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Purpose: Authoritarianism can hinder altruism, even among physicians, the most altruistic members of society. Hence, we postulated that the proportion of doctors who saved Jews during the Holocaust (i.e. “Righteous Among the Nations”) was higher in a democratic country like the Netherlands as compared to authoritarian ones like Germany and Italy.

Methods: We analyzed the Yad Vashem database and other census data to determine the total populations, numbers of physicians, numbers of “Righteous”, and numbers of “Righteous” physicians in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands during WWII. A chi-squared analysis for independence evaluated the association between proportion of “Righteous” physicians to total physicians in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Results: We found 8/651 physicians among the “Righteous” in Germany (out of 68.6 million people); 13/766 in Italy (out of 45 million); and 46/5,982 in the Netherlands (out of 9.3 million). There was a statistically significant difference (α = 0.05) in the proportion of “Righteous” physicians in Germany vs. Italy (p = 0.0328), Germany vs. the Netherlands (p < 0.00001), and Italy vs. the Netherlands (p < 0.00001).

Conclusions: These results support our hypothesis, despite small but significant differences between Germany and Italy. Among the “Righteous”, selfless humanitarian values seemed to be defining traits. Authoritarian influences from Fascist and antisemitic ideology appeared to curb altruism, resulting in lower numbers of “Righteous”, including physicians. This study found only association, not causation. Further research should evaluate causation, but also the effects of authoritarianism in modern medicine.

Publication Date

2-2-2026

Keywords

history of medicine, humanitarian

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Comments

Presented at the 2026 AOA Research Symposium.

Medicine During the Holocaust: A Comparative Study of Righteous Dutch, German, and Italian Physicians

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