[The Mortuary Registers at the Viennese Anatomical Institute (1924-1959): a Historical Find and Its Value as a Source...

In the past, historical research concerning the body supply of the Viennese Anatomical Institute during the inter-war period, the Second World War and the early years of the Second Austrian Republic was largely hampered by the fact that the so called "Leichenbücher" or "Leicheneingangsbücher" (documenting every single body, body part, etc. the institute received) of the Anatomical Institute had been deemed lost. A recent find at the Department of Anatomy in Vienna has now provided us with this long missing source material reaching with a short interruption from 1924 all the way into the first decades of the Second Republic.While this gap in source material has presented itself as an in some cases insurmountable issue for researchers, for example regarding the NS-era and the Pernkopf-Atlas during the late 1990ies, this find now provides ample opportunity for inquiries both for this time frame and beyond. This contribution shows the value the newly rediscovered books hold as source material based on a short study regarding the bodies of the nine individuals whose bodies were transferred to the Viennese Anatomical Institute after their execution during the Second Republic between 1945 and 1950. This example illustrates that this find will enable new research in the form of single case studies, serial inquiries and statistical analysis alike which without this discovery would remain impossible.