Masters of Sex? Nazism, Bigamy, and a University Professor's Fight with Society and the State (1930-1970).

Abstract

Scholars of genocide and mass vio lence passionately debate whether a “Nazi morality” exists or the concept simply conflates moral codes with a selfdeceptive ideology.1 However illogical and delusional Nazism might seem from a humanistic standpoint, as a lived experience and professional practice it was grounded in what we commonly value in our scientific and po liti cal practice: seriousness, perseverance, and resourcefulness. This article draws upon the trajectory and career of Kielbased university professor Otto M, born shortly after the turn of the century and deceased in the mid-1980s, to investigate how Nazism translated into the personal life of an academic. Specialized in the fields of phytopathology and pharmacognosy, M climbed the academic ladder at ChristianAlbrechtsUniversity Kiel (henceforth Kiel University) during the Third Reich. While his research on