The extensive degree of mass murder that occurred throughout the twentieth century saw the rate of non-combatant (civilian) deaths rise by over seventy-five percent in the space of seventy years, amounting to a death toll exceeding 170 million. Where genocides are concerned, the central role of doctors is undeniable. Their participation arose from the preoccupation with eugenics for improving the health of the nation. From here, their belief in nationalism overrode the sacred duty to save lives. These doctors descended into moral anarchy, breaching an ethical code of two millennia. This paper examines the role of doctors in the Armenian genocide and that of psychiatrists (notably Radovan Karadzic), in the Bosnian genocide. That medicine contains the seeds of its own destruction is confirmed by the recurrent involvement of doctors in genocide.
Keywords: Armenia; Bosnia; genocide; doctors; Karadzic.