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
2. Experiments testing the length of life of a human being above the
normal breathing limits (4, 5, 6 km.) have not been conducted at all,
since it has been a foregone conclusion that the human experimental
subject [Versuchsperson—VP] would suffer death.
The experiments conducted by myself and Dr. Romberg proved the
following:
Experiments on parachute jumps proved that the lack of oxygen and the
low atmospheric pressure at 12 or 13 km. altitude did not cause death.
Altogether 15 extreme experiments of this type were carried out in which
none of VP’s died. Very severe bends together with unconsciousness
occurred, but completely normal functions of the senses returned when a
height of 7 km. was reached on descent. Electrocardiograms registering
during the experiments did show certain irregularities, but by the time
the experiments were over the curves had returned to normal and they did
not indicate any abnormal changes during the following days. The extent
to which deterioration of the organism may occur due to continuously
repeated experiments can only be established at the end of the series of
experiments. The extreme fatal experiments will be carried out on
specially selected VP’s, otherwise it would not be possible to exercise
the rigid control so extraordinarily important for practical purposes.
The VP’s were brought to a height of 8 km. under oxygen and then had to
make 5 knee bends with and without oxygen. After a certain lapse of
time, moderate to severe bends occurred and the VP’s became unconscious.
However, after a certain period of accustoming themselves to the height
of 8 km. all the VP’s recuperated and regained their consciousness and
the normal functions of their senses.
Only continuous experiments at altitudes higher than 10.5 km. resulted
in death. These experiments showed that breathing stopped after about 30
minutes, while in 2 cases the electrocardiographically charted action of
the heart continued for another 20 minutes.
The third experiment of this type took such an extraordinary 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 VP began to perspire and to wiggle his head, after 5 minutes cramps
occurred, between 6 and 10 minutes breathing increased in speed and the
VP 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 5-minute intervals electrocardiograms from three leads were written.
After breathing had stopped, the electrocardiogram was continuously
written until the action of the heart had come to a complete standstill.
About ½ hour after breathing had stopped, dissection was started.
_Autopsy Report_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account