Japanese will never do that until they get ten more nuke and 20 more tsunamis.

It is indeed about time -- but it is too little and much too late. Doctors, regardless of their political affiliation or being under a dictatorship, ought to adhere to higher standards than others, particularly "First do no harm". I've never really understood how any medical doctors, even under the Nazi regime, could have perpetrated the horrors of the "medical experiments: in the death camps; participated in the classification of Jews, Roma, and others as "non-human"; espoused, or agreed with, half-baked pseudo-scientific explanations of the "superiority" or "inferirority" of races; performed eugenics against the disabled or mentally ill; or allowed the mistreatment, starvation, and disease among the prisoners of the camps. The only explanation I've heard as to why German doctors went along with all the above is that they rationalized their actions. Contrary to what many believe, many Nazis and their medical establishments were not insane or irrational slaughterers; instead, they were hyper-rational butchers who believed they had cogent, scientifically-backed reasons to justify their actions. And yet the Nazis also eliminated intellectuals, philosophers, and academians who were intelligent enough to oppose them or even replace them; given that the Nazi leaders, for the most part, were ignorant, uneducated thugs who knew just enough to be be dangerous. Bad as they were, however, the medical practioners (or malpractioners) under their authority were worse, because they should have known better. Persons of integrity should have refused immoral orders and commands, even at the risk of their own lives.

Mengele may have been more of a monster than Hitler.

You know, Hitler was right. The Third Reich will live on for 1,000 years; just not in the way he intended. It will probably take that long for people to come to terms with what actually happened.

This is as meaningful as Bill Clinton apologising for FDR's treratment of Japanese Americans during WWII. I can't wait for Barack Obama to apologise for George Washington owning slaves.

How will this look to all them that refused to admit it ever happened in the first place

The Germans used to be evil sinister people and now they're not?

Great. Now maybe Americans can find the courage to apologize for 200 years of slavery and the slaughter and sytematic destruction of the Native American population. We have issued it for the Japanese for WWII, even to Germany. But there is no acceptance of what was done to people in this Country!!!!

Acknowledgement of painful truths about our failings is very rare among human beings.

Sure, this would have been more meaningful before, but it still occurred in a time span shorter by hundreds of years than the Catholic church apologizing for killing, torture, forced conversions, and expulsions of Jews in the various Inquisitions... which obviously (including the non accountability that followed) served as a visible precedent to the Nazis (as did the massacres in Armenia in the early 20th Century and the Crusades).

The reason things like this matter so much is that people cling to easy answers and explanations in order to avoid the reality of the situation - which is that it wasn't just a charismatic leader or a perfect storm of events or some particular type of political rhetoric that caused the Holocaust and all of these other acts of genocide. They were all popularly supported and enabled by people who were just like us in most ways.

Scapegoating of other people and the tendency to believe what we prefer to believe - including that we are somehow special or more deserving or holy than others - are the key ingredients for genocide, every time. The fact that those are more popular than ever shows that, despite decades of self serving blather about WWII, we learned almost nothing from it.

When are American drug companies, Pfizer, Endo, Purdue Pharma et al going to apologize for the 400,000 fatal accidental rx poisonings since 1995 in the U.S. and the addictions, ruined families, maimings, drownings, auto accidents, pharmacy shootouts etc. attributable to their poison pills. 40,000 fatal rx poisonings in 2011 alone. Worldwide it shouldn't take Big Pharma more than 15 more years to beat the Nazi's record. Doctors? Croakers.

Hopefully, this will, once and for all, shut the mouths of all the world's fools and naysayers who claim the Holocaust never happened! But damn, it would have been a heck of a lot better if this apology had been made several decades ago when the doctors who gleefully took part in these horrors and atrocities, could have been arrested and made to stand before the judges at Nuremberg..

Better late then never, I suppose...

Now, if only the tobacco and drug companies would be as forthright in admitting how many have died using their products...

The article is by a guy with a Jewish name, possibly with links to the Zionista, "terrorism". . . Better hold on to your horses... This could actually be a precursor to the apology for the Palestine and Arab Holocaust... among others.

