Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume IVarious
Philosophy
Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume I
Various
Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946; War crime trials -- Germany -- Nuremberg
From the evidence thus far summarized, and indeed from Weltz’ own
admission, it is clear that he must be found guilty of the high-altitude
crimes committed in Dachau. This was a criminal undertaking from its
inception. It was known to all concerned that the proposed experiments
were certain to result in deaths and that they were to be performed on
nonvolunteers. That is proved by the very first letter to Himmler. Weltz
supported the ambition of his subordinate, Rascher, to perform the
experiments on behalf of the Weltz Institute. He secured the
collaboration of Ruff and Romberg. He obtained the consent of Hippke and
a research assignment from the Referat for Aviation Medicine under
Anthony and Becker-Freyseng. He took care of the technical arrangements
and participated in conferences with Ruff, Romberg, and Rascher which
decided on the experiments to be performed. Weltz did more in having the
experiments performed than anyone else. His guilt is clearly established
on this evidence alone. It is not disputed that Rascher was subordinated
to him until February 1942. Weltz’ main defense is that he had Rascher
transferred from his institute late in February 1942 and, hence, cannot
be held responsible for what happened thereafter. Even if true, this is
no defense. Weltz had long since participated in the criminal
enterprise. He cannot be heard to say that “Yes, I did all that, but I’m
not responsible for the actual consequences which my acts were expected
to bring about.” The deaths which occurred in these experiments were
foreseeable from the beginning. Weltz does not escape responsibility for
those deaths, even if it were true that Rascher was not subordinated to
him when they occurred. But that is not true, as the evidence proves.
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