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Psychiatrists: The Men Behind Hitler

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As a doctor,I was honestly interested in learning about the role of Psychiatry in Nazi Germany before, during, and after WWII. Instead, I found the book is a heavy-handed anti-psychiatry diatribe, clearly of Scientology origin (acknowledged in the title pages). This was very disappointing to me. I know that any science/philosophy can be perverted by forces in the culture and was disappointed that the authors were not more academic in their treatment of the subject. By the end of the book, it had completely digressed into just the type of emotion-based, projective attack against psychiatrists as a group that the authors accuse the pre WWII psychiatrists of using against non-Aryan "inferiors". Very disappointing and unsettling, the hatred and blind projection of evil lives on, it just has a new face.

The Men Behind Hitler first appeared in German. Thankfully, it was translated into English by Rolf and Sybil Rentmeister, whose names deserve to be mentioned considering the excellent quality of the translation.

Like other historians writing on this subject around the middle of the previous decade, the authors explode the myth that the quest for racial purity started with Hitler. But they go one step farther, and also explode the myth that it ended with Hitler. "Eugenics" is still alive and well, particularly in North America and Europe. The name, of course, has been changed, but the idea behind it remains.

In the period leading up to Hitler's rise to power, Germany was the Mecca of psychiatry. Students from all over the world came to learn at the feet of the professors who would become king pins in third reich atrocities. Some of those king pins were later executed, several more committed suicide. Most not only escaped punishment, often protected from prosecution by U.S. psychiatrists, but continued their careers undisturbed. Furthermore, their students from across the world carried their teachings back to their own countries already before The Holocaust, and continue to do so to this very day. The mass murderers and their supporters are still considered authorities, and their works are widely quoted in current psychiatric professional literature. As though that weren't bad enough, after WWII psychiatrists in the U.S. lobbied to bring nazi psychiatrists to America so that their "knowledge" wouldn't be lost. These psychiatrists were responsible for, among other things, LSD experiments on unwitting prisoners.

In fact, the authors ascribe the origin of the drug culture which permeates developed societies to psychiatry. LSD, heroin, cocaine, and amphetamines were all first introduced by psychiatry, but leaked out into the general population, contributing to the violence of our societies.

Also interesting is the psychiatric connection to the war in the former Yugoslavia.

One surprising claim made by the authors is that by the fall of the third reich, over two million people had been compulsorily sterilized. Other historians place this figure at 400,000, most of those people later having been mass murdered. The authors provide no source for their figure, even though their book is otherwise well-researched. This probable exaggeration casts an undeserved shadow of incredibility over the rest of it.

Rather than dwelling on the details of the horrors, the authors repeatedly point to the source of psychiatric power: the state. Whether in the third reich, in the US, or in Bosnia, psychiatrists have always courted powerful politicians, permeated the military, and lobbied government.

Most unfortunate is that at least one of the book's authors is identified as head of the Citizens' Commission on Human Rights in Hamburg, and publication of the book was funded by the International Association of Scientologists. There is no reference at all to Scientology in the body of the book. The connection to Scientology no doubt keeps this excellent book off of academic library shelves and prevents its important message from receiving the attention it should.

Copyright © MeTZelf

I think any comprehensive study of WWII should include this book. I read "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" in high school, as part of my required reading for history class, but I think this book is much more complete in terms of what actually influenced Hitler, and the undue and horrifying influence the psychiatrists had on civilization.

What is even more upsetting is the realization that this same "science" continues to hold power over our culture. The proteges of psychiatrists who advocated horrific "experiments" and treatments including execution, are now influential psychiatrists in practice or in universities. This is frightening, folks, but I think it's important that we take a good long look at this book and the data presented.

My thanks to the author for presenting this material in such a compelling manner.

This book tells it like it was and like it still is. It is painstakingly researched and fully documented. It shows psychiatry's cruelty of the past and its cunning in the present. Read just how we came to import these butchers and this subject (designed to destroy people), and allow it to hide amoungst us, - and even look upon it as "the only authority on mental health". Read what psychiatry's actual plan for this world is and be rightly concerned. This book will motivate readers to action - even if only to ensure that their friends and loved ones stay well out of arms-reach of any psychiatrist anywhere.

