1933: The Role of the German Red Cross in the Third Reich

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the German Red Cross (organized as a private association) opted to fall in line with the regime—a process known as Gleichschaltung —rather than face being shut down. In 1937, Dr. Ernst Robert Grawitz, a medical doctor and SS-Obergruppenführer was appointed leader of the German Red Cross. Grawitz, a fanatical Nazi and close follower of SS leader Heinrich Himmler, was himself deeply implicated in the euthanasia murders of people with disabilities and medical ‘experiments’ in concentration camps .

Men and women such as Grawitz in the German organization’s leadership made sure that the actions of his Red Cross colleagues were in line with the policies of the Nazi leadership. The guiding principles of the Red Cross founders, such as impartial aid for all humans following the image of the good Samaritan, were for the most part abandoned. The German Red Cross had effectively lost its independence and neutrality, and turned into a National Socialist medical service unit supporting Hitler’s war effort. The organization was deeply Nazified and obstructed various attempts of the International Red Cross in Geneva and other neutral aid organizations to help concentration camp inmates. It is noteworthy that the shortcomings of international law, such as the Geneva Conventions, also hampered outside intervention, because back then international regulations protected foremost soldiers and not civilian prisoners.