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This is a corrected copy of transcript for 5 December 1946. Please destroy your old copies Official Transcript of the American Military Tribunal in the matter of the United States of America, against Karl Brandt, et al, defendants, sitting at Nurnberg, Germany, on 5 December 1946, 1015-1200 hours, Justice Beal presiding. THE PRESIDENT:Members of Military Tribunal No. 1 meet this morning informally in chambers to hear arguments upon the motion of certain defense counsel for a continuance of case No. 1 pending before the Tribunal. Counsel will be allowed thirty minutes, on each side, to present their arguments. Two counsels for the defendants may argue upon the motion. The defense counsel will open and close the arguments, and the defendants may divide their thirty minutes between the opening and closing as they please. You may proceed with the arguments upon the motion. DR. SERVATIUS:The counsel here for the defendants presents an application for the postponement of the beginning of the trial. They are the counsel who happened to be present at the time, who drew up the application, and I am convinced that most of my colleagues who are not present also approve. There are technical reasons which lead to this application. It is the concern which we have as defense counsel that our witnesses cannot be here in time since we are not able to make our application soon enough to have the witnesses brought here. The reason for this is that the material which can give us occasion to call a witness has not been in our hands long enough so that we can work on it. Only on Saturday afternoon were documents available, and others came in the next few days. For many of the defense counsel it is not possible with these few documents, in a short time, to speak to all of the defendants. Especially we still lack a list of the documents so that we can be able to select which documents are significant for each individual. Therefore, we have to look into the documents themselves to determine which are important; this takes hours. During this time other defense counsel, of course, cannot obtain information about these documents. In my application I stated the consequences of this condition. In order to get a witness here we would need several weeks. I as defense counsel for the first defendant must expect to have my witnesses called to the stand here first. General Taylor has been kind enough to say that he assumes that the prosecution's case will take two or three weeks. That would mean, if one includes the Christmas recess, that I must be ready by the beginning of January. According to the experience in the previous trial it will hardly be possible to get my witnesses here in that time since I do not know where some of them are. There is the same difficulty with the experts. They would have to be here from the beginning of the trial. Whoever is inclined
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in the previous trial it will hardly be possible to get my witnesses here in that time since I do not know where some of them are. There is the same difficulty with the experts. They would have to be here from the beginning of the trial. Whoever is inclined to appear as an expert and who is possible as an expert for the individual case must be discussed carefully. The court is supposed to be represented by the experts; the same goes for the witnesses. I do not want to call witnesses who will prove to be useless. It is my endeavor through sworn statements to replace the testimony of a number of witnesses and shorten the proceedings. That took a great deal of time in the previous trial; as far as I recall it took an average of two months until a sworn statement was available here. Then I cannot make my application yet, it will be unavoidable. In January there will be a period after the prosecution has finished its case -- that is, there would be an interruption which should be avoided not only in the interest of the defense but in the interest of all. This interruption would be better at the beginning. I ask for three weeks, considering the possible one week Christmas holiday, that would in effect be two weeks. Perhaps there will be one week recess at Christmas, and that would be a delay of two weeks, and in this three weeks, I believe it would be possible to get the witnesses here. I do not want to go into all the minor differences which exist for the defense. I do not think this is the right place to present such matters. I have finished my statement. THE PRESIDENT:Counsel for the prosecution. GENERAL TAYLOR:The prosecution believes that this motion is entirely without foundation -- without legitimate foundation. One of the principal points which appears to be made here is that some one-hundred documents have been made available to the defense and that an additional 150 have not been made available. This motion was written December 3rd and was received by me yesterday afternoon. I checked with the document room and the Defendants' Information Center the moment I received this and was told that some 240 documents were already in the Defendants' Information Center. I am told that there is a list of 296 documents which has been furnished to the Defendants' Information Center. It appears, therefore, there was some 50 missing so we put a special staff on last night and after this morning 284 documents are in the Defendants' Information Center. So far as I know there is no rule or requirement that we furnish these documents. We are indeed bound by custom here to give them all documents 24 hours in advance of their use. They have received these documents nearly a week in advance of the trial and it is just a privilege which we extend because we are
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requirement that we furnish these documents. We are indeed bound by custom here to give them all documents 24 hours in advance of their use. They have received these documents nearly a week in advance of the trial and it is just a privilege which we extend because we are in a position to do so and think it will assist the trial and is a matter for the rights of the defendants. It is discouraging to see our attempt to extend this privilege as extensively as we can, carried into an attempt to put the trial off. Furthermore, these documents in the Defendants' Information Center are all in German, a language which counsel understands and I, myself, in preparing this case have been unable to get most of the documents because it is difficult to get them translated into English for me to use then. In that respect the defense is in a much better position than the prosecution. The point about location of witnesses which Dr. Servatius makes is worthless and unspecified in his motion. We are not told that there is any particular witness he wants; that it is difficult to locate. From his experience in Case No. 1 -- I must point out this case is different from Case No. 1. The subject is more defined and the problems will be much easier and solve themselves. Until some substantial defense is brought to the Court's attention with respect to procurement of witnesses it seems that there is no possible reason for us to postpone the trial for purely speculative diffi culties. The same, I think, applies to the question of experts which the defense has raised. It does seem, and surely they have had time to lood into that matter fully. The Indictment gives them the information as to what kind of expert they want to have here and if they have difficulty in getting him here by December 9th a transcript will be served and inform the expert of what was going on. It seems to us there has been sufficient time for them to get experts. Some point is made this motion about the rooms which have been furnished. We have done our best on that. Certain rooms were made available to Defense Counsel, and they found them unsatisfactory. As a result of their request, other rooms which are better have been made available as of yesterday and are set up, and working conditions are possible there. As far as typewriters are concerned, it is difficult to procure German typewriters. We are today putting into this room a selection of English and German typewriters and are doing all we can to aid Counsel to perform their duties. In many respects, because of the language situation in this trial, I think their difficulties are no greater than our own on the Prosecution side. I must finally point out that a postponement of this trial means a postponement of other trials which are to follow this
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perform their duties. In many respects, because of the language situation in this trial, I think their difficulties are no greater than our own on the Prosecution side. I must finally point out that a postponement of this trial means a postponement of other trials which are to follow this one. Under Ordinance Number 7, this is a continuing program, and if this trial does not start as scheduled, it will result in postponement of those which are to follow. I think that is all I have to say, Your Honor. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): General Taylor, are you in a position to say now how many documents will be used in the prosecution in its case in chief? GENERAL TAYLOR:In its case in chief? It will come very close to the figure 300, Your Honor. I think Mr. McHaney can answer that question in more detail than I can. MR. McHANEY:If Your Honor please, we have made an effort to give them documents which we definitely plan to use. In other words, we have not sent to the Defendants' Information Center a mass of documents which we do not think that we will use. We have not sent them all of the documents which we plan to use for two reasons: Firstly, we have obtained a rather substantial number of affidavits from certain of the defendants. Those documents have not been made available in the Defendant's Information Center, and we do not plan to make them available until approximately 24 hours prior to the time that they will be used in court. In the same category falls a number of charts showing the organization of various offices with which the Court will be dealing, such as the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht, the Medical Service of the SS, and so forth. Those charts have not been made available to them. They shall on Saturday morning, since we plan to use them on Monday in our presentation here. There are naturally other documents which will be used in the course of the trial in the case in chief which have not been sent to the Defendants' Information Center as yet. I think that there are some documents dealing with euthanesia which will be the last matter taken up in the case in chief which have not been sent down because we have not as yet had the time to decide definitely which of those documents we plan to use. There are a rather substantial number of them, and we wish to select only those few that we would use here. There are also, of course, those instances in which we will find documents in Berlin or in other places which we do not now have, which, of course, are not in the Defendants' Information Center, but a few instances will come up where we will find documents that we will want to use, but, by and large, I think that the 300 which we made
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or in other places which we do not now have, which, of course, are not in the Defendants' Information Center, but a few instances will come up where we will find documents that we will want to use, but, by and large, I think that the 300 which we made available will pretty well cover the case in chief. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): By 300 documents, do you mean that those documents will also comprehend the affidavits? MR. MCHANEY:No, we have now given them 280-odd out of the total of 294. Those are all photostatic copies of the original German documents. Now, in addition to that, I would say that we have, oh, in the neighborhood of 25 affidavits taken from the defendants. Additionally, we have at least an equal number of affidavits taken from witnesses. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): What equal number? MR. MCHANEY:I say we must have at least 25 affidavits also, taken from witnesses; that is, people other than the defendants. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): So that, perhaps, you have 50 affidavits, altogether? MR. MCHANEY:I should think so. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring); Can you say at this time how much time will be taken in the introduction of documents, as you anticipate it? MR. MCHANEY:You mean to put in our case in chief? THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): So much of it as is comprehended by the documents. MR. MCHANEY:Well, that is difficult to say. The manner in which we will present the case is more or less on a topical basis, in accordance with the order that we have set up in the Indictment. In other words, after the opening statement and certain procedural matters are taken care of, we will start introducing documentary evidence consisting of affidavits by the defendants and German documents on the high altitude experiments. More or less at the conclusion of the introduction of documentary evidence on that topic, we will call certain witnesses to the stand to testify with respect to these matters. We will than proceed to the next experiment, which is the freezing experiment. In the high altitude experiment we have, roughly, 40 or 45 documents dealing with that matter. As far as I recall, we have only two witnesses. I should think that it would probably take us in excess of a day to put in those documents. Of course, the examination of witnesses may prove to be a rather time-consuming matter because there are quite a number of Defense Counsel here, and roughly half of them, I think, are charged with the high altitude experiments, and I assume that there will be considerable cross examination. THE PRESIDENTS:Defense Counsel may proceed with the closing argument. Twenty-two minutes remain. DR. SERVATIUS:I wanted to reply quite briefly to the argument made by General Taylor. It is a matter cf course that as far as the claim is concerned, we have none for the presentation of such documents. In practice, the situation is different. It is such that during the proceedings we will have to make
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quite briefly to the argument made by General Taylor. It is a matter cf course that as far as the claim is concerned, we have none for the presentation of such documents. In practice, the situation is different. It is such that during the proceedings we will have to make our applications. I must be in a position to present my evidence, and the sooner the Prosecution gives me those documents, the sooner I shall be ready. The purpose is merely to avoid an interruption of the proceedings, and I don't want to come in with continuous motions during the proceedings. It would be better if we could postpone the proceedings in the beginning so as to be able to go ahead afterwards. As for as the practical use of the documents is concerned, I should like to point cut that there is no list of documents so that, in practice, this pile of documents is of no use to me. I should have to look through each individual document in order to ascertain what it contains, and everybody else would have to do the same, so I should like to ask the Tribunal to convince themselves just how difficult it will be to carry this out in practice. In practice, we do not have the documents in our hands, and we can not use them. If we had a list, we could have shared them out, and each Defense Counsel could have had 20 documents copied, which we would have had at our disposals. I am convinced that the Prosecution is doing everything to help us, but the situation is that even this morning we do not have a room in which to work. In practice, we are short the documents, we are short of the typewriters. I did not want to put this to the Tribunal because I did not think that this was a suitable place, but that is the situation. We do not have the things. I should like to put the emphasis on the pertinent difficulties: namely, that witnesses and experts can not be brought here in practice in time, and the postponement which I am requesting is in practice no more than a fortnight's delay. It would be to everybody's benefit, as subsequently we would be able to go ahead with the proceedings at a greater speed, whereas, these are practical questions which can not be overlooked. THETRIBUNAL (Judge-Sebring): May I ask Counsel a question, please? I note that in your motion for a continuance, you say that it is necessary to have expert witnesses present during the entire course of the Prosecution's case in chief. Can you tell me what there is in the Prosecution's case that would require the presence of your expert witnesses throughout that phase of the Prosecution? DR. SERVATIUS:According to German legal procedure, the expert ought to be present during the entire proceedings, and the expert, in particular, ought to be in a position to judge from his own
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the Prosecution's case that would require the presence of your expert witnesses throughout that phase of the Prosecution? DR. SERVATIUS:According to German legal procedure, the expert ought to be present during the entire proceedings, and the expert, in particular, ought to be in a position to judge from his own expert knowledge what the implication is and what the accusations are. During the proceedings documents, too, will be presented and also witnesses will be appearing, and the expert will certainly have questions to put to the witnesses -- probably very relevant and important ones. It is for that reason that it would be suitable, in my opinion, and also in accordance with German law if the expert were here in good time, but, then, in particular, it would be difficult to obtain a suitable export in time. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): You have merely said in your motion that you intend to produce certain witnesses -- an expert to what facts or phase of knowledge? DR. SERVATIUS:As to just what point the experts will have to speak, that will differ in the case of each individual defendant, and we in our capacity of Defense Counsel will have to agree which expert will cover the largest territory on the strength of hid knowledge so that we do not produce large numbers of experts here. Many experts today are not allowed to practice since they no longer hold their professorships of are not appointed by a university. Others are busy and can not get away, and it will be necessary to do and see them and ask them if they are able and willing to appear. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): I do not believe you understood my question. You are proposing to call experts in what field, the field of medicine and research? MR. SERVATIUS:Yes, that is right. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): Do you know where potential expert witnesses are living or residing? Do you have that information. MR. SERVATIUS:I have not dealt with that problem myself. My colleague, Dr. Nelte, will probably be able to answer that question. DR. NELTE:Gentlemen of the Tribunal, with reference to what my colleague, Dr. Servatius, has said I should like to add the following, and else as a reply to what has been said earlier, namely, that the difficulties we had were of a figurative nature and were not of a concrete nature. May I please point cut to you that on the 26th of November I had already submitted application, to which even today I am still without a reply. In that application, dated 26th of November, I had named six experts and witnesses who are of general and great importance to this trial. In consideration of the fact that the trial was scheduled to start as early as 9th of December I had requested to be given the possibility of calling these doctors who reside in Heidelberg, Wurtzberg, Cologne, and as far as I know, Tuebingen, and that I night be given the opportunity to visit
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the fact that the trial was scheduled to start as early as 9th of December I had requested to be given the possibility of calling these doctors who reside in Heidelberg, Wurtzberg, Cologne, and as far as I know, Tuebingen, and that I night be given the opportunity to visit there. I still have not received a reply to this application today. I have not been able to visit these important witnesses and I believe that the raising of the points which Prosecution have submitted in today's letter cannot be applicable to my case. They state that the Defense had ample time in order to call experts. It might have been possible to visit these doctors in the course of this week, if my application dated 26th of November had received an early decision. I, also, on the 2nd of December submitted an application to the High Tribunal in which I referred to five experts capable of dealing not only with general medical questions but also with the limits and dividing lines of what might be considered legal and medically sound in each individual case, or not permissible. Quite often it would be possible that the decision could be made with reference to the application as early as today. What I was trying to express was the time which we, the Defense, had at our disposal considered from the point of view of advancing the proceedings and the point of view of preparation had been utilized by you although could no more beyond time and circumstances, as they have been described by my colleague, Dr. Servatius, and present that. I hope that this High Tribunal will believe us, the Defense counsels, when we say that everything we do and everything we apply for will be raised in the connection that with it and through it we act in general best interest, not only of ourselves but the Tribunal and Prosecution, since it is our aim and our ambition to assist in the greatest possible clarification of the real circumstances and material throughout this case. It is for that reason that the objection raised by the Prosecution, namely, that there is no legal regulation according to which the documents and any other material should be submitted in good time is not, I think, quite applicable in our case, because we, both the Prosecution as well as the Defense, have the mutual duty to contribute everything we can in order to elucidate and investigate the circumstances throughout and place at your disposition, your Honor, material as complete and as necessary to finding the truth. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Beals): The Court has a question to propound upon the Prosecution. I understand that Counsel for Defense, Dr. Servatius, I believe, has said that although many of these documents are now in the Defense Information Center, yet there is no list of the documents and from which they can work adequately. Can you advise the Court about that, sir? GENERAL TAYLOR:Prosecution furnished the Information Center with
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Defense, Dr. Servatius, I believe, has said that although many of these documents are now in the Defense Information Center, yet there is no list of the documents and from which they can work adequately. Can you advise the Court about that, sir? GENERAL TAYLOR:Prosecution furnished the Information Center with a list of these documents in numerical order. The list does not break the documents down into an index by subject, but does list the documents by numbers. As far as I know there is no reason why the Defense Counsels could not have divided them among themselves and dealt them around so those applicable in each case would come into the hands of the lawyer in that particular part of the case. Such a list was forwarded to the Information Center. Furthermore, I stopped by there on my way to Court and very cursory locked around and saw the document file in a drawer in numerical order. I say that hesitantly because it was a cursory lock but that is what appeared to me to be. DR. SERVATIUS:Mr. President, may I answer briefly. There is a list of documents, yet -- but it does not correspond to what we had formerly. It is only a list of numbers and reads 001, 005, 200. I see the numbers but I do not know what they mean. I can't select what is of importance for me but I might see "Letter to Himmler". That is important to me. I see only 005. I can't see that on the documents. A list of numbers is useless to me. It is only of use to the person in charge of the documents as he knows which documents are there. I cannot exchange with my colleagues because I do not know who has the important documents. I believe if the Tribunal would investigate the question the documents are there but, in short, in going through them on Saturday with the assistance of Lt. Garrett I checked them. It took an hour and a half to go through the documents -- about one hundred documents. As long as I was working there no one else could use them. In practice they are not really available to us. GENERAL TAYLOR:I believe what Dr. Servatius has said confirms what I said about the list: That list is a check list. We are certainly, I believe, under no obligation to give the Defense Counsels an index from which they can determine a document's importance. There is no way we can save them from work. They have to go through and we which document relates to each part of the case. I say again they are in a very much better position to review because they can understand them. They do not have to deal with translators. Sometimes if is very late when they are translated. I have had access to very few documents. May I make a comment while at the podium about Dr. Nelte's point about expert
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much better position to review because they can understand them. They do not have to deal with translators. Sometimes if is very late when they are translated. I have had access to very few documents. May I make a comment while at the podium about Dr. Nelte's point about expert witnesses. I do not know of circumstances concerning two particular requests for experts that he has mentioned. All those requests come to the Prosecution and I am informed in every case, except two, we have indicated approval. We have no objection to requests and sent back to the Information Center. Those two or three cases where we have not given consent was because awaiting call of witness from London, Paris, or some distant point. In all cases we have said we had no objection to calling of witnesses in Germany. I cannot believe any objection by Prosecution has been put in from securing witnesses from Heidelberg, Cologne, or elsewhere. THETRIBUNAL (Judge Beals): The Marshall will clear the Court while the Judges come to a decision of this motion. All persons remain at attention until summoned into the Court Room. THE PRESIDENT:The court has considered the briefs filed in connection with this matter and the argument of counsel; the Tribunal rules that the motion for a continuance will be denied without prejudice, however, to the rights of the defendants to present any appropriate motions during the course of the trial for any necessary reasonable recess, either to secure expert witnesses or consultants to be present during the course of the Prosecution's case in chief; or to secure other witnesses or documents. The Tribunal will attempt to dispose of all motions or applications for the presence of witnesses or production of documents no later than tomorrow. Will the counsel for the Prosecution step to the podium? The Tribunal is interested, General, in whether or not you could supplement this list of documents which has been filed so that as to each document which is listed, there might be, in connection therewith, a short general statement as to the subject matter of that document. GENERAL TAYLOR:I will ask Mr. McHaney to answer that question. MR. McHANEY:If your Honor, please, would it be necessary that this descriptive list of documents be translated into German? I think that possibly we could get up such a list without too much difficulty in English, but our translation facilities at the present time are extremely burdened; and if possible, we would like to be relieved of the task of having this translated into German; or if Defense counsel would also take considerable more time, we could provide it to them in English within, I think, 24 hours or 48 hours, I should think, at least. THE PRESIDENT:It is not the idea of the Tribunal that the statement should be very long. I know nothing of your translation facilities. I would assume that if a brief statement in English were filed, it would probably materially assist the counsel for
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48 hours, I should think, at least. THE PRESIDENT:It is not the idea of the Tribunal that the statement should be very long. I know nothing of your translation facilities. I would assume that if a brief statement in English were filed, it would probably materially assist the counsel for the defendants, just to give each one a brief notice of the contents and the nature of the document so that the defendants who are interested in certain specifications under the charge would know from that that document did or did not concern them. MR. MCHANEY:Yes, indeed, we shall do that. JUDGE BEALS:I would like to ask Defense Counsel a question. Do you think, Counsel, that the filing of a brief statement in English would be of material assistance to you and would be sufficient until possibly a German translation could be provided? DR. SERVATIUS:It would be of great assistance to us. If a number of Defense Counsel have difficulties, we would be able to help each other. We would be very glad to get it soon. May I ask about the number of documents, if we could have twenty-three lists, one for each defendant? There are twenty-three defendants, if we could have twenty-three copies. JUDGE BEALS:I would ask Counsel for the Prosecution to furnish that if possible. You are excused. JUDGE SEBRING:General Taylor, is it mechanically possible to do that? GENERAL TAYLOR:Yes, Your Honor, I believe it would be by stenciling it. JUDGE SEBRING:Within what period of time? GENERAL TAYLOR:Well, we will do our best to have it in within twenty-four hours. Until I check with the clerical facilities I am a little reluctant to say definitely that we can do it in twenty-four hours, but we will shoot for that and I think we will certainly be able to have it in forty-eight. JUDGE BEALS:This informal session of the Tribunal will now adjourn. (The Tribunal adjourned until 9 December 1946, at 1000 hours.) Official Transcript of the American Military Tribunal in the matter of the United States of America, against Karl Brandt, et al, defendants, sitting at Nurnberg, Germany, on 9 December 1946, 1000-1700, Justice Beals, presiding. THE MARSHAL:Military Tribunal No. 1 is now in session. God save the United States of America and this honorable Tribunal. There will be order in the Court. THE PRESIDENT:The Secretary General will ascertain that all the defendants are present. THE MARSHAL:The Secretary General will call the roll of the defendant. (The Secretary General: Karl Brandt, Siegfried Handloser, Paul Rostock, Oskar Schroeder, Karl Genzken, Karl Beghardt, Kurt Blome, Rudolf Brandt, Joachim Mrugowsky, Helmut Poppendick, Wolfram Sievers, Gerhard Rose, Siegfried Ruff, Hans Wofgang Romberg, Victor Brack, Hermann BeckerFreyseng, Georg August Weltz, Konrad Schaefer, Waldemar Hoven, Wilhelm Beiglb?? Adolf Porkorny, Herta Oberhauser, Fritz Fischer.) THE SECRETARY GENERAL:All of the defendants are present and accounted for. THE PRESIDENT:The Secretary General will note for the record the prose of the defendants. I have two questions now to propound to the defendants. As the name of each
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Waldemar Hoven, Wilhelm Beiglb?? Adolf Porkorny, Herta Oberhauser, Fritz Fischer.) THE SECRETARY GENERAL:All of the defendants are present and accounted for. THE PRESIDENT:The Secretary General will note for the record the prose of the defendants. I have two questions now to propound to the defendants. As the name of each defendant is called he will rise in his place and proceed to the center in front of the microphone and answer the questions which I shall propound to him. Karl Brandt. Your name is Karl Brandt? KARL BRANDT:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? KARL BRANDT:I have read the indictment, yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty? KARL BRANDT:Yes, I am not guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Paul Rostock. PAUL ROSTOCK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? PAUL ROSTOCK:I have read the indictment, THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty and do you now plead not Guilty to the indictment? PAUL ROSTOCK: I am Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Oskar Schroeder. OSKAR SCHROEDER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? OSKAR SCHROEDER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty? OSKAR SCHROEDER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Karl Genzken. Is your name Karl Genzken? KARL GENZKEN:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? KARL GENZKEN:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plea Not Guilty to the indictment? KARL GENZKEN:Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Karl Gebhardt. Is your name Karl Gebhardt? KARL GEBHARDT:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? KARL GEBHARDT:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to his indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to the indictment? KARL GEBHARDT:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Kurt Blome. Is your name Kurt Blome? KURT BLOME:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? KURT BLOME:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to the indictment? KURT BLOME:Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Rudolf Brandt. Is your name Rudolf Brandt? RUDOLF BRANDT:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? RUDOLF BRANDT:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to the indictment? RUDOLF BRANDT:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Siegfried Handloser. Is your name Siegfried Handloser? SIEGFRIED HANDLOSER:Yes THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? SIEGFRIED HANDLOSER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea
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to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to the indictment? RUDOLF BRANDT:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Siegfried Handloser. Is your name Siegfried Handloser? SIEGFRIED HANDLOSER:Yes THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? SIEGFRIED HANDLOSER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to the indictment? SIEGFRIED HANDLOSER:Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Joachim Mrugowsky. Is you name Joachim Mrugowsky? JOACHIM MRUGOWSKY:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? JOACHIM MRUGOWSKY:I have read it. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? JOACHIM MRUGOWSKY:I plead Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:Helmut Poppendick. Is your name Helmut Poppendick? HELMUT POPPENDICK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed in this case against you? HELMUT POPPENDICK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? HELMUT POPPENDICK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Wolfram Sievers. Is your name Wolfram Sievers? WOLFRAM SIEVERS:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? WOLFRAM SIEVERS:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? WOLFRAM SIEVERS:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:You may seated. Gerhard Rose. Is your name Gerhard Rose? GERHARD ROSE:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? GERHARD ROSE:Yes. THEPRESIDENT: have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? GERHARD ROSE:Yes, Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Siegfried Ruff. SIEGFRIED RUFF:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed in this case against you? SIEGFRIED RUFF:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? SIEGFRIED RUFF:Yes, Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:Hans Wolfgang Romberg. Is your name Hans Wolfgang Romberg? HANS WOLFGANG ROMBERG:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? HANS WOLFGANG ROMBERG:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? HANS WOLFGANG ROMBERG:Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Viktor Brack. Is your name Viktor Brack? VIKTOR BRACK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? VIKTOR BRACK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? VIKTOR BRACK:I plead Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Hermann Becker-Freyseng. Is your name Hermann Becker-Freyseng? HERMANNBECKER-FREYSENG: Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 5,400
| 5,900
|
VIKTOR BRACK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? VIKTOR BRACK:I plead Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Hermann Becker-Freyseng. Is your name Hermann Becker-Freyseng? HERMANNBECKER-FREYSENG: Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? HERMANNBECKER-FREYSENG: Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? HERMANNBECKER-FREYSENG: Yes. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Georg August Weltz. Is you name Geog August Weltz? GEORG AUGUST WELTZ:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? GEORG AUGUST WELTZ:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? GEORG AUGUST WELTZ:Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Konrad Schaefer. KONRAD SCHAEFER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? KONRAD SCHAEFER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? KONRAD SCHAEFER: I plead Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:Waldemar Hoven. Is your name Waldemar Hoven? WALDEMAR HOVEN:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? WALDEMAR HOVEN:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? WALDEMAR HOVEN:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Wilhelm Beiglbock. Is your name Wilhelm Beiglbock? WILHELM BEIGLBOCK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? WILHELM BEIGLBOCK:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? WILHELM BEIGLBOCK:I plead Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:Adolf Pokorny. Is your name Adolf Pokorny? ADOLF POKORNY:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? ADOLF POKORNY:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? ADOLF POKORNY:Nor Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:Herta Oberhauser. Is your name Herta Oberhauser? HERTA OBERHAUSER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? HERTA OBERHAUSER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? HERTA OBERHAUSER:Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:You may be seated. Fritz Fischer. Is you name Fritz Fischer? FRITZ FISCHER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you received and have you had an opportunity to read the indictment filed against you? FRITZ FISCHER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? FRITZ FISCHER:Yes, Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:The Secretary General will note the questions and answers propounded to the defendants. THE
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 5,850
| 6,350
|
to read the indictment filed against you? FRITZ FISCHER:Yes. THE PRESIDENT:Have you entered your plea of Not Guilty to this indictment and do you now plead Not Guilty to this indictment? FRITZ FISCHER:Yes, Not Guilty. THE PRESIDENT:The Secretary General will note the questions and answers propounded to the defendants. THE PRESIDENT:I have a statement which I desire to make for the benefit of the prosecution, defendants, and all concerned: Before opening the trial of Case No. 1, the United States of America against Karl Brandt, et al, there are certain matters which the Tribunal desires to call to the attention of the counsel for the prosecution and the counsel for the defendants. 1. The prosecution may be allowed, for the purpose of making the opening statement in this case, time not to exceed one trial day. This time may be allocated by the chief prosecutor, between himself and any of his assistants, as he desires. 2. When the prosecution has rested its case, defense counsel will be allowed two trial days in which to make their opening statements, and which will comprehend the entire theory of their respective defenses. The time allocated will be divided between the different defense counsel, as they may themselves agree. In the event the defense counsel cannot agree, the Tribunal will allocate the time, not to exceed thirty minutes to each defendant. 3. The prosecution shall, not less than twenty-four hours, before it desires to offer any record or document or writing in evidence, as part of its case in chief, file with the defense information center not less than one copy of such record, document or writing for each of the counsel for defendants, such copies to be in the German language. The prosecution shall also deliver to the defense information center at least four copies thereof in the English language. 4. When the prosecution or any defendant offers a record, document or any other writing or a copy thereof in evidence there shall be delivered to the Secretary General in addition to the original document or other instrument in writing so offered for admission in evidence, six copies of the document. If the document is written or printed in a language other than English there shall also be filed with the copies of the document above referred to six copies of an English translation of the document. If such document is offered by any defendant suitable facilities for procuring English translations of that document shall be made available. 5. At least twenty-four hours before a witness is called to the stand either by the prosecution or by any defendant, the party who desired to interrogate the witness shall deliver to the Secretary General an original and six copies of a memorandum which shall disclose: 1. The name of the witness. 2. His nationality, 3. His residence or station. 4. His official rank or position. 5. Whether he is called as an expert witness or as a witness to testify to facts, and if
