The sudden halting of menstrual periods (amenorrhea) experienced by prisoners at Nazi concentration camps has historically been attributed to the effects of trauma and malnutrition, although new research paints a considerably darker picture. Drawing upon written historical records and interviews with Holocaust survivors, the study authors find evidence that synthetic steroids were added to the food given to female Jewish prisoners in order to hinder their fertility. “Immediately upon arrival at the concentration camps, over 98 percent of women stopped menstruating,” write the researchers. Addressing this striking statistic in a statement, study author Peggy J. Kleinplatz suggests that such a...