103 - A First Look into the Nefarious Origins of the Spanner Atlas

Poster Board Number: 103
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Co-authors:

Manjot Kahlon, B. Sc. - University of British Columbia; Ivica Bratanovic, M. Sc., B. Sc. - The University of British Columbia; Sabine Hildebrandt, MD - Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics - Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Aleteia Greenwood, MLIS - The University of British Columbia Library; Shelly Rosenblum, PhD - Belkin Gallery at The University of British Columbia; Claudia Krebs, MD, PhD - Cellular and Physiologic Sciences - HIVE Faculty of Arts, University of British Columbia

Abstract Body : Nearly eighty years after the end of the National Socialist (Nazi) regime, the legacy of this tragic era persists today through the continued publication of anatomical atlases whose precise origins remain unknown. While previous investigations on the history of anatomy during the Third Reich Nazi era have revealed unsettling evidence concerning the Pernkopf Atlas, there remains poor insight into the origins of other anatomical atlases of this period. Here we describe the previously unrevealed origins of anatomical illustrations contributed by Rudolf Spanner to the 15th and 16th editions of the Spalteholz atlas which were published in 1957 and 1961 respectively. Spanner's illustrations, however, were created in the early 1940s when he was Director of the Danzig (Gdansk) Anatomical Institute. Evidence suggests that at least some of the bodies shown in these illustrations were those of victims of Nazi terror.



The primary objective of this project is to contribute to the identification of these victims whose bodies were exploited for the creation of the anatomical illustrations depicted in the Spanner Atlas. This endeavour is not only a scholarly pursuit but a moral obligation to bring justice to the people who suffered at the hands of the Nazi regime and continue the conversation regarding the ethics of using materials of unknown origin in anatomical research and education.



Illustrations in the Spanner Atlas were catalogued with documentation of identifying demographics provided in the image legends. The names of potential victims were obtained from ledger lists of bodies brought to the Danzig Anatomical Institute from surrounding Gestapo execution sites and the psychiatric hospital in Kocborowo. Archival databases including the Arolsen Archives, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Stanford Nuremberg Archives, and the Yad Vashem Shoah Names Database were used to search for biographic information. The identifying features of illustrations and respective legends in the Spanner Atlas were then cross-referenced with the ages of victims to identify likely matches.



Of the 109 anatomical illustrations newly created for the Spalteholz-Spanner Atlas during World War II and present in the 1961 edition, 32 were found to have data matching 50 victims in the surrounding area. 42 victims with matching data were from the Gdansk prison on Kurkowa Street, two from Poznan, and six from Gestapo executions in Bromberg.



Victims with demographic data matching 32 of the Spanner Atlas illustrations have been identified. The names of some victims have come to light, but further work needs to be done to elucidate the organisational and personnel structure of the Danzig Anatomical Institute, as well as understand the stories of these victims.