This is quite a book. It answers such questions as, "Who gave Hitler the idea of the Holocaust?" "Who authorized and carried out the killings?" "Who decided who was fit to live and who was not?" "Why were the actual killers allowed to escape justice?" "What did they do after the war?" and the more worrisome question, "What influence are they having today?" You may not like the answer to the last question but if you know then you can do something about it.

When I first read this book I hardly could believe that all this is true. But no doubt: the facts are so precisely documented and proven that it is really making sense. Many questions suddenly get answered, and history looks a bit different than we learned in school. I would absolutely say this book is a must in all schools! Peter T. Germany

_Psychiatrists - the Men Behind Hitler_ is a strange book which examines the dark side of the psychiatric establishment. The authors contend that Hitlerian and Nazi philosophy have their roots not only in such individuals as Malthus, Darwin, Gobineau, and Nietzsche, but also in Nazi medicine, euthanasia, and the psychiatric establishment. Psychiatry has a difficult history and often it has sought to merge with both the eugenics movements and the criminal justice system of the day. This book details some of the dark goings on of the business of psychiatric enslavement, forced druggings, behavioral modification therapies, electroshock and insulin therapies, psychosurgeries such as lobotomy, and even castration and finally euthanasia. Those deemed "mentally ill" are all too often deprived of their rights and denied the ability to function in the world at large. The authors show how psychiatry has made its way into psychology through individuals such as Wilhelm Wundt and later the behaviorists and into mainstream education through John Dewey and American society. One particularly problematic area is that of drug use. Originally drugs were given to soldiers subsequent to the world wars. However, when these soldiers became addicted, a "War on Drugs" was declared. Also, the CIA has been notorious in administering drugs to certain locations, funding undercover drug operations etc., as well as having a near fanatical obsession with the "psychotogen" LSD. Whatever the real purpose behind LSD research is, it certainly is not a wholesome one and remains entirely mysterious. Also, the treatment of those who had fallen in battle, or who developed a case of "shell shock" as a result of the war remains appalling. Often the goal of the psychiatrist was simply to "snap" the individual back into a state suitable to go out and fight again (after the initial "snapping" had occurred rendering the individual in a state of shock). Within education, traditional values have been de-emphasized and the school systems entirely re-modified. For those who act out against this attack upon their belief systems, they are labelled as "prone to violence" or "overly paranoid". A human genome project has been instantiated which will allow physician/technocrats to tamper with the genetic code, as well as eliminating "undesirable" genotypes. All of this is being made possible and will consistute the Brave New World, dreamed of and heralded by prophets for many generations. Thus, we have the negative side of the psychiatric enterprise. In addition, psychiatry continues an assault on religion and religious belief, arguing often that religion is mere neurosis that needs to be stamped out, and that religious belief or belief in the traditional family is somehow unnecessary and needs to be "sloughed off". On the other hand, much that psychiatry has done has improved the lives of many through designer pharmaceuticals. Thus, in this sense, certain individuals can achieve a level of functioning they could not before by enhancing their brain chemistry. So, it is perhaps naďve to entirely buy into the argument of this book at face value. In addition, the authors of the book are associated with the Church of Scientology - basically little more than a firm of lawyers who go about suing those who refuse to foot the bill for L. Ron Hubbard's insane operation. In this sense it is probably not to be fully trusted. Also, no mention is made of the attrocities of psychiatry within Stalin's Russia. For example, all too frequently those deemed "unfit for work" were herded off to labor camps as part of a psychiatric state based apparatus in the former Soviet Union. I still give this book five stars however because of the disturbing nature of its contents, all too often denied and misunderstood by the mainstream presses of today. ...

This book is backgound information of the amorality of german psychiatrists and the philosophies they developed and foisted onto the German people. This book presents a chilling account of the German mindthink and its authors complete with documentation. The author reached deep into this data and shows the reader just what Hitler utilized in his push to power. Its all there - Eugenics, sterlization of the "unfit'" eletroshock for political purposes, ayrian superority, hatred of other races sterilization programs (read holocost), and the whitewash of the psychiarist's for slaughtering six million Jews. Additionally, Thomas Re`oder moves past Hitler to the present world and shows the present links to the very psychiatrists who manipulated an entire culture and country into the greatest and bloodiest war man has ever embarked on. Mr. Re`oder sounds the warning that these very same people with much the same programs have been operating unchecked in the world since Nazi. Germany. Most people understand fighting for one's freedom. What most don't understand is that any group opposing freedom must have its own philosophy that is counter to the philosophy of freedom. This book shows that psychiatry and the philosophy behind it is opposed to freedom and in fact degrades man to the point where he cannot have freedom.