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 6,300
| 6,800
|
an original and six copies of a memorandum which shall disclose: 1. The name of the witness. 2. His nationality, 3. His residence or station. 4. His official rank or position. 5. Whether he is called as an expert witness or as a witness to testify to facts, and if the latter, a prepared statement of the subject matter on which the witness will be interrogated. When the prosecution prepares such a statement in connection with the witness who it desires to call, at the time of the filing of this statement, two additional copies thereof shall be delivered to the defense information center. When a defendant prepares such a statement concerning a witness who it desires to call, the defendant shall at the same time the copies are filed with the Secretary General, deliver one additional copy to the prosecution. 6. When either the prosecution or a defendant desires the Tribunal to take judicial notice of any official Government documents or reports of the United Nations, including any action, ruling or regulation of any Committee, Board, or Counsel, heretofore established by or in the Allied Nations for the investigation of War Crimes or any record made by or the findings of any Military or other Tribunal, this Tribunal may refuse to take judicial notice of such documents, rules, or regulations, unless the party proposing, ask this Tribunal to judicially notice such documents, rules, or regulations, place a copy thereof in writing before the Tribunal. This Tribunal has learned with satisfaction of the procedure adopted by the prosecution with the intention to furnish to the defense counsel information concerning the writings or documents which the prosecution expects to offer in evidence for the purpose of affording the defense counsel information to help them prepare their respective defense to the indictments. The desire of the Tribunal is that this be made available to the defendants so as to aid them in the presentation of their respective defense. The United States of America having established this Military Tribunal One, pursuant to law, through properly empowered Military authorities, and the defendants having been brought before Military Tribunal One, pursuant to indictments filed October 25, 1946, in the Office of the Secretary General of the Military Tribunal at Nurnberg, Germany, by an officer of the United States Army, regularly designated as Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, acting on behalf of the United States of America, pursuant to appropriate Military authority, and the indictments having been served upon each defendant for more than thirty days prior to this date, and a copy of the indictments in the German language having been furnished to each defendant, and having been in his possession more than thirty days, and each defendant having had ample opportunity to read the indictments, and having regularly entered his plea of not guilty to the indictments the Tribunal is ready to proceed with the trial. This Tribunal will conduct the trial in accordance with controlling laws, rules, and regulations, and with due
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 6,750
| 7,250
|
days, and each defendant having had ample opportunity to read the indictments, and having regularly entered his plea of not guilty to the indictments the Tribunal is ready to proceed with the trial. This Tribunal will conduct the trial in accordance with controlling laws, rules, and regulations, and with due regard to appropriate precedence in a sincere endeavor to insure both to the prosecution and to each and every defendant an opportunity to present all evidence of an appropriate value bearing upon the issues before the Tribunal; to this end, that under law and pending regulations impartial justice may be accomplished. The trial, of course, will be a public trial, not one behind closed doors; but because of limited facilities available the Tribunal must insist that the number of spectators be limited to the seating capacity of the court room. Passes will therefore be issued by the appropriate authorities to those who may enter the court room. The Tribunal will insist that good order be at all times maintained, and appropriate measures will be taken to see that this rule is strictly enforced. For the information of all concerned, the Tribunal announces that hearings will be had each day this week commencing at 9.30 o'clock through Friday. The Tribunal will reconvene at 9.30 o'clock, Monday December 16, 1946, and will hold sessions every day of that week including Saturday, on which day, however, the Tribunal will recess until 9.30 o'clock, Thursday, January 2, 1947, on which day the Tribunal will convene at the usual time. I should have stated that on Saturday of next week the Tribunal will recess at 12:30 o'clock. The Prosecution may now commence its opening statement. GENERAL TELFORD TAYLOR:The defendants in this case are charged with murders, tortures, and other atrocities committed in the name of medical science. The victims of these crimes are numbered in the hundred of thousands. A handful only are still alive; a few of the survivors will appear in this courtroom. But most of these miserable victims were slaughtered outright or died in the course of the tortures to which they were subjected. For the most part they are nameless dead. To their murderers, these wretched people were not individuals at all. They came in wholesale lots and were treated worse than animals. They were 200 Jews in good physical condition, 50 Gypsies, 500 tubercular Poles, or 1,000 Russians. The victims of these crimes are numbered among the anonymous millions who met death at the hands of the Nazis and whose fate is a hideous blot on the page of modern history. The charges against these defendants are brought in the name of the United States of America. They are being tried by a court of American judges. The responsibilities thus imposed upon the representatives of the United States, prosecutors and judges alike, are grave and unusual. They are owed not only to the victims, and to the parents and children of the victims, that just punishment be imposed on the
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 7,200
| 7,700
|
tried by a court of American judges. The responsibilities thus imposed upon the representatives of the United States, prosecutors and judges alike, are grave and unusual. They are owed not only to the victims, and to the parents and children of the victims, that just punishment be imposed on the guilty, and not only to the defendants, that they be accorded a fair hearing and decision. Such responsibilities are the ordinary burden of any tribunal. Far wider are the duties which we must fulfill here. These larger obligations run to the peoples and races on whom the scourge of these crimes was laid. The mere punishment of the defendants, or even of thousands of others equally guilty, can never redress the terrible injuries which the Nazis visited on these unfortunate peoples. For them it is far more important that these incredible events be established by clear and public proof, so that no one can ever doubt that they were fact and not fable, and that this Court, as the agent of the United States and as the voice of humanity, stamp these acts, and the ideas which engendered them, as barbarous and criminal. We have still other responsibilities here. The defendants in the dock are charged with murder, but this is no mere murder trial. We cannot rest content when we have shown that crimes were committed and that certain persons committed them. To kill, to maim, and to torture is criminal under all modern systems of law. These defendants did not kill in hot blood, nor for personal enrichment. Some of them may be sadists, who killed and tortured for sport, but they are not all perverts. They are not ignorant men. Most of them are trained physicians and some of them are distinguished scientists. Yet these defendants, all of whom were fully able to comprehend the nature of their acts, and most of whom were exceptionally qualified to form a moral and professional judgment in this respect, are responsible for wholesale murder and unspeakably cruel tortures. It is our deep obligation to all peoples of the world to show why and how these things happened. It is incumbent upon us to set forth with conspicuous clarity the ideas and motives which moved these defendants to treat their fellow men as less than beasts. The perverse thoughts and distorted concepts which brought about these savageries are not dead. They cannot be killed by force of arms. They must not become a spreading cancer in the breast of humanity. They must be cut out and exposed, for the reason so well stated by Mr. Justice Jackson in this courtroom a year ago: "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated." To the German people we owe a special responsibility in these proceedings. Under the leadership of the Nazis and their war lords, the German nation spread
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 7,650
| 8,150
|
punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated." To the German people we owe a special responsibility in these proceedings. Under the leadership of the Nazis and their war lords, the German nation spread death and devastation throughout Europe. This the Germans now know. So, too, do do they know the consequences to Germany. Defeat, ruin, prostration, and utter demoralization. Most German children will never, so long as they live, see an undamaged German city. To what cause will these children ascribe the defeat of the German nation and the devastation that surrounds them? Will they attribute it to the overwhelming weight of numbers and resources that was eventually leagued against them? Will they point to the ingenuity of enemy scientists? Will they perhaps blame their plight on strategic and military blunders by their generals? If the Germans embrace those reasons as the true cause of their disaster, it will be sad and fatal thing for Germany and for the world. Men who have never seen a German city intact will be callous about flattening English or American or Russian cities. They may not even realize that they are destroying anything worth while, for lack of a normal sense of values. To reestablish the greatness of Germany, they are likely to pin their faith on improved military techniques. Such views will lead the Germans straight into the arms of the Prussian militarists to whom defeat is only a glorious opportunity to start a new war game. "Next time it will be different." We know all too well what that will mean. This case, and others which will be tried in this building offer a signal opportunity to lay before the German people the true cause of their present misery. The walls and towers and churches of Nurnberg were, indeed, reduced to rubble by Allied bombs, but in a deeper sense Nurnberg had been destroyed a decade earlier, when it became the seat of the annual Nazi Party rallies, a focal point for the moral disintegration in Germany, and the private domain of Julius Streicher. The insane and malignant doctrines that Nurnberg spewed forth account alike for the crimes of these defendants and for the terrible fate of Germany under the Third Reich. A nation which deliberately infects itself with poison will inevitably sicken and die. These defendants and others turned Germany into an infernal combination of a lunatic asylum and a charnel house. Neither science, nor industry, nor the arts could flourish in such a foul medium. The country could not live at peace and was fatally handicapped for war. I do not think the German people have as yet any conception of how deeply the criminal folly that was Nazism bit into every phase of German life, or of how utterly ravaging the consequences were. It will be our task to make these things clear. These are the high purposes which justify the
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 8,100
| 8,600
|
the German people have as yet any conception of how deeply the criminal folly that was Nazism bit into every phase of German life, or of how utterly ravaging the consequences were. It will be our task to make these things clear. These are the high purposes which justify the establishment of extraordinary courts to hear and determine this case and other of comparable importance. That murder should be punished goes without the saying, but the full performance of our task requires more than the just sentencing of these defendants. Their crimes were the inevitable result of the sinister doctrines which they espoused, and these same doctrines sealed the fate of Germany, shattered Europe, and left the world in ferment. Wherever those doctrines may emerge and prevail, the same terrible consequences will follow. That is why a bold and lucid consummation of these proceedings is of vital importance to all nations. That is why the United States has constituted this Tribunal. THE STATE MEDICAL SERVICES OF THE THIRD REICH I pass now to the facts of the case in hand. There are twenty three defendants in the box. All but three of them -- Rudolf Brandt, Sievers, and Brack -- are doctors. Of the twenty-doctors, all but one--Pokorny--held positions in the medical services of the Third Reich. To understand this case, it is necessary to understand the general structure of these state medical services, and how these services fitted into the over-all organization of the Nazi State. To assist the Court in this regard, the prosecution has prepared a short expository brief, which is already in the hands of the Court and which has been made available to defense counsel in German and English. The brief includes a glossary of the more frequent German words or expressions which will occur in this trial-most of them from the vocabulary of military, medical, or governmental affairs. It also includes a table of equivalent ranks between the American Army and the German Army and the SS and of the medical ranks used in the German armed forces and the SS. Finally, it includes a chart showing the subordination of the several German medical services within the general framework of the German State. This chart has been enlarged and is displayed at the front of the courtroom. Following this opening statement, Mr. McHaney will, in opening the presentation of evidence on behalf of the prosecution, offer in evidence a series of detailed charts of the various German medical services, which have been certified as accurate by the defendants Handloser, Schroeder, Karl Brandt, Mrugowsky, and Brack. The chart which I am now directing to the attention of the Tribunal is a composite chart based upon those which Mr. McHaney will offer in evidence. The chart in the front of the courtroom to which I now referring will not be offered in evidence; it is intended merely as a convenient guide to the Court and to defense counsel to enable them to follow the opening statement
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 8,550
| 9,050
|
those which Mr. McHaney will offer in evidence. The chart in the front of the courtroom to which I now referring will not be offered in evidence; it is intended merely as a convenient guide to the Court and to defense counsel to enable them to follow the opening statement and to comprehend the over-all structure of the German medical services. All power in the Third Reich derived from Adolf Hitler, who as at one and the same time the head of the government, the leader of the Nazi Party, and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Hit title as head of the government was Reich Chancellor. He was the "Fuehrer" of the Nazi Party, and the "Supreme Commander-in-Chief" of the Wehrmacht. Immediately subordinate to Hitler were the chiefs of the armed forces, the principal cabinet ministers in the government, and the leading officials of the Nazi Party. The only defendant in the dock who was directly responsible to Hitler himself is the defendant Karl Brandt. The Court will observe that the defendants fall into three main groups. Eight of them were members of the medical service of the German Air Force. Seven of them were members of the medical service of the SS. The remaining eight include the defendants Karl Brandt and Handloser, who occupied top positions in the medical hierarchy; it includes the three defendants who are not doctors; the defendant Rostock, who was an immediate subordinate of Karl Brandt; the defendant Blome, a medical official of the Nazi Party; and the defendant Pokorny, whom we have grouped under the SS for reasons which will appear later. I will deal first with the military side of the case. Hitler, as Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German armed forces, exercised his authority through a staff called the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, better known by its German initials, OKW (for Oberkommando der Wehrmacht). The Chief of this staff, throughout the period with which this case will concern itself, was Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel. Under the OKW came the Supreme Commands of the three branches of the Wehrmacht-the Navy(OKM), the Army (OKH), and the Air Force (OKL). Grand Admiral Eric Raeder was the Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy until 1943, when he was succeeded by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz. Prior to the outbreak of the war, the Commander-in-Chief of the German Army was Field Marshal von Brauchitsch; in December 1941, Brauchitsch was relieved and Hitler himself took this position. Hermann Goering was the Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force with the rank of Reichsmarshall, until the very last month of the war. Each of the three branches of the Wehrmacht had its own medical service. For purposes of this case, the medical service of the Navy is not of much importance. During most of the war the defendant Handloser was the chief of the medical service of the German Army; in 1944 he was succeeded in this capacity by Dr. Walther. The chief of the medical service of the German
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 9,000
| 9,500
|
the medical service of the Navy is not of much importance. During most of the war the defendant Handloser was the chief of the medical service of the German Army; in 1944 he was succeeded in this capacity by Dr. Walther. The chief of the medical service of the German Air Force until 1943 was Dr. Erich Hippke; from January, 1944 until the end of the war, it was the defendant Schroeder. Subordinate to the defendant Schroeder are seven other defendants from the Air Force medical service, whose functions I will briefly describe later on. I turn now to the second principal group of defendants -- those affiliated with the SS. The SS was nominally a part of the Nazi Party, and came under Hitler in his capacity as Fuehrer of the NSDAP. In fact, during the years of the Nazi regime, the SS expanded into a vast complex of military, police, and intelligence organizations. The head of this extraordinary combine was Heinrich Himmler, with the title of Reichsfuehrer SS. The SS had its own medical service, headed by Grawitz, who bore the title Reich Physician SS. The SS, in turn was divided into many departments, of which one of the most important was the Armed or Waffen SS. The members of the Waffen SS were trained and equipped as regular troops, were formed into regular military formations, and fought at the front side by side with the troops of the Wehrmacht. By the end of the war there were some thirty SS Divisions in the line. The head of the medical services of the Waffen SS was the defendant Genzken. Six other defendants were members of the SS medical service and therefore subordinated to Grawitz. The German civilian medical services derived their authority both from the German government and from the Party. The medical chief on the civilian side was Dr. Leonardo Conti, who committed suicide in October 1945. Dr. Conti occupied the position of Secretary of State for Health in the Reich Ministry of the Interior. In this capacity, Conti was a subordinate of the Minister of the Interior, Dr. Wilhelm Frick, until 1943 and thereafter to Heinrich Himmler, who assumed the additional duties of Minister of the Interior in that year. Conti also held the title in the Nazi Party of Reich Health Leader. His deputy in this capacity was the defendant Blome. As Reich Health Leader, Conti was subordinate to the Nazi Party Chancery, the chief of which was Martin Bormann. As the Court will see from the chart, the three principal people in the hierarchy of German state health and medicine are the defendants Karl Brandt and Handloser, and the deceased Dr. Conti. In July 1942, Hitler issued a decree, a copy of which will later be read before the Court, which established the defendant Handloser as chief of the medical services of the Wehrmacht. Shown on the chart here Handloser's name appears in this capacity. Handloser was given supervisory and professional authority over the
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 9,450
| 9,950
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1942, Hitler issued a decree, a copy of which will later be read before the Court, which established the defendant Handloser as chief of the medical services of the Wehrmacht. Shown on the chart here Handloser's name appears in this capacity. Handloser was given supervisory and professional authority over the medical services of all three branches of the Wehrmacht. Inasmuch as the Waffen SS came to constitute an important part of the armed forces. Handloser's supervisory authority also extended to the defendant Genzken, Chief of the Medical Services of the Waffen SS. In this position Handloser was charged with the coordination of all common tasks of the medical services of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS. He thus became the principal figure in German military medicine, just as Dr. Conti was the central figure in the field of civilian medicine. Handloser and Conti, as will be seen from the chart were not directly responsible to Hitler himself. Handloser's responsibility ran to Hitler through the OKW and Conti's through the Ministry of the Interior and the Chief of the Nazi Party Chancery. In 1942 Hitler for the first time established a medical and health official under his direct control. This official was the defendant Karl Brandt. A Hitler decree of July 1942 gave Brandt the title Plenipotentiary for Health and Medical services, and empowered him to carry out special tasks and negotiations with reference to the requirements for doctors, hospitals, medical supplies, etc., between the military and civilian sectors of the health and sanitation systems. Brandt's role, therefore, was to coordinate the requirements of the military and civilian agencies in the field of medicine and public health. Dr. Karl Brandt had been the personal physician to Hitler since 1934. He was only 38 years old at the time he assumed the important duties conferred by the 1942 decree. His rise continued. In September 1943, Hitler issued another decree which gave Brandt the title of General Commissioner for Sanitation and Health and empowered him to coordinates and direct the problems and activities of the entire administration for sanitation and health. This authority was explicitly extended to the field of medical science and research. Finally, in August 1944, Hitler appointed Dr. Brandt Reichkommissar for Sanitation and Health, and stated that in this capacity Brandt's office ranked as the "highest Reich authority." Brandt was authorized to issue instructions to the medical offices and organizations of the government, to the party, and the armed forces, in the field of sanitation and health. Karl Brandt, as the supreme medical authority in the Reich, appointed the defendant Paul Rostock as his immediate subordinate to head the Office for Scientific and Medical Research. Rostock's position reached into the activities of the medical societies, the medical colleges, and the Reich Research Council. Brandt also appointed Admiral Fickentscher, who had theretofore been the chief medical officer of the German Navy, as his subordinate to head the Office for Planning and Production. In this field, Fickjentscher dealt with the principal lab
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Harvard: Medical Case (Karl Brandt et al.)
| 9,900
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activities of the medical societies, the medical colleges, and the Reich Research Council. Brandt also appointed Admiral Fickentscher, who had theretofore been the chief medical officer of the German Navy, as his subordinate to head the Office for Planning and Production. In this field, Fickjentscher dealt with the principal lab authorities, the Ministry of Economics, and the Ministry for Armament and War Production. As chief of the medical service of the German Air Forces, the defendant Schroeder also held one of the most important positions in the German medical hierarchy. He and the defendant Handloser both held the rank of Generaloberstabs the highest rank in the German medical service and the equivalent of Lieutenant General in the American Army. I do not propose to go into detail concerning the positions held by the seven defendants who were under Schroeder, inasmuch as Mr. McHaney will introduce charts which show in great detail the structure of the German Air Force Medical service, which have been authenticated by the defendant Schroeder himself. The defendant Rose held a high rank in the Air Force medical service equivalent to that of a Brigadier General in the American Army and was appointed special advisor to Schroeder on matters pertaining to tropical medicine held a chair at one of the most important German medical institutes, and is one of the most distinguished scientists in the dock. The defendant Becker-Freyseng headed Schroeder's department for Aviation Medicine. The defendant Weltz was chief of the Institute for Aviation Medicine at Munich. The particular functions of the defendants Ruff, Romberg, Schaefer, and Beiglbock will appear as we proce** with the presentation of the evidence. I will likewise passover very briefly the detailed functions of the six SS physicians who were shown on the chart as the subordinates of Grawitz. Detailed charts of the SS medical service, authenticated by the defendant Mrugowsky, will shortly be introduced in evidence. The defendant Gebhardt was Himmler's personal physician and he held a rank in the SS equivalent to that of a Major General in the American Army. He became the President of the German Red Cross. He was the chief surgeon on Grawitz's staff, and also headed the hospital at Hohenlychen, in which capacity the defendants Oberheuser and Fischer were his assistants. The defendant Poppendick was the chief of Grawitz's personal staff. The defendant Mrugowsky was Grawitz's chief hygienist and also headed the Hygienic Institute of the Waffen SS. The defendant Hoven was the chief doctor of the Buchenwald concentration camp. The defendant Pokorny is a private physician who had no official connection with the government medical service. We have shown him on the chart underneath the group of SS physicians for reasons which will appear in the course of presenting the evidence concerning sterilization experiments (paragraph 6 (I) of the Indictment. The three defendants who are not doctors are shown in the top righthand corner of the chart. Two of them--Rudolf Brandt and Brack--are administrative officers. Rudolf Brandt had the rank of Colonel in
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appear in the course of presenting the evidence concerning sterilization experiments (paragraph 6 (I) of the Indictment. The three defendants who are not doctors are shown in the top righthand corner of the chart. Two of them--Rudolf Brandt and Brack--are administrative officers. Rudolf Brandt had the rank of Colonel in the SS, was sort of personal adjutant, and held an administrative office both in the SS and tho Ministry of the Interior. Viktor Brack was the chief administrative officer in Hitler's personal chancery, the head of which was Phillip Bouhler. The defendant, Sievers, Who held the rank of Colonel in the SS, is a special case. He was a direct subordinate of Heinrich Himmler in the latter's capacity as President of the so-called "Ahnenerbe" Society. The name of this society literally means "ancestral heritage", and it was originally devoted to scientific and psuedo-scientific researches concerning the anthropological and cultural history of the German race. Later on, an Institute for Military Scientific Research was set up within the Ahnenerbe Society. Sievers was the manager of the Society and the director of the Institute for Military Scientific Research. This concludes the general description of the German state medical service under the Nazi regime, and of the positions which the defendants occupied in the scheme of things. It is convenient at this point to refer to Count Four of the Indictment, which charges that ten of the defendants were members of an organiza declared to be criminal by the International Military Tribunal, and that such membership is in violation of paragraph 1 (d) of Article II of Control Council La No. 10. The organization in question is the SS. This Count concerns the defendant Karl Brandt, six of the defendants who were affiliated with the medical service of the SS, and three defendants who are not doctors. It does not concern any of the nine defendants on the military side nor the defendants, Rostock, Blome, Oberheuser, or Pokorny. The International Military Tribunal's declaration of criminality applies all persons who had been officially accepted as members of any branch of the SS and who remained members after September 1, 1939. The prosecution will show that all ten defendants charged in Count Four were officially accepted as members of the SS and remained so after that date. The defendants, Karl Brandt, Genzken, and Gebhardt held ranks in both the general or Allgemeine SS and the Waffen SS equivalent to that of a Major General in the American Army. The defendants, Mrugowsky, Hoven, Poppendick, and Fischer all held officer rank in the SS or Waffen SS, and all four of them, together with the defendants Genzken and Gebhardt, held position in the SS medical service. The defendant Rudolf Brandt held the rank of Colonel in the general (Allgemeine) SS, and was a personal assistant to Himmler in Himmler', capacity as Reichsfuehrer SS. The defendant Brack held officer rank in both the SS and the Waffen SS. The defendant Sievers held the rank of Colonel in the
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defendant Rudolf Brandt held the rank of Colonel in the general (Allgemeine) SS, and was a personal assistant to Himmler in Himmler', capacity as Reichsfuehrer SS. The defendant Brack held officer rank in both the SS and the Waffen SS. The defendant Sievers held the rank of Colonel in the SS, was manager of the Ahnenerbe Society, which was attached to the SS Main Office. The declaration of criminality by the International Military Tribunal does not apply when it appears that a member of the SS was drafted into membership in such a way as to give him no choice in the matter. Nor does it apply if it appear that the member had no knowledge that the organization was being used for the commission of criminal acts. For purposes of this case, these questions, the prosecution believes, will be academic. All of the defendants charged in Count Fourtheld officer rank in the SS, and most of them held senior rank. They were moving spirits and personal participants in murder and torture on a large scale, and in a variety of other crimes. In this connection, we respectfully invite the Tribunal's attention to two statements by the International Military Tribunal which, under Article X of Ordinance No. 7, constitute proof in the absence of substantial new evidence to the contrary. In setting forth the criminal acts committed by the SS, the International Military Tribunal stated (pp. 16952-53 of the Official Transcript): "Also attached to the SS main offices was a research foundation known as the Experiments Ahnenerbe. The scientists attached to this organization are stated to have been mainly honorary members of the SS. During the war an institute for military scientific research became attached to the Ahnenerbe which conducted extensive experiments involving the use of living human beings." And again it was stated (p.16955 of the Transcript): "In connection with the administration of the concentration camps, the SS embarked on a series of experiments on human beings which were performed on prisoners of war or concentration camp inmates. These experiments included freezing to death, and killing by poison bullets. The SS was able to obtain an allocation of Government funds for this kind of research on the grounds that they had access to human material not available to other agencies." CRIMES COMMITTED IN THE GUISE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (Counts Two and Three, Paragraphs 6, 7, 11 and 12) I turn now to the main part of the Indictment and will outline at this point the prosecution's case relating to those crimed alleged to have been comm in the name of medical or scientific research. The charges with respect to "euthanasia" and the slaughter of tubercular Polesobviously have no relation to research or experimentation and will be dealt with later. What I will cover now comprehends all the experiments charged as war crimes in Paragraph 6 and as crime against humanity in Paragraph 11 of the Indictment, and the murders committed so-called anthropological purposes which are charged as war crimes
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to research or experimentation and will be dealt with later. What I will cover now comprehends all the experiments charged as war crimes in Paragraph 6 and as crime against humanity in Paragraph 11 of the Indictment, and the murders committed so-called anthropological purposes which are charged as war crimes in Paragraph and as crimes against humanity in Paragraph 12 of the indictment. Before taking up these experiments one by one, let us look at them as a wh*** Are they a heterogeneous list of horrors, or is there a common denominator for the whole group? A sort of rough pattern is apparent on the face of the Indictment. Experiment concerning high altitude, the effect of cold, and the potability of processed s** water have an obvious relation to aeronautical and naval combat and rescue problem The mustard gas and phosphorous burn experiments, as well as those relating to healing value of sulfanilimide for wounds, can be related to air-raid and battle field medical problems. It is well known that malaria, epidemic jaundice, and typhus (spotted fever) were among the principal diseases which had to be combattby the German armed forces and by German authorities in occupied territories. To some degree, the therapeutic pattern outlined above is undoubtedly a valid one, and explains why the Wehrmacht, and especially the German Air Forces, participated in these experiments. Fanatically bent upon conquest, utterly ruthless as to the means or instruments to be used in achieving victory, and callous to the sufferings of people whom they regarded as inferior, the German militarist were willing to gather whatever scientific fruit these experiments might yield. But our proof will show that a quite different and even more sinister objective runs like a red thread through these hideous researches. We will show them in some instances, the true object of these experiments was not how to rescue or to cure, but how to destroy and kill. The sterilization experiments were, it is clear, purely destructive in purpose. The prisoners at Buchenwald who were shot with poisoned bullets were not guinea pigs to test an antidote for the poison; their murderers really wanted to know how quickly the poison would kill. This destructive objective is not superficially as apparent in the other experiments, but we will show that it was often there. Mankind has not heretofore felt the need of a word to denominate the science of how must rapidly to kill prisoners and subjugated people in large numbers. The case and these defendants have created this gruesome question for the lexicographer. For the moment, we will christen this macabre science "thanatology", the science of producing death. The thanatological knowledge, derived in part from these experiments, supplied the techniques for genocide, a policy of the Third Reich exemplified in the "euthenasia" program and in the widespread slaughter of Jews, gypsies, Poles and Russians. This policy of mass extermination could not have been so effectively carried out without the active participation of German medical scientists. I will now
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the techniques for genocide, a policy of the Third Reich exemplified in the "euthenasia" program and in the widespread slaughter of Jews, gypsies, Poles and Russians. This policy of mass extermination could not have been so effectively carried out without the active participation of German medical scientists. I will now take up the experiments themselves. Two or three of them I will describe more fully, but most of them will be treated in summary fashion, as Mr McHaney will be presenting detailed proof of each of them. Next is sub-paragraph "A", High altitude experiments. The experiments known as "high altitude" or "low pressure" experiments were carried out at the Dachau concentration camp in 1942. According to the proof, the original proposal that such experiments be carried out on human beings originated in the spring of 1941 with a Dr. Sigmund Rascher. Rascher was at that time a captain in the medical service of the German Air Force, and also held officer ra** in the SS. He is believed now to be dead. The origin of the idea is revealed in a letter which Rascher wrote to Himmler in May 1941 at which time Rascher was taking a course in aviation medicine at a German Air Force Headquarters in Munich. According to the letter, this course included researches into high altitude flying and "considerable regret was expressed at the fact that no tests with human material had yet been possible for us, as such experiments are very dangerous and nobody volunteers for them." Rascher, in this letter, went on to ask Himmler to put human subjects at his disposal and baldly stated that the experiments might result in death to the subject but that the tests theretofore made with monkeys had not been satisfactory. Rascher's letter was answered by Himmler's adjutant, the defendant, Rudolf Brandt, who informed Rascher that: "Prisoners will, of course, gladly be made available for the high flight researches." Subsequently, Rascher wrote directly to Rudolf Brandt asking for permission to carry out the experiments at the Dachau concentration camp, and he mentioned that the German Air Force had provided "a movable pressure chamber" in which the experiments might be made. Plans for carrying out the experiments were developed at a conference late in 1941 or early in 1942 attended by Dr. Rascher and by the defendants Weltz, Romberg, and Ruff, all of whom were members of the German Air Force medical service. The tests themselves were carried out in the spring and summer of 1942, using the pressure chamber which the German Air Force had provide. The victims were locked in the low pressure chamber, which was an airtight balllike compartment, and then the pressure in the chamber was altered to simulate the atmospheric conditions prevailing at extremely high altitudes. The pressure in the chamber could be varied with great rapidity, which permitted the defendants to to duplicate the atmospheric conditions which an aviator might encounter in falling great distances through space without a parachute and without oxygen.
