Abstract
Abstract
Background
Hans Asperger (1906–1980) first designated a group
of children with distinct psychological characteristics as
‘autistic psychopaths’ in 1938, several years before Leo
Kanner’s famous 1943 paper on autism. In 1944, Asperger
published a comprehensive study on the topic (submitted to
Vienna University in 1942 as his postdoctoral thesis), which
would only find international acknowledgement in the 1980s. From
then on, the eponym ‘Asperger’s syndrome’ increasingly gained
currency in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the
conceptualization of the condition. At the time, the fact that
Asperger had spent pivotal years of his career in Nazi Vienna
caused some controversy regarding his potential ties to National
Socialism and its race hygiene policies. Documentary evidence
was scarce, however, and over time a narrative of Asperger as an
active opponent of National Socialism took hold. The main goal
of this paper is to re-evaluate this narrative, which is based
to a large extent on statements made by Asperger himself and on
a small segment of his published work.
Methods
Drawing on a vast array of contemporary
publications and previously unexplored archival documents
(including Asperger’s personnel files and the clinical
assessments he wrote on his patients), this paper offers a
critical examination of Asperger’s life, politics, and career
before and during the Nazi period in Austria.
Results
Asperger managed to accommodate himself to the
Nazi regime and was rewarded for his affirmations of loyalty
with career opportunities. He joined several organizations
affiliated with the NSDAP (although not the Nazi party itself),
publicly legitimized race hygiene policies including forced
sterilizations and, on several occasions, actively cooperated
with the child ‘euthanasia’ program. The language he employed to
diagnose his patients was often remarkably harsh (even in
comparison with assessments written by the staff at Vienna’s
notorious Spiegelgrund ‘euthanasia’ institution), belying the
notion that he tried to protect the children under his care by
embellishing their diagnoses.
Conclusion
The narrative of Asperger as a principled opponent
of National Socialism and a courageous defender of his patients
against Nazi ‘euthanasia’ and other race hygiene measures does
not hold up in the face of the historical evidence. What emerges
is a much more problematic role played by this pioneer of autism
research. Future use of the eponym should reflect the troubling
context of its origins in Nazi-era Vienna.
Funder
City of Vienna, Department for Culture and
Science
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health,Developmental Biology,Developmental Neuroscience,Molecular Biology
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