I really enjoyed this book! It was well researched and documanted , I also saw a special on the History channel about the psychiatist who worked with Hitler during WWII. Learn Hitlers plan working with psychiatist to abuse and torture it's victims and create a perfect race. Psychiatary has a dark strange history, in the 1950s some of these Nazi psychiatist help set up some of the biggest mental institutions in the US. Even today the Human Rights Comission reports 1000's of abuse cases a year of rape, etc. But because of the associations groups that psychiatist belong to, few are able to sue or get law enforcement involved. Oddly, psychiatist have the highest suicide , Divorce, and drug abuse rates. I have a friend who went to a psychiatist years ago for depression, they placed her in a up scale rehab/psychiatic hospital for nearly a year, when she got out she was never the same in the mind. I recommend this book to parents and anyone wanting to know the facts and protect their loved one and friends. I also ejoyed the book "Psychiatry the Ultimate Betrayal" by Bruce Wisman , but there are many great books on the suject. I think there is nothing I can't handle with God by my side!

Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Documentary DVD with Booklet

Psychiatrists - The Men Behind Hitler

Dr. Thomas Röder has a scientific background for his criticisms of psychiatry. Volker Kubillus has written articles and reports on psychiatric abuses. Anthony Burwell is a writer who wants to end psychiatric violations of human rights. This book claims psychiatry is the cause for increased crime, illiteracy, and drug abuse. Part One lists those whose errors created bad effects on society. Malthus created his theories from his imagination to support the British aristocracy against the lower classes. Darwin argued for the elimination of the lower races. [I wonder how many people foolishly admire Darwin?] Nietzsche recommended "the most absurd, antisocial ideas" (p.17). [He suffered from a brain disease.] Gobineau advanced ideas to support the aristocracy against the masses (p.18). Houston Stewart Chamberlain "asserted the superiority of the Aryan race" (p.19).

Psychiatry (doctor of the soul) originated as a way to treat mental illness (Chapter 3). It later came to glorify war (pp.24-26). [Who was really sick?] ECT ("electroshock therapy") damages a person (p.27). Psychiatry diagnosed its opponents as "insane" (p.28). Psychiatrists advocated mass murder as cost-effective (p.30). Chapter 4 tells how "racial hygiene" was adopted by psychiatry as an outgrowth of Malthus (p.35). Advocates for killing people ("euthanasia") predated the Nazis (p.41). "Racial Hygiene" led to forced sterilization, then Concentration Camps (Chapter 6). Psychiatrists provided scientific reasons (p.49). Euthanasia was illegal, but authorized by Hitler (p.53). "The German public knew nothing" (p.56). Psychiatrists were paid to write death sentences (p.59). Workers at death factories were also rewarded. Psychiatry was a major force behind the genocide (p.71).

Part Two discusses suppressed history. Many of the war criminals were not prosecuted (Chapter 1). Denazification programs did not succeed in colleges and universities (p.83). Psychiatrists advocated sterilization and euthanasia (p.100). Some did not (p.103). One psychiatrist claimed "battle fatigue" victims were fakers who were cured with money (p.113). [Or maybe wealth prevents or cures mental illnesses?] Mood-altering chemicals were considered a remedy (p.119). Was a patient killed by drugs in 1982 (p.121)? German child psychiatry had a "radical racist and state-oriented point of view" (Chapter 3). Child and adolescent psychiatrists has a Nazi background (p.126). Giving drugs such as Ritalin to children is experimenting without informed consent (p.144). Is the brain the sole source of all mental illness (p.151)? Psychiatry is incapable of self-criticism and self-policing (p.177).

