Biologists in the Age of Totalitarianism

This fascinating volume resulted from one man’s frustration with the series of whitewashed obituaries and laudations he had to endure in his long career in West Germany. These were often of biologists who had worked in the Third Reich, a period generally skipped over in such eulogies. Dr Eugeniusz Nowak, born in Poland in 1933, therefore decided to do some historical research of his own. His series of controversial ‘alternative’ biographies of mainly German biologists in various journals soon grew into a successful book, with German, Russian and Polish editions. Now at last translated into English, this revised and updated volume contains over 40 brief lives, illustrated by 113 often dramatic photographs. It uses material gathered from dozens of Central European archives only accessible since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. What makes this book so gripping is its personal element; Dr Nowak, with his contacts on both sides of the Iron Curtain, either knew these scientists personally or interviewed family members and colleagues. We see here how these victims (and perpetrators) were caught in the ideological nets of Nazism, Stalinism or Maoism, and how their lives were changed utterly by political forces beyond their control. As such, this book represents essential reading for those interested in the personal stories at the interface of totalitarian politics and biological science.