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Published online 13 February 2008 | Nature 451, 755 (2008) | doi:10.1038/451755a

News: Q&A

Lessons from the dark side

What role did German scientists and their funding organization play in supporting Nazi policies during 1933-45? In a bid to find out, Germany's research council, the DFG, sponsored a seven-year investigation into its own history that ended last month. One of the historians who led the study, Ulrich Herbert of the University of Freiburg, discusses the findings.

Alison Abbott

What sources were made available to you?

We were given access to all the DFG files, right back to the start of the society in 1920. These files were fundamental because we wanted to analyse what the scientists themselves requested funding for.

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    • 16 Feb, 2008
    • Posted by: Georges Cohen