Heinrich Gross (1914 – Dec. 15, 2005) was an Austrian medical doctor and neurologist, best known for his alleged role in the murder of hundreds of children with physical, mental and/or emotional/behavioral characteristics considered "unclean" by the Nazi regime. A significant element of the controversy surrounding Dr. Gross' activities is that after the children had been murdered, parts of their bodies, particularly their brains, were preserved and retained for future study for decades after the murders. It was only on April 28, 2002 that the preserved remains of these murdered children were finally buried. 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The word physician should not be confused with physicist, which means a scientist in the area of physics. ... Neurology is the branch of medicine that deals with the nervous system and disorders affecting it. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Nazism. ... Brains has several meanings. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 2002 (MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The murder program at Am Spiegelgrund was intended by the Nazis to research eugenics and accomplish the murder of individuals considered by the regime to constitute life unworthy of life. The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Eugenics is the self-direction of human evolution: Logo from the Second International Congress of Eugenics, 1921, depicting it as a tree which unites a variety of different fields. ... Life unworthy of life was a Nazi term for what was characterized as human beings who, by reason of their racial or genetic background, did not deserve to live and should be murdered. ...

There were at least two criminal actions brought against Dr. Gross for his alleged role in these atrocities against children, one a few years after the end of World War II which resulted in a conviction for manslaughter, which was later overturned on a technicality. A more recent attempt to convict Dr. Gross for his involvement in the murders of nine of the children was indefinately suspended due to a successful claim that, due to his advanced age and alleged senility, Dr. Gross was unfit to stand trial. However, many dispute this claim, since he gave an interview at a coffeehouse shortly after he was found unfit to stand trial, which many submit as evidence that he is in fact, mentally sound and able to understand the charges against him and participate in his defense. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ...

Dr. Gross' ability to avoid being found criminally liable for the murders he is alleged to be involved in may reflect a combination of luck and political connections, more than a bona fide lack of guilt in this crime. He had been captured by the soviet army following the war, and thus was unavailable to be tried at Nuremburg, where others involved in the program were punished. The favorable outcomes he enjoyed at his two criminal trials may reflect that, since he was regularly used by the Austrian courts to provide psychological profiles of criminal defendants and to opine on their ability to stand trial (which examinations were revealed by a documentary to have been conducted at an average rate of twice a working day, shedding doubt upon their objectivity and the validity of the opinions expressed), that he perhaps received treatment that could be characterized as preferential or biased in his favor.

External links

• Gross symbolises Austria's past [1]
• BBC News Online: World: Europe [2]
• "Life Unworthy of Life" and other Medical Killing Programmes[3]

References