Putting experimental dynamics into the field: the German 'Ostfeldzug' and the creation of emergency care chains in military neurology and neurological surgery, 1941-1945.

BACKGROUND

The interconnections between the history of neurology and neurological surgery with the development of modern, technological warfare are a vastly under-researched area of medical history. The main objectives of this paper are hence to contribute to the understanding and analysis of a major case example from World War II.

MATERIALS

The article's research is based on work at the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz, the Max Planck Gesellschaft in Berlin, and literature regarding the Fuehrungsstab der Luftwaffe, undertaken as part of a larger scale project on the history of the neurosciences and psychiatry in the first half of the 20th century.

SUMMARY

The current article focuses particularly on the Ostfeldzug of the Wehrmacht and the creation of emergency care chains in military neurology and neurological surgery. Its results show how major German neurologists, such as Otfrid Foerster, Wilhelm Toennis, Georg Merrem and Klaus Joachim Zuelch have contributed to the development of emergency care chains in military neurology. Key Messages: In conclusion, despite the atrocities and often-inhumane ways through which knowledge was gathered in contemporary military neurology, a better understanding of modern neurology can be gained from a critical assessment of the history of military neurology during World War II.