Polen als Patienten während der Ns-Zwangsarbeit
Poles as Patients in the Nazi Forced Labor System

Summary/Abstract: This paper focuses on the patient-doctor relationship in Polish forced laborers during WW II. As the analysis of historical documents shows, this relationship was mainly shaped by ideological and economic factors during Nazi rule. In treating Polish patients who had been deported for forced labor, several protagonists who had different scopes of acting were involved. Besides to the German doctor, employers and health insurance companies had significant influence on the intensity (or lack) of medical care. Instead of adhering to ethical principles, these institutions focused on an economy-driven strategy with the prime target of maintaining the laborers’ workforce by minimal efforts. The workers’ health needs and their consent were not paid attention to. Under these circumstances, patient-physician relations were even more unequal und far more hierarchical than among members of the German “Volksgemeinschaft.”

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