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was altered to simulate the atmospheric conditions prevailing at extremely high altitudes. The pressure in the chamber could be varied with great rapidity, which permitted the defendants to to duplicate the atmospheric conditions which an aviator might encounter in falling great distances through space without a parachute and without oxygen. The reports, conclusions, and comments on these experiments, which were introduced here and carefully recorded, demonstrate complete disregard for human life and callousness to suffering and pain. These documents reveal at one and the same time the medical results of the experiments, and the degradation of the physicians who performed them. The first report by Rascher was made in April, 1942, and contains a description of the effect of the low pressure chamber on a 37-year old Jew. I quote: "The third experiment of this type took such an extra-ordinary course that I called an SS physician of the camp as witness, since I had worked on these experiments all by myself. It was a continuous experiment without oxygen at a height of 12 km conducted on a 37-year old Jew in good general condition. Breathing continued up to 30 minutes. After 4 minutes the experimental subject began to perspire and wiggle his head, after 5 minutes cramps occurred, between 6 and 10 minutes breathing increased in speed and the experimental subject became unconscious; from 11 to 30 minutes breathing slowed down to three breaths per minute, finally stopping altogether. "Severest cyanosis developed in between and foam appeared at the mouth. "At five minute intervals electrocardiograms from 3 leads were written. After breathing had stopped Ekg (electrocardiogram) was continuously written until the action of the heart had come to a complete standstill. About 1/2 hour after breathing had stopped, dissection was started." Rascher's report also contains the following record of the "autopsy": "When the cavity of the chest was opened, the pericardium was filled tightly. Upon opening of the pericardium, 80 ccm of clear yellowish liquid gushed forth. The moment the tamponade had stopped, the right auricle of the heart began to beat heavily, at first at the rate of 60 actions per minute, then progressively slower. Twenty minutes after the pericardium had been opened, the right auricle was opened by puncturing it. For about 15 minutes, a thin stream of blood spurted forth. Thereafter, clogging of the puncture wound in the auricle by coagulation of the blood and renewed acceleration of the action of the right auricle occurred. "One hour after breathing had stopped, the spinal marrow was completely severed and the brain removed. Thereupon, the action cf the auricle of the heart stepped for 40 seconds. It then renewed its action, coming to a complete standstill eight minutes later. A heavy subarchnoid edema was found in the brain. In the veins and arteries of the brain, a considerable quantity of air was discovered. Furthermore, the blood vessels in the heart and liver were enormously obstructed by embolism." After seeing this report, Himmler ironically ordered that if a subject
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later. A heavy subarchnoid edema was found in the brain. In the veins and arteries of the brain, a considerable quantity of air was discovered. Furthermore, the blood vessels in the heart and liver were enormously obstructed by embolism." After seeing this report, Himmler ironically ordered that if a subject should be brought back to life after enduring such an experiment, he should be "pardoned" to life imprisonment in a concentration camp. Rascher's reply to this letter, dated 20 October 1942, reveals that up to the time the victims of these experiments had all been Poles and Russians, that some of them had been condemned to death, and Raschner inquired whether Himmler's benign mercy extended to Poles and Russians. A teletyped reply from the defendant, Rudolf Brandt, confirmed Rascher's belief that Poles and Russians were beyond the pale and should be given no amnesty of any kind. The utter brutality of the crimes committed in conducting this series of experiments is reflected in all the documents. A report written in May 1942 reflects that certain of these tests were carried out on persons described therein as "Jewish professional criminals." In fact, these Jews had been condemned for what the Nazis called "Rassenschande", which literally means "racial shame". The crime consisted of marriage or intercourse between Aryans and non-Aryans. The murder and torture of these unfortunate Jews is eloquently reflected in the following report: (A recess was taken) GENERAL TAYLOR:I was about to quote from a report written in May 1942 describing one of these high altitude tests on a Jewish subject. Proceeding with the quotation: "Some of the experimental subjects died during a continued high altitude experiment; for instance, after on-half hour at a height of 12 kilometers. After tie skull had been opened under water, an ample amount of air embolism was found in the brain vessels and, in part, free air in the brain ventricles. "In order to find out whether the severe psychical and physical effects, as mentioned under No. 3, are due to the formation of embolism, the following was done: After relative recuperation from such a parachute descending test had taken place, however before regaining consciousness, some experimental subjects were kept under water until they died. When the skull and cavities of the breast and of the abdomen were opened under water, an enormous amount of air embolism was found in the vessels of the brain, the coronary vessels, and the vessels of the liver and the intestines." The victims who did not die in the course of such experiments, surely wished that they had. A long report written in July 1942 by Rascher and by the defendants, Ruff and Romberg, describes an experiment on a former delicatessen clerk, who was given an oxygen mask and raised in the chamber to an atmospheric elevation of over 47,000 feet, at which point the mask was removed and a parachute descent was simulated. The report describes the victim's reactions -- "spasmodic convulsions", "agonal convulsive breathing", "clonic convulsions,
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a former delicatessen clerk, who was given an oxygen mask and raised in the chamber to an atmospheric elevation of over 47,000 feet, at which point the mask was removed and a parachute descent was simulated. The report describes the victim's reactions -- "spasmodic convulsions", "agonal convulsive breathing", "clonic convulsions, groaning", "yells aloud", "convulses arms and legs", "grimaces, bites his tongue", "does not respond to speech", "gives the impression of someone who is completely out of his mind". The evidence which we will produce will establish that the defendants, Ruff and Romberg, personally participated with Rascher in experiments resulting in death and torture; that the defendant, Sievers, watched the experiments for on entire day and made an oral report to Himmler on his observations; that the defendant Rudolf Brandt, was the agent of Himmler in providing the human subjects for these experiments and in making may other facilities available to Rascher and rendering him general assistance; and that the defendant, Weltz in his official capacity, repeatedly insisted on supervision over and full responsibility and credit for the experiments. The higher authorities of both the German Air Force and the SS were fully informed concerning what was going on. Extensive correspondence will be introduced, for example, concerning the availability of the low pressure chamber which the German Air Force furnished at Dachau, and concerning the availability of Rascher, who was an officer in the Air Force Medical Service, to conduct the experiments. Knowledge of, participation in, and responsibility for these atrocious crimes on the part of the defendants here charged will be clearly shown by the evidence. B. Freezing Experiments The deep interest of the German Air Force in capitalizing on the availability of inmates of concentration camps for experimental purposes is even more apparent in the case of the freezing experiments. These, too, were conducted at Dachau; they began immediately after the high altitude experiments were completed and they continued until the spring of 1943. Here again, the defendant, Weltz, was directly in charge of the experiments with Rascher as his assistant, as is shown in a letter written in May 1942 by Field Marshal Erhard Milch, the Inspector General of the German Air Force, to SS Obergruppenfuehrer Wolff, who is one of Heinrich Himmler's principal subordinates, and this letter specifically requested that the freezing experiments be carried out at Dachau under Weltz's supervision. The purpose of these experiments was to determine the most effective way of rewarming German aviators who were forced to parachute into the North Sea. The evidence will show that in the course of these experiments, the victims were forced to remain outdoors without clothing in freezing weather from nine to fourteen hours. In other cases, they were forced to remain in a tank of iced water for three hours at a time. The water experiments are described in a report by Rascher written in August 1942. I quote: "Electrical measurements gave low temperature readings of 26.4° in the stomach and 26.5° in the rectum. Fatalities
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they were forced to remain in a tank of iced water for three hours at a time. The water experiments are described in a report by Rascher written in August 1942. I quote: "Electrical measurements gave low temperature readings of 26.4° in the stomach and 26.5° in the rectum. Fatalities occurred only when the brain stem and the back of the head were also chilled. Autopsies of such fatal cases always revealed large amounts of free blood, up to ½ liter, in the cranial cavity. The heart invariably showed extreme dilation of the right chamber. As soon as the temperature in these experiments reached 28°, the experimental subjects died invariably, despite all attempts at resuscitation." Other documents set forth that from time to time the temperature of the water would be lowered by 10° Centigrade and a quart of blood would be taken from an artery in the subject's throat for analysis. The organs of the victim who died were extracted and sent to the Pathological Institute at Munich. Rewarming of the subjects was attempted by various means, most commonly and successfully in a very hot bath. In September, Himmler personally ordered that rewarming by the warmth of human bodies also be attempted, and the inhuman villains who conducted these experiments promptly produced four Gypsy women from the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. When the women had arrived, rewarming was attempted by placing the chilled victim between two naken women. A voluminous report on the freezing experiments conducted in tanks of ice water written in October 1942 contains the following: "If the experimental subject were placed in the water under narcosis, one observed a certain arousing effect. The subject began to groan and made some defensive movements. In a few cases, a state of excitation developed. This was especially severe in the cooling of the head and neck. But never was a complete cessation of the narcosis observed. The defensive movements ceased after about five minutes. There followed a progressive rigor, which developed especially strongly in the arm musculature; the arms were strongly flexed and pressed to the body. The rigor increased with the continuation of the cooling, now and then interrupted by tonic-clonic twitchings. With still more marked sinking of the body temperature, it suddenly ceased. These cases ended fatally, without any successful results from resuscitation efforts. *********** "Experiments without narcosis showed no essential differences in the course of cooling. Upon entry into the water, a severe cold shuddering: appeared. The cooling of the neck and back of the head was felt as especially painful, but already after five to ten minutes, a significant weakening of the pain sensation was observable. Rigor developed after this time in the same manner as under narcosis, likewise the tonic-clonic twitchings. At this point, speech became difficult because the rigor also affected the speech musculature. "Simultaneously with the rigor, a severe difficulty in breathint set in with or without narcosis. It was reported that, so to speak, an iron ring was placed about the chest.
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under narcosis, likewise the tonic-clonic twitchings. At this point, speech became difficult because the rigor also affected the speech musculature. "Simultaneously with the rigor, a severe difficulty in breathint set in with or without narcosis. It was reported that, so to speak, an iron ring was placed about the chest. Objectively, already at the beginning of this breathing difficulty, a marked dilation of the nostrils occurred. The expiration was prolonged and visibly difficult. This difficulty passed over into a rattling and snoring breathing." During the winter of 1942 to 1943, experiments with "dry" cold were conducted. And Rascher reported on these in another letter to Himmler: "Up to now, I have cooled off about 30 people stripped in the open air during nine to fourteen hours at 27° to 29°. After a time, corresponding to a trip of one hour, I put these subjects in a hot bath. Up to now, every single patient was completely warmed up within one hour at most, although some of them had their hands and feet frozen white." The responsibility among the defendants from the freezing experiments is substantially the same as for the high altitude tests. The results were, if anything, even more widely known in German medical circles. In October 1942, a medical conference took place here in Nurnberg at the Deutscher Hof Hotel, at which one of the authors of the report from which I have just quoted spoke on the subject "Prevention and Treatment of Freezing", and the defendant, Weltz, spoke on the subject "Warming up after Freezing to the Danger Point." Numerous documents which we will introduce show the widespread responsibility among the defendants, and in the highest quarters of the German Air Force, for these sickening crimes C. Malaria Experiments Another series of experiments carried out at he Dachau Concentration Camp concerned immunization for the treatment of malaria. Over 1,200 inmates, of practically every nationality, were experimented upon. many persons who participated in these experiments have already been tried before a general military court held at Dachau, and the findings of that court will be laid before this Tribunal. The malaria experiments were carried out under the general supervision of a Dr. Shilling, with whom the defendant Sievers and other in the box collaborated. The evidence will show that healthy persons were infected by mosquitoes or by injections from the glands of mosquitoes. Catholic priests were among the subjects. The defendant Gebhardt kept Himmler informed of the progress of these experiments. Rose furnished Schilling with fly eggs for them, and others of the defendants participated in various ways which the evidence will demonstrate. After the victims had been infected, they were variously treated with quinine, neo-salvarsan, pyramidon, antipyrin, and several combination of these drugs. Many deaths occurred from excessive doses of neo-salvarsan and pyramidon. According to the findings of the Dachau court, malaria was the direct cause of 30 deaths and 300 to 400 other died was the result of later subsequent complications. D. Mustard Gas Experiments The
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and several combination of these drugs. Many deaths occurred from excessive doses of neo-salvarsan and pyramidon. According to the findings of the Dachau court, malaria was the direct cause of 30 deaths and 300 to 400 other died was the result of later subsequent complications. D. Mustard Gas Experiments The experiments concerning mustard gas were conducted at Sachsenhausen, Natzweiler, and other concentration camps and extended over the entire period of the war. Wounds were deliberately inflicted on the victims, and the wounds were then infected with mustard gas. Other subjects were forced to inhale the gas, or to take it internally in liquid form, and still others were injected with the gas. A report of these experiments written at the end of 1939 described certain cases in which wounds were inflicted on both arms of the human guinea pigs and then infected and the report states: "The arms in most of the cases are badly swollen and pains are enormous." The allege purpose of these experiments was to discover an effective treatment for the burns caused by mustard gas. In 1944, the experiments were coordinated with a general program for research into gas warfare. A decree issued by Hitler in March 1944 ordered the defendant Karl Brandt to push medical research in connection with gas warfare. The defendant Rudolf Brandt sent copies of this decree to the defendant Sievers, to Grawitz and others, and transmitted Hitler's request that they confer soon with the defendant Karl Brandt "on account of the urgency of the order given him by the Fuehrer." Subsequently Sievers, who was thoroughly familiar with the mustard gas experiments being carried on in the concentration camps, reported the details of these experiments to the defendant Karl Brandt. E and F. Ravensbrick Experiments concerning Sulfanilimade and Other Drugs; Bone, Muscle, and Nerve Regeneration and Bone Transplantation. The experiments conducted principally on the female inmates of Ravensbruck Concentration Camp were perhaps the most barbaric of all. These concerned bone, muscle, and nerve regeneration and bone transplantation, and experiments with sulfanilimide and other drugs. They were carried out by the defendants Fischer and Oberhauser under the direction of the defendant Gebhardt. In one set of experiments, incisions were made in the legs of several of the camp inmates for the purpose of simulating battle-caused infections. A bacterial culture, or fragments of wood shavings, or tiny pieces of glass were forced into the wound. After several days, the wounds were treated with sulfanilimade. Grawitz, the head of the SS Medical Service, visited Ravensbruck and received a report on these experiments directly from the defendant Fischer Grawitz thereupon directed that the wounds inflicted on the subjects should be even more severe so that conditions more completely similar to these prevailing at the front lines would be more completely simulated. Bullet wounds were simulated on the subjects by trying off the blood vessel at both ends of the incision. A gangrene-producing culture was then placed in the wounds. Severe infection resulted within twenty-four hours. Operations
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more completely similar to these prevailing at the front lines would be more completely simulated. Bullet wounds were simulated on the subjects by trying off the blood vessel at both ends of the incision. A gangrene-producing culture was then placed in the wounds. Severe infection resulted within twenty-four hours. Operations were then performed on the infected area and the wound was treated with sulfanilamide. In each of the many sulfanilamide experiments, some of the subjects were wounded and infected but were not given sulfanilimade, so as to compare their reactions with those who received treatment. Bone transplantation from one person to another and the regeneration of nerves, muscles, and bones were also tried out on the women at Ravensbruck. The defendant Gebhardt personally ordered that bone transplantation experiments be carried out, and in one case the scapula of an inmate at Ravensbruck was removed and taken to Hohenlychen Hospital and there transplanted. We will show that the defendants did not even have any substantial scientific objective. These experiments were senseless, sadistic, and utterly savage. The defendant Oberhauser's duties at Ravensbruck in connection with the experiments were to select young and healthy inmates for the experiments, to be present at all of the surgical operations, and to give the experimental subjects post-operative care. We will show that this care consisted chiefly of utter neglect of nursing requirements, and cruel and abusive treatment of the miserable victims. Other experiments in this category were conducted at Dachau to discover a method of bringing about coagulation of the blood. Concentration camp inmates were actually fired upon, or were injured in some other fashion in order to cause something similar to a battlefield wound. These wounds were then treated with a drug known as polygal in order to test its capacity to coagulate the blood. Several inmates were killed. Sulfanilimide was also administered to some and withheld from other inmates who had been infected with the pus from a phlegmondiseased person. Blood poisoning generally ensued. After infection, the victims were left untreated for three or four days, after which various drugs were administered experimentally or experimental surgical operations were performed. Polish Catholic priests were used for those tests. Many died and others became invalids. As a result of all of these senseless and barbaric experiments, the defendants are responsible for manifold murders and untold cruelty and torture. G. Seawater Experiments For the seawater experiments we return to Dachau. They were conducted in 1944 at the behest of the German Air Force and the German Navy in order to develop a method of rendering seawater drinkable. Meetings to discuss this problem were held in May 1944, attended by representatives of the Luftwaffe, the Navy, and I.G. Farben. The defendants Becker-Freyseng and Schaefer were among the participants. It was a greed to conduct a series of experiments in which the subjects, fed only with ship-wreck emergency rations, would be divided into four groups. One group would receive no water at all; the second would drink ordinary seawater;
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Farben. The defendants Becker-Freyseng and Schaefer were among the participants. It was a greed to conduct a series of experiments in which the subjects, fed only with ship-wreck emergency rations, would be divided into four groups. One group would receive no water at all; the second would drink ordinary seawater; the third would drink seawater processed by the so called "Berka" method, which concealed the taste but did not alter the saline content; the fourth would drink seawater treated so as to remove the salt. Since it was expected that the subjects would die, or, at least, suffer severe impairment of health, it was decided at the meeting in May 1944 that only persons furnished by Himmler could be used. Thereafter in June 1944 the defendant Schroeder set the program in motion by writing to Himmler and I quote form his letter: "Earlier you made it possible for the Luftwaffe to settle urgent medical matters through experiments on human beings. Today I again stand before a decision, which, after numerous experiments on animals and also on voluntary human subjects, demands final resolution: The Luftwaffe has simultaneously developed two methods for making seawater drinkable. The one method, developed by a Medical Officer, removes the salt from the seawater and transforms it into real drinking water; the second method, suggested by an engineer, only removes the unpleasant taste from the seawater. The latter method, in contrast to the first, requires no critical raw material. From the medical point of view this method must be viewed critically, as the administration of concentrated salt solutions can produce severe symptoms of poisoning. "As the experiments on human beings could thus far only be carried out for a period of four days, and as practical demands require a remedy for those who are in distress at sea up to 12 days, appropriate experiments are necessary. "Required are 40 healthy test subjects, who must be available for 4 whole weeks. As it is known from previous experiments, that necessary laboratories exist in the concentration camp Dachau, this camp would be very suitable. "Due to the enormous importance which a solution of this question has for soldiers of the Luftwaffe and Navy who have become shipwrecked, I would be great ly obliged to you, my dear Reich Minister, if you would decide to comply with my request." Himmler passed this letter to Grawitz who consulted Gebhardt and other SS officials. A typical and nauseating Nazi discussion of racial question ensued. One SS man suggested using quarantined prisoners and Jews; another suggested Gypsies. Grawitz doubted that experiments on Gypsies would yield results which were scientifically applicable to Germans. Himmler finally directed that Gypsies be used with three others as a check. The tests were actually begun in July 1944. The defendant Beiglbeck supervised the experiments, in the course of which the Gypsy subjects underwent terrible suffering, became delirious or developed convulsions, and some died. H. Epidemic Jaundice The epidemic jaundice experiments, which took place at Sachesenhausen and Natzweiler concentration
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a check. The tests were actually begun in July 1944. The defendant Beiglbeck supervised the experiments, in the course of which the Gypsy subjects underwent terrible suffering, became delirious or developed convulsions, and some died. H. Epidemic Jaundice The epidemic jaundice experiments, which took place at Sachesenhausen and Natzweiler concentration camps, were instigated by the defendant Karl Brandt. A letter written in 1943 by Grawitz stresses the enermour military importance of developing an inoculation against epidemic jaundice, which had spread, extensively in the Waffen SS and the German Army, particularly in Southern Russia. In some companies, up to 60% casualties from epidemic jaundice had occurred. Grawitz further informed Himmler that, and I quote: "The General Kommissar of the Fuehrer, SS Brigadefuehrer Prof Dr. BRANDT has approached me with the request to help him obtain prisoners to be used in connection with his research on the causes of Epidemic Jaundice which has been furthered to a large degree by his efforts. *** In order to enlarge our knowledge, so far based only on inoculation of animals with germs taken from human beings, it would not be necessary to recorse the procedure and inoculate human beings with germs cultivated in animals. Casualties (Todesfalle) must be anticipated." Grawitz also had been doing research on this problem with the assistance of a Dr. Dohmen, a medical officer attached to the Army Medical Inspectorate. Himmler made the following reply to the Grawitz letter: "Approve the 8 criminals condemned in Auschwitz (8 Jews of the Polish resistance movement condemned to death) should be used for these experiments." Other evidence will indicate that the scope of these experiments was subsequently enlarged and that murder, torture, and death resulted from them. I. Sterilization Experiments In the sterilization experiments conducted by the defendants at Auschwitz Ravensbruck, and other concentration camps, the destructive nature of the Nazi medical program comes out most forcibly. The Nazis were searching for methods of extermination, both by murder and sterilization, of large population groups by the most scientific and least conspicuous means. They were developing a new branch of medical science which would give them the scientific tools for the planning and practice of genocide. The primary purpose was to discover an inexpensive unobtrusive, and rapid method of sterilization which could be used to wipe out Russians, Poles, Jews and other people. Surgical sterilization was thought to be too slow and expensive to be used on a mass scale. A method to bring about an unnoticed sterilization was thought desirable. Medicinal sterilizations were therefore carried out. A Dr. Nadaus had stated that caladium seguinum, a drug obtained from a North American plant, if taken orally or by injection, would bring about sterilization. In 1941, the defendant Pokerny called this to Himmler's attention, and suggested that it should be developed and used against Russian prisoners of war. I quote one paragraph from Pokorny's letter written at that time: "If, on the basis of this research, it were possible to produce a drug which after a
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the defendant Pokerny called this to Himmler's attention, and suggested that it should be developed and used against Russian prisoners of war. I quote one paragraph from Pokorny's letter written at that time: "If, on the basis of this research, it were possible to produce a drug which after a relatively short time, effects an imperceptible sterilization on human beings, then we would have a powerful new weapon at our disposal. The thought alone that the 3 million Belsheviks, who are at present German prisoners, could be sterilized so that they could be used as laborers but prevented from reproduction, opens the most far-reaching perspectives." As a result of Pokorny's suggestion, experiments were conducted on concentration camp inmates to test the effectiveness of the drug. At the same time efforts were made to grow the plant on a large scale in hothouses. At the Auschwitz concentration camp sterilization experiments were also conducted on a large scale by a Dr. Karl Clauberg, who had developed a method of sterilizing women, based on the injection of an irritating solution. Several thousand Jewesses and Gypsies were sterilized at Auschwitz by this method. Conversely, surgical operations were performed on sexually abnormal inmates at Buchenwald in order to determine whether their virility could be increased by the transplantation of glands. Out of fourteen subjects of these experiments, at least two died. The defendant Gebhardt also personally conducted sterilizations at Ravensbruck by surgical operation. The defendant Viktor Brack in March, 1941, submitted to Himmler a report on the progress and state of X-ray sterilization experiments. Brack explained that it had been determined that sterilization with powerful X-rays could be accomplished and that castration would then result. The danger of this X-ray method lay in the fact that other part of the body, if the were not protected with lead, were also seriously affected. In order to prevent the victims from realizing that they were being castrated, Brack made the following fantastic suggestion in his letter written in 1941 to Himmler from which I quote: "One way to carry out these experiments in practice would be to have those people who are to be treated line up before a counter. There they would be questioned and a form would be given them to be filled out, the whole process taking two or three minutes. The official attendant who sits behind the counter can operate the apparatus in such a manner than he works a switch will start both tubes together (as the rays have to come from both sides). With one such installation with two tubes about 150 to 200 persons could be sterilized daily, while 20 installations would take care of 3,000 to 4,000 persons daily. In my opinion the number of daily deportations will not exceed this figure." In this same report the defendant Brack related that, and I quote "..... the latest X-ray technique and research make it easily possible to carry out mass sterilization by means of X-rays. However, it appears to be
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In my opinion the number of daily deportations will not exceed this figure." In this same report the defendant Brack related that, and I quote "..... the latest X-ray technique and research make it easily possible to carry out mass sterilization by means of X-rays. However, it appears to be impossible to take these measures without having these who were so treated finding out sooner or later that they definitely had been either sterilized or had been castrated by X-rays." Another letter from Brack to Himmler in June, 1942, laid the basis for X-ray experiments which were subsequently carried out at Auschwitz. The second paragraph of this letter forms a fitting conclusion to this account of Nazi depravity, and I quote: "Among ten millions of Jews, in Europe there are, I figure, at least two to three million of men and women who are fit enough to work. Considering the extraordinary difficulties the labor problem presents us with, I held the view that these two to three millions should be specially selected and preserved. This can, however, only be done if at the same time they are rendered incapable to propagate. About a year ago I reported to you that agents of mine have completed the experiments necessary for this purposes. I would like to recall those facts once more. Sterilization, as normally performed on persons with hereditary diseases, is here out of the question because it takes too long and is too expensive. Castration by X-rays, however, is not only relatively cheap but can also be performed on many thousands in the shortest time. I think that at this time it is already irrelevant whether the people in question become aware of having been castrated after some weeks or months once they feel the effects." J.Typhus (Fleckfieber) and Related Experiments. From December, 1941, until near the end of the war, a large program of medical experimentation was carried out upon concentration camps inmates at Buchenwald and Natzweiler to investigate the value of various vaccines. This research involved a variety of diseases -- typhus, yellow fever, smallpox, paratyphoid A and B, cholera, and diptheria. A dozen or more of the defendants were involved in these experiments, which were characterized by the most cynical disregard of human life. Hundreds of persons died. The experiments concerning typhus, known in Germany as Fleckfieber or spot fever, but is not to be confused with American spotted fever, were particularly appalling. The typhus experiments at Natzweiler were conducted by Dr. Eugen Haagen, an officer in the Air Force medical service and a professor at the University of Strasbourg. In the fall of 1943, through the defendant Sievers, Haagen obtained 100 concentration camp prisoners for experiments with typhus vaccines. Two hundred more prisoners were furnished in the summer of 1944. These experiments caused many fatalities among the prisoners. The general pattern of these typhus experiments was as follows. A group of concentration camp inmates, selected from the healthier ones who had some resistance to disease, were
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with typhus vaccines. Two hundred more prisoners were furnished in the summer of 1944. These experiments caused many fatalities among the prisoners. The general pattern of these typhus experiments was as follows. A group of concentration camp inmates, selected from the healthier ones who had some resistance to disease, were objected with an anti-typhus vaccine, the efficacy of which was to be tested. Thereafter, all the persons in the group would be infected with typhus. At the same time, other inmates who had not been vaccinated were also infected for purposes of comparison -- these unvaccinated victims were called the "control" group. But perhaps the most wicked and murderous circumstance in this whole case is that still other inmates were deliberately infected with typhus with the sole purpose of keeping the typhus virus alive and generally available in the blood-stream of the inmates. The typhus murders at Buchenwald were carried out in 1942 and 1943 under the direction of the defendants Genzken and Mrugowsky. Requests for the human guinea pigs were turned ever to and filled by the defendant Hoven. The bulk of the actual work was done by an infamous physician know as Dr. Ding, who committed suicide after the war. But Dr. Ding's professional diary has survived. The first entry in Ding's diary, for December 29, 1941, reveals that here again the impetus for these murderous researches came from the Wehrmacht. This entry describes a conference sponsored by the defendant Handloser and Dr. Conti, respective heads of the military and civilian medical services of the Reich, which was also attended by the defendant Mrugowsky. Typhus had been making serious inroads on the German troops fighting in Russia. The account of this conference relates that, and I quote: "Since tests on animals are not of sufficient value, tests on human beings must be carried out." Other entries in the Ding diary quoted below are typical of those made over a period of three years, and give some idea of the mortality among the victims. "10 Jan. 42: Preliminary test B: Preliminary test to establish a sure means of infection: Much as in smallpox vaccination, 5 persons were infected with virus through 2 superficial and 2 deeper cuts in the upper arm. All of the humans used for this test fell ill with true typhus. Incubation period up to 6 days. 20 Feb. 42. Chart of the case history of the preliminary tests to to establish a sure means of infection were sent to Berlin. 1 death out of 5 sick. 17 Mar. 42: Visit of Prof. GILDEMEISTER and Prof. ROSE (Department head for tropical medicine of the Robert Koch Institute) at the experimental station. All persons experimented on fell sick with typhus, except two, who, the fact was established later, already had been sick with typhus during an epidemic at the police prison in Berlin. 9 Jan. 43: By order of the surgeon general of the Waffen SS, SS-Gruppenfuehrer and Maj.Gen. of the Waffen SS, Dr. GENKEN, the hitherto
