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The Guardian World1 min read
WW2 soldier's brain buried with body 85 years after his death
TL;DR
The brain of Scottish soldier Donnie MacRae, who died in WWII, has been buried with his remains in Germany 85 years after his death. His brain was removed for research without his family's knowledge during a post-mortem examination in 1941.
Key points
- Scottish soldier Donnie MacRae died in WWII in 1941
- His brain was removed for research without family knowledge
- The brain was buried with his remains 85 years later
- Researchers were examining records of German brain research
- Efforts were made to commemorate the subjects properly
Mentioned in this story
Donnie MacRaeGermany
World War Two
The brain of a Scottish solider who died during World War Two has been buried alongside his remains in Germany.
Donnie MacRae died in a prisoner of war hospital in1941, after being captured while fighting in France.
He suffered from a rare neurological condition and, during a post-mortem examination, his brain and part of his spinal cord were removed for further research.
His family did not know the organ had been removed until it was uncovered by an international group of researchers nearly 80 years later.
The group were examining records of thousands of brains used in research by the Germans, trying to identify all the subjects and commemorate them properly.
The Ministry of Defence's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC) then helped track down Donnie's relatives, some of whom have now travelled to Germany for a blessing ceremony.
JCCC case worker Nicola Nash told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast the additional remains had been interred, but they also wanted to give the family an opportunity to remember his life and honour his sacrifice.
"It gives them closure and gives them the chance to show how grateful they are because they are there because their relative fought and died for them," she said.
Originally from Gairloch in Wester Ross, Donnie was serving as a private in the Seaforth Highlanders when he was captured while fighting in France in June 1940.
He died the following year, aged 33.
His brain was removed during a post-mortem examination and sent to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Psychiatry in Munich.
Donnie's body was buried by the Germans and later reburied by the Allies in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Berlin.
While his family knew of his capture and death, they were never told about removal of his brain.
Donnie's brain was one of about 2,000 that were taken for research by leading Berlin and Munich research institutes during World War Two, including those of children killed during the Holocaust.
It was part of the German plan to be at the forefront of medical research.
In total, about 160 small slices of Donnie's brain and spinal cord were kept in the archives of the Munich research centre - later renamed the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry - ever since.
Remains were also taken from Polish Jews and Catholics, those with mental illness, political prisoners, Belgian resistance fighters and French and Polish soldiers.
Q&A
What happened to Donnie MacRae's brain after his death?
Donnie MacRae's brain was removed during a post-mortem examination for research purposes and was only buried with his remains 85 years later.
Why was Donnie MacRae's brain removed and not returned to his family?
His brain was removed for further research due to a rare neurological condition, and his family was unaware of this until it was discovered by researchers decades later.
How did researchers uncover the history of Donnie MacRae's brain?
An international group of researchers was examining records of brains used in German research and identified MacRae's brain among the subjects for proper commemoration.
