A ‘moral enigma’: the Nazi anatomy book still in use today

He said that while the artefact was derived from “real evil”, it had a unique ethical status because it could be “used in the service of good”.

Dr Sabine Hildebrandt, who teaches anatomy at Harvard Medical School, told the BBC: “Those of us who have learned to 'see' with it use it whenever we have questions,” and that some surgeons “find it to be a unique and irreplaceable source of information.”

Dr Pernkopf was an ardent Nazi who wore a Nazi uniform to work every day. His support earned him the role of dean of the medical school at the University of Vienna, where he was responsible for the sacking of all Jewish faculty members.

In 1939, a new Third Reich law ensured the bodies of all executed prisoners were immediately sent to the nearest department of anatomy for research and teaching purposes.

Sometimes the anatomy institute was so full, executions had to be postponed until they had made room for the fresh bodies.

Dr Pernkopf was arrested after the war and held at an Allied prison of war camp for three years before being released.

Following his release he returned to the university and continued his work on the atlas, publishing a third volume in 1952.