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sick with typhus, except two, who, the fact was established later, already had been sick with typhus during an epidemic at the police prison in Berlin. 9 Jan. 43: By order of the surgeon general of the Waffen SS, SS-Gruppenfuehrer and Maj.Gen. of the Waffen SS, Dr. GENKEN, the hitherto existing typhus research station at the concentration camp Buchenwald becomes the 'Department for typhus and virus research'. The head of the department will be SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. DING. During his absence, the station medical officer of the Waffen SS, WEIMAR, SS-Hauptsturmfuehrer HOVEN will supervise the production of vaccines. 13 and 14 April 43: Unit of SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding ordered to I G Farbenindustrie A.G., Hoechst. Conference with Prof LAUTENSCHLAEGER, Dr. WEBER and Dr. FUSSGAENGER about the experimental series 'Akridin Granulat and Rutenol' in the concentration camp Buchenwald. Visit to Geheimrat Otto and Prof PRIGGE in the institute for experimental therapeutics in Frahkfurt-on-Main. 24 April 1943: Therapeutic experiments Akridin-Granulat (A-GR2) and Rutonol (R-2) To carry out the therapeutic experiments Akridin-Granulat and Rutenol, 30 persons (15 each) and 9 persons for control were infected by intravenous injection of 2 cc each of fresh blood of a typhus sick person. All experimental persons got very serious typhus. 1 June 1943: Charts of case history completed. The experimental series was concluded with 21 deaths; of these, 8 were in Buchenwald, 8 at Rutene 1 and 5 control. 7 September 1943: Chart and case history completed. The experimental series was concluded with 53 deaths. 18 March 1944: It is suggested by Colonel of the air-corps, Prof ROSE, the vaccine 'Kopenhagen' produced from mouse liver by the national serum institute in Kopenhagen, be tested for its compatibility on humans. 20 persons were vaccinated for immunization by intramuscular injection. 10 persons were contemplated for control and comparison. 16 April 1944: The remaining experimental persons were infected on 16 April by subcutaneous injection of 1/20 cc typhus sick fresh blood. The following feel sick: 17 persons immunized: 9 medium, 8 seriously. 9 persons from the control: 2 medium, 7 seriously. 13 June 1944: Chart and case history completed and sent to Berlin. 6 deaths (3 'Kopenhagen') (3 control) 4 November 1944: Chart and case history completed. 24 deaths. Copies of each of Dr. Ding's official reports went to the defendants Mrugowsky and Poppendick as well as to the I.G. Farben laboratories at Hoechst. Nowhere will the evidence in this case reveal a more wicked and murderous course of conduct by men who claimed to practice the healing art than in the entries of Dr. Ding's diary relating to the typhus experiments. K. Poison Experiments Here again the defendants were studying how to kill, and the scene is Buchenwald. Poisons were administered to Russian prisoners-of-war in their food and German doctors stood behind a curtain to watch the reactions of the prisoner Some of the Russians died immediately, and the survivors were killed in order to permit autopsies. The defendant Mrugowsky, in a letter written in September 1944, has
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Poisons were administered to Russian prisoners-of-war in their food and German doctors stood behind a curtain to watch the reactions of the prisoner Some of the Russians died immediately, and the survivors were killed in order to permit autopsies. The defendant Mrugowsky, in a letter written in September 1944, has provide us with a record of another experiment in which the victims were shot with p***** poisoned bullets, and I quote: "In the presence of SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. DING, Dr. WIDMANN and the undersigned, experiments with Aconitin nitrate projectiles were conducted on 11 September 1944 on 5 persons who had been condemned to death. The projectiles in question were of a 7.65 mm caliber, filled with crystallized poison. The experimental subjects, in a lying position, were each shot in the upper part of the left thigh. The thighs of two of them were cleanly shot through. Afterwards, no effect of the poison was to be observed. These two experimental subjects were therefore exempted. "During the first hour of the experiment the pupils did not show any changes. After 78 minutes the pupils of all three showed a medium dilation, together with a retarded light reaction. Simultaneously, maximum respiration with heavy breathing inhalations set in. This subsided after a few minutes. The pupils contracted again and their reaction improved. After 65 minutes the patellar and achilles tendon reflexes of the poisoned subjects were negative. The abdominal reflexes of two of them were also negative. After approximately 90 minutes, one of the subjects again started breathing heavily; this was accompanied by an increasing motor unrest. Then the heavy breathing changed into a flat, accelerated respiration, accompanied by extreme nausea. One of the poisoned persons tried in vain to vomit. To do so he introduced four fingers of his hand up to the knuckles into his throat, but nevertheless could not vomit. His face was flushed. "The other two experimental subjects had already early shown a pale face. The other symptoms were the same. The motor unrest increased so much that the persons flung themselves up and then down, rolled their eyes and made meaningless motions with their hands and arms. Finally the agitation subsided, the pupils dilated to the maximum, and the condemned lay motionless. *** Death occurred 121, 123, and 129 minutes after entry of the projectile." I now turn to the charges in paragraphs 7 and 11 of the indictment. L. Incendiary Bomb Experiments THE PRESIDENT:At this time we'll take our noon recess and reconvene at 1:30 o'clock, p.m. AFTERNOON SESSION GENERAL TAYLOR:I come now to charges stated in Paragraphs 7 and 11 of the Indictment. These are perhaps the most utterly repulsive charges in the entire Indictment. They concern the defendants Rudolf Brandt and Sievers. Sievers and his associates in the Ahnenerbe Society were completely obsessed by all the vicious and malignant Nazi racial theories. They conceived the notion of applying these nauseous theories in the field of anthropology. What ensued was murderous folly. In February 1942, Sievers submitted to
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defendants Rudolf Brandt and Sievers. Sievers and his associates in the Ahnenerbe Society were completely obsessed by all the vicious and malignant Nazi racial theories. They conceived the notion of applying these nauseous theories in the field of anthropology. What ensued was murderous folly. In February 1942, Sievers submitted to Himmler, through Rudolf Brandt, a report from which the following is an extract: "We have a nearly complete collection of skulls of all races and peoples at our disposal. Of the Jewish race, however, only very few specimens of skulls are available with the result that it is impossible to arrive at precise conclusions from examining them. The war in the East now presents us with the opportunity to overcome this deficiency. By procuring the skulls of the Jewish-Bolshevik Commissars, who represent the prototype of the repulsive, but characteristic subhuman, we have the chance now to obtain a palpable, scientific document. "The best, practical method for obtaining and collecting this skull material could be handled by directing the Wehrmacht to turn over alive all captured Jewish-Bolshevik Commissars to the Field Police. They in turn are to be given special directives to inform a certain office at regular intervals of the number and place of detention of these captured Jews and to give them special close attention and care until a special delegate arrives. This special delegate, who will be in charge of securing the 'material' has the job of taking a series of previously established photographs, 9-12-46 - A - 10-2 - LJG - Lesser anthropological measurements, and in addition has to determine, as far as possible, the background, date of birth, and other personal data of the prisoner. Following the subsequently induced death of the Jew, whose head should not be damaged, the delegate will separate the head from the body and will forward it to its proper point of destination in a hermetically sealed tin can, especially produced for this purpose and filled with a conserving gluid. "Having arrived at the laboratory, the comparison tests and anatomical research on the skull, as well as determination of the race membership of pathological features of the skull form, the form and size of the brain, etc., can proceed. The basis of these studies will be the photos, measurements, and other data supplied on the head and finally the tests of tho skull itself." After extensive correspondence between Himmler and the defendants Sievers and Rudolf Brandt, it was decided to procure the skulls from inmates of the Auschwitz concentration camp instead of at the front. The hideous program was actually carried out, as is shown by a letter from Sievers written in June 1943, which states in parts: " I wish to inform you that our associate, Dr. Boger, who was in change of the above special project, has interrupted his experiments in the Concentration Camp Auschwitz because of the existing danger of epidemics Altogether 115 persons were worked on. 79 were Jews, 30 were Jewesses, 2 were Poles, and 4
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to inform you that our associate, Dr. Boger, who was in change of the above special project, has interrupted his experiments in the Concentration Camp Auschwitz because of the existing danger of epidemics Altogether 115 persons were worked on. 79 were Jews, 30 were Jewesses, 2 were Poles, and 4 were Asiatics. At the present time these prisoners are segregated by sex and are under quarantine in the two hospital buildings of Auschwitz." After the death of these wretched Jews had been "induced," their corpses were sent to Strasbourg. A year elapsed, and 9-12-46 - A - 10-3 - LJG-Lesser the Allied armies were racing across France and were nearing Strasbourg where this monstrous exhibit of the culture of tho master race reposed. Alarmed, Sievers sent a telegram to Rudolf Brandt in September 1944, from which I quote: "According to the proposal of February 9, 1942, and your approval of February 23, 1942, Professor Dr. Hirt has assembled a skeleton collection which has never been in existence before. Because of the vast amount of scientific research that is connected with this project, the job of reducing the corpses to skeletons has not yet been completed. Since it might require some time to process 80 corpses, Hirt requested a decision pertaining to the treatment of the collection stored in the morgue of the Anatomie, in case Strasbourg should be endangered. The collection can be de-fleshed and rendered unrecognizable. This, however, would mean that the whole work had been done for nothing -- at least in part-- and that this singular collection would be lost to science, since it would be impossible to make plaster casts afterwards. The skeleton collection, as such, is inconspicuous. The flesh parts could be declared as having been left by the French at the time we took over the Anatomie and would be turned over for cremating. Please advise me which of the following three proposals is to be carried out: 1) The collection as a whole is to be preserved. 2) The collection is to be dissolved in part. 3) The collection is to be completely dissolved." The final chapter of this barbaric enterprise is found in a note in Himmler's files addressed to Rudolf Brandt stating that: "During his visit at the Operational Headquarters on 21 November 1944, Sievers told me that tho collection in Strasbourg had been completely dissolved in conformance with the directive given him at the time. He is of the opinion that this arrangement is for the best in view of the whole situation." Those men, however, reckoned without tho hand of fate. The bodies of these unfortunate people were not completely disposed of, and this Tribunal will hear the testimony of witnesses and see pictorial exhibits depicting tho charnal house which was the Anatomy Institute of tho Reich University of Strasbourg. I have now completed the sketch of some of the foul crimes which these defendants committed in the name of research. The horrible record of their degradation needs no
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of witnesses and see pictorial exhibits depicting tho charnal house which was the Anatomy Institute of tho Reich University of Strasbourg. I have now completed the sketch of some of the foul crimes which these defendants committed in the name of research. The horrible record of their degradation needs no underlining. Cut German medical science was, in past years, honored throughout the world, and many of the most illustrious names in medical research are German. How did these things come to pass? I will outline briefly the historical evidence which we will offer and which, I believe, will show that these crimes were the logical and inevitable outcome of the prostitution of German medicine under the Nazis. German Medical Organization Before 1933. Two years after the reconstitution of the German Reich, in 1871, the German Medical Association (Deutscher Aerztovereinsbund) was created, which tied together the older local medical associations. This Society existed until it was abolished by the Nazi Government. Its structure was democratic, and its interests included problems of hygiene and public health, and to an increasing extent, socio-medical problems especially in the field of sickness and disability insurance. Bismarck's legislation of 1881 established compulsory sickness insurance for workmen. In the course of the ensuing years, the vast bulk of the workmen were insured, and consequently most of the ordinary physician's patients came to be insured patients. There were lists of physicians authorized to treat insured patients, and it was a matter of vital moment to every practicing physician to be listed. To protect their interests with respect to listing, fees and other such problems, the German doctors founded a voluntary association for the defense of their economic interests known as the Hartmann Bund. Questions of professional ethics, medical malpractice, etc. were handled in Germany in two distinct sets of medical boards or "Courts." An entirely unofficial and voluntary system was established by the German Medical Association. The other, which was endowed with semi-official status, was called the Reich Chamber of Physicians. These chambers were elected by vote of the members and were supported by an assessment. In addition to these organizations, there existed in Germany purely professional societies of doctors, where papers concerning scientific and practical problems were read and discussed, and which established connections with similar societies abroad. The German Government agencies which supervised the certification and licensing of physicians as well as their professional activities were the Ministry of Education and the Reich Health Office (Reicbsgesundheitsamt) in the Ministry of the Interior. The latter supervised medical practice and licensing through the channels of the Ministries of the Interior of the various German states, although licensing was a federal function rather than a state function. Medical education and training was rather standardized but good. The students spent five or six years at one or several of the medical universities, they took a final examination covering their clinical studies and then spent a year at an authorized hospital under supervision. Thereafter the internes were licensed, and permitted to
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and training was rather standardized but good. The students spent five or six years at one or several of the medical universities, they took a final examination covering their clinical studies and then spent a year at an authorized hospital under supervision. Thereafter the internes were licensed, and permitted to establish a practice. After two more years they became eligible to treat insurance patients, and, after submitting a thesis, could obtain the degree of doctor from a university. The Immediate Impact of Nazism on German Medicine In the years immediately preceding the Third Reich, physicians' organizations devoted to party politics sprang up. One of these was the Nationalist Socialist Physicians' Society, founded in 1929, in which Conti played a leading role. There was a rival Association of Social Democratic Physicians and a Socialist Society of Physicians. These societies proposed candidates for election to the Physicians' Chambers, and thus the National Socialist Physicians' Society and the Socialist associations came to compete with each other. April, 1, 1933, the notorious "boycott day" in Berlin, was a day of disgrace for German medicine. Members of the National Socialist Physicians' Society, who knew the membership lists of the socialist societies and the lists of Jewish physicians, broke into the apartments of their socialist and Jewish colleagues in the early morning hours, pulled them out of their beds, beat them and brought them to the exhibition area near the Berlin Lehrter Station. There, all of them, including men up to 70 years old, were forced to run around the garden, as in a hippodrome, and they were shot at with pistols or beaten with sticks. There they had to stay for several days without sufficient food, and then were handed over to the SA, which carried part of them to the cellars at the Hedemannstrasse jail for further tortures. Thereafter, the members of the Socialist Society of Physicians were barred from all insurance practice because of "Communist and subversive activities." In the subsequent listings of physicians issued by the insurance companies, the Jewish physicians were included in a separate list headed "Enemies of the State or Jews." Soon, the insurance companies, even private ones, were no longer permitted to pay fees to the Jewish physicians. Immediately thereafter, Jewish physicians were excluded from all professional and scientific societies. At first, those who were war veterans were nominally allowed to carry on their insurance practice, but patients who kept going to them were threatened and exposed to all kinds of unpleasantness on the part of the insurance officials. After the war began, certification and lincensing was withdrawn from all Jewish physicians and they were degraded to the status of lay therapists. These physicians were forced to wear a blue shield with the Star of David and had to add a middle name such as "Sarah" or "Israel." Their prescriptions likewise had to bear the Star of David, which exposed their patients to all kinds of unpleasantness when filling them at pharmacies, most of which had signs in
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a blue shield with the Star of David and had to add a middle name such as "Sarah" or "Israel." Their prescriptions likewise had to bear the Star of David, which exposed their patients to all kinds of unpleasantness when filling them at pharmacies, most of which had signs in their windows reading "Jews not wanted." At first, the Aryan physicians were allowed to treat Jewish patients, but finally they were prohibited from doing so. Hospitals refused admission to Jewish patients, apart from a few courageous ones who admitted them in defiance of the law. Jews were admitted to mental institutions in separate wards, but usually were quickly transported elsewhere for extermination. In the early summer of 1943, Conti instigated and directed a wholesale persecution of doctors who were either foreigners or persons of so-called mixed blood and these related by marriage to Jews. At first, they were removed from their practice and sent off to posts under inferior party doctors. In 1946, Conti went a step further and forbade these physicians to practice. They were drafted, into the Speer organization, in which they were employed solely at manual labor, their living conditions being little better than those of concentration camp inmates. The Prostitution of German Medicine under National Socialism The totalitarian structure of the Nazi State demanded fundamental subordination of all principles of medicine to national-socialist population policy and racial concepts. The most emphatic and repelling expression of those new aims and goals came from the Nazi Director of Public Health in the Ministry of the Interior. Dr. Arthur Guett, who took office in 1933. In a book published in 1935, entitled, "The Structure of Public Health in the Third Reich", Gütt announced that "the ill-conceited 'love of thy neighbor' has to disappear, especially in relation to inferior or a social creatures. It is the supreme duty of a national state to grant life and livelihood only to the healthy and hereditarily sound portion of the people in order to secure the maintenance of a hereditarily sound and racially pure folk for all eternity. The life of an individual has meaning only in the light of that ultimate aim; that as, in the light of his meaning to his family and to his national state." The entire public health policy of the Third Reich was put in line with this pronouncement of principles. The Minister of the Interior, Frick, reorganized the Health Department in his Ministry in such a way that police, public health, welfare administration and social services were all coordinated in pursuit of these goals. The beginnings of this reorganization started already in the summer of 1933, and were substantially completed by 1936. All these activities were concentrated under Dr. Gütt, who was thus enabled to coordinate the practical application of his policy with his theoretical principles. Even psychiatric social service agencies, which did thorough and well-organized work prior to 1933, were reduced to mere screening stations for hereditary and racial selection. All government-employed physicians had to
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concentrated under Dr. Gütt, who was thus enabled to coordinate the practical application of his policy with his theoretical principles. Even psychiatric social service agencies, which did thorough and well-organized work prior to 1933, were reduced to mere screening stations for hereditary and racial selection. All government-employed physicians had to take a special new course lasting 18 months and had to be party members. The German Red Cross was likewise drawn into the orbit of the Nazi party and the SS, in view of Dr. Grawitz' appointment as President of the Red Cross. In 1945, after Grawitz' suicide, the defendant Gebhardt succeeded him. The Third Reich also completely reorganized the professional medical societies. The German Medical Association and the Hartmann Bund were abolished. All German physicians were reorganized through an organization derived from the Reich Physician's Chamber. This National Physicians' Chamber was placed directly under a medical "fuehrer" with the title of Reichsaerztefuehrer. This position was also hold by Conti. All doctors except those on active military duty were subordinate to him. His regional deputies were selected from the ranks of active national socialists who terrorized the district branch societies. These deputies, who usually strutted about in SA or SS uniforms, were recruited mainly from the early members of the National Socialist Medical Association. It was their job to bring pressure on physicians to join and take part in various party organizations, such as the SA and SS. A command performance, especially for younger physicians, was attendance at the so-called Fuehrer-School of German Physicians at Altrhose in Mecklenburg, which had been organized by the defenda Blome. There physicians were indoctrinated in the national socialis point of view and way of life. The so-called comradely association and sports activity were merely window dressing for political apying. These courses finally became compulsory and had to be attended for several months annually. The general respect in which doctors were held sunk in view of the decreasing level of general education and ability of the doctors. This was partly duo to the constant occupation of the physicians' time with party functions, especially the time-consuming party formations and marches which made it impossible for young physicians to develop scientific interests, so that recent graduates increasingly lost understanding and inclination for serious scientific study and long-range research. Medical School and Medical Training under the Nazis On paper, medical training under the Nazis differed little from that of the pre-Nazi era. However, its fundamental spirit was ruinously distorted and medical standards suffered a dismal decline. Medical students had to be "Aryan", and were required to belong to the National Socialist Students'League. The student's entire course of studies was constantly interrupted by the demands of the various party organizations to which they were forced to belong. A student whose knowledge of the racial theories and Nurnberg laws was not sufficient would fail his medical examinations. Chaiers in the universities were filled in many cases by Nazi so-called "professors" who might or might not have a scienttific background. The
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organizations to which they were forced to belong. A student whose knowledge of the racial theories and Nurnberg laws was not sufficient would fail his medical examinations. Chaiers in the universities were filled in many cases by Nazi so-called "professors" who might or might not have a scienttific background. The true scientific societies under the Nazi Regime became less and less active, and the Nazi professors in the universities devoted more time and interest to their SA or SS organizations than to the teaching of medicine. These Naze professors would on their brown SA or black SS uniforms on all possible occasions, exchanging them proudly for their academic gowns at all academic celebrations and meetings. The worst Nazi politicians, like Streicher, were given the free run of university clinics, such as at Erlangen. This submissiveness to lay politicians led to a general decline of respect for German academic medicine not only on the part of their own public and abroad, but even on the part of the very same politicians before whom they kowtowed. This went so far that Streicher, when addressing a full faculty meeting at the University of Erlangen in 1936, called the assembled professors "complete idiots" to their faces. This was by no means an isolated occurance. Particularly deplorable was the degradation of psychiatry. Psychiatric university teaching declined to the level of a more rehearing of the Nurnberg and sterilization laws. The modern techniques of psychotherapy had been abandoned, and treatment deteriorated to pep talks full of Nazi indoctrination admonitions and threats. No wonder that these methods backfired against the best interest of the German war effort which they were foolishly intended to serve. The lack of proper understanding and treatment of German soldiers who developed combat fatigue or neurosis, on the part of their own medical personnel, drove many of them to surrender to the enemy; efforts to rehabilitate then and restore them to duty were frustrated by the ruin us infusion of Nazi doctrine. Summary The general decline of German medical conduct and the poisoning of German medical ethics which the Nazis brought about, laid the basis for the atrocious experiments of which the defendants are accused. THE PRESIDENT:Will you kindly slow down you reading? GENERAL TAYLOR:Many of these were experiments in name only; we will show them to have been senseless and clumsy and of no real value to medicine as a healing art. The Nazi medical worlds was flooded with preposterous and wicked notions about superior and inferior races and developed a perveryed moral outlook in which cruelty to subjugated races and peoples was praiseworthy. Training in SA and SS formation was hardly calculated to develop physicians who could comprehend even the bare elements of the doctor-patient relationship. In this noxious garden of lies, the seeds of the experiments were planted. In the climate of Nazi Germany, they grow with horrible rapidity. CRIMES OF MASS EXTERMINATION: "EUTHANASIA" AND THE MURDER OF FOLISH NATIONALS From the preaching of Gutt and others sprang the nations
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elements of the doctor-patient relationship. In this noxious garden of lies, the seeds of the experiments were planted. In the climate of Nazi Germany, they grow with horrible rapidity. CRIMES OF MASS EXTERMINATION: "EUTHANASIA" AND THE MURDER OF FOLISH NATIONALS From the preaching of Gutt and others sprang the nations which underly the crimes to which we will now turn. Here we leave behind all semblance, however, ficititious, of science and research. Under these teachings, life and livelihood became the birthright of no one. The weak and the physically handicapped are in the way and must be pushed aside. Inferior peoples are born to be exterminated by the Herrenvolk. The charges in paragraphs 8 and 13 of the Indictment concern the defendants Blome and Rudolf Brandt. The original impetus for this terrible mass murder came from a fiend named Greiser, who was the German Governor of the northwest portions of Poland, which had been absorved into the Reich under the name "Wartheland." Early in 1942, Greiser was in the process of exterminating thousands of Jews in his territory, and he decidet to turn his attention next to Poles infected with tuberculosis. I call the Tribunal's special attention to the German word "Sonderbehandlun". In the next Document, as will be shown, it occurs frequently in Nazi correspondence and was used by them to mean extermination. In May 1944, Greiser wrote to Himmler as follows: I quote from the letter of Defendant Blome: "It was calculated that in 1939 there were among the Poles about 35,000 persons suffering from open tuberculosis and, besides this number, about 120,000 other consumptives in need of treatment. *** "Wit the settlement of Germans in all parts of the Gau an enormous danger has arisen for them. A number of cases of infection of settled children and adults occurs daily. "Therefore, something basic must be done soon. One must decide the most efficient way in which this can be done. There are three ways to be taken into consideration: 1. Special treatment ( Sonderbehandlung ) of the seriously ill persons, 2. Most regorous isolation of the seriously ill persons, 3. Creation of a reservation for all TB-patients. "For the planning, attention must be paid to different points of view of a practical, political and psychological nature. Considering it most soberly, the simplest way would be the following: Aided by the X-ray battalion ( Roentgen Sturmbann ) we could reach the entire population, German and Polish, of the Gau during the first half of 1943. As to the Germans, the treatment and isolation is to be prepared and carried, out according to the regulations for Tuberculosis Relief ( Tuberkulosehilfe ). "The approximately 35,000 Poles who are incurable and infectious will be 'specially teated' (sonderbehandelt). All other Polish consumptives will be subjected to an appropriate cure in order to save them for work and to avoid their causing contagion. "According to your request I made arrangements with the offices in question, in order to start and carry out this
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infectious will be 'specially teated' (sonderbehandelt). All other Polish consumptives will be subjected to an appropriate cure in order to save them for work and to avoid their causing contagion. "According to your request I made arrangements with the offices in question, in order to start and carry out this radical procedure within half a year. You told me, that the competent office agreed with you as to this special treatment and promised support. Before we definitely start the program, I think it would be correct if you would make sure once more that the Fuehrer will really agree to such a solution. **** "There can be no doubt of the intended program's being the most simple and most radical solution. If absolute secrecy could be guaranteed all scruples - regardless of what nature -- could be overcome. But I consider simply maintaining secrey impossible. Experience has taught us that this assumption is true. Should those sick persons, having been brought, as planned, to the old Reich supposedly to be treated or healed, and they actually never return, the relatives of those sick persons in spite of the greates secrecy would some day notice 'that somethin was not quite right'. "Therefore, I think it necessary to explain all those points of view to the Fuehrer before undertaking the program, as, in my opinion he is the only one able to view the entire complex and to come to a decision." The Prosecution will intruduce evidence to show that the program was in fact carried out at the end of 1942 and the beginning of 1943, and that as a result of the suggestions made by Blome and Greiser, many Poles were ruthlessly exterminated and that others were taken to insolated camps, utterly lacking in medical facilities, where thousands of them died. "The special treatment", and the German word is Sonderbehandlung," of about 100,000 Jews in the territory of my district approved by you in Agreement with the Chief of the Reich-Main-Security-Office, SS-Obergruppenfuehrer HEYDRICH, can be completed within the next two to three months. I ask you for permission to rescue the district immediately after the measures are taken against tho Jews, from a menace, which is increasing week by week? and to use the exiting and efficient special commandos for that purpose. "There are about 230,000 people of Polish nationality in my district, who were diagnosed to suffer from tuberculosis. The number of persons infectet with open Tuberculosis is estimated at about 35,000. This fact has led in an increasing frightening measure to the infection of Germans, who came to the Warthegau perfectly healthy. In particular; reports are received with ever increasing effect of German children in danger of infection. A considerable number of well known leading men, especially of the police, have been infected lately and are not available for the wareffort because of the necessary medical treatment. The ever increasing risks were also recognized and appreciated by the deputy of the Reich Leader for Public Health (Reichsgesundheitsfuehrer) Comrade