The world should acknowledge that medicine has finally stared its worst crimes directly in the face and shuddered.

Yeah, although the profession's ridiculous over billing has to be a close second.

an apology. this apology is to little and way to late.

Any of those doctors still alive today?

If yes, try in court, convict, and execute.

If no, what's the point of this ridiculous apology?

One should not forget the corporations of America that willingly and knowingly aided Hitler's war machine and death camps, through their domestic facilities or German branches and subsidiaries. Many American companies were deeply tied to the fascism of Nazi Germany and other fascist countries. Corporate America's anti-Semitism wasn't far from that of Hitler. Money, or should I say profits, was the name of the game and it didn't matter how many innocent people died, how they died or for which reason they died. Corporate America was the arsenal of Nazism. Hitler could not have succeeded without them. Their holy grail was the tempting proposition that several large corporations could take financial control of the world, which is no different than the corporate mindset of today. Many American corporate executives, their representatives and other high profile and influential Americans had meetings with Hitler and/or his minions.

Morgan, General Electric, Standard Oil of New Jersey (Rockefellers), DuPont, Brown Brothers Harriman (one partner with the name of Prescott Sheldon Bush), UBC, Ford, General Motors (through its wholly owned Opel division), IBM, Sullivan&Cromwell (Wall Street), Texaco, Chase National Bank (by freezing the assets of Jews), Kodac (used slave laborers from concentration camps), United Steel, Alcoa Aluminum, Chrysler, Dow Chemical, Curtiss-Wright Aviation and IT&T headed the list. Of course, there are more that supported Hitler's Nazis through lesser means, along with other fascist leaders of Europe.

Don't believe it? Pull your heads out of the sand and do a little research. You can then repeat after me: Money is God, money is God, money is God. Profits are holy and nothing else matters.

Do you think that the doctors,who today, are performing abortions, will say and mirror actions of these men, in 60 years! I think not!

Okay . . .

I apologize for my ancestors (they immigrated here during the turn of the century (1895 - 1905), the largest immigration period for people from Europe to the US). They never owned slaves, didn't (to my knowledge) commit any genocide against the native American population, or partake in any inquistions. But, hey - I do apologize. Mea Culpa! (Can I be excused from the "liberal guilt" now?)

To the German doctors, why are you apologizing now since it has been over 6 decades ago??? You should have apologized that either during or after the Nuremberg trials. My God! What fools to apologize now! For those "doctors" who were working with the Nazi Regime should have been imprisoned for life!

Seems pretty honest with the usual German bluntness -- albeit so late. Those guys don't hold back when they say things.

Certainly a good example -- compare with the mealy-mouth, wish-washy apologies our politicians make for their blunders.

Thers a lot of fault to go around for the crimes of the Nazis and their comrades.But all the damage they caused and lives that were lost is an inksopt on page compared to what Stalin did to Russians after the war.And after that,what Mao did to the Chinese.Stalin was known to have repeatly commented that "Russia only needs a hundred million citizens,the rest are expendible!"I tried his best to hit his mark!Communism and socialism were the graveyard of mankind in the 20th centruy.I believe if total,they communist and socialist have killed more people than all wars before them in tthe previous two hundred years!

I have translated many English, German and Dutch medical and para-medical dissertations. If there is no mention of reference source(s), specifically from German research, without a doubt the data originated from German laboratory tests on Jews in prison camps. Not many people know this, but it is a well-kept secret in medical circles !!!

Although alot of people probably disagree, their choice to make a public apology is a big step. I come from a line of jewish/english desecendants, and I appreciate the apology. Time heals ALL wounds.

Decades of silence while the perpetrators lived in comfort is a moral failing of slightly less significance than the original crime.

personally, i'd have to say the things the Japanese did as a whole were MUCH MUCH worse. both were terrible nonetheless but i'd have taken my chances at a German concentration camp before I ever even considered being put in any sort of Japanese camp during ww2