Friedrich Panse (30March 18996December 1973) was a German psychiatrist who became a prominent figure in NaziâÂÂera and postâÂÂwar German psychiatry. He served as âÂÂAktion T4â expert who evaluated patients for the Nazi's euthanasia / killings program. As an openly committed National Socialist, he actively promoted and taught racialâÂÂhygiene ideology.
After the war, in 1948, Panse was tried, but he was acquitted. His defense that was that if he had not participated, even more patients would have died. He was then made director of the psychiatric clinic of the Medical Academy of the Rhine Hospital in Düsseldorf. In 1965 he was elected president of the German Society for Psychiatry and Neurology.