.
Natalia Piana made the album cover.
Timestamps:
- Intro: 00:00 - 01:58
- Susan Pollock explains the discovery: 01:58 - 09:01
- Eugen Fischer, the KWI, racial hygiene: 09:01 - 17:31
- Auschwitz, Mengele, Miklos Nyiszli: 17:31 - 26:01
- Plaque at the former KWI building: 26:01 - 28:37
- The funeral: 28:37 - 38:08
- Positive Returns, Te Herekieke: 38:08 - 42:00
- Reflections: 42:00 - 46:40
- Conclusion: 46:40 - 47:20
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