health expert and reformer, and his collaborator

[GoodTaste]

Any consideration of the legacy of historical injustices in the Journal must address the rise of National Socialism in Germany, the antisemitism of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, and the Holocaust. Hitler was first specifically mentioned in the Journal in 1935, in an article by Michael M. Davis, a noted American health expert and reformer, and his collaborator Gertrud Kroeger, a leading German nurse.

Source: New England Journal of Medicine Nazism and the Journal

Does the word collaborator here sound derogatory? Or does it sound neutral?

It appears to me that in the background of talking about the Third Reich, it seems like the word propaganda, which is highly derogatory after the demise of Hitler.

I am not absolutely sure.

 

[5jj]

Does the word collaborator here sound derogatory?

Not at all.

Not that I have put the word you are talking about in italics. You could use quotation marks instead.

 

[jutfrank]

It appears to me that in the background of talking about the Third Reich, it seems like the word propaganda, which is highly derogatory after the demise of Hitler.

I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean that it suggests that Gertrud Kroeger was a Nazi collaborator?

 

[Tarheel]

@GoodTaste Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

 

[GoodTaste]

I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean that it suggests that Gertrud Kroeger was a Nazi collaborator?

Sort of. Not that it necessarily and directly linked to Nazi, the genetics at that time referred to the "fact" that there was inferiority in their blood for some races, which contributed to the rampage of Nazism in Germany and peaked at the Holocaust. Unfortunately doctors played a vital role in the historical tragedy.

And so linguistically, I suspect the word "collaborator" in the context would be like "propaganda", having a colour of Nazism.

 

[Tarheel]

No, that is not what "collaborator" means there. It's someone who is working -- or did work work -- with you (the speaker or writer) on a project.

 

[Tarheel]

@GoodTaste You are talking about eugenics. (Coincidentally, Thomas Sowell's latest book discusses that.)

It might be worth noting that antisemitism existed long before the Nazis came along. (The eugenics movement in America gave them intellectual justification for the Holocaust.)

 

[GoodTaste]

No, that is not what "collaborator" means there. It's someone who is working -- or did work work -- with you (the speaker or writer) on a project.

Here's another case of the use of the word "collaborator" that seems to be derogatory in an article by The Lancet:

The Holocaust, the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of 6 million Jews by the National Socialist (Nazi) regime and its collaborators, is arguably the most extreme instance of crimes against humanity and genocide in history.

The Lancet Commission on medicine, Nazism, and the Holocaust: historical evidence, implications for today, teaching for tomorrow​

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, being a Nazi collaborator and being involved in the systematic destruction of millions of people is a negative thing but the word 'collaborator' isn't derogatory when it doesn't make any association with Nazism. The original context, which although confusingly is about Nazism, doesn't say that Kroeger was working with the Nazis, just that she was working with Michael M. Davis.

I agree with you, however, that since it is so aften used in the context of Nazism, there is an inherent negative connotation to the word, independent of any context.

 

[Tarheel]

Here's another case of the use of the word "collaborator" that seems to be derogatory in an article by The Lancet:

Apparently, you have seen fit to correct me. You also quoted a post with an obvious error in it.