Holocaust survivors' perspectives on the euthanasia debate

The paper reports on a qualitative analysis of 15 personal interviews with holocaust survivors in Israel concerning their perceptions of similarities and differences between socially-assisted dying and the holocaust policies. The design of the study was exploratory/descriptive and asked the followin g questions:"Some discussions have expressed similarities between Nazi Germ any and euthanasia. Do you believe the comparison is justified? In what way s are euthanasia and the holocaust similar? In what ways are they different ?" Participants concluded that profound differences existed between Nazi Ge rmany and socially assisted dying. These differences were established from four different perspectives in 10 different themes, and demonstrated by 24 different examples of the themes. Informants further cautioned philosophers about comparisons between the holocaust and other human behaviors. The sur vivors perceived that such a comparison has negative consequences for their own well-being, the dignity of their family members, the next generation a nd the Israeli society. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.