10.4081/btvb.2023.80
It has happened, therefore it can happen again (Primo Levi)
 
Dear Editor,A recent Editorial published in your journal illustrated the condition of Ukrainian scientists during the invasion of their country by the aggressor Russian Federation: killed, at the front, or refugees. Just as the international democratic community supports Ukraine from the attack and already plans reconstruction, the scientific community is urged to support its Ukrainian colleagues and their scientific networks.
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Valerio De Stefano
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Bleeding, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology
War
Science and scientists under attack
Text.Serial.Journal
https://www.btvb.org/btvb
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Letters
2023-05-23
2023-04-13
2023-04-30
2023-05-23
Bleed Thromb Vascul Biol
Valerio De Stefano
2023/05/23
10.4081/btvb.2023.80
Section of Hematology, Department of Radiological and Hematological Sciences, Catholic University, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome
2785-5309
2
War
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Anonymous. Nazi-Socialism and International Science. Nature 1935;136:927-8.
Science and scientists under attack
https://www.btvb.org/btvb/article/download/80/69
2
                                                                                                LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Science and scientists under attack
                                                                                          It has happened, therefore it can happen again
                                                                                                                             (Primo Levi)


Dear Editor,                                                             we have no sympathy for either. But when these tendencies
                                                                         spread and a nationalistic movement tries to secure the control
     A recent Editorial published in your journal illustrated the        of international scientific work, it is time to call a halt».4
condition of Ukrainian scientists during the invasion of their                Should we apply today to Russian scientists the same pre-
country by the aggressor Russian Federation: killed, at the front,       cautions that were to be applied to German scientists in 1935?
or refugees. Just as the international democratic community sup-         Of course, the world is never clear-cut: immediately after the in-
ports Ukraine from the attack and already plans reconstruction,          vasion more than 5000 Russian scientists, mostly residents of
the scientific community is urged to support its Ukrainian col-          Russia, spread and signed a complaint against the war. «We, the
leagues and their scientific networks.1 Science and Reason are           undersigned Russian scientists and science journalists, declare
the natural antidotes to the poison of dictatorship, nationalism,        our strong opposition to the Russian hostilities launched against
and the violence of imperialism and the war of aggression,               the Ukrainian people. These hostilities are incurring huge human
ghosts never quite disappeared in Europe and now galloping on            losses and undermine the foundations of the established system
the horses of the Apocalypse twenty-five years after the wars in         of international security. The responsibility for unleashing a new
the former Yugoslavia.                                                   war in Europe lies entirely with Russia […]. We demand an im-




                                                                                           ly
     In a comment to the Editorial, it was written that it is childish   mediate halt to all military operations directed against Ukraine.
                                                                         We demand respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity




                                                                                   on
to boycott Russian art forms after the invasion since Art, like
Science, has no boundaries or homeland.2 This is true without            of the Ukrainian state. We demand peace for our countries».
any doubt. But Art and Science are cloaks that must be worn by                We do not know what happened to the brave signatories; the
                                                                         law with penalties of up to 15 years for those criticizing the so-




                                                                              e
worthy people. In 1949, after World War II, Leo Alexander
wrote «Science under dictatorship becomes subordinated to the            called special operation was issued a few days later. Now the
guiding philosophy of the dictatorship. […]. Nazi propaganda
was highly effective in perverting public opinion and public con-
                                                                         us
                                                                         original text is difficult to find on the net, and the names of the
                                                                         signatories are all written in Cyrillic, making it impossible for a
                                                                         Westerner to identify names.
                                                                    al
science, in a remarkably short time. In the medical profession
this expressed itself in a rapid decline in standards of profes-              We cannot leave alone such heroic opponents of the Putinian
                                                                         autocracy, but neither can we accept to work and exchange in-
                                                     ci

sional ethics. Medical science in Nazi Germany collaborated
with this Hegelian trend particularly in the following enterprises:      formation with scientists complicit with the regime and pro-
                                                   er


                                                                         tected by the dark forces of Russia. There is an urgent need for
the mass extermination of the chronically sick in the interest of
                                                                         the international scientific community to provide information
saving "useless" expenses to the community as a whole; the
                                                  m



                                                                         on Russian researchers by identifying those undoubtedly com-
mass extermination of those considered socially disturbing or
                                                                         promised with the regime and excluding them from all profes-
racially and ideologically unwanted; the individual, inconspic-
                                       om




                                                                         sional and scientific circuits.
uous extermination of those considered disloyal within the ruling
                                                                              Science walks on the legs of men and women, it is not neu-
group; and the ruthless use of "human experimental material"
                                                                         tral or aseptic, and once again, after almost a century, we are
for medico-military research».3
                                 -c




                                                                         called to a halt to criminal scientists. When this is over, we all
     The abyss did not bloom suddenly. The Nazi doctors and sci-
                                                                         need to know who was on which side. And no brilliant intelli-
                         on




entists before the war attended the International Congresses, and
                                                                         gence will redeem anyone for supporting this brutal aggression
even then, it was debated whether or not to boycott them. In 1935
                                                                         against an entire people, as in the darkest times of our history.
an Editorial published in Nature reported «Now a new situation
                    N




                                                                                                                         Valerio De Stefano
is developing which may be fraught with considerable danger to                       Section of Hematology, Department of Radiological
the continued co-operation of workers in other countries with                                                  and Hematological Sciences
their German colleagues. This new development carried to the                     Catholic University, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli
limit can only result in the isolation of German men of science                                                          IRCCS, Rome, Italy
in all matters of international organization [...]. International con-
ferences held in Germany are to be sifted of undesirable elements
by the authorities beforehand and to survive as meetings ap-
proved by the Nazi party. For meetings held outside Germany
                                                                         References
the control must necessarily be much less, but here too it is pos-        1. de Gaetano G. Science in Ukraine is “bleeding”. Bleed
sible to influence matters by sending German members to a meet-              Thromb Vasc Biol 2023;2:69.
ing as a delegation under an appointed leader chosen for his              2. Torlone G. The metaphor of Ukrainian science “bleeding”.
reliability as a member of the Nazi party. […]. It should be added           Bleed Thromb Vasc Biol 2023;2:73.
in fairness to the Germans that internal persecution of a minority        3. Alexander L. Medical science under dictatorship. N Engl J
is not limited to their country, nor even the use of international           Med 1949;241:39-47.
gatherings to spread nationalist political propaganda. Both these         4. Anonymous. Nazi-Socialism and International Science. Na-
undesirable practices are to be found in more than one country:              ture 1935;136:927-8.




                                           Bleeding, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2023; 2:80