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A considerable number of well known leading men, especially of the police, have been infected lately and are not available for the wareffort because of the necessary medical treatment. The ever increasing risks were also recognized and appreciated by the deputy of the Reich Leader for Public Health (Reichsgesundheitsfuehrer) Comrade Professor Dr. BLOME as well as by the Leader of your X-ray battalion SS Standartenfuehrer Professor Dr. HOHLFELDER. "Though in Germany proper it is not possible to take appropriate draconic steps against this public plague, I think I could take responsibility for my suggestion to have cases of open TB exterminated among the Polish race here in the Warthegau. Of course only a Pole should be handed over to such an action, who is not only suffering from open tuberculosis, but whose incurability is proved and certified by a public health officer. "Considering the urgency of this project I ask for your approval in priciple as soon as possible. This would enable us to make the preparations with all necessary precautions now to get the action against the Poles suffering from open tuberculosis under way, while the action against the Jews is in its closing stages." Greiser's Proposal was supported in a letter from one, Koppe, the SS and police leader in that region, to the defendant Rudolf Brandt, to which Brandt replied stating that the matter was under consideration and that the final decision would rest with Hitler. Late in June, Himmler sent a "favorable reply to Greiser cautioning him, however, that the exterminations should be carried out inconspicuously. Thereafter, consultations as to how to carry out the measure occurred between Greiser, Dr. Hohlfelder, and the defendant Blome. The views of Blome are obodied in a letter from him to Greiser written in November 1942. This letter contains an indescribably brutal analysis of the situation, in which Blome expresses agreement with the view that extermination of the tubercular Poles is the simplest and most logical sulution, and expresses doubt as to its desirability only in that it would be difficult to keep such widespread slaughter secret, and that Hitler might think the program plitically inexpedient if the facts should ever come out. Euthanasia (Indicktment, paragraphs 9 and 14) On September 1, 1939, the very day of the German attack on Poland, and after a great deal of discussion between Dr. Karl Brandt, Dr. Leonardo Conti, Phillip Bouhler, the Chief of the private Chancery of the Fuehrer, and others, Hitler issued the following authority to the defendant Karl Brandt: "Reichsleiter BOUHLER and Dr. BRANDT, M.D. are charged with the responsibility of enlarging the authority of certain physicians to be designated by name in such a manner that persons, who, according to human judgment, are incurable, can, upon a most careful diagnosis of their condition of sickness, be accorded a mercy death. signed ADOLF HITLER" After the receipt of this order, an organization was set up to execute this program. Karl Brandt headed the medical section and Phillip Bouhler the administrative
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to human judgment, are incurable, can, upon a most careful diagnosis of their condition of sickness, be accorded a mercy death. signed ADOLF HITLER" After the receipt of this order, an organization was set up to execute this program. Karl Brandt headed the medical section and Phillip Bouhler the administrative section. The defendant Hoven, as Chief Surgeon of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, took part in the program and personally ordered the transfer of at least 300 to 400 Jewish inmates of different nationalities, mostly non-German, to their death in the euthanasia station at Bernberg. The defendants Brack and Blome participated in their capacities as assistants to Bouhler and Conti. Questionnaires were forwarded to the Ministry of the Interior from the various institutes and were then submitted to Karl Brandt and his staff for an expert opinion in order to determine the status of each patient. Then each of those experts indicated his opinion as to the eventual disposition of the patient; that is, whether or not the patient should be transferred to a killing station. The questionnaires were supposedly returned to the Ministry of the Interior, which, in turn, sent lists of the doomed patients to the different insane asylums, ordering the directors of the asylums to hand over the patients to a thing called the General Patient Transport Corporation for transfer to the particular stations where the killings took place. This Transport Corporation was not a real organization, but one of the come names used to disguise the true nature of the activities. The patients were then transferred to the station where they were immediately killed. This entire procedure took place without the consent of the relatives, but the relatives did receive a death certificate on which the cause of death was falsified. The euthanasia program was an open secret in top Nazi circles. However, every possible effort had been made to keep it from the public in order to avoid intervention by the churches. In spite of all these precautions, it became commonly known in Germany as early as the summer of 1940 that these killings were going on and church authorities, as well as various legal officials, tried in vain to stop the killings. Typical of the letters reaching the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Interior is the following: Addressed to "The Reich Minister of Justice: "I have a schizophrenic son in a Wurttembergian mental institution. I am shocked about the following absolutely reliable information. "Since some weeks insane persons are being taken from the institutions allegedly on the grounds of military evacuation. The directors of the institutions are enjoined to absolute secrecy. Shortly afterwards the relatives are informed that the sick person has died of encephalitis. The ashes are available if so desired. This is plain murder just as in the concentration camps. This measure uniformly emanates from the SS in Berlin. The institutions dare not inform the authorities. Inquire at once at Rottenmuenster, Schassenried, Winzertal, all in Wurttemberg. Have the lists of two
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of encephalitis. The ashes are available if so desired. This is plain murder just as in the concentration camps. This measure uniformly emanates from the SS in Berlin. The institutions dare not inform the authorities. Inquire at once at Rottenmuenster, Schassenried, Winzertal, all in Wurttemberg. Have the lists of two months ago examined and submitted to you, check upon the inmates who are there now and ask where the missing persons went to. For seven years now this gang of murderers defiled the German name. If my son is murdered, woe! I shall take care that these crimes will be published in all foreign newspapers. The SS may deny it as they always do. I shall demand prosecution by the public prosecutor. "I cannot give my name nor the institution where my son is, otherwise I, too, won't live much longer. Heil Hitler Oberregierungsrat N."If this program had stayed within the bounds set forth in Hitler's letter to Karl Brandt, it would have been bad enough. We may pass over as quite irrelevant any such question as whether mercy killing may not in some circumstances be desirable, and whether a statute authorizing mercy killings under proper safeguards would be valid. Such questions may be debatable, but they do not confront us here. No German law authorizing mercy killings was ever adopted. Hitler's memorandum to Brandt and Bouhler was not a law, not even a Nazi law. It was not intended to be a law or regarded as such even by the top Nazi officials. That is why the program was carried out with the utmost secrecy. The program was known to be utterly illegal by those who were in charge of it; they know it was nothing but murder. This is brought out very clearly in a Getter from Himmler to the defendant Brack in December 1940: "Dear Brack: "I hear there is great excitement on the Alb because of the institution Grafeneck. "The population recognizes the gray automobile of the SS and think they know what is going on at the constantly smoking crematory. What happens there is a secret and yet is no longer one. Thus the worst feeling has arisen there all in my opinion there remains only one thing, to discontinue the use of the institution in this place and in any event disseminate information in a clever and sensible manner by showing motion pictures on the subject of inherited and mental diseases in just that locality. "May I ask for a report as to how the difficult problem was solved." But there are more fundamental matters here. The program did not stay even within the bounds of the secret Hitler authority. Euthanasia became merely a polite word for the systematic slaughter of Jews and many other categories of persons useless or unfriendly to the Nazi regime. The evidence before the International Military Tribunal proved this clearly, and the judgment states and I quote from the transcript, pp. 16916-17, 17007: "Reference should also be made to
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polite word for the systematic slaughter of Jews and many other categories of persons useless or unfriendly to the Nazi regime. The evidence before the International Military Tribunal proved this clearly, and the judgment states and I quote from the transcript, pp. 16916-17, 17007: "Reference should also be made to the policy which as in existence in Germany by the summer of 1940, under which all aged, insane and incurable people, 'useless eater', were transferred to special institutions where they were killed, and their relatives informed that they had died from natural causes. The victims were not confined to German citizens, but included foreign laborers, who were no longer able to work, and were therefore useless to the German war machine. It has been estimated that at least some 275,000 people were killed in this manner in nursing homes, hospitals and asylums, which were under the jurisdiction of the defendant Frick, in his capacity as Minister of the Interior. How many foreign workers were included in this total it has been quite impossible to determine." I quote no more paragraph from the decision, pp. 17007: "During the war nursing homes, hospitals, and asylums in which euthanasia was practiced as described elsewhere in this Judgment, came under Frick's jurisdiction. He had knowledge that insane, sick and aged people, 'useless eaters' were being systematically put to death. Complaints of these murders reached him, but he did nothing to stop them. A report of the Czech slovak War Crimes Commission estimated that 275,00 mentally deficient and aged people, for whose welfare he was responsible, fell victim to it." As stated in the Indictment, the defendants involved in the euthanasia program sent their subordinate to the eastern occupied territories to assist in the mass extermination of Jews. This will be shown by abandon evidence, including the following excerpt from a letter from the defendant Brack to Himmler in 1942 from which I quote a paragraph: "On the instructions of Rech-Leader BOHHLER I placed some of my men at the disposal of Brigadefuehrer GLOBOCNIK to execute his special mission. On is renewed request I have now transferred additional personnel. On this occasion Brigadefuehrer GLOBOCNIK ....../.... stated his opinion that the whole Jew-Action should be completed as quickly as possible so that one would not get caught in the middle of it one day if some difficulties should make a stoppage of the action necessary. You yourself, Reichsfuehrer, have already expressed your view, that work should progress quickly for reasons of camouflage alone." Protesting the lawless slaughter which even Himmler sought to "camouflage", the Bishop of Limburg in 1941 foresaw that such insane carnage spelled the downfall of the Third Reich. He wrote: "And if anybody says that Germany cannot win the war, if there is yet a just God, these expressions are not the result of lack of love for the Fatherland but of a deep concern for our people. High authority as a moral concept has suffered a severe shock as a result of
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says that Germany cannot win the war, if there is yet a just God, these expressions are not the result of lack of love for the Fatherland but of a deep concern for our people. High authority as a moral concept has suffered a severe shock as a result of these happenings." I have outlined the particular charges against the defendants under Counts Two, Three, and Four of the Indictment, and I have sketched the general nature of the evidence which we will present. But we must not overlook that the medical experiments were not an assortment of unrelated crimes. On the contrary, they constituted a well-integrated criminal program in which the defendants planned and collaborated among themselves and with others. We have here, in other words, a conspiracy and a common design, as is charged in Count One of the Indictment, to commit the criminal experiments set forth in paragraphs 6 and 11 thereof. There was a common design to discover, or improve, various medical techniques. There was a common design to utilize for this purpose the unusual resources which the defendants had at their disposal, consisting of numberless unfortunate victims of Nazi conquest and Nazi ideology. The defendants conspired and agreed together to utilize these human resources for nefarious and murderous purposes, and proceeded to put their criminal design into execution. Numbered among the countless victims of the conspiracy and the crimes are Germans, and nationals of countries overrun by Germany, and Gypsies, and prisoners-of-war and Jews of many nationalities. All the elements of a conspiracy to commit the crimes charged in paragraphs 6 and 11 are present and all will be clearly established by the proof. There were many co-conspirators who are not in the dock. Among the planners and leaders of this plot were Conti and Grawitz, and Hippke whose whereabouts is unknown. Among the actual executioners, Dr. Ding is dead and Rascher is thought to be dead. There were many others. Final judgment as to the relative degrees of guilt among those in the dock must await the presentation of the proof in detail. Nevertheless, before the introduction of evidence, it will be helpful too look again at the defendants and their **art in the conspiracy. What manner of men are they, and what was their major role? The twenty physicians in the dock range from leaders of German scientific Medicine, with excellent international reputations, down to the dregs of the German medical profession. All of them have in common a callous lack of consideration and human regard for, and an unprincipled willingness to abuse their power over, the poor, unfortunate, defenseless creatures who had been deprived of their rights by a ruthless and criminal government. All of them violated the Hippocratic commandments which they had solemnly sworn to uphold and abide by, including the fundamental principle **************************************** Outstanding men of science, distinguished for their scientific ability in Germany and abroad, are the defendants Rostock and Rose. Both exemplify, in their training and practice alike,
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government. All of them violated the Hippocratic commandments which they had solemnly sworn to uphold and abide by, including the fundamental principle **************************************** Outstanding men of science, distinguished for their scientific ability in Germany and abroad, are the defendants Rostock and Rose. Both exemplify, in their training and practice alike, the highest traditions of German medicine. Rostock headed the Department of Surgery at the University of Berlin and served as dean of its medical school. Rose studied under the famous surgeon, Enderlen, at Heidelberg and then became a distinguished specialist in the fields of public health and tropical diseases. Hanloser and Schroeder are outstanding medical administrators. Both of them made their careers in military medicine and reached the peak of their profession. Five more defendants are much younger men who are nevertheless already known as the possessors of considerable scientific ability, or capacity in medical administration. These include the defendants Karl Brandt, Ruff, Beiglbock, Schaefer and Becker-Freyseng. A number of the others such as Romberg and Fischer, are well-trained, and several of them attained high, professional position. But among the remainder few were known as outstanding scientific men. Among them at the fact of the list is Blome who has published his autobiography entitled "Embattled Doctor" in which he sets forth that he eventually decided to become a doctor because a medical career would enable him to became "master over life and death." The part that each of these twenty physicians and their three lay accomplices played in the conspiracy and its execution corresponds closely to his professional interest and his place in the hierarchy of the Third Reich as shown in the chart. The motivating source for this conspiracy came from two principal sources. Himmler, as head of the SS, a most terrible engine of oppression with vast resources, could provide numberless victims for the experiments. By doing so, he enhanced the prestige of his organization and was able to give free rein to the Nazi racial theories of which he was a leading protagonist and to develop new techniques for the mass exterminations which were dear to his heart. The German military leaders, as the other main driving force, caught up the opportunity which Himmler presented them with and ruthlessly capitalized on Himmler's hideous overtures in an endeavor to strengthen their military machine. And so the infernal drama was played just as it had been conceived in the minds of the authors. Special problems which confronted the German military or civilian authorities, were, on the orders of the medical leaders, submitted for solution in the concentration camps. Thus we find Karl Brandt stimulating to epidemic jaundice experiments, Schroeder demanding "40 healthy test subjects for the seawater experiments, Handloser providing the impetus for Ding's fearful typhus researches, and Milch and Hippke at the root of the freezing tests. Under Himmler's authority, the medical leaders of the SS-Grawitz, Genzken, Gebhardt and others -- set the wheels in motion. They arranged for the procurement of victims through other branches of the
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providing the impetus for Ding's fearful typhus researches, and Milch and Hippke at the root of the freezing tests. Under Himmler's authority, the medical leaders of the SS-Grawitz, Genzken, Gebhardt and others -- set the wheels in motion. They arranged for the procurement of victims through other branches of the SS, and gave directions to their underlings in the SS medical service such as Hoven and Fischer. Himmler's administrative assistants, Sievers and Rudolf Brandt, passed on the Himmler orders, gave a push here and a shove there, and kept the machiner oiled. Blome and Brack assisted from the side of the civilian and party authorities. The Wehrmacht provided supervision and technical assistance for those experiments in which it was most interested. A low pressure chamber was furnished for the high altitude tests, the services of Weltz, Ruff, Romberg and Rascher for the high altitude and freezing experiments and those of Becker-Freyseng, Schaefer, and Beiglbock for seawater. In the important but sinister typhus researches, the eminent Dr. Rose appeared for the Luftwaffe to give expert guidance to Ding. The proper stops were taken to insure that the results were made available to those who needed to know. Annual meetings of the consulting physician of the Wehrmacht held under Handloser's direction were favored with lectures on some of the experiments. The report on the high altitude test was sent to Field Marshal Milch, and a moving picture about them was shown at the air Ministry in Berlin. Weltz spoke on the effects of freezing at a medical conference in Nurnberg, the same symposium at which Rascher and others passed on their devilish knowledge. There could, we submit, be no clearer proof of conspiracy. This was the medical service of the Third Reich at work. Among the defendants in the box sit the surviving leaders of that service. We will ask the Tribunal to determine that neither scientific eminence nor superficial respectability shall shield them against the fearful consequences of the orders they gave. I intend to pass very briefly over matters of medical ethics, such as the conditions under which a physician may lawfully perform a medical experiment upon a person who has voluntarily subjected himself to it, or whether experiments may lawfully be performed upon criminals who have been condemned to death. This case does not present such problems. We refined questions confront us here. None of the victims of the atrocities perpetrated by these defendants were volunteers, and this is true regardless of what these unfortunate people nay have said or signed before their turtures began. Most of the victims had not been condemned to death, and those who had been were not criminals, unless it be a crime to be a Jew, or a pole, or a Gypsy, or a Russian prisoner of-war. Whatever book or treatise on medical ethics we may examine, and whatever expert on forensic medicine we may question, will say that it is a fundamental and inescapable obligation of every physician under any known system
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be a Jew, or a pole, or a Gypsy, or a Russian prisoner of-war. Whatever book or treatise on medical ethics we may examine, and whatever expert on forensic medicine we may question, will say that it is a fundamental and inescapable obligation of every physician under any known system of law not to perform a dangerous experiment without the subject's consent. In the tyranny that was Nazi Germany, no one could give such a consent to the medical agents of the Stake; everyone lived in fear and acted under dur** I fervently hope that none of us here in the court room will have to suffer in silence while it is said on the part of these defenants that the wretched and helpless people whom they froze and drowned and burned and poisoned were volunteers. If such a shame less lie is spoken here, we need only remember the four girls who were taken from the Revensbruck concentration camp and made to li** naked with the frozen and all but dead Jews who survived Dr. Rascher's tank of ice water. One of these women, whose hair and eyes and figure were pleasing to Dr. Rascher, when asked by him why she had volunteered for such a task, replied:"rather half a year in a brothel than half a year in a concentration camp." Were it necessary, one could make a long list of the respects in which the experiments which those defendants performed depart from every known standard of medical ethics. But the gulf between these atrocities and serious research in the healing art is so patent that such a tabulation would be cynical. We need look no further than the law which the Nazis themselves passed on the 24th of November 1933 for the protection of animals. This law states explicitly that it is designed to proven cruelty and indifference of man towards animals and to awaken and develop sympathy and understanding for animals as one of the highest moral values of a people. The soul of the German people should abhor the principle of more utility without consideration of the moral aspects. The law states further that all operations or treatments which are associated with pain or injury, especially experiments involving the use of cold, heat, or infection, are prohibited, and can be permitted only under special exceptional circumstances. Special written authorization by the head of the department is necessary in every case, and experimenters are prohibited from performing experiments according to their own free judgment. Experiments for the purpose of teaching must be reduced to a minimum. Medico-legal tests, vaccinations, withdrawal of blood for diagnostic purposes and trial of vaccines prepared according to well-established scientific principles are permitted but the animals have to be killed immediately and painlessly after such experiments. Individual physicians are not permitted to use dogs to increase their surgical skill by such practices. National Socialism regards it as a sacred duty of German science to keep down the number of painful animal experiments
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permitted but the animals have to be killed immediately and painlessly after such experiments. Individual physicians are not permitted to use dogs to increase their surgical skill by such practices. National Socialism regards it as a sacred duty of German science to keep down the number of painful animal experiments to a minimum. If the principles announced in this law had been followed for human beings as well, this indictment would never have been filed. It is perhaps the deepest shame of the defendants that it probably never even occurred to them that human beings should be treated with at least equal humanity. This case is one of the simplest and clearest of those that will be tried in this building. It is also one of the most important. It is true that the defendants in the box were not among the highest leaders of the Third Reich. They are not tho war lords who assembled and drove the German military machine, nor the industrial barons who made tho parts, nor tho Nazi politicians who debased and brutalized the mines of the German people. But this case, perhaps more than any other we will try, epitomizes Nazi thought and the Nazi way of life, because those defendants pursued the savage premises of Nazi thought so far. The things that these defendants did, like so many other things that happened under the Third Reich, were the result of the noxious merger of German militarism and Nazi racial objectives. No will see the results of this merger in many other fields of German life; we see it here in the field of medicine. Germany surrendered herself to this foul conjunction of evil forces. The nation fell victim to the Nazi scourge because its leaders lacked the wisdom to foresee the consequences and the courage to stand firm in the face of throats. Their failure was the inevitable outcome of that sinister undercurrent of German philosophy which preaches the supreme importance of the state and the complete subordination of the individual, A nation in which the individual means nothing will find few leaders courageous and able enough to serve its best interests. Individual Germans did indeed give warning of what was in store, and German doctors and scientists were numbered among the courageous gew. At a meeting of Bavarian psychiatrists hold in Munich in 1931, when the poisonous doctrines of the Nazis were already sweeping Germany, there was a discussion of mercy killings and sterilization, and the Nazi views on these matters, with which we are now familiar, were advanced. A German professor named Oswald Bunke rose and made a reply more eloquent and prophetic than anyone could have possibly realized at the time. He said: "I should like to make two additional remarks. One of them is, please for God's sake leave our present financial needs out of all these considerations. This is a problem which concerns the entire future of our people, indeed, one may say without being over-emotional about it,
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time. He said: "I should like to make two additional remarks. One of them is, please for God's sake leave our present financial needs out of all these considerations. This is a problem which concerns the entire future of our people, indeed, one may say without being over-emotional about it, the entire future of humanity. One should approach this problem neither from the point of view of our present scientific opinion nor from the point of view of the still more ephemeral economic crisis. If by sterilization we can prevent the occurrence of mental disease then we should certainly do it, not in order to save money for the government but because every case of mental disease means infinite suffering to the patient and to his relatives. But to introduce economic points of view is not only inappropriate but outright dangerous because the logical consequences of the thought that for financial reasons all these human being who could be dispensed with for the moment should be exterminated, is a quite monstrous logical conclusion: we would then have to put to death not only the mentally sick and the psychopathic personalities but all the crippled including the disabled veterans, all old maids who do not work, all widows whose children have completed their education, and all those who live on their income or draw pensions. That would certainly save a lot of money but the probability is that we will not do it. "The second point of advice is to use utmost restraint, at least until the political atmosphere here in this country shall have improved, and scientific theories concerning heredity and race can no longer be abused for political purposes. Because, if the discussion about sterilization today is carried into the arena of political contest, then pretty soon we will no longer hear about the mentally sick but, instead, about Aryans and nonAryans, about the blonde Germanic race and about inferior people with round skulls. That anything useful could come from that is certainly improbable; but science in general and genealogy and eugenics in particular would suffer an injury which could not easily be repaired again." I said at the outset of this statement that the Third Reich died of its own poison. This case is a striking demonstration not ???? of the tremendous degradation of German medical ethics which Nazi doctrine brought about, but of the undermining of the medical art and thwarting of the techniques which the defendants sought to employ. The Nazis have, to a certain extent, succeeded in convincing the peoples of the world that the Nazi system, although ruthless, was absolutely efficient; that although savage, it was completely scientific; that although entirely devoid of humanity, it was highly systematic -- that "it got things done." The evidence which this Tribunal will hear will explode this myth. The Nazi methods of investigation were inefficient and unscientific, and their techniques of research were unsystematic. These experiments revealed nothing which civilized medicine can use. It was, indeed, ascertained
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it was highly systematic -- that "it got things done." The evidence which this Tribunal will hear will explode this myth. The Nazi methods of investigation were inefficient and unscientific, and their techniques of research were unsystematic. These experiments revealed nothing which civilized medicine can use. It was, indeed, ascertained that phenol or gasoline injected intravenously will kill a man inexpensively and within sixty seconds. This and a few other "advances" are all in the field of "thanatology." There is no doubt that a number of these new methods may be useful to criminals everywhere and there is no doubt that they may be useful to a criminal state. Certain advances in destructive methodology we cannot deny, and indeed from Himmler's standpoint this may well have been the principal objective. Apart from these deadly fruits, the experiments were not only criminal but a scientific failure. It is indeed as if a just deity had shrouded the solutions which they attempted to reach with murderous means. The moral shortcomings of the defendants and the precipitous ease with which they decided to commit murder in quest of "scientific results", dulled also that scientific hesitancy, that thorough thinking-through, that responsible weighing of every single stop which alone can insure scientifically valid results. Even if they had merely been forced to pay as little as two dollars for human experimental subjects, such as American investigators nay have to pay for a cat, they night have thought twice before wasting unnecessary numbers, and thought of simpler and better ways to solve their problems. The fact that these investigators had free and unrestricted access to human beings to be experimented upon misled then to the dangerous and fallacious conclusion that the results would thus be better and more quickly obtainable than if they had gone through the labor of preparation, thinking, and meticulous pre-investigation. A particularly striking example is the seawater experiment. I believe that three of the accused -- Schaefer, Becker-Freyseng, and Beiglbueck -- will today admit that this problem could have been solved simply and definitively within the space of one afternoon. On May 20, 1944 when these accused convened to discuss the problem, a thinking chemist could have solved it right in the presence of the assembly within the space of a few hours by the use of nothing more gruesome than a piece of jolly, a semipermeable membrane and a salt solution, and the German Armed Forces would have had the answer on May 21, 1944. But what happened instead? The vast armies of the disenfranchised slaves were at the beck and call of this sinister assembly; and instead of thinking, they simply relied on their power over human beings rendered rightless by a criminal state and ment. What time, effort, and staff did it take to get that machinery in motion! Letters had to be written, physicians, of whome dire shortage existed in the German Armed Forces whose soldiers went poorly attended, had to be taken out of hospital positions and
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by a criminal state and ment. What time, effort, and staff did it take to get that machinery in motion! Letters had to be written, physicians, of whome dire shortage existed in the German Armed Forces whose soldiers went poorly attended, had to be taken out of hospital positions and dispatched hundreds of miles away to obtain the answer which should have been known in a few hours, but which thus did not become available to the German Armed Forces until after the completion of the gruesome show, and until 42 people had been subjected to the tortures of the damned, the very tortures which Greek mythology had reserved for Tantalus. In short, this conspiracy was a ghastly failure as well as a hideous crime. The creeping paralysis of Nazi supersition spread through the German medical profession and, just as it destroyed character and morals, it dulled the mind. Guilt for the oppressions and crimes of the Third Reich is widespread, but it is the guilt of the leaders that is deepest and most culpable. Who could German medicine look to to keep the profession true to its traditions and protect it from the ravaging inroads of Nazi pseudo-science? This was the supreme responsibility of the leaders of German medicine -- men like Rostock and Rose and Schroeder and Handloser. That is why their guilt is greater than that of any of the other defendants in the dock. They are the men who utterly failed their country and their profession, who showed neither courage nor wisdom nor the vestiges of moral character. It is their failure, together with the failure of the leaders of Germany in other walks of life, that debauched Germany and led to her defeat. It is because of them and other like them that we all live in a stricken world. JUDGE BEALS:The prosecution has now consumed all of the time allocated it for its opening statement. Is the Prosecution prepared to proceed with the introduction of any evidence this afternoon? GENERAL TAYLOR: Your Honor, the document book for Mr. McHaney's first part of the evidence was not ready until yesterday, which was a Sunday, and if agreeable to the Tribunal, it would be more convenient for us, and I think for the defendants, to resume tomorrow morning when we have had more time to look at it. JUDGE BEALS:The Tribunal will recess until 9:30 o'clock tomorrow morning. "The Tribunal adjourned until 10 December 1946, at 9:30 hours.) Official Transcript of the American Military Tribunal in the matter of the United States of America, against Karl Brandt, et al, defendants, sitting at Nurnberg, Germany, on 10 December 1946, 0930-1430, Justice Beals, presiding. THE MARSHAL:The honorable judges of Military Tribunal. Military Tribunal 1 is now in session. God save the United States of America and this Honorable Tribunal. There will be order in the court-room. THE PRESIDENT:Will the Marshal ascertain if the defendants are all present. THE MARSHAL:May it please your Honor, all defendants are present in