Wealthy financiers funded psychiatric research (Chapter 6). The history of psychiatry is well camouflaged as to its social and political manipulation (p.180). Nazi ideas are found today in the geneticists - see page 195. Could prenatal testing be the starting point for new exterminations (p.198)? An age limit for certain health care has started (p.199). There is still danger from Social Darwinists or eugenics (p.201). It would be self-destructive to allow psychiatry to rule society (p.202). Chapter 8 traces psychiatric treatments today to what was pioneered by the Nazi doctors. Electroshock therapy damages the brain (p.208). Hemingway was given electroshock in 1961 then killed himself (p.211)! Psychiatric drugs are given to the elderly (p.216). Ritalin is used on children (p.217). Psychiatric drugs can lead to violent acts, murder and suicide (p.218). Sedatives correlate to increased aggression.

Part Three discusses how psychiatry influences life in the United States (Chapter 1). Psychology began to study observable phenomena related to human behavior, all from chemical reactions in the brain (p.225). Yet doctors knew that physical illnesses created psychological problems (p.227). Wundt's "experimental psychology" was copied by many students in Europe and America. "Eugenics" was invented to justify oppression of races and ethnic groups (p.231). Crank philosophy led to the "Whole Language" technique that damaged the education of children (p.233). The compulsory sterilization laws in America were later copied by Hitler (p.251). [A violation of the Bill of Rights.] The "IQ" test was copied to prove what they wanted to prove. "Schizophrenia" is undefined and used as a catch-all diagnosis (p.256). [See the example in "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest".] The electroshock therapy machine originated as a killing machine in slaughterhouses (p.257). Since psychiatrists can't cure mental illness they came up with an idea of blaming "genes" (p.258). "Mental Health" became an argument for psychiatrists to control society (p.261). WW I generated "shell shock" victims for which there was no cure (if you assumed war was natural).

The CIA pioneered the use of LSD in this country (p.282). Psychiatry lacks adequate statistics and follo-ups because they do not check on their methods and results (p.310). Teaching "humanistic psychology" to religious orders caused their destruction (p.317). Coulson admitted his "corruption" later; this led to sexual misconduct (p.318). "Death education" was blamed for an escalating suicide rate (p.319)! The "mental hygiene" movement labels religious believe as a "psychiatric illness" that needs treatment (p.320). There is no scientific or workable definition of schizophrenia (p.324). If schizophrenia is not a disease can they find a cure (p.328)? The use of methadone provided big profits for psychiatrists and drug companies (p.330)! It doesn't cure drug addiction (p.331). Wealthy backers like the Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations pushed psychiatry through favorable legislation (p.325). The creation of NIMH was followed by increased rates of alcoholism, drug abuse, insanity, and suicide (p.338).

Chapter 5 notes the difficulties that followed psychiatric influences on society (p.341). Was the "Siberia Bill" an attempt to build a million-acre concentration camp (p.342)? Yes (p.343). Are psychiatrists self-anointed experts on society (p.346)? Federal law created more "learning disabled" (p.347). Genetic theories have never been proven (p.355). Ethnic cleansing in Bosnia is linked to psychiatry (p.359). Page 365 lists the harm done by "Outcome Based Education": an increase in violent crime, drug use, divorce rates, illegitimate births, and suicide rates. [Do these correlate to an increase in television viewing?] TV shows propagate a point of view desired by the corporate media and its advertisers. True science leads to a more healthy people in a better society (p.365). Psychiatry is a technology of torture (p.366). The best way to cure psychiatry is to deny it government support. There are others (p.367). [There is no mention of the effects of the economy on all this.] Chapter 6 asks why the story about psychiatry has been so badly publicized. Psychiatry has an influential lobby with power over minor and incapacitated patients (p.369). It came from diseased ideological sources (p.370). The Dutch have legalized killing by physicians! Psychiatry is trying to include as many people as possible (p.371). People everywhere must urge their government to regulate psychiatry.

Everyone should read about psychiatry, a pseudo-science that makes promises it can't keep about curing "mental illness". It could be that "shell shock" was the normal reaction to the horrors of war and not a pathology. We know that "stress" affects people, just as too much work can kill a horse. If money cured "battle fatigue" (p.113) it could be that rest and a vacation is the proper treatment. Wasn't rotation of troops a cure for "battle fatigue"? Could stress and poverty be the real cause for most mental illnesses? Could wrong conditioning in life cause mental illness?