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
“3. Considering the long-continued action of the heart, the
experiments should be specifically exploited in such a manner as
to determine whether these men could be recalled to life. Should
such an experiment succeed, then, of course, the person
condemned to death shall be pardoned to concentration camp for
life.” (_1971-B-PS, Pros. Ex. 51._)
It is absurd to give any weight to the allegation that Himmler provided
that the subjects were to be volunteers. These men knew that volunteers
could not be secured and that was the very reason for going to Himmler.
This is shown in the letter from Rascher to Himmler requesting that
criminals be made available due to the fact that “nobody is
volunteering.”
The defendant Ruff admitted on the stand that the experiments conducted
on themselves and colleagues in Berlin concerned altitudes up to 12,000
meters and that the question of what would happen between 12,000 and
20,000 meters was subsequently investigated at Dachau. (_Tr. p. 6679._)
It is obvious, therefore, that Ruff, Romberg, Weltz, and Rascher were
unwilling to perform such investigations on themselves.
The evidence has proved that the subjects used in the high-altitude
experiments were not, with a few minor exceptions, volunteers. The
inmates were simply selected at random in the camp and forced to undergo
the experiments. Russians, Poles, Jews of various nationalities, and
Germans were used. Russian prisoners of war were included, as were many
political prisoners. Approximately 180 to 200 inmates were experimented
on, about 70 to 80 being killed as a result. Not more than 40 of these
had been “condemned to death.” Among those killed were political
prisoners. (_Tr. pp. 613-18_; _also Tr. p. 432_.) This testimony of
Neff, who was the inmate assistant in the experiments and who identified
Ruff, Romberg, and Weltz, is corroborated by Rascher’s cable asking if
Himmler’s amnesty rule applied to Russians and Poles who had been
extensively used in the experiments. (_1971-D-PS, Pros. Ex. 52._) The
nationality and status of inmates were easily discernible from the
badges worn on their uniforms. Ruff and Romberg could have told from
these that foreign nationals and political prisoners were being used.
(_Tr. pp. 616-7._)
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