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of Military Tribunal. Military Tribunal 1 is now in session. God save the United States of America and this Honorable Tribunal. There will be order in the court-room. THE PRESIDENT:Will the Marshal ascertain if the defendants are all present. THE MARSHAL:May it please your Honor, all defendants are present in the courtroom. THE PRESIDENT:Secretary-General, will you note for the record the presence of the defendants in the courtroom. The prosecution may proceed. MR. McHANEY:May it pleas the Tribunal: Before any evidence is presented, it is my purpose to show the process whereby documents have been procured and processed in order to be presented in evidence by the United States. I shall also describe and illustrate the plan of presenting documents to be followed by the prosecution in this case. When the United States Army entered German territory it had specialized military personnel who duties were to capture and preserve enemy documents, records, and archives. Such documents were assembled in temporary documents centers. Later each Army established fixed document centers in the U.S. Zone of Occupation where there documents were assembled and the slow process of indexing and cataloguing was begun. Certain of these document centers in the U.S. Zone of Occupation have since been closed and the documents assembled there sent to other document centers. When the International Military Tribunal was set up, field teams under the direction of Major William M. Coogan were organized and sent out to the various document centers. Great masses of German documents and records were screened and examined. Those selected were sent to Nurnberg to be processed. Those original documents were then given trial identification numbers in one of five series designated by the letters: "PS", "L", "R", "C", and "C", indicating the means of acquisition of the documents. Within each series, documents were listed numerically. The prosecution in this case shall have occasion to introduce in evidence documents processed under the direction of Major Coogan. Some of these documents were introduce in evidence before the IMT and some were not. As to those which were, this Tribunal is required by Article XX of Ordinance No. 7 to take judicial notice thereof. However, in order to simplify the procedure, we will introduce photostatic copies of documents used in Case No. 1 before the IMT to which will be attached a certificate by Mr. Fred Niebergall, the Chief of our Document Control Branch, certifying that such document was introduced in evidence before the IMT and that is a true and correct copy thereof. Such documents have been and will be made available to defendants just as in the case of any other document. As to these documents processed under the direction of Major Coogan which were not used in the case before the IMT, they are authenticated by the affidavit of Major Coogan dated 19 November 1945. This affidavit served as the basis of authentication of substantially all documents used by the Office of Chief of Counsel before the IMT. It was introduced in that
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were not used in the case before the IMT, they are authenticated by the affidavit of Major Coogan dated 19 November 1945. This affidavit served as the basis of authentication of substantially all documents used by the Office of Chief of Counsel before the IMT. It was introduced in that trial as U.S.A. Exhibit 1. Since we will use certain documents processed for the IMT trial, I would not like to introduce as Prosecution Exhibit 1 the Coogan affidavit, in order to authenticated such documents. This affidavit explains the manner in and means by which captured German documents were processed for use in war crimes trial. I shall not burden the court with reading it as it is substantially the same as the affidavit of Mr. Niebergall to which I shall come in a moment. I have thus far explained the manner of authentication documents to be used in this case which were processed under the direction of Major Coogan. I now come to the authentication of documents processed not for the IMT trial, but for subsequent trials such as this one. These documents are authenticated by the affidavit of Mr. Niebergall which I offer in evidence as Prosecution exhibit 2. Since this affidavit explains the procedure of processing documents by Office of Chief of Counsel for war crimes, I shall read it in full: "I, FRED NIEBERGALL, A.G.O. D-150636, of the Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, do hereby certify as follows: 1. I was appointed Chief of the Document Control Branch, Evidence Division, Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes (hereinafter referred to as "CCC") on 2 October 1946. 2. I have served in the U.S. Army for more than 5 years, being discharged as a 1st Lieutenant, Infantry, on 29 October 1946. I am now a reserve officer with the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the Army of the U.S. of America. Based upon my experience as a U.S. Army Officer, I am familiar with the operation of the U.S. Army in connection with seizing and processing captured enemy documents. I served as Chief of Translations for CCC form 29 July 1945 until December 1945, when I was appointed liaison officer between Defense Counsel and Translation Division of CCC as assistant to the executive officer of the Translation Division. In my capacity as Chief of the Document Control Branch, Evidence Division, CCC, I am familiar with the processing, filing, translation, and photostating of documentary evidence for the United States Chief of Counsel. 3. As the Army overran German occupied territory and then Germany itself, certain specialized personnel seized enemy documents, records and archives. Such documents were assembled in temporary centers. Later fixed document centers were established in Germany and Austria where these documents were assembled and the slow process of indexing and cataloguing was begun. Certain of these document centers have since been closed and the documents assembled there sent to other document centers. 4. In preparing for the trial before the International Military
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were established in Germany and Austria where these documents were assembled and the slow process of indexing and cataloguing was begun. Certain of these document centers have since been closed and the documents assembled there sent to other document centers. 4. In preparing for the trial before the International Military Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as "IT") a great number of original documents, photostats, and microfilms were collected at Nurnberg, Germany. Major Coogan's affidavit of 19 November 1945 describes the procedures followed. Upon my appointment as Chief of the Document Control Branch, Evidence Division, OCC, I received custody, in the course of official business, of all these documents except the ones which were introduced into evidence in the IMT trial and are now in the IMT Document Room in Nurnberg. Some have been screened, processed, and registered in accordance with Major Coogan's affidavit. The unregistered documents remaining have been screened, processed, and registered for us in trials before Military Tribunals substantially in the same way as described below. 5. In preparing for trials subsequent to the IMT trial personnel thoroughly conversant with the German language were given the task of searching for and selecting captured enemy documents which disclosed information relating to the prosecution of Axis war criminals. Lawyers and Research Analysts were placed on duty at various document centers and also dispatched on individual missions to obtain original documents or certified photostats thereof. The documents were screened by German speaking analysts to determine whether or not they might be valuable as evidence. Photostatic copies were then made of the original documents and the original documents returned to the files in the document centers. These photostatic copies were certified by the analysts to be true and correct copies of the original documents. German speaking analysts, either at the document center or in Nurnberg, then prepared a summary of the document with appropriate references to personalities involved, index headings, information as to the source of the document, and the importance of the documents to a particular division of OCC. 6. Next, the original document or certified photostatic copy was forwarded to the Document Control Branch, Evidence Division, OCC. Upon receipt of these document, they were duly recorded and indexed and given identification number in one of six series designated by the letters: "NC", "NI", "NM", "NOKW", "NG", and "NP", indicating the particular Division of OCC which might be most interested in the individual documents. Within each series documents were listed numerically. 7. In the case of the receipt of original documents, photostatic copies were made. Upon return from the Photostat Room, the original documents were placed in envelopes in fireproof safes in the Document Room. In the case of the receipt of certified photostatic copies of documents, the certified photostatic copies were treated in the same manner as original documents. 8. All original documents or certified photostatic copies treated as originals are new located in safes in the Document Room, where they will be secured until they are presented by the Prosecution
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certified photostatic copies of documents, the certified photostatic copies were treated in the same manner as original documents. 8. All original documents or certified photostatic copies treated as originals are new located in safes in the Document Room, where they will be secured until they are presented by the Prosecution to a court during the progress of a trial. 9. Therefore, I certify in my official capacity as herein above states, that all documentary evidence relied upon by OCC is in the same condition as when captured by military forces under the command of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces; that they have been translated by competent qualified translators; that all photostatic copies are true and correct copies of the originals, and that they have been correctly filed, numbered, and processed as above outlined. Signed: FRED NEIBERGALL". The Niebergall affidavit is in substance the same as the Coogan affidavit which was accepted by the International Military Tribunal as sufficient authentication of documents used in Case No. 1. However, in addition to these affidavits, the prosecution in this case will attach to each document submitted in evidence, ether than self-proving documents such as affidavits signed by the defendants, a certificate signed by an employee of the Evidence Division of the Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, reading, for example, as follows: "I, Donald spencer, of the Evidence Division of the Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, hereby certify that the attached document, consisting of one photostated page and entitled, 'Letter from John Doe to Richard Rod, dated 19 June 1943' is the original of a document which was delivered to me in my above capacity, in the usual course of official business, as a true copy of a document found in German archives, records and files captured by military forces under the command of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force. To the best of my knowledge, information and belief, the original document is at the Berlin Document Center". So much for the authentication of documents to be presented in this trial I turn now briefly to the distribution of documents which we will use. The prosecution made available to the Defendants' Information Center approximate a week ago three photostatic copies of the great bulk of the documents which will be used in our case-in-chief. These documents are of course in German. In addition, the prosecution has prepared document books in both German and English which contain, for the most part, mimeographed copies of the document arranged substantially in the order in which they will be presented in this court. Each document book contains an index giving the document number, description, and page number. A space is also provided for writing in the index number. Twelve official copies of the German document books will be filed in the Defendants' Information Center at least 24 hours prior to the time that particular material will be introduced in court. In addition, defense counsel will receive seven so-called unofficial German document
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provided for writing in the index number. Twelve official copies of the German document books will be filed in the Defendants' Information Center at least 24 hours prior to the time that particular material will be introduced in court. In addition, defense counsel will receive seven so-called unofficial German document books, which will contain mimeograph copies prepared primarily for the German Press. Five official copies of the German document books will be presented to the tribunal -- that part should read 6, your Honor -- one for each of the Justices on the bench and one for the Secretary General. Two of such document books will contain photostatic copies in order that the Tribunal may from time to time refer to the original. Document books will also be made available to the German interpreters and court reporters. The English document books will contain certified translations of the documents in the German document books. The documents will be numbered and indexed identically in both the English and German versions. The Defendants' Information Center will receive four copies of the English document books at the same time the corresponding German document book is delivered. A representative group of the defense attorneys have agreed that four of the English document books is sufficient to meet their needs. The Tribunal will receive six English document books and sufficient copies will also be made available to the interpreters and court reporters. Copies of all documents introduced in evidence will thereafter be made available to the Press. The prosecution will sometimes have occasion to use documents which have just been discovered and are not in document books. In such cases we will try to have copies in the Defendants' Information Center a reasonable time in advance of their use in court. Now, I must point out to your Honors, and I do so without any embarrassment, that there will surely be some instances during the course of this trial when the prosecution falls to comply with one or the other of the court's rulings in view of the fact that few of our personnel were here to obtain experience and training in the technicalities in the course of case No. 1 before the International Military Tribunal, but be that as it may, we shall constantly endeavor to present our case as fairly, a clearly and as expeditiously as is humanly possible. The prosecution, when presenting a document in court, will physically hand the original, or the certified photostatic copy serving as the original to the clerk of the Tribunal, and give the document a Prosecution Exhibit number. In the IMT trial, the usual practice, to which there were many exception was that only those documents or portions of documents which had been read aloud in court were considered to be in evidence and part of the record. No this was due to the fact that the IMT trial was conducted in four (4) languages and only through that method were translations in all four (4) languages
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portions of documents which had been read aloud in court were considered to be in evidence and part of the record. No this was due to the fact that the IMT trial was conducted in four (4) languages and only through that method were translations in all four (4) languages ordinarily available. However, the IMT Tribunal ruled several times, for example on 17 December 1945, in the original English document at pages 1054 and 1055 that documents which had been translated into all four languages and made available to defense counsel in the Defendants' Information Center were admissible in evidence without being read in full. The prosecution believed that, under the circumstances of this trial, which will be conducted in German and English only, and will all the prosecution's documents translated into German, it will be both expeditious and fair to dispense with the reading in full of all documents or portions of documents. The prosecution will read some documents in full, particularly in the early stages of the trial, but will endeavor to expedite matters by summarizing documents when possible, or otherwise calling the attention of the Tribunal to such passages therein as are deemed important and relevant. With respect to the order of trial, the prosecution intends to follow, to a large degree, the order in which the various experiments are set forth in the Indictment. There will be some exceptions to that; for instance, we will present the Sea Water Experiments, the proof of Sea Water Experiments following the Malaria Experiments, which will be third in order, and in time we will move to the proof of reading the Lost Gas Experiments because of the overla ping of the testimony of certain witnesses. In so far as possible, we will deavor to present all f the evidence relating to a particular experiment at the same time. This will be impossible, of curse, where the testimony of witness overlaps several experiments. Before proceeding to the introduction of evidence on the substantive crimes charged in the Indictment, the prosecution would like to admit proof the positions held by the defendants. For this purpose we have secured affidavits from the defendants giving their personal histories. During the curse of the presentation of these affidavits, there will be occasion to discuss the organizations within which certain of the defendants were active, such as the medical service of the Armed Forces, the Luftwaffe, or the SS. In order that the Tribunal may more easily comprehend these rather complicated organization we have had charts prepared and signed by certain of the defendants who held an important office within the particular organization. These charts have been enlarged for use in the court room and with the Tribunal's permission they will be placed at the appropriate time on the screen behind the witness box. One of them is now there. The court room charts are reproductions of charts which will be submitted in evidence except that they do not show the certification by the defendants
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with the Tribunal's permission they will be placed at the appropriate time on the screen behind the witness box. One of them is now there. The court room charts are reproductions of charts which will be submitted in evidence except that they do not show the certification by the defendants or any notes which may be on the original. This matter is, of course, included in translations, which your Honor, has been received. Mr. Horlick-Hockwald, one of our associate prosecutors, will assist in the presentation by using a pointer to indicate the particular part of the chart under discussion. I shall discuss together those of the defendants who were active in the same organization and the chart of that organization will then be before the Tribunal. I would first like to take up the defendants Karl Brandt and Restock who worked together in the Office of the Reich Commissioner for Health and Medical Services. I offer Document No.165, as Prosecution Exhibit 3, which is the chart of organization of the Office of the Reich Commissioner for Health and Medical Services. Karl Brandt was the Reich Commissioner and he has drawn this chart for us. THE PRESIDENT:Has the Prosecution offered in evidence the two documents which he refers to as Coogan and Niebergall? MR. McHANEY:Yes, sir; the Coogan affidavit went in as Prosecution's Exhibit 1, which authenticates all documents. THE PRESIDENT:Do I understand, it has been formally offered in evidence? MR. McHANEY:Yes, sir; the procedure is that I will give the particular evidence an identification number such as the one I just called out, which is document number No. 645. That is the identification number which was given this document in the Document Control Branch. I then call off this as Prosecution's Exhibit such-and-such. THE PRESIDENT:I understood you to refer to them by identification numbers, but I did not remember that they had been formally offered in evidence. MR. McHANEY:Yes, sir; we certainly intended to do that, both the Coogan affidavit and the Niebergall affidavit. THE PRESIDENT:I assume, as in any court, they must be admitted by the court in evidence. They have been offered but not admitted; is that correct? MR. MCHANEY:That is very correct, your Honor. However, the procedure has normally been that in offering them, unless there is no objection raised at that time they will be considered to be admitted. In other words, at least, before the International Military Tribunal, the Tribunal did not make a formal ruling on the admissibility of each document as it went in. THE PRESIDENT:That is a new procedure to me. MR. McHANEY:Sir, that is a new procedure as far as I am concerned but it was so during the last time. In the Prosecution's identification, if any defendant has any objection to the admission of documents in evidence, that the objection may be stated at that time. If no defendant registers any objection to the admission of a document in evidence it will be assumed that there is no objection. DR.
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In the Prosecution's identification, if any defendant has any objection to the admission of documents in evidence, that the objection may be stated at that time. If no defendant registers any objection to the admission of a document in evidence it will be assumed that there is no objection. DR. SERVATIUS:Mr. President, in the trial before the International Military Tribunal such a procedure was used as the representative of the Prosection has been saying. It has led to some difficulties because nobody knew when an objection should be raised to a document such as No-645, which has now been presented as Exhibit 3. I have no objections to raise against it now, but I do not know when I should raise then. THE PRESIDENT:We will first dispose of Exhibits 1 and 2, Coogan and Niebergall affidavits, which have not yet been admitted in evidence. Is there any objection on any part of the defendants to admitting in evidence Exhibits 1 and 2? (No objection raised) THE PRESIDENT:If there is no objection, Exhibit 1 and 2 will be received in evidence. Now, you are offering Exhibit 3? MR. McHANEY:Yes, Your Honor. And, to say a few words on this point for the Prosecution -- The Prosecution will have no objection whatsoever to any Defense Counsel coming in at any time and objecting to the admissibility of any document which we will here present. In other words, I am not inclined to take the position that any Defense Counsel waves his right to object to any of our documents simply because he does not do so at the time it is offered. THE PRESIDENT:I understand that, but it might be much easier if the objections were argued at the time the documents were offered rather than go back an hour or two hours and pick out some document which has been passed. MR. McHANEY:Yes, sir; I understand, your Honor. I think, however, we will find that relatively few objections will be raised, certainly as to the authenticity of the documents, which in my opinion, is the substantial point. Any other objection would run to the materiality of the documents as against a particular defendant. THE PRESIDENT:The objections are, of course, equally important as to the authenticity? MR. McHANEY:Yes, indeed; as to that, your Honor, I think we will have to proceed and learn from experience. JUDGE SEBRING:When you are about the offer on Exhibit in evidence, you indicate as much to the counsel for the defendants? MR. McHANEY:Yes, of course, which, at that time, will be the signal for then to interpose such objections they may have, if any. THE PRESIDENT:Then the court may rule on that, and I think we will have a more orderly record. MR. McHANEY:Very well, your Honor. We have offered without objection from the defense counsel, document No-645, as Prosecution's Exhibit 3, which is the chart of the organization of the Office of the Official Commission for the Health and Medical Services. DR. SERVATIUS:Mr. President, I must
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have a more orderly record. MR. McHANEY:Very well, your Honor. We have offered without objection from the defense counsel, document No-645, as Prosecution's Exhibit 3, which is the chart of the organization of the Office of the Official Commission for the Health and Medical Services. DR. SERVATIUS:Mr. President, I must raise an objection against the presentation of this document; at least to the extent that it is only a limited admissibility. This chart has been sworn to only to a limited extent by the defendant Karl Brandt. He has crossed out that this was a table of organization, and he has stated on the plan that it only shown the working procedure; that is, it describes which of the offices the connection was maintained. For example, it is obviously incorrect as an organization chart because it does not show any Chief of Civilian System of Health, Doctor Conti, and such an individual does not exist; that the subordination of the Chief of the Medical Services, Handloser, subordination of the Reich Services below Handloser had not existed either. This plan is composed of two other plans, and the statement of defendant Karl Brandt, the only reference to the fact that it is a composition, and his affidavit states: "I, Professor Karl Brandt, having been duly sworn herewith state that I was General Commissioner and Reich Commissioner for the Medical and Health Service." Otherwise no other statement has been given. I, therefore, would like to avoid the impression, as this plan shows, the subordination, and thereby would show the supervisory duties which the defendant Karl Brandt would have under the circumstances. This is my statement. MR. McHANEY:If your Honors please, if I may answer Dr. Servatius' objection at this time before the next gentleman speaks, I think that his remarks run more to the meaning or interpretation to be given to this charge, rather than to its admissibility. At the time of his objection we had not yet proceeded to explain how we interpret this chart and what it means; but as to its admissibility it was drawn and signed by the defendant Karl Brandt upon a translation which is now before the Tribunal. As I stated, they did not appear upon the large courtroom chart because there is not sufficient room; and we did not consider it desirable to put them on the large courtroom charts which are not in evidence themselves. They are simply being used to make tho presentation a bit more clear. DR. HANS PRIBILIA:Attorney Pribilla for Professor Rostock. I also have to object against that chart. To a large extent it is a correct picture; but it only covers a limited period of time. I believe such charts are very dangerous. They make a certain suggestion; and it is believed that things have been that way during the whole time about which the whole trial centers for the time being. This chart can be acknowledged if at the same time besides those names the date could be
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charts are very dangerous. They make a certain suggestion; and it is believed that things have been that way during the whole time about which the whole trial centers for the time being. This chart can be acknowledged if at the same time besides those names the date could be shown. Yesterday the prosecution said that Professor Rostock was a serious and competent scientist, the head of the University Clinic at Berlin. Professor Rostock did maintain that position until the end of the war. First he was in charge of a very important and large surgical clinic. From this chart it appears as if the defendant had only been a collaborator of Karl Brandt. In addition to this the indictment deals with his crimes which cover a period of time from 1939 until 1945. My objection is this chart can only be at the same time. Next to it we can see before our eyes that the defendant Rostock, for example, during the whole time was head of one of the largest clinics in Germany, and at the same time, though, that only since February, 1944, he has entered this office of Professor Brandt. THE PRESIDENT:Speak more slowly. DR. PRIBILLA:There is not very much for me to add. I only would like to ask the High Tribunal to consider that and besides this picture to know that Rostock was only a collaborator since 1944; in 1944 the war had already progressed to such a stage in Germany that no uniform order existed any more; and that it can be very yell imagined that not everything that happened in other offices came at all to the knowledge of this office. MR. McHANEY:If your Honors please, I am objecting to it. THE PRESIDENT:The objection to the admissibility of this exhibit will be overruled. It will be admitted in evidence. If at any time in the future defendants desire to, they are not bound by this statement in the exhibit as the exhibit for the prosecution; and they may make any showing they like, either by cross examination or when their case is opened. Proceed MR. McHANEY:The next remark that I was about to make before these objections were raised was that this chart shows the organization as it existed in the latter part of 1943. It does not purport to show the organization as it existed prior to that time. Office of the Reich Commissioner for Health and Medical Services developed as a gradual thing; and it did not start out in 1942 as shown by this chart. These things will be made perfectly clear during the course of our presentation. This chart is relatively simple. In the center, occupying the key position, is the defendant Karl Brandt. To the left is the defendant Handloser, Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. To the right is Conti, Reich Health Leader and Chief of the Civilian Medical Services, who, as General Taylor told you yesterday, committed suicide in the Nurnberg jail last
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position, is the defendant Karl Brandt. To the left is the defendant Handloser, Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. To the right is Conti, Reich Health Leader and Chief of the Civilian Medical Services, who, as General Taylor told you yesterday, committed suicide in the Nurnberg jail last year. Above is the defendant Rostock, Chief of the Office for Medical Science and Research. And below is Admiral Fikentscher, Chief of the Office for Planning and Production. It was the power and responsibility of the defendant Karl Brandt to coordinate and direct through these subordinates the activities of the entire Health and Medical Services of the German Reich. he was the fuehrer of the German medical world. It should be made clear that we do not take the position that the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht, under Handloser, and the Office of the Reich Health Leader, under Conti, were subordinate to Brandt for all purposes. As Karl Brandt says in his explanatory note on the chart which is before your Honers, the Office for Medical Science and Research, under Rostock, and the Office for Medical Planning and Economy, under Fikentscher, were personally responsible to him. We do take the position, however, that Handloser and Conti were subordinates to Karl Brandt insofar as medical and scientific research is concerned; and I think that the decrees which I will introduce in a moment will make that amply clear. Before discussing the chart in any more detail, I should like to introduce and read the affidavit of Karl Brandt. This is DocumentNO-475and is offered as Prosecution Exhibit 4. This is on Page 9 of the English Document Book before the Court. "I, Dr. Karl Franz Friedrich Brandt, being duly sworn, depose and states: "1. I was born on 8 January 1904 at Muehlhausen/Elsass, Germany. I studied medicine at Jena, Freiburg, Munich, and Berlin, and passed my state examination in Freiburg in 1928. Thereafter, I became an assistant at the Bergmannsheil Hospital in Bochum, later at the Surgical Clinic of the University of Berlin. "2. I became a member of the National Socialist Party in January 1932. My Party number was 1,009,617. I became a member of the SA in 1933. In the summer of 1934 I became Hitler's personal physician and on 29 July 1934 I became a member of the General (Allgemeine) SS. My number was 260,353. I did not hold office either in tho General SS or, later, in the Waffon SS. "3. I was appointed Untorsturmfuehrer in the General SS on 29 July 1934 and Obersturmfuehrer in the General SS on 1 January 1935. I received my military training with the replacement battalion (Ersatzbataillon) of the 12th Infantry Regiment at Blankenburg/Harz). Later I took part in military maneuvers at army hospitals in the military district of Berlin. On 11 May 1936 I was the recipient of the "Death-head Ring." That, your Honors, is a ring given by tho SS. "4. In 1938 I was deferred so
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12th Infantry Regiment at Blankenburg/Harz). Later I took part in military maneuvers at army hospitals in the military district of Berlin. On 11 May 1936 I was the recipient of the "Death-head Ring." That, your Honors, is a ring given by tho SS. "4. In 1938 I was deferred so that in case of war I might serve on the staff of the Reich Chancellery in Hitler's Headquarters. After the outbreak of war in 1939, I visited all fronts except the Balkan, Horway, Africa, Holland, and Denmark. "5. On 20 April 1939, I was promoted to the rank of Obersturmbannfuehrer of the General SS. By the Fuehrer Order of 1 September 1939, I, in conjunction with Reichsleiter Philipp Bouhler, was charged by Adolf Hitler with extending the authority of certain physicians so that, after most critical examination, they were able to accord a mercy death to certain incurably ill persons. I was transferred from the SS Central Office (SS Hauptamt) in Berlin to the Waffon SS. 10 Dec 46 M LJG Blakley 4-5 My position as personal physician to the Fuehrer remained unchanged. My military status in the Army (Oberstabsarzt) was not affected by the transfer. "6. By order of the Fuehrer Decree dated 28 July 1942, I was appointed General Commissioner for Health and Sanitation (Generalkommissar dos Fuehrers fuer das Danitaets und Gesundheitswesen). In this position I was directly responsible to the Fuehrer Adolf Hitler. I was simultaneously promoted to the rank of Standartenfuehrer in the Waffen SS. On 30 January 19453 I was promoted to Brigadefuehrer Waffen SS. "7. On September 5, 1943, by Fuehrer Decree my responsibilities as General Commissioner were enlarged. I refer to the contents of this decree. On 20 April 1944, I was promoted to Gruppenfuehrer of the Waffen SS." That, your Honors, is equivalent to the rank of Major General in the United States Army. "8. On 25 August, 1944, by decree of the Fuehrer, I was appointed Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation (Reichskemmissar fuer das Sanitaets- und Gesundheitswesen) and as such was authorized to issue instructions, within my sphere of dutied to all organizations of the State, Party, and Armed Forces in all matters concerned with the problems of sanitation and health. This decree did not become fully operative because a planned decree for a "Chief of Public Health" (Chef des zivilen Gesundheitswesens) was not issued due to administrative delay. "9. I became Dr. Paul Rostock's superior in 1943 after the second Fuehrer Decree of 5 September 1943, but only in regard to the administration of the Office of Science and Research (Amt Wissenschaft und Forschung). Rostock did not start his activities until 1944, when he took over the office Beolitz. That was about February or March. (The given dates were confirmed to be right.) (Signed) Karl Brandt." DR. SERVATIUS:Mr. President, Attorney Servatius, for defendant Carl Brandt. Because of a mistake in the translation, Mr. President, I am turning to you. Carl Brandt says that he had been escort physician. It
