Hans Eppinger

Hans Eppinger Jr. (5 January 1879, in Prague, Royal Bohemia, Austria-Hungary – 25 September 1946, in Vienna) was an Austrian physician of Jewish descent who performed experiments upon concentration camp prisoners.

Eppinger

Early years

Hans Eppinger was born in Prague, the son of the physician Hans Eppinger Sr. (1848, Karolinenthal in Prague–1916, Graz). He received an education in Graz and Strasbourg. In 1903 he became a medical doctor in Graz, working at a medical clinic. He moved to Vienna in 1908, and in 1909 he specialized in internal medicine, particularly conditions of the liver. He became a professor in 1918, then taught in Freiburg in 1926 and in Cologne in 1930.

In 1936 he is known to have travelled to Moscow to treat Joseph Stalin. A year later he was called to treat Queen Marie of Romania.

Experiments at Dachau
Heinrich Himmler (front right, beside prisoner) inspecting Dachau Concentration Camp on 8 May 1936.

During World War II he gained an infamous reputation due to his experiments on prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp. Along with professor Wilhelm Beiglböck, he performed tests on 90 Romani prisoners by providing them sea water as their only source of fluids. (In some cases the taste of the water was disguised to hide the saline content.) The prisoners suffered from severe dehydration, and witnesses reported that they had been seen licking the floors they had mopped in an attempt to hydrate themselves. The goal of the experiment was to determine if the prisoners would suffer severe physical symptoms or death within a period of 6–12 days.[1]

Capture and suicide

Following the war the 67-year-old Eppinger committed suicide, reportedly using poison. This occurred a month before he was to be called to testify at the Nuremberg Trials. Much later it was discovered that he had an unclaimed Swiss bank account.

Eponymous medical terms

The following medical terms were named after Eppinger:

  • Cauchois-Eppinger-Frugoni syndrome
  • Eppinger's spider naevus

From 1973, the Falk Foundation of Freiburg awarded an Eppinger Prize for outstanding contributions to liver research. However, when Eppinger's activities at Dachau were brought to public attention in 1984, the prize was cancelled.[2][3]

In 1976, the lunar crater 'Euclides D' was renamed by the IAU to honor Hans Eppinger. However, in 2002, after Eppinger's association with Nazi prison camps had been brought to the attention of the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature by the Lunar Republic Society,[4] the name was dropped. As of July 2009, the crater is once again officially listed as Euclides D.[5]

See also

References
  1. Straus, Eugene (2000-01-07). Rosalyn Yalow, Nobel Laureate. google.ca. ISBN 9780738202631.
  2. A Dispute Erupts on Medical Prize
  3. New York Times November 16, 1984 "German Medical Prize Canceled Over Nazi Link"
  4. "Luna Society International - Official Website Of The Moon Society". lunargeographic.com.
  5. "LISTSERV 16.0 - Login Required". wvu.edu.
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