Never a Means to an End: How the Atrocities of the Holocaust Impact Modern Research

We are still learning lessons from the horrors of the Holocaust as we remember the past and redefine the present and future.  This lecture explores the human suffering that occurred as individuals were permanently harmed and killed to explore the limits of human life.   They had become a means to an end.  The world responded with imperatives that would guide all future human subjects research.  How do the heinous atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust provide a constant vigil over the increasing complexities of modern research?  Can lament and hope coexist?”   

Rev. Dr. Dane R. Sommer has been the Director of Spiritual Services at Children’s Mercy – Kansas City since 1987.  He is also the Assistant Director of Bioethics Policy and Practice and Co-Chair of the CM Institutional Review Board.  He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Religion cum laude from the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, where he was the recipient of the Purple and Old God Award for Meritorious Achievement in Philosophy and Religion.  He received his Master of Divinity degree from the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, New Brighton, Minnesota.  He received his Doctor of Ministry degree from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri.

Presented by the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education and Union Station Kansas City in support of the exhibition Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away.