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That was about February or March. (The given dates were confirmed to be right.) (Signed) Karl Brandt." DR. SERVATIUS:Mr. President, Attorney Servatius, for defendant Carl Brandt. Because of a mistake in the translation, Mr. President, I am turning to you. Carl Brandt says that he had been escort physician. It has been translated as personal Physician. As far as I know Brandt was not the personal physician but he had to be ready to accompany Adolf Hitler whenever he drove away in his car. Thus, he mainly had to wit. He had nothing to do with the medical treatment of Adolf Hitler. This difference may be of importance to the defense. That is the reason why I want to direct the attention of the President to the fact. THE PRESIDENT:Dr. Servatius, will you please point out in the document itself where you say that discrepancy occurs? DR. SERVATIUS:It is under Point 2 in the third line. Later on the expression occurs again "escort physician." However, I have not followed it and I am not saying that translations were chosen. BY JUDGE SEBRING:Are you referring to that portion of Paragraph 2 which reads: In the summer of 1934 I became Hitler's personal physician?" DR. SERVATIUS:Yes. BY JUDGE SEBRING:And you say that ------ DR. SERVATIUS:He was only the physician who had to accompany him, because he was not the physician who had to give medical treatment. BY JUDGE SEBRING:You make the distinction then between "personal physician" and "escort physician?" DR. SERVATIUS:I cannot give an estimation as to the correct English translation. Dr. Morrell was his personal physician. MR. MCHANEY:If your Honor please, I am not inclined to quibble about this translation. We translated it "personal physician." If he wants to make it "escort physician" that's all right with us. BY THE PRESIDENT:That will be ordered. MR. MCHANEY:We, of course, do not accept his remarks that Karl Brandt in effect was some sort of chauffeur. Thus, we have in the defendant Karl Brandt a man who was a Major General in the SS, the escort physician to Hitler and Reich Commissioner of the Health and Medical Services. As to Brandt's position as Reich Commissioner, I would now like to introduce three decrees of the Fuehrer showing the evolution of this office. They are taken the Reichgesetzblatt, which was an official German Government publication comparable to the Congressional Record. The First of these decrees is DocumentNO-080and we offer it as Prosecution Exhibit No. 5. It reads as follows: "1. For the Wehrmacht I commission the Medical Inspector of the Army, in addition to his present duties, with the coordination of all tasks common to the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht, the Waffen SS and the organizations and units subordinate or attached to the Wehrmacht, as Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. "The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht is to represent the Wehrmacht before the civilian authorities in all common medical problems arising in the various branches of the Wehrmacht,
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the organizations and units subordinate or attached to the Wehrmacht, as Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. "The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht is to represent the Wehrmacht before the civilian authorities in all common medical problems arising in the various branches of the Wehrmacht, the Waffen SS and organizations and units subordinate or attached to the Wehrmacht, and will protect the interests of the Wehrmacht in all medical measures taken by the civilian authorities. "For the purpose of coordinated treatment of these problems a medical officer of the Navy and a medical officer of the Luftwaffe will be assigned to work under him, the latter in the capacity of Chief of Staff. Fundamental problems pertaining to the medical service of the Waffen SS will be worked out in agreement with the Medical Inspectorate of the Waffen SS." MR. MCHANEY:I have just completed the duties of the Office of Handloser which you see on the left on the chart. This decree covers work to be done by the defendant Handloser, by the defendant Karl Brandt and by the deceased Dr. Conti. The second paragraph deals with Conti and it reads as follows: "In the field of Civilian Health Administration the State Secretary, in the Ministry of Interior and Reich Chief for Public Health, Dr. Conti, is responsible for coordinated measures. For this purpose he has at his disposal the competent departments of the highest Reich authorities and their subordinate offices." MR. MCHANEY:And here some more to Karl Brandt. "I empower Prof. Dr. Karl Brandt, subordinate only to me personally and receiving his instructions directly from me, to carry out special tasks and negoti ations to readjust the requirements for doctors, hospitals, medical supplies, etc. between the military and the civilian sectors of the Health and Medical Services. "5. My plenipotentiary for Health and Medical Services is to be kept informed about the fundamental events in the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht and in the Civilian Health Service. He is authorized to intervene in a responsible manner." MR. MCHANEY:That last paragraph is, of course, discussing Karl Brandt and it states he is to be kept between the defendant Handloser and between the deceased Doctor Conti and it also states that he is authorized to intervene in what is described as a "responsible manner." Signed by Adolf Hitler and Keitel. The second decree of the Fuehrer which I offer at this time is Document NO. 081 and as Prosecution Exhibit 6. This is from the Reichgesetzblatt, found on page 533. The second Fuehrer Decree concerned the Medical and Health Services, 5 September 1943. "In application of my decree concerning the Medical and Health Services of 28 July 1942" -- which I have just read -- "I order: The plenipotentiary for the Medical and Health Services, General Commissioner Professor Dr. Med. Brandt is charged with centrally coordinating and directing the problems and activities of the entire Medical and Health service according to instructions. In this sense this order
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1942" -- which I have just read -- "I order: The plenipotentiary for the Medical and Health Services, General Commissioner Professor Dr. Med. Brandt is charged with centrally coordinating and directing the problems and activities of the entire Medical and Health service according to instructions. In this sense this order applies also the field of medical science and research as well as with the organizational institutions concerned with the manufacture and distribution of medical material. "The plenipotentiary for the Medical and Health Services is authorized to appoint and commission special deputies for his spheres of action." Signed by the Fuehrer and the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Dr. Lammers." MR. MCHANEY:Now Dr. Brandt will tell us that is job was simply to allocate doctors and medical supplies as between the military and health services. We do not deny that this was one of his functions but the decree I have just read very explicitly states that his power and responsibility extended to medical science and research. It was on the occasion of this second decree that tho defendant Rostock was appointed by Karl Brandt to the position as head of his office for Medical Science and Research. The third and final decree is Document NO. 082 which we offer as Proexecution Exhibit 7. This is from the 1944 Reichgesetzblatt Part 1, page 185. Fuehrer Decree Concerning the appointment of a Reich Commissioner for Medical and Health Services. 25 August 1944. "I hereby appoint the General Commissioner for Medical and Health Matters, Professor Dr. Brandt, Reich Commissioner for Sanitation and Health as well, for the duration of this war. In this capacity his office ranks as the highest Reich authority. "The Reich Commissioner for Medical and Health Services is authorized to issue instruction to the offices and organizations of the State, Party and Wehrmacht which are concerned with the problems of the Medical and Health Services." Signed by the Fuehrer, Dr. Lammers, the Director of the Chancellory of the Party, Martin Bormann and the Chief of the OKW, Keitel. MR. MCHANEY:This decree promoted the defendant Karl Brandt to a rank equivalent to that of a Reich Minister. I turn now to the affidavit of the defendant Rostock, which is Document NO. 676 and which we offer as Prosecution Exhibit 8. "I, Dr. Paul Ludwig Ernst Rostock, being duly sworn, depose and stated: 1. "I was born January 18, 1892 at Kranz, district of Meseritz, Germany. I studied medicine at the Universities of Groifswald and Jena. In 1921 I received my doctorate and was appointed Assistant Surgeon at the Surgical Clinic of Jena. From 1927 until 1933 I was Chief Surgeon at the Bergmannsheil Clinic of Jena. 2. "In 1933 I was appointed Chief Surgeon at the Surgical Clinic in Berlin. Professor Magnus, who was Surgeon-in-Chief at the Clinic, went in 1936 to Munich and I was appointed deputy Surgeon-in-Chief at the Clinic, went in 1936 to Munich and I was appointed deputy Surgeon-in-Chief and charged with the duties
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1933 I was appointed Chief Surgeon at the Surgical Clinic in Berlin. Professor Magnus, who was Surgeon-in-Chief at the Clinic, went in 1936 to Munich and I was appointed deputy Surgeon-in-Chief at the Clinic, went in 1936 to Munich and I was appointed deputy Surgeon-in-Chief and charged with the duties of Surgeon-inChief. In 1941 I was officially appointed Chief of the Clinic. "3. I joined the NSDAP in 1938 or 1939, and received the rank of Generalarzt in the reserve." MR. MCHANEY:If your Honors please, that's rather purely written. It doesn't mean that he received the rank of Generalsrzt in the Nazi Party. It merely means that he was a General in the Medical Service in the Reserve of the Army. "From 1939 until the end of the war I was consulting Surgeon to the Army and subordinate to the Military Medical Academy in Berlin. Dr. Handloser was my superior. "4. In Winter of 1943 I was appointed Chief of the Office for Medical Science and Research. This department belonged to the office of Dr. Karl Brandt, Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation. I remained in this position until the end of the war." Signed "Paul Rostock." MR. MCHANEY:Thus Rostock was, until the latter part of 1943, a consulting surgeon to the army under the defendant Handloser. After that time he took the poition under Karl Brandt as Chief of the Office for Medical Science and Research. It was his job, among other things, to see to it that the scientific facilities of Germany were usefully employed and that there was no duplication of research work. This, of course, required that he have a detailed knowledge of medical and scientific research in Germany. On the chart before the Tribunal we see some of the scientific groups over which he had supervisory control in so far as research was concerned. These included the Reich Research Counsel, about which the Tribunal will hear more shortly. MR. PRESIDENT:At this time the Tribunal will be in recess for 15 minutes. BY MR. McHANEY:To clear up the question of the admissibility of the documents which we have thus far offered this morning I would like to state that the Prosecution understands that if no objection is raised by defense counsel at the time that the document is offered, then it is to be assumed that the document is in fact admitted into the record. THE PRESIDENT:It is our understanding that the defense counsel understands that very well. MR. McHANEY:So much for the office of the Reich Commissioner for Health and Medical Service. I would like to turn now to Document No. 2082, which will be Prosecution Exhibit No. 9. This is a chart by the defendant Handloser and shows the organization of the medical service of the Wehrmacht. This chart is now before the Court in an enlarged form on a frame behind the witness box. Before discussing the chart I will read the affidavit of Handloser, which is document No. 443, and this will
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defendant Handloser and shows the organization of the medical service of the Wehrmacht. This chart is now before the Court in an enlarged form on a frame behind the witness box. Before discussing the chart I will read the affidavit of Handloser, which is document No. 443, and this will be Prosecution Exhibit No.10, and the chart is No. 2082: "I, Dr. Siegried Handloser, being duly sworn, depose and state: 1. I was born in Konstanz (Badon) in 1885. I began my medical studies in the year 1903 as a student at the Kaiser Wilhelm Academy. I passed my premedical examination at the University of Berlin in the year 1905, and my state examination at the University of Berlin in the year 1910. In 1910 I was assigned to the Military Hospital and the 14th Field Artillery at Strassbourg, and in 1912 I became Chief Medical Officer of the Airship Battalions 1 and 2,1 which were stationed in Berlin, and in this capacity I directed research work for the observation of the hemoglobin level at various altitudes. I also became a certified free balloon pilot. 2. In 1914 I became first lieutenant (Medical) on the staff of physicians of the Guard Corps, and after the outbreak of the first World War I served on the Western Front in the Guard Regiment, as well as the Guard Corps Headquarters. In 1916 I become Commanding Officer of a division medical unit, and from 1918 until 1920 I was the Chief Medical Officer of a Division which was used for the suppression of communistic revolts. 3. From 1920 until 1923 I was attached to the Medical Clinic of the University of Giessen for training as a specialist for internal diseases. From 1923 until 1928 I was Chief Medical advisor of corps area V at Ulm, and from 1928 until 1932 I was attached to the Chief of Medical Service, OKH, as Chief of the division for Military Hospitals and Patients. In 1932 1 became Chief Medical Officer at the corps area Stuttgart. From 1935 until 1938 I was Chief Medical Officer with Army Group Command 3. In 1938 I became Chief Medical Officer of the German forces in Austria under General List, who later become Field Marshall. 4. On 1 September 1939 I became Chief Medical Officer of the 14th German Army, and accompanied this army, which was commanded by General List, during the Polish campaign. I served as Chief Medical Officer of the 12th German Army during the campaign in France. On 6 November 1940 I because Deputy Army Medical Inspector, replacing Weldmann. 5. On 1 January 1941 I was appointed Waldmann's successor because the latter was dying. At this time (1 January 1941) General Ott was Chief Medical Officer of the Field Forces. In February 1941 Ott resigned, and I suggested, that the two Medical Departments, namely the Army Medical Inspectorate, which was under the control of the OKH, and the office of the Chief Medical Officer should be united. Since
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January 1941) General Ott was Chief Medical Officer of the Field Forces. In February 1941 Ott resigned, and I suggested, that the two Medical Departments, namely the Army Medical Inspectorate, which was under the control of the OKH, and the office of the Chief Medical Officer should be united. Since the principle of the independent authority of command was in harmony with the independent control by the OKH, I was ordered to unify the two offices tentatively. In April 1941 I received the official permission to keep both positions. But I was asked to retain two departments which were separated from each other. "6. By decree of the Fuehrer of 28 July 1942"--which I have already read--"I became head of the Wermacht Medical Services and besides maintained both physicians at the OKW"--If your Honor please, that should red OKH rather than OKW--"Dr. Karl Brandt, General Commission for Health--for Medical and Health matters-- and later Reich Commissioner for Medical and Health matters, was my immediate superior in medical affairs. "7. By decree of the Fuehrer of 28 June 1942, which referred to Medical and Health matters, I was commissioned to supervise all phases of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht and of all organizations subordinated or attached to the Wehrmacht, including the Waffen SS. "8. On 1 September 1944, the personal union between the Army Medical Inspector and the head of the Wehrmacht Medical Service was repealed by decree of the Fuehrer. I kept my position as Chief of the Wehrmacht Medical Service and General Walter was appointed to take over my two positions in the OKH." Signed: "Dr. Handloser" Thus, the defendant, Handloser, occupied dual capacity over most of the period in which we are interested. From the latter part of 1940 until September 1944, Handloser was Chief of the Army Medical Inspectorate; while from July 1942 until the end of the war, he was also Chief of the Medical Services of the Armed Forces or Wehrmacht. The chart before the Tribunal shows, on the left side, part of the organization of the Army Medical Inspectorate. (I take it was on the left side in the small chart which the Court has on its desk. They apparently have somewhat changed the setup due to the space on the large chart bow on the screen.) During the course of the trial, you will hear mention made of the Military Medical Academy in Berlin, of the Typhus Institute of the OKH under Dr. Eyer, and also in connection with the freezing experiment of the Institute at St. Johann. Now all of those organizations--Military Medical Academy, the Typhus Institute of the OKH under Dr. Eyer, and the Institute at St. Johann-were subordinated to the Army Medical Inspectorate and the Chief of the Army Medical Inspectorate from 1940 until September 1944 was Handloser. Immediately below the Army the Army Medical Inspectorate on the chart, we have a breakdown of the organization of the Military Medical Academy. This Academy held meetings at least once a
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the Army Medical Inspectorate and the Chief of the Army Medical Inspectorate from 1940 until September 1944 was Handloser. Immediately below the Army the Army Medical Inspectorate on the chart, we have a breakdown of the organization of the Military Medical Academy. This Academy held meetings at least once a year which were attended by the foremost doctors in Germany, including a number of the defendants in the dock. The proof will show that at one of these meetings, reports were given on the typhus and sulfanilimide experiments on concentration camp inmates. As Chief of the Medical Services of the Armed Forces, Handloser had subordinated to him, all of the medical services shown across the top of this chart; the Army, the Navy, the Luftwaffe, the Waffen SS, the Organization Todt, and the Reich Labor Front. Thus, Erich Hippken, Chief of the Luftwaffe Medical Inspectorate, his subordinate, the defendant, Schroeder, as well as the defendant, Genzken, as Chief of the Medical Service of the Waffen SS, were all subordinated to Handloser. Handloser limits his jurisdiction over the Waffen SS to front-line troops and it is interesting to note that on the chart, he specifically states that the Institute for Typhus and Virus Research at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp was not subject to his command. The Typhus Institute at Buchenwald is shown on the chart before the Court under the Waffen SS. (I think it is the lower box.) In Note 5 on the chart, which was drawn and certified by the defendant, Handloser, and which was brought into evidence, he states the following: (and I quote). "Whether there was an exchange of letters between the Typhus Institute of the OKH under Dr. Eyer"--which is on the left part of the chart--" and the Typhus Institute of the Waffen SS, how extensively and through which channels it was carried on, is not known to me. Anyway, if there was such an exchange, it did not pass through my hands. The report on the production of spotted fever vaccine in Dr. Eyer's Institute, went to the Army Medical Inspectorate. Also, a requirement of the Wehrmacht branches were reported to that office. The distribution was made from a central point which accorded priority to matters of urgency." This is clearly the defensive argument of a man who strongly suspects that the prosecution has found proof of the complicity which he knows to exist of offices directly subordinated to him in the murderous typhus experiments at Buchenwald. Before passing on, I want to introduce DocumentNO-227as Prosecution Exhibit 11. THE TRIBUnAL (JUDGE SEBRING): Mr. McHaney, before passing on to the next one, it may be that I have the wrong chart here. MR. McHANEY: Which number is that, Your Honor? THE TRIBUNAL (JUDGE SEBRING): But in your statements before the Tribunal, you kept reading, apparently from this statement of Dr. Handloser and talking about typhus. My translation here talks about the Spotted Fever Institute. MR. McHANEY: Well, Your Honor, that is simply a question of
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number is that, Your Honor? THE TRIBUNAL (JUDGE SEBRING): But in your statements before the Tribunal, you kept reading, apparently from this statement of Dr. Handloser and talking about typhus. My translation here talks about the Spotted Fever Institute. MR. McHANEY: Well, Your Honor, that is simply a question of translation. I think that you will finding a number of our documents that the German word "Fleckfieber" has been translated "spotted fever". That is not to be confused with the disease which is common in the United States-- at least on the West Coast--known as "Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever". We are not here charging the defendants with having experimented with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but rather with "Fleckfieber" or typhus, which is sometimes known in our country as "Spotted Fever". I was just offering for admittance into evidence, Document No-227 as Prosecution exhibit 11. This is a decree by Hitler and an order by Keitel restating the responsibilities of Handloser as Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. It was on the occasion of this decree that Handloser surrendered his post as Chief of the Army Medical Inspectorate, and threrafter, he occupied simply the position of Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. I would like to read parts of this exhibit. This is dated 7 August 1944. "The Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht: "To obtain a better concentration of powers in the field of Medical Service of the Wehrmacht, I order in extension of my decree of 28 July 1942: "First: The Chief of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht will direct, as far as the special field is concerned, the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht and the organizations and services installed within the homework of the Wehrmacht." --which should probably read "framework"--He is authorized to issue orders within the special field of his jurisdiction. "Second: I approve the service regulation for the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht issued by the Chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. It will replace the one of 28 July 1942, which was in effect up to now. "Third: The personal union of the Chief of Medical Services of the Wehrmacht and the Chief of the Medical Services of the Army is herewith cancel ed as of September 1944." Now, the Service Regulation issued by Keitel is also part of this same document, and is on the next page. It is also dated 7 August 1944 and is entitled "Service Regulation for the chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht". The first article deals with "Subordination and Powers." "One: The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht will be directly under the Chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. He will have the position of an Office Chief, and the disciplinary power, according to Paragraph 18 of the Wehrmacht Regulation for Disciplinary Motion and the other powers of a Commanding General. "Two: He has authority according to No.1 of the Fuehrer Decree
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of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. He will have the position of an Office Chief, and the disciplinary power, according to Paragraph 18 of the Wehrmacht Regulation for Disciplinary Motion and the other powers of a Commanding General. "Two: He has authority according to No.1 of the Fuehrer Decree over the following: "a) The Chief of Army Medical Service, the Chief of Navy Medical Service, the Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, the Chief of the Medical Service of the Waffen SS, and the Medical Chiefs of the organizations and services employed within the framework of the Wehrmacht while they are acting in the area of command of the Wehrmacht. "b) All scientific medical institutes, academies and other medical institutions of the services of the Wehrmacht and of the Waffen SS." "II. Duties. 1. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht is the advisor of the Chief of the High Command of the Wehrmacht in all questions concerning the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht and of its health guidance. 2. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht will direct the total Medical Services of the Wehrmacht as far as the special field is concerned, with regard for the military instructions of the Chief of the High Command of the Military Service and the general rules of the Commissioner General for Medical and Health Departments." (The reference is to the defend ant, Karl Brandt.) "3. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht will inform the Fuehrer's Commissioner General about basic events in the field of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. He will represent the Wehrmacht to the civilian authorities in all mutual medical affairs and he will protect their interests in connection with the health measures of the civilian administrative authorities. He will represent the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht to the Medical Services of foreign powers. 4. Other duties of the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht will be: a) in the medical-scientific field: Uniform measures in the field of health guidance, research, and the combatting of epidemics and all medical measures which require a uniform ruling among the Wehrmacht. Evaluation of medical experiences. Medical matters of the recruiting system, of the welfare and maintenance and of the prisoners of war. He is the president of the scientific senate of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht." (B deals with organization and training system, which I will not read). (I note again from Article III, which is Special Powers, page 22, of the English Document Book.) "1. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht is entitled to request from the services all records necessary for the performance of his assignments. 2. He is entitled to express his view on the appointment of medical officers or medical leaders in the Wehrmacht and also in the units of the Waffen SS which are subordinated to the Wehrmacht - if the position is that or a Generalarzt or a higher
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of his assignments. 2. He is entitled to express his view on the appointment of medical officers or medical leaders in the Wehrmacht and also in the units of the Waffen SS which are subordinated to the Wehrmacht - if the position is that or a Generalarzt or a higher position. Before filling these positions his opinion has to be heard. 3. He is untitled to inspect the medical service, the medical units, the medical troops, and installations of the Wehrmacht after having informed the High Command of the Service concerned or the headquarters of the units concerned. He is entitled to give orders on the spot in the field of medical service, if these are necessary for the removal of emergencies and do not disagree with fundamental orders of the Services. He has to inform the High Commands of the services concerned about the results of the inspections and about the issued orders. 4. Fundamental changes in the organization of the Medical Service, in the subordination of medical officers, non-commissioned officers, and enlisted men and of the officials and employees of the Medical Service require the consent of the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. 5. The Deputy of the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht shall be the senior Medical Inspector or the Medical Chief of one of the services. The Chief of Staff will act as his deputy for routine duties." (Six deals with the title which the Chief of the Medical Services shall use when on issuing orders.) "7. For the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht the new table of organization of 1 April 1944 is taking effect. The necessary personnel has to be taken from the Services, etc., above all from their Medical Inspectorates or Offices. Signed: KEITEL" (It can be seen from this decree, which I have read, how bread and extensive were the powers, responsibilities, and duties of the defendant, Handloser, as Chief of the Medical Services of the Armed Forces. We come now to the group of Luftwaffe defendants. These are Schroeder, Rose, Becker-Freyseng, Weltz, Ruff, Romberg, Beiglbock, and Schaefer. Before reading the affidavits giving the personal histories of these defendants I would like to introduce two charts, signed by the defendant Schroeder, showing the organization of the Medical Service of the German Air Force. Doc. No. 418, which will be Prosecution Exhibit 12, gives the organization as it was from 1941 until the end of 1943. Now I had hoped that at this time we would have charts similar to the one before the Court which would show the organization of the Luftwaffe. However, due to mechanical and supply difficulties we were unable to get the charts prepared and, accordingly, will have to use the smaller charts which the Court now has. I think it would be helpful in presentation if I now introduce the second Luftwaffe chart which shows the organization following December 1943. If the Court could have these two charts open
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get the charts prepared and, accordingly, will have to use the smaller charts which the Court now has. I think it would be helpful in presentation if I now introduce the second Luftwaffe chart which shows the organization following December 1943. If the Court could have these two charts open before them during the presentation I will try to indicate the positions of the defendants on each of the two charts as it may have changed.) THETRIBUNAL (Judge Sebring): What is the number of the last exhibit to which you refer? MR. McHANEY:The last exhibit I have not as yet shown as submitted is Doc.NO-419, and will be Prosecution Exhibit 13. This chart, as I said, covers the period from 31 December 1943 until the end of the War. These charts are very complicated, as the Court may see, but we shall discuss them only to the extent necessary to bring into clear focus the positions of the defendants in the dock. On the upper right had side of both charts, we find the positions of Karl Brandt, Rostock, and Handloser in relation to the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe. The cross-hatched, dealing now with No-418, lineleading to Hippke and Schroeder, from the office of Karl Brandt and Rostook and Handloser -- this cross hatched line, represents the channel of comma in technical or medical matters. You will note on the chart, after 1943 NO-419, to the right that Rostock by 1944 had a direct line of command (represented by the unbroken line) over Schroeder as to Science and Research. I shall refer to the charts as I read the affidavits of the defendants, the first of which is that of Schroeder. This is Doc.NO-666and is offered as Prosecution Exhibit 14. "I, Dr. Oskar Schroeder, being duly sworn, depose and state: 1. I was born on 6 February 1891 at Hannover, Germany. I attended school in Hannover and, from 1910 until 1914, was a student at Kaiser Milhelm Academy of Military Medical Education. During the first World War (1914-1920) I was a medical officer with the troops. I remained in the Army until time end of the first World War as a medical officer with the rank of First Lieutenant. 2. From 1920 to 1925 I received specialized training as an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor at Koenigsberg and Wuerzburg. From October 1925 until 31 December 1930 I was Chief Medical Officer of the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of the garrison hospital at Hannover. During this period I was also medical officer of a number of military units. 3. From 1 January 1931 until 31 August 1935 I was assigned to the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army as consultant on hospital matters and therapeutics with the rank of Major. 4. Until the end of 1935 my old friend and classmate, Brig. Gen. Hippke, asked me to become Chief of Staff in the newly formed Medical Department of the Reich Ministry of Aviation. I retained this position
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Army as consultant on hospital matters and therapeutics with the rank of Major. 4. Until the end of 1935 my old friend and classmate, Brig. Gen. Hippke, asked me to become Chief of Staff in the newly formed Medical Department of the Reich Ministry of Aviation. I retained this position until 31 January 1940. In 1937 Hippke was made Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe. From 1 February 1940 until 31 December 1943 I was a Physician for Air Fleet II and hold the rank of Major General." (The position of Hippke is shown on the first chart - about in the center of the chart. He was the predecessor of Schroeder and his title at that time was Inspector of the Medical Services of the Luftewaffe. This office was abbreviated L. In. 14 (Luftwaffe Inspectorate 14, which was Medical Services.) The Tribunal will have the occasion to see the name of Hippke in L. In. 14. In that connection it should be remembered that the defendant Schroeder was until February 1940 Chief of Staff to Hippke and thereafter until December 31, 1943, he was Chief Physician to Air Fleet No. II. The latter position is shown on the first chart to the left. It is rather hard find, your Honor. Do you find it? It is to the left from the center in a number of boxes in which are shown positions of the Air Fleet in Germany, no Air Fleet No. II of which Schroeder was Chief Physician.) During this whole period, Schroeder was the highest ranking officer in the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, next to Hippke. I continue now reading Schroeder's affidavit. Paragraph 5: "on 1 January 1944 I was appointed to succeed Hippke and became Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe. I was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General (Generaloberstabsarzt), and held this position until the end of the Second World War. /Signed/ Dr. Oskar Schroeder." Schroeder's position as Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe is shown in the middle of the second chart which the Court has received. I turn now to the Defendant Rose, and I read his affidavit, which is DocumentNO-673and is offered as Prosecution Exhibit 15. It is on Page 27 of the English Document Book: "I Dr. Gerhard August Heinrich Rose, being duly sworn, depose and state: "1. I was born November 30, 1896 in Danzig. I studied medicine at Berlin and Breslau Universities and passed my state examination in October 1921. "2. During the latter part of 1921 and the first part of 1922 I interned at the Hygiene Institute of Breslau University, the Medical Polyclinic, and the Pathological Institute of the Wentzerl-Hancke Hospital in Breslau. From may until August 1922 I was an assistant on the staff of the Institute for Contegious Diseases of the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. From August 1922 until February 1923 I was assistant on the staff of the Hygienic Institute of Basle University. From March
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Wentzerl-Hancke Hospital in Breslau. From may until August 1922 I was an assistant on the staff of the Institute for Contegious Diseases of the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. From August 1922 until February 1923 I was assistant on the staff of the Hygienic Institute of Basle University. From March 1923 until September 1925 I was assistant on the staff of the Institute for Anatomy in Heidelberg. From October 1925 until February 1926 I was a member of the staff of the Purgical Clinic of Heidelber University. (From March 1926 until May 1929 I engageed in the private practice of medicine in Heidelberg.) "3. In 1929 I went to China, and from August 1929 until September 1936 was Chief of the Institute for Public Health (Landesanstalt fuer Gesundheitswesen) in Chekiang, in Han chow, China. During this time I was also adviser in public health maters to the Ministry of the Interior of Chekiang. In 1930, while in China, I joined the NSDAP. "4. In 1936 I returned to Germany and became professor and head of the Department for Tropical Medicine at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. In 1942 I became Vice President of the Institute but retained my professorship and position as head of the Department for Tropical Medicine. Dr. Gildemeister was President of the Robert Koch Institute. "5. On August 26, 1939 I joined the Luftwaffe with the rank of Oberarzt (1st Lieutenant) in the Medical Corps. I rose to the rank of Generalsrzt (General) in the Reserve. I was Consulting Medical Officer on Hygiene an Tropical Medical to the Chief of the Medical Services of the Luftwaffe (Chef der Sanitaetswesens des Luftwaffe.) I remained in this position until the end of the war. My superior was Dr. Hippke and after January 1, 1944, Dr. Schroeder. "6. From 1944 until the end of the war I was medical consultant to Dr. Handloser, Chief of the Medical Service of the Armed Forces (Chef def Wehrmachtsanitaetswesens). I was also medical adviser to Dr. Conti in matters pertaining to tropical diseases. I was subordinate to him in my capacity of a member of the Robert Koch Institute, since he was the Chief of the Civilian Medical Service, being Under secretary of State. /Signed/ Dr. Gerhard Rose." The position of Rose as consulting hygienist to the Luftwaffe is shown on the left side of both charts. He was and expert on tropical diseases, including, among others, malaria, yellow fever and typhus. I might add parenthetically here that the Tribunal shall hear of Rose particularly here in connection with the typhus experiments by Dr. Haagen of the University of Strassbourg and by Dr. Ding at the Buchenwald Concentration Ca,p. Haagen is shown on both charts, and its may be a little difficult for you to find. I am afraid you might have considerable difficulty in finding it. There is a box, just to the left of the middle, down below which is entitled "University of Strassbourg, Professor Haagen". He was a consulting hygienist
