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
This necessity does not cease to exist because the people concerned
realized that with this first series of experiments, carried out in
Dachau in the spring of 1942, the problem in question (rescue from high
altitudes) was not yet entirely solved. Ruff and Romberg pointed out in
their final report of 28 July 1942, that the “danger of freezing has to
be considered.” On the basis of this final report the medical inspector,
Dr. Hippke, later pointed out in his letter to Himmler of 10 October
1942 (_NO-289, Pros. Ex. 72_) that in the Dachau high-altitude
experiments of Ruff and Romberg of spring 1942, “a very important factor
was not yet taken into consideration, namely freezing.” He remarked,
however, at the same time that “the necessary supplementary work was
started meanwhile.” Hippke did not leave any doubt that this fact would
not impair the value and the importance of the Dachau high-altitude
experiments, which he stressed; for it is in the nature of such
experiments that both parts of the problem, high altitude and freezing
temperatures, cannot be dealt with simultaneously, but that at first
only one part must be considered, then the other. This was Ruff’s plan
from the very beginning, and the special experiments with regard to the
influence of freezing temperatures on descent from high altitudes were
carried out according to plan in the Berlin institute of Dr. Ruff in the
summer and fall of 1942. (Compare this with Dr. Grauer’s affidavit of 28
January 1947.)
Another prerequisite for the justification of the high-altitude
experiments undertaken by Ruff and Romberg lies in the requirement that
the experiments should not be extended any further than is necessary for
the solution of the problems presented. This requirement, too, was
fulfilled by Dr. Ruff. It is confirmed by his own testimony (_German Tr.
p. 6704_), as well as by the testimony of Dr. Romberg (_German Tr. pp.
6879-80_), that Dr. Romberg was sent by Dr. Ruff to Dachau with a
definite program which carefully outlined the kind as well as the extent
of the experiments to be carried out. Only the problem of “rescue from
high altitude” was to be investigated. Only experiments for this purpose
were ordered by Dr. Ruff. Dr. Romberg was not allowed to undertake
experiments for any other purposes, and the experiments were to be
carried on only until either the problem was solved or its solution
found impossible. Had Dr. Romberg not adhered to this program, which had
been strictly outlined, had he carried out further experiments behind
Dr. Ruff’s back, the latter could in no case have been responsible for
them. Since he was not told of such further experiments by Dr. Romberg,
he could not stop them. However, it must be stated expressly that Dr.
Romberg adhered to Dr. Ruff’s orders; he did not carry out more
extensive experiments than he had been permitted and had been ordered;
this was done alone and solely by Dr. Rascher. The latter, however, was
in no way subordinated to Dr.
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