Vonkennel, josef

(¤ 1897, † 1963) Dermatologist. Born in Munich, 1918 Abitur at the Theresiengymnasium there. Medical school at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich. Licence to practise medicine in 1924. He received his first dermatological training with Wilhelm Heuck in Munich/Schwabing. 1928 Doctorate with the subject: Experimental and histochemical studies on bismuth therapy. On 1.4. 1933 he became a member of the NSDAP. In 1934 he was not a member of the university and received his habilitation. First works on chemotherapy of infectious diseases. 1937 appointment to the then non-university skin clinic in Kiel as successor to Victor Klingmüller. 1937-1942, together with Josef Kimmig, work on chemotherapy of gonorrhoea. He declined a call to Würzburg as successor to Karl Zieler, as well as to Graz and Strasbourg. He followed another call (1942) to the then largest (400 beds), newly built dermatological clinic in Leipzig as successor of the NSDAP member Bodo Spiethoff. His work came to an abrupt end with the destruction of the Leipzig skin clinic. In 1950, despite his National Socialist past, he received a call to the University Skin Clinic in Cologne. Vonkennel's role during the National Socialist regime has since become well known. He was SS-Obersturmbannführer and consulting dermatologist to the Waffen-SS. As head of the Leipzig Dermatological Clinic, Vonkennel carried out pharmacological experiments on inmates of the Buchenwald concentration camp (typhus fever research). Several test persons died during the experiments. The files "typhus research" of the Buchenwald concentration camp were later put aside. Vonkennel voluntarily retired on 13 June 1963.

1. Andree Ch (2011) The Dermatology Clinic of the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel 1902-2010. self-published
2. Seiler J (1957) Josef Vonkennel on his birthday. Medical Clinic 52: 1377