Medical Memories and Experiences in Postwar East Germany

This book draws on the example of the major cities of Leipzig and Dresden to illustrate continuity and change in public health in the German Democratic Republic. Based on archival work, it will demonstrate how members of the medical profession successfully manipulated their pre-1945 past in order to continue practising, leading to persistence in the social conception of medicine and disease after Communism took hold. This was particularly evident in attitudes towards and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and the pathology of deviant behaviour among young people.

Markus Wahl is a Research Fellow at the Institute for the History of Medicine at the Robert Bosch Stiftung in Stuttgart, Germany. In his current project, he investigates the experiences of patients with diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases, and alcohol addiction in the socialist healthcare system of East Germany. In 2017, he received his PhD from the University of Kent. His most recent publication is 'The Workhouse Dresden-Leuben After 1945: A Microstudy of Local Continuities in Postwar East Germany', Journal of Contemporary History (Online First: published 26 July 2018). In general, his research interests include Modern German History, Social History of Medicine, Socialist History, Memory and Addiction Studies as well as broader studies of sexual health in the past and around the world.

List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction: Medical Memories and Experiences Chapter 1 Treating the Past: Narratives of the Medical Profession after 1945 Chapter 2 Treatments from the Past: Continuities in Treating Venereal Diseases Chapter 3 Treatments for the Past? 'War Children' and the New State Chapter 4 Institutionalised Treatments of the Past: The Fürsorgeheim Leuben in Postwar Dresden Epilogue Appendix Index