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
It should be noted that these murders were committed in connection with
the _parachute descending tests_, not prolonged stay at high altitudes,
and this was the very subject being studied by Ruff and Romberg. Romberg
testified that he was present at the death of three of these prisoners,
one in April and two in May 1942, and witnessed an autopsy of one, in
which gas bubbles were present in the blood vessels of the brain. He
reported these deaths to Ruff. (_NO-476, Pros. Ex. 40._) Neff testified
Romberg was present in five cases where fatalities occurred (_Tr. pp.
619, 692._) and Romberg admitted that he knew that five to ten other
experimental subjects were killed while he was not present. (_NO-476,
Pros. Ex. 40._) Neff stated that Romberg actively participated in the
majority of the experiments. He observed the experiments, took notes,
and studied the electrocardiogram and thus was able to determine when an
experimental subject in the chamber was about to die. (_Tr. p. 651._)
It is incredible that Dr. Ruff was not informed regarding the finding of
bubbles in the blood vessels of the brain since such observations in
human beings who have died following too rapid atmospheric decompression
is a very, very unique event, though bubbles had been observed many
times prior to 1942 in the blood vessels of laboratory animals. It is
inconceivable that Dr. Ruff, or anyone else in the field of aviation
medicine, had not heard of the bubble theory of the cause of joint
pains, coughing, blindness, or paralysis, or the symptoms of the
pressure drop sickness, which may occur on exposure to high altitude,
since this theory was well known in literature and text books of
aviation medicine available since 1938. How else would Rascher have had
occasion to look for the bubbles? He either learned of the theory during
a course in aviation medicine or was told about it by Ruff and Romberg,
who knew much more than Rascher about aviation medicine.
It is fantastic that Ruff, Romberg, and Rascher did not have in mind the
observations of bubbles in the blood vessels of the murdered prisoners,
when, in the final joint report of 28 July 1942, they wrote:
“In spite of the relatively large number of experiments, the
actual cause of the severe mental disturbances and bodily
failures (paralysis, blindness, etc.) attendant upon
post-hypoxemic twilight state remains something of a riddle. It
appeared often as though the phenomena of pressure drop sickness
had combined with the results of severe oxygen lack”. (_NO-402,
Pros. Ex. 66._)
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