Hans Eppinger Jr. (5 January 1879, in Prague, Royal Bohemia,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

– 25 September 1946, in Vienna) was an

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n physician of part-Jewish descent who performed experiments upon

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

prisoners.

Early years

Hans Eppinger was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, the son of the physician Professor Hans Eppinger r 848–1916a son of Heinrich Eppinger (1813–1868), notary and chancellery director in the monastery of Braunau (Broumov) in Bohemia and his wife Aloisia Salomon. Hans Eppinger Sr married Georgine Zetter in Klagenfurt and had two daughters and a son, Hans Eppinger junior. Hans Eppinger Jr received an education in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. In 1903, he became a medical doctor in

, working at a medical clinic. He moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1908, and in 1909 he specialized in internal medicine, particularly conditions of the

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

. He became a professor in 1918, then taught in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

in 1926 and in

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in 1930. In 1936 he is known to have travelled to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to treat

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. A year later he was called to treat

Queen Marie of Romania Marie (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the last queen of Romania from 10 October 1914 to 20 July 1927 as the wife of King Ferdinand I. Marie was born into the British royal fa ...

. Eppinger had been a "member of the NSDAP in a leading position" since September 1937. In the weeks before the Anschluss, Eppinger's house served as a quarter for the "Nazi student cells" at the University of Vienna, no different from that of the Viennese professors Wilhelm Falta and Hans Spitzy. On 28 May he formally applied for admission to the NSDAP and was admitted retroactively to 1 May (membership number 6,164,614). His assistant and senior physicians were "almost without exception" SS and SA officers. When he learned that, contrary to his expectations, he was not intended to be chairman of the Internist Congress meeting in Vienna, he protested to the NSDÄB.

Experiments at Dachau

As a result of his experiments on concentration camp prisoners at

Dachau Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

, he gained a notoriety during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Along with professor , he performed tests on 90

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prisoners by providing them

sea water Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximate ...

as their only source of fluids. (In some cases the taste of the water was disguised to hide the

saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

content.) The prisoners suffered from severe

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

, and witnesses reported that they had been seen licking the floors they had mopped in an attempt to hydrate themselves. The goal of the experiment was to determine if the prisoners would suffer severe physical symptoms or death within a period of 6–12 days.

Capture and suicide

Eppinger, 67, committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

after the war, reportedly using

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

. This occurred a month before he was to be called to testify at the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

. Much later it was discovered that he had an unclaimed

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Eponymous medical terms

The following medical terms were named after Eppinger: * ''Cauchois-Eppinger-Frugoni syndrome'' (renamed to

portal vein thrombosis Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a vascular disease of the liver that occurs when a blood clot occurs in the hepatic portal vein, which can lead to increased pressure in the portal vein system and reduced blood supply to the liver. The mortality ...

) * ''Eppinger's spider naevus (

Spider Angioma A spider angioma or spider naevus (plural: spider naevi), also nevus araneus, is a type of telangiectasis (swollen, spider-like blood vessels on the skin) found slightly beneath the skin's surface, often containing a central red spot and deep redd ...

)'' From 1973, the ''Falk Foundation of Freiburg'' awarded an ''Eppinger Prize'' for outstanding contributions to liver research. However, when Eppinger's activities at Dachau were brought to public attention in 1984, the prize was cancelled. In 1976, the

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crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

' Euclides D' was renamed by the IAU to honor Hans Eppinger. However, in 2002, after Eppinger's association with

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

prison camps had been brought to the attention of the ''Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature'' by the Lunar Republic Society, the name was dropped. As of July 2009, the crater is once again officially listed as ''Euclides D''.

References

External links