How a forgotten German scientist of the nineteenth century anticipated both the gassing of Jews at Auschwitz and also Britain's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Few people today remember the origins of the idea of assisted dying for those who are incurably sick

Britain’s House of Commons recently passed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which will make provision for the lethal poisoning of the elderly and sick. This idea is not new and has an unfortunate link with the Holocaust. We are most of aware that during the Second World War, the Germans used cyanide to kill many people at the extermination camp of Auschwitz. Some of us also know that the use of gas to kill people felt to be surplus to requirements was pioneered in Nazi Germany with the disposal of the incurably ill or disabled. What hardly anybody remembers today is that this scheme was the brainchild of one of the most distinguished German scientists of the nineteenth century, who was advocating the use of cyanide in this way when Adolf Hitler was still at school.