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both charts, and its may be a little difficult for you to find. I am afraid you might have considerable difficulty in finding it. There is a box, just to the left of the middle, down below which is entitled "University of Strassbourg, Professor Haagen". He was a consulting hygienist to the Air Fleet Reich. Dr. Haagen did a substantial part of his experimental work at the Natzweiler Concentration Camp, which was quite close to Strassbourg. You will remember that the typhus Institute at Buchenwald was shown on the chart drawn Handloser. It will also be on the SS charts, to which we will come in a moment. I turn now to the affidavit of defendant Becker-Freyseng, which is Document No.NO-669. After signing this document, Becker-Freyseng desired to make an amendment, and this is embodied in Document No. 790. I submit both of these documents as Prosecution Exhibit 16. "I Dr. Hermann Becker-Freyseng, swear, depose and state: "1. I was born on 18 July 1910 in Ludwigshafen/Rhein, Germany, I studied medicine at the Universities of Heidelberg, Innsbruck and Berlin and passed my state examination in 1935 in Berlin. "2. Until 1938 I was assistant physician at the clinic for internal medicine at the Robert Koch Hospital in Berlin. From 1938 until 1945 I was scientific assistant at the Medical Research Institute for Aviation in Berlin. "3. In 1933 I joined the NSDAP. In 1940 I was drafted into the Luftwaffe and in 1943 I was promoted to the rank of Stabsarzt. From July until December 1940 I was physician at the aviator examination post, Sooterborg/ Holland From December 1940 until February 1941 I attended the Military Academy in Gatow. "4. From February 1941 until August 1941 I was assigned to the 1st platoon for low pressure chamber tests of the Luftwaffe, which was temporarily stationed in Romania. My task chiefly consisted in assisting the demonstration of instructional experiments, which included a test of the reaction of fighter crews at altitudes of 12,000 meters. "5. From August 1941 until January 1944 I was attached to Dr. Anthony as assistant consultant (Hilfsreferent) in the department for Aviation Medicine in the Office of Inspektor of the Medicine Service of the Luftwaffe, Dr. Hippke. From January 1944, when Dr. Oskar Schroeder became chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, until the end of the war I was consultant for Aviation Medicine in his (Schroeder) office. "6. During the period from 1935 until 1938 I continued my work at the Medical Research Institute for Aviation in Berlin. I carried out research work independently, on the adaptability of pilots in high altitudes, their reaction to the lack of oxygen, and oxygen poisoning. "/Signed/ Dr. Hermann Becker-Freyseng." The amendment to his affidavit, which is embodied in DocumentNO-790, is as follows: "In paragraph 5 of my affidavit of 18 November 1946 the following correction has to be made. "My title from August 1941 to about 15 May 1944 was Assistant Consultation (Hilfsreferent) under Dr. Anthony in the
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Becker-Freyseng." The amendment to his affidavit, which is embodied in DocumentNO-790, is as follows: "In paragraph 5 of my affidavit of 18 November 1946 the following correction has to be made. "My title from August 1941 to about 15 May 1944 was Assistant Consultation (Hilfsreferent) under Dr. Anthony in the department (Referat) for Aviation Medicine in the Office of the Inspector of the Medical Service, later in the office of the Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe. "Only from about 15 May 1944 to the end of the war I was Consultant (Referent) in the above mentioned office." The change that he is making is that in his first affidavit he stated that he became the consultant for Aviation Medicine to Schroeder on January 1, 1944, while his amendment states that he, in fact, became the Chief Consultant only on 15 May 1944. THE PRESIDENT:Are the amendment and the affidavit attached together? MR. McHANEY:Attached to What? THE PRESIDENT:Attached one to the other, the original affidavit and the amendment? MR. McHANEY:Yes. They go in sequence as exhibits and carry the same exhibit number. THE PRESIDENT:I understood that, but if they are not attached together, there might be some difficulty in having two Exhibit 16's. If they are attached together, one marked as Exhibit 16 is sufficient. If they are not attached together, one could be marked Exhibit 16 and the other 16 (2). MR. McHANEY:I think that is the proper suggestion. DR.MARX (Counsel for defendant Becker-Freyseng): In the chart which Counsel or the Prosecution has submitted it says, with reference to Dr. Becker - this can be found approximately in the center of this chart - it says he was the liaison man between Schroeder and I can hardly read the next part.... Then it says Dr. BeckerFreyseng, Liaison Man between Schroeder and Georgii. I should like to remark in that connection that Dr. Becker was only the consulting physician in the department ?o without any authority to sign and without any responsibility, so that the name Liaison man" is not justified in any way whatsoever. In addition, I should rectify other mistake: Dr. Becker was active in the Robert Koch Hospital and not in the Robert Koch Institute. MR. MCHANEY:If the Tribunal please, I think that the remark about the power of the defendant Becker-Freyseng to sign orders is more a matter of argument than in objection to the chart which we have offered. I also think that if the defense counsel for Becker-Freyseng will consult with his client that he will find that the position put on this chart showing a relationship of liaison man from Schroeder to another department headed by a man named Georgii was entirely separate and distinct from his position as assistant consultant to Dr. Anthony in the Department for aviation medicine. He later became, of course, the Chief of the Department for aviation Medicine which he states was on 15 May 1944. As to his power to sign orders and things of
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entirely separate and distinct from his position as assistant consultant to Dr. Anthony in the Department for aviation medicine. He later became, of course, the Chief of the Department for aviation Medicine which he states was on 15 May 1944. As to his power to sign orders and things of that nature we will come to that in due course. THE PRESIDENT:The exhibit may be admitted. Explanations may be made later as the powers of the defendant. MR. MCHANEY:Thus, Becker-Freyseng was an important figure in the field of aviation medicine. As I understand it, aviation medicine includes all medical problems incident to the operation of aircraft -- for example, the effect of high altitude on the human body and questions of velocity and night-vision. Problems of cold and sea rescue also fell within his work. The field of hygiene, on the other hand, *overs general medical problems, such as sanitation and infectious diseases. The defendant Rose was a consultant on hygiene, the defendant Becker-Freyseng a consultant on aviation medicine. Becker-Freyseng appears on both the charts. On the one showing the organization as it existed up until December, 1943, he is shown under Anthony in the referat or department for aviation medicine. On the right, he is shown as chief of the department for aviation medicine. That is to say, on the later chart. He also appears as liaison between Schroeder and the Office of Research Guidance in the Ministry of aviation under Georgii. That is the box which the defense counsel for BeckerFreyseng called to the Court's attention. To put it succinctly, Becker-Freyseng was the chief adviser to Schroeder on questions of medical research. While Becker-Freyseng was primarily interested in aviation medicine, it is also true that many, if not all, medical research assignments by the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe were made through his office. Thus, we shall see that the research work of Haagen on typhus was assigned by the Department for Aviation Medicine. We turn now to the defendant Weltz and his affidavit is DocumentNO-677, which will be Prosecution Exhibit 17.: "I, Dr. Georg August Weltz, being duly sworn, depose and state: "1. I was born 16 March 1889, at Ludwigshafen on Rhine. I studied medicine at the Universities of Jena, Kiel, Koenigsberg, and Munich and passed my state examination in 1913. "2. During the First World War, I served in the Medical Office. My highest rank was that of Assistant physician, that is to say, Assistenzarzt. During the early part of World War I, I was for a whole period pilot with a field aviation division. During 1919 and 1920, I was an assistant physician at the Medical and surgical Clinic in Munich. From 1921 until 1936, I practiced in Munich, specializing **n roentgenology. "3. From 1936 until 1945, I lectured on Aviation Medicine at the University of Munich. At the same time, I, in connection with Professor Broemser, did research work in the field of x-ray methods and aviation medicine, at the physiological Institute of
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1936, I practiced in Munich, specializing **n roentgenology. "3. From 1936 until 1945, I lectured on Aviation Medicine at the University of Munich. At the same time, I, in connection with Professor Broemser, did research work in the field of x-ray methods and aviation medicine, at the physiological Institute of the University of Munich. "4. I joined tho N.S.D.A.P., in 1937. I was also a member of the National Socialist Physician's Association and National Socialist Lecturers' Association and NSFK. In August 1939, I was called into the Luftwaffe. In the course of the war, I rose to the rank of Oberfeldarzt, equivalent rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During this time I also operated a Pilots' Physical Examination Office in Neubiberg and worked at the permanent Examination Board No. 4 in Munich, where I was concerned mainly with the physical endurance and reactions of pilots at high altitudes. "5. In 1941 my division of the Physiological Institute at Munich University, where I was doing research work, was taken over by the Luftwaffe and renamed the Institute for Aviation Medicine. I was made Chief of this Institute and remained in that position until the end of the war. The field of research engaged in at the Institute included physical reactions of the pilot at high altitudes, reciprocity of respirations and circulation, cooling, collapse, and revival of the pilot. In 1944 I was appointed Non-established Professor at the University of Munich. (Signed) DR. GEORG AUGUST WELTZ." The Institute for Aviation Medicine at Munich under Weltz is shown on both of our charts. On the earlier chart, that is, showing the organization prior to 1944, the Tribunal will find the name of Dr. Rascher in a box beneath Weltz. Rascher was Captain in the Luftwaffe and an important figure in most of the medical experiment performed at the Dachau Concentration Camp, which was approximately 12 miles from Munich. During part of these experiments, the Prosecution contends that Rascher was Luftwaffe doctor attached to the institute of Weltz. That fact does not appear on this chart and we do not contend that it does. Two of Rascher's co-workers in the freezing experiments were Holzloehner and Finke, both Luftwaffe doctors. These names also appear on the chart showing the earlier period. Holzloehner committed suicide before his capture and the where abouts of Finke is unknown. We turn now to the defendant Ruff. His affidavit is DocumentNO-638and will be Prosecution Exhibit 18. "1. I was born on 19 February 1907 at Friedersheim on Niederrhein, Germany. I graduated from high school in Berlin in 1926, and commenced the study of medicine, I studied at the Universities of Berlin and Bonn and passed my state examination in Bonn at the beginning of 1932. From 1932 until January 1934, I was an interne and assistant at the clinics of Bonn University. "2. In January 1934, I was assigned to the German experimental institute for aviation, in order to establish a department for Aviation Medicine. I became chief of this department, which
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beginning of 1932. From 1932 until January 1934, I was an interne and assistant at the clinics of Bonn University. "2. In January 1934, I was assigned to the German experimental institute for aviation, in order to establish a department for Aviation Medicine. I became chief of this department, which was later renamed the Institute for Aviation Medicine. I remained in this position until the end of the war. My chief assistant was Dr. Hans Wolfgang ROMBERG, who, towards the end of the war, attained the position of a department head at the institute. I was a reserve officer in the Luftwaffe with the rank of First Lieutenant." Since the defendant ROMBERG was an assistant to RUFF, I shall read his affidavit before indicating their positions on the charts. This, his affidavit, is documentNO-588, and will be Prosecution Exhibit 19. "I, Dr. Hans Wolfgang Arthur Bernhard ROMBERG, being duly sworn, depose and state: "1. I was born on May 15, 1911 in Berlin, From 1929 until 1935, I studied medicine at the Universities of Berlin and Innsbruck. I passed my state examination in 1935. "2. I joined the NSDAP in May 1933. From April 1936 until 1938, I interned and was assistant physician at the Krankenhaus of Friedrichshain, a Berlin hospital. During 1937, I served in the German air force for two months. "3. On 1 January 1938, I joined the staff of the German Experimental Institute for Aviation in Berlin, as an associate scientist. I remained in this position until the end of the war. My superior was always Dr. Siegfried RUFF. In this position I was concerned, among other things, with problems of altitude and velocity." The German Experimental Institute for Aviation, in which the defendants, RUFF and ROMBERG, were active, are shown on both of our charts as being subordinated as far as aviation medical research is concerned to, first, HIPPKE, and thereafter toSCHROEDER.The names of both RUFF and ROMBERG appear in the box immediately beside this Department for Aviation Medicine. These two gentlemen who are arrayed with RASCHER in carrying out the high altitude experiments at Dachau in the spring and summer of 1942. Their co-operation was secured, as we shall demonstrate, through the good offices of the defendant WELTZ. Lastly, we come to the two Luftwaffe defendants, who are in the dock primarily because of the part they played in the experiments to make seawater drinkable. BEIGLEBROECK's affidavit is documentNO-674, which becomes Prosecution Exhibit 20. It reads as follows: "I, Dr. Wilhelm Franz Joseph BEIGLEROECK, being duly sworn, depose and state: "1. I was born October 10, 1905, at Hoehneukircheni, Lower Austria. I studied medicine at the University of Vienna and passed my state examination in 1931. "2. I joined the NSDAP in 1933, but received my party number after the annexation of Austria. I joined the SA in 1934. My last rank in the SA was that of Obersturmbannfuehrer of the Medical Service. I was also a member of the association of Nazi physicians
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in 1931. "2. I joined the NSDAP in 1933, but received my party number after the annexation of Austria. I joined the SA in 1934. My last rank in the SA was that of Obersturmbannfuehrer of the Medical Service. I was also a member of the association of Nazi physicians and the association of Nazi academic lecturers. "3. From 1931 to 1933, I was an assistant physician on the staff of the Third Medical Clinic in Vienna. From 1931 until the end of the war, I was associated with the First Hospital in Vienna, in 1939 becoming chief physician. In 1939, I qualified as an academic lecturer and, in 1944, qualified as extraordinary professor. "4. In May, 1941, I joined the German air force, where I rose to the rank of Captain in the Medical Services. From August 1941, until December 1941, I was stationed in the air force hospital in Wels, Upper Austria. From December 1941 until May 1942, I was stationed at the air force hospital at Vienna, where I worked in the department for the treatment of internal disease. "5. From May 1942 until July 1942, I attended the war school in Eger, and in July 1942 until November 1943. I was assigned to the motorized medical detachment where I was in charge of the Department for Internal Disease. From November 1943 until 1944, I was stationed at the air force hospital at Braunschweig, where I was Deputy Department Head of the Department for Internal Diseases. From early 1944 until the end of the war, except for approximately a six-week period, I was stationed at the hospital for paratroopers at Tarvis, Northern Italy, where I was chief physician for the Department of Internal Diseases. "6. From approximately 1 July 1944, while stationed at Tarvis, Italy, I was ordered by Dr. BECKER-FREYSENG to report to Dachau. I remained at Dachau for a period of approximately eight weeks, where I assisted in the experiments pertaining to the SCHAEFER and BERKA methods of rendering seawater potable." BEIGLBROECK's position is not shown on either of the two charts. He was recalled from service in Italy to conduct the seawater experiments, having been recommended by one Dr. Hans Eppinger, who was a consultant to the Luftwaffe. Eppinger recently took his life in Vienna. DocumentNO-688, which will be Prosecution Exhibit 21, is the affidavit of SCHAEFER. "I, Dr. Konrad Wilhelm Philipp SCHAEFER, being duly sworn, depose and state: "1. was born on January 7, 1911, at Muelhausen, Alsatia, Germany. I studied medicine at the Universities of Munich, Berlin, Innsbruck and Heidelberg. I passed my state examination in Heidelberg in December 1935. "2. In the beginning of 1936, I worked as a medical internee at the Heidelberg University Chemo Therapeutic Clinic in Berlin. A little later, in 1936, I became affiliated with the firm of SCHERING, A. G. in Berlin, as an assistant to Dr. Feldt in the therapeutic laboratory. I worked part time in SCHERING, A. G. In 1938 I had to leave
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at the Heidelberg University Chemo Therapeutic Clinic in Berlin. A little later, in 1936, I became affiliated with the firm of SCHERING, A. G. in Berlin, as an assistant to Dr. Feldt in the therapeutic laboratory. I worked part time in SCHERING, A. G. In 1938 I had to leave the clinic because I was not a member of the NSDAP. I remained with SCHERING until November 1941. "3. In November 1941, I was drafted into the Luftwaffe and received my basic medical training in Baden, near Vienna, Austria. In March 1942, I was transferred to the Luftwaffe replacement depot in Saylo, and from there to the Luftwaffe base at Frankfort on the Oder. "4. In the summer of 1942, I was transferred to Berlin, and assigned to the staff of the Research Institute for Aviation Medicine. Simultaneously, I received my position in the Research Department of the Chemotherapeutic Laboratory of SCHERING, A. G. My chief assignment at the institute was to do research work on tho problems of sea emergency for the Luftwaffe. This included research on various methods to render seawater potable. I remained in these positions until the end of the war." The position of SCHAEFER and the Research Institute for Aviation Medicine appear on both of the charts. DR. PELCKMANN:I have an objection to the admissibility of both the charts, with reference to the defendant SCHAEFER. The charts are to give you an optical impression with reference to the organizations as they are explained in the affidavit, and in particular, with reference to the position of the defend ant in that organization. The chart does not give you the correct optical impression which should be seen when reading the affidavit made by SCHAEFER. SCHAEFER was one of the collaborators in the staff of the Aviation Institute for Medicine. If the Tribunal would like to look at tho chart, it will see that under the name of this institute, and its leader Professor STRUCHOLD, there is a small box on which it says, "Dr. SCHAEFER." Beneath that, there are other boxes, which are subordinated to Dr. SCHAEFER and Dr. STRUGHOLD. This box, Dr. SCHAEFER, therefore, gives you a wrong impression which is neither in compliance with the testimony of SCHAEFER which has just been read, nor with the statement of Professor SCHROEDER, which was read before that. SCHAEFER was merely a collaborator and he was assigned to his duties as such and was only one of 30 to 40 collaborators in this institute. However, when looking at the chart, and that is my objection as to its admissibility, it appears as if he were the second man after STRUGHOLD. MR. McHANEY:Your Honor will appreciate the fact that it is impossible on a piece of paper the size of the charts that we have submitted to show each and every individual who was a number of these various institutes which were subordinate to the medical service of the Luftwaffe. It happens that we were interested in SCHAEFER. We
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it is impossible on a piece of paper the size of the charts that we have submitted to show each and every individual who was a number of these various institutes which were subordinate to the medical service of the Luftwaffe. It happens that we were interested in SCHAEFER. We are not interested in the other 38 students at this institute. Also, I would like to point out that we do not take the position at all that SCHAEFER was second in command after STRUGHOLD, and I am not aware that the Persecution has said anything to lead the counsel for this defendant to take that position. In any event, I do not think that his remarks go to an objection against the admissibility of this document, conceding that the document is wrong, he may point out these facts to the Court at the time he presents his case. The document was drawn for use by the defendant SCHROEDER, and purposts to be an accurate chart of the organization of the medical services of the Luftwaffe. THE PRESIDENT:Objection of counsel overruled, till we understand what the charts were made for, and subject to explanation as the evidence progresses. The Court will now take its noon recess. (A recess was taken until 1330 hours) AFTERNOON SESSION (THE HEARING RE-CONVENED AT 1330 hours, 9 DECEMBER 1946) THE MARSHAL:Persons in the court room may find seats. Kindly all arise while the judges come in. (The judges enter) THE MARSHAL:The Military Tribunal is again in session. MR. MCHANEY:We have completed our presentation as to the defendants that were active within the frame-work of the Luftwaffe. And, next, we can consider the positions held by the defendants in the block within the framework of the SS, an organization which was found to be criminal by The International Military Tribunal. The defendants Karl Brandt, Genzken, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, ********* Helmut Poppendick, Viktor Brack, Hoven and Fritz Fischer, were all member of the SS after 1 September 1939, and are so charged in Count 4 of the Indictment. We have already become familiar with the position of Karl Brandt. Before turning to the careers of the other SS defendants, I think it would be helpful for the Tribunal to present in evidence the charts showing the medical organization of the SS. The next document isNO-416, which will be Prosecution Exhibit No.22, and it carries the organization of the SS prior to 31 August 1943. The second chart is DocumentNO-417, which will be Prosecution Exhibit No. 23, and it covers the medical organization of the SS after the 31st of August 1943. Both of these charts were signed by the defendant Mrugowsky. We had again hoped to have these charts reproduced in larger scale for use in the Courtroom, but that has proved impossible. Of course, the whole of the SS, including the Medical Department was under the Command of Reichsfuehrer of the SS, Heinrich Himmler. The relation of Karl Brandt and Handloser to the Medical Service of
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these charts reproduced in larger scale for use in the Courtroom, but that has proved impossible. Of course, the whole of the SS, including the Medical Department was under the Command of Reichsfuehrer of the SS, Heinrich Himmler. The relation of Karl Brandt and Handloser to the Medical Service of the SS, by virtue of their positions as Reichminister of the Health and Sanitation and Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht are shown in these charts. The broken lines indicate direct control, while the other one concerns itself with front line troops. You will find within the broken lines the dots and dashes running from that of Handloser to that of Genzken. We shall refer to the charts in more detail as are consider the affidavits of the SS defendants. The first of these is the affidavit of Genzken. Document No. 439, which will be Prosecution Exhibit 24: (Reading) "I, Dr. Karl Eduard August GENZKEN, being duly sworn, depose, and state: 1. I was born on 8 June 1883 at Freetz (Holstein) near Kiel. In 1906 I graduated from the Gymnasium in Wandsbeck, and in 1908 passed my "physicum" at the University of Harburg. From 1911 to August 1922, I interned at the Plaunen Hospital. 2. In august 1912, I entered the German Navy as a Naval Physician with the rank of Unterarzt and from august 1912 until November 1919 I was on active duty with the German Navy. I served as Medical Officer on various U boats and on the Cruiser "Hamburg" during the first World War. During the years of 1915 to 1917, I worked on the organization of the U Boat Medical Service. During the years 1918 and 1919, I served in the shipyard hospital in Wilhelmshaven. 3. From November 1918 until October 1934, I practiced medicine in my home town of Preetz, and in October 1934 entered the German Navy for the second time. I become Reserve Officer in the Medical Department of the Defense Ministry. Beginning in February 1934, I served as an investigating doctor of the Sick Benefit System of Gross-Berlin. 4. In July 1926, I joined the NSDAP, my party membership number being 39,913. In 1932, I entered the Association of National Socialist Doctors. 5. On March 1, 1936, I entered the Waffen-SS as Sturmbannfuehrer. My number was 207954. I was assigned to the Medical Office of the SS-Special Service Troops as adviser on health cures and depentant's care. I also served as a field doctor in the Signal Detachment of the SS "Ieibstandarte". I was subsequently appointed chief physician of the newly established "SS Hospital" Berlin. I also directed the Sanitats-Schule (Training School for soldiers of the Medical Corps) attached to the "SS Hospital". "In the Spring of 1937, along with the general expansion of the SS, the SS-Medical Office was enlarged and split into two departments. My department was charged with the supply of medical equipment and the supervision of medical personnel in the concentration camps. Dr. Grawitz, then
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to the "SS Hospital". "In the Spring of 1937, along with the general expansion of the SS, the SS-Medical Office was enlarged and split into two departments. My department was charged with the supply of medical equipment and the supervision of medical personnel in the concentration camps. Dr. Grawitz, then SS Oberfuehrer and Chief of the SS Medical Office was my immediate superior. In this capacity, I was also the Medical Officer of Eicke, the commander of all concentration camps. I acted in this capacity until the beginning of the war. With the outbreak of war in September 1939, I was replaced, by Dr. Dermitzel." In September 1939, I was charged with the activation of the 3rd Medical Battalion of the 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division in Heilbroon, Auensingen and Korbach. In May 1940, I was appointed Chief of the Medical Office of the Waffen-SS Office VII, in the SS Operational Headquarters at Berlin and was promoted to the rank of SS-Oberfuehrer. At the end of 1942, I was appointed Chief of the Medical Service of the Waffen-SS, Division D in the SS Operational Headquarters with the rank of Brigadefuehrer." The position held by Genzken from May 1940 until 31 August 1943 is shown on the Chart which gives the Organization of the SS Medical Service until August 1943. You will see the block containing his name as Division D Medical Service of the Waffen-SS. That office was attached to the so-called Hauptsamp or the Operational Main Office of the SS under Juttner. All of the blocks under Himmler such as the one with Juttner's name in it, represent the SS Main Offices and there were 12 in number. The subordination of the various medical offices that are listed under one or the other of these main offices are, of course, not all of the departments in these SS main offices. We show on this chart simply the medical offices. As stated by Genzken in paragraph 6, he left his job as medical officer for the concentration camp in 1939. Now, the chart which is now before the court shows this position as being held by Dr. Lolling under Pohl in the Economic and Administrative Main Office of the SS. By early 1942 the WVHA, (which are the German initials for the SS Main Office and Administrative Office) had complete administrative control over all concentration camps. This SS Main Office under Pohl, the WVHA, was one of the principal points around which the common design or conspiracy charge in the Indictment operated, for it was there that the human experimental subjects were obtained. I continue to read from the Genzken Affidavit, Paragraph 8: "8. On September 1, 1943, the Medical Service of the Waffen-SS was reorganized. I had been promoted to the rank of Gruppenfuhrer on 30 January 1943. During my service as head of the Waffen-SS Medical Service, my immediate medical superior was Dr. Grawitz, Reich Physician SS and Police, and when Grawitz was away from Berlin, I was in
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of the Waffen-SS was reorganized. I had been promoted to the rank of Gruppenfuhrer on 30 January 1943. During my service as head of the Waffen-SS Medical Service, my immediate medical superior was Dr. Grawitz, Reich Physician SS and Police, and when Grawitz was away from Berlin, I was in many events his deputy in the Medical Service of the SS. "9. Throughout the war, medical field units of the Waffen SS were subordinated to the Medical Service of the Army, which was supervised by Dr. Handloser. By Fuhrer Decree of July 28, 1942, Dr. Handloser was appointed Chief of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht. As a result of this reorganization, Handloser also became my immediate superior as far as medical matters a re concerned. "10. From tho fall of 1940 until September 1, 1943, Dr. Mrugowsky, who was head of the Hygiene Office in the Waffen-SS Medical Office, was subordinate to me. After September 1, 1943, Dr. Mrugowsky was placed directly under Dr. Grawitz and was subordinate to him. (signed) Karl Genzken." An item to note here is the shift in direct command over the Defendant Mrugowsky and derivatively through Mrugowsky over the Typhus and Virus Institute at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Prior to 31 August 1943, Genzken was in command of Mrugowsky; thereafter Grawitz, who no longer is living, was in command of Mrugowsky. The Tribunal should not assume that Genzken, as a result of this reorganization, was no longer interested in the Hygiene Institute and research at Luchenwald. As Chief of the Medical Services of the Waffen-SS his interest in medical research remained tho same. So, with the Defendant Handloser, both of these men were vitally concerned with typhus research as a result of epidemics among troops fighting in the East against Russia. The Tribunal shall, at a later point in the trial, hear a great deal about the experiments conducted at the institute in Buchenwald both before and after this reorganization within the SS that I have just discussed. The Defendant Gebhardt has given us an affidavit, which is Document No.NO-671and which I offer as Prosecution Exhibit 25. This is on Page 44 of the English Document Book. "I, Dr. Karl Gebhardt, being duly sworn, depose and state: "1. I was born on 23 November 1897 at Haag, Germany. I attended school in Haag, Hunich, Rosenheim, and Landshut, and in 1916 I joined the German Army. I took part in the fighting on the Western Front. From 1917 to 1919 I was a prisoner of war in England. In 1920 I was a member of the Munich Student Company during the fighting under the leadership of the then Minister of the Interior Noske in the skirmishes in the Kuhr Territory. "2. In 1919 I continued my medical studies at the University of Munich. During 1922 I interned at the City Hospital in Landshut and at the Pathological Institute at Munich, and became an assistant resident physician without pay there in the fall of 1922. "3.
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skirmishes in the Kuhr Territory. "2. In 1919 I continued my medical studies at the University of Munich. During 1922 I interned at the City Hospital in Landshut and at the Pathological Institute at Munich, and became an assistant resident physician without pay there in the fall of 1922. "3. On 9 November 1925 I took part in the Nazi putsch in Munich as a member of the Free Corps "Bund Oberland." In 1924 I became an assistant at the Munich University Surgical Clinic under Geheimrat Saurrbruch until 1926, there under Geheimrat Lexer until 1953. In 1932 I became instructor in surgery at Munich University. "4. I joined the Nazi Party on 1 May 1935, my number being 1,723,317. I joined tho General-SS on 20 April 1935, my number being 265,894. I ultimately rose to the rank of SS Gruppenfuhrer in the General-SS and to the rank of General-Leutnant or Major General in the Reserve of tho Waffen-SS. "5. In 1933 I was assigned to the hospital at Hohenlychen as Chief Physician. I remained in this position until the end of the war. At the same time I was consulting physician to the Reich Sport Leadership and Chief of the Medical Institute of the Reich Academy for Physical Exercise in Berlin. In 1935 I became honorary University Professor and in 1937 regular Professor at the University of Berlin. During 1935 and the summer of 1936 I was Physician-in-Chief at the Olympic Games. In 1938 I became a physician at Hitler's headquarters. I was also personal physician to Himmler and his family. "6. In 1940 I became surgical advisor to the WaffenSS and visited the front line divisions. Since 1935 I had been surgical advisor to the Organization Todt, at first for the Reich Autobahns and since 1940 for the West Wall work. Since 1940 I was also in charge of the convaloscent home Kulmbach of the Organization Todt. "7. In August 1940..." I think that is an incorrect translation. I think it should read August 1943. ..."I created and took ever the position of Chief Clinical Officer of the Reichsarzt SS and Polizei. I held this position until the end of the war. Dr. Grawitz was my superior. From February 1943 until the spring of 1944 I was personal physician to Albert Speer. I treated him at Hohenlychen and then accompanied him to Italy. With the invasion in 1944 I also became Hoeresgruppenarzt of the Army Group Oberrhein and in 1945 of the Army Group Weichsoil, my services being required at the front, in the defense areas, ant at home. On 23 April 1945 I became President of the German Red Cross. (signed) Karl Gebhardt." The name of Gebhardt is shown on the Chart of the Organization following August, 1945, where he held the position of Chief surgeon in the office of Grawitz, it is shown in one of the boxes at the left of Grawitz' name on the chart. Thus we have in the dock the worthy successor of
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