Case Study :
Module 1
Team
members
[Link] Gladson
[Link]. Sunanda Chandi
[Link]. Ancy Kanut
[Link]. Jenita Patil
[Link]. Chanda Boye
[Link] Walter Coutinho
[Link]. Vasantha Polichetty
[Link] Barboza
[Link] Jacob
Mentor: : Dr. Co-mentor: Ms. Presenter: Joseph Walter
Silvano Sapeco Nikita Noel Pinto Coutinho
Sr. Chanda Boye Sr Vasantha Sr Sunanda Chandi
Contents
Case study
Question 1
Question 2
Did she have autonomy to take the Did the guard act
decision of getting impregnated? ethically?
Question 3 Question 4
Is the act of her family accepting her and Was the law of the land after the
the guard’s act and outcome ethically war ethically, right?
sound?
Case Study
• During the 2nd world war, a Soviet patrol picked up a
German woman Mrs. Bergmeier and sent her to a prison
camp in Ukraine.
• Her husband had been captured in the Battle of the Bulge,
taken to a POW camp in Wales and subsequently returned
to Berlin. After a great deal of effort ,he succeeded in
uniting with his children
• Mrs. Bergmeier learned through a sympathetic commandant
that her husband and family were trying to keep together
and find her.
• She wanted to be united with her family
• But the rules allowed them to release her for only two
Case Study :
Continuation
• [Link] needing medical facilities beyond the camp's, in
which case she would be sent to a Soviet hospital
elsewhere, and
• [Link], in which case she would be returned to
Germany as a liability.
• She asked a friendly Volga German camp guard to
impregnate her.
• Her condition being medically verified, she was sent back
to Berlin and to her family.
• Her family welcomed her even when she told them how she
had managed it. When the child was born, they loved him
more than all the rest, of the view that little Dietrich had
done more for them than anybody.
Question 1- Did she have autonomy to
take the decision of getting impregnated?
• Considering the abnormal and war situation, Mrs
Bergmeier while considering her family & the need
to be united, she chose to be impregnated not out of
freedom but according to the circumstances.
• She did not have her fullest sense of freedom or
autonomy.
• It was a need based, optionless autonomy, but still
not coerced or forced.
Question 2 - Did the guard act
ethically?
• The guard must have been a family man himself and so he
very well understood the reason behind the unusual
request of Mrs. Bergmeier.
• The situation was such that there was a very thin line
between ethics and morality.
• Considering the need of the woman to be with her family,
he acted more out of compassion than ethically.
Question 3 - Is the act of her family
accepting her and the guard’s act
and outcome ethically sound?
• The main fact was that the woman was united with her
family, though the means of her choice are questionable.
• Circumstances were such that this was only way she could
have achieved this. The family understood the situation &
accepted the woman and the child, who was the reason
behind their family being re-united.
• They respected the life of the baby, showered the baby
with love – acceptance, and considering the need of the
woman for the family, their decision to accept is ethical.
Question 4 - Was the law of
the land after the war
ethically, right?
• No, there is no ethics in capturing a woman, and in
setting of such law as to consider medically ill, or
pregnancy a burden.
• This law can bring in a lot of misuse by the authorities
over the prisoners.
• This law also brings in psychological dilemma in
situations, when prisoners choose between need of the
family and ethics.
Conclusion
• Ethics is always Contextual and Situational
More than set rules or laws.
• From the point of law, the above case can
bring in many disagreements, but from
ethical point of view, considering the
situation of the family, the decision of the
woman can be considered as need.
• It cannot be implemented as recommended
for freedom, in which case it will only
affect the dignity of human person in
Thank
You
