Bad Science

Bad Science

On Monday, November 15th, 1982 the New York Times published an article entitled "Out of Death, a Zest for Life." The title caught my eye because it seemed to be the only one that didn't have to do with politics, the economy, or terrorism. The author, Nadine Brozan, wrote this article based on an interview with a woman named Dr. Gisella Perl. Dr. Perl was a Hungarian gynecologist and a survivor of the Holocaust from one of its most famous death camps; Auschwitz.

As a prisoner, she was allowed to work as a doctor who was forced to aid Dr. Josef Mengele. Dr. Mengele was a man who practiced very bizarre, unethical medical experiments on the prisoners of Auschwitz and he eventually became known as "the doctor of death" or "the angel of death." Dr, Perl said, "One of the greatest crimes in Auschwitz was to be pregnant." (Brozan C: 20) Not only did Dr. Mengele perform horrible experiments on pregnant women, but he also preformed tests on handicapped prisoners and twins (which he is most famous for).

Dr. Mengele tricked Dr. Perl into sending the pregnant woman to him. "He said that they would go to another camp for better nutrition....I learned that they were all taken to the research block to be used as guinea pigs, and then the two lives would be thrown in the crematorium." (Brozan C: 20) As far as sanitation was concerned at Auschwitz, there really wasn't any. It is a fact that Dr. Mengele's hospital had no beds, no operating tools, not even bandages. (Brozan C: 20) When compared to the hospitals in the United States, I feel that a hospital in Auschwitz does not deserve the title, "hospital." Apparently, Dr. Perl felt the same way. She took it upon herself to find the women held prisoner in the camp, and some how made them deliver their babies prematurely (Brozan C: 20). "Hundreds of times I had premature deliveries. No one will ever know what it meant to me to destroy those babies, but if I had not done it, both mother and child would have been cruelly murdered." (Brozan C: 20) It really makes me think how horrible it must have been for Dr. Perl. A very powerful quote taken from the article has her saying, "God, you owe me a life, a living baby." For her to say this every time she enters the delivery rooms makes it difficult to imagine the massive amounts of babies she delivered that did not possess a life; that had even gotten the opportunity to take a breath of air.

Dr. Perl had good intentions for her actions. At least she got to spare one of the two lives from the evil hands of Mengele. "Dr. Mengele was particularly cold and cynical" (Posner