Doctors and scientists are usually highly respected. The former for literally saving our lives, and the latter for working to advance human knowledge and improve life for mankind. At least that is what most doctors and scientists do or try to do most of the time. This is especially true for doctors. They are sworn to the Hippocratic oath. This oath is one of the oldest binding documents in history, and was written by Hippocrates. The oath is still held sacred by physicians: to treat the ill to the best of one’s ability, to preserve a patient’s privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on.
Scientists may not have the same morally binding oaths to protect humankind. However, it is generally assumed that scientists are a force of good in the world; inventing technology to assist civilization and to just be generally beneficial. This is not the case for the evil people – scientists and doctors alike – in this list. Whether it’s for selfish gain or scientific curiosity, there have been many corrupt humans that committed atrocities in the name of science and learning. Following are thirty things about some of World War II’s more evil doctors and scientists.
30. “The Lights of Perverted Science” Were Darker Than Churchill Knew
On June 18, 1940, barely a month after taking office as Prime Minister, Winston Churchill gave his “This Was Their Finest Hour” speech to the House of Commons. It was the third of three memorable orations he delivered during The Battle of France, following the “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat” speech of May 13th, and the “We Shall Fight on the Beaches” speech of June 4th. In Their Finest Hour, delivered two days after France capitulated and Britain was left alone to face the triumphant Nazis, Churchill exhorted the British to keep fighting. He wrapped it up by stating:
“… if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, “This was their finest hour”“. Churchill did not know just how evil were the perversions of science he was up against.