Practicing neuropathology under great adversity

Correspondence:

Editor‐in‐Chief, Brain Pathology

Arie Perry, MD

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Department of Pathology, Division of

Neuropathology

505 Parnassus Avenue, #M551, Box# 0102

San Francisco, CA 94143

Ph: 415‐476‐5236 or 415‐476‐4961

Fax: 415‐476‐7963

E‐mail: Arie.Perry@ucsf.edu

President

Prof Herbert Budka

Institute of Neuropathology

University Hospital Zürich

Schmelzbergstrasse 12

CH‐8091 Zürich

Switzerland

and

Institute of Neurology

Medical University Vienna

AKH 4J, Waehringer Guertel 18‐20

A‐1097 Vienna

Austria

Fax: +43‐1‐40400 5511

E‐mail: herbert.budka@meduniwien.ac.at

Secretary General

Dr David Hilton

Department of Cellular and Anatomical

Pathology

Derriford Hospital

Plymouth PL6 8DH

United Kingdom

Fax: +44‐175‐2763590

E‐mail: davidhilton@nhs.net

Treasurer

Prof Markus Tolnay

Institute of Pathology, Division of

Neuropathology

Schoenbeinstrasse 40

CH‐4003 Basel

Switzerland

Fax: +41‐61‐265‐3194

E‐mail: mtolnay@uhbs.ch

Project Secretary

Dr Homa Adle‐Biassette

Inserm U676, Université Paris Diderot

Hôpital Robert Debré

48 Bd Sérurier

75019 Paris

France

Fax: +33‐1‐40031995

E‐mail: homa.adle@inserm.fr

While the title of this Dear Reader section may engender expected lamentations over the global funding crisis confronting neuropathology investigators today, this greatly pales in comparison to the tremendous challenges of practicing neuropathology during the dark time and influence of Nazi Germany. In the current issue, Marc Scherer responds to a historical perspective published on Dr Hans‐Joachim Scherer (1906–1945) in Brain Pathology in 1999 by Jürgen Peiffer and our founding editor, Paul Kleihues 2. As Dr Peiffer has since passed, this letter to the editor is followed by a response from Dr Kleihues alone; I strongly encourage all to read both of these fascinating and historically important accounts 1, 3. While one can hardly consider Mr Scherer an impartial observer as the son of the famous neuropathologist, he nonetheless provides compelling evidence that his father strongly opposed the political agenda of the Nazi party and that Dr Scherer's own career was negatively impacted by this regime. In order to support these conclusions and provide additional insights, a number of original documents from scholars of the time are cited, including some of great historical interest themselves coming from Mr Scherer's personal archive, which he has kindly made available as supplementary material on our journal's website (http://www.brainpathology.net).

Although the deep scars of World War II clearly deserve to heal, it is also critically important to remember the lessons of history, since as commonly quoted by Spanish philosopher George Santayana, “those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The continued intense interest in this time period is well exemplified by the Internet column entitled “Germans fascinated by Nazi era 8 decades later” (http://news.msn.com/world/germans‐fascinated‐by‐nazi‐era‐8‐decades‐later), where Gareth Jones writes: “As elders who lived through the darkest chapter of German history die off, the current generation is flocking to shows, exhibits and news of anything Nazi.” As one can imagine, it can be quite a challenge to gauge the moral character of a historical figure like Dr Scherer nearly 70 years after his death. Like Dr Kleihues, I greatly admire Dr Scherer's remarkable insights on gliomas despite the many challenges of practicing neuropathology during this period. These included secondary structure formation (ie, patterns of tumor spread) and primary vs. secondary glioblastomas, concepts that were only possible to validate with molecular studies many decades later. One can also only wonder how much brighter Dr Scherer's star might have shone had he simply been born in a different place and time.

Arie Perry, M.D.