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
A. In general, yes. I don’t know exactly what happened. As far as I
recall, it was an experiment at a rather high altitude, and death
occurred quicker, more suddenly.
Q. And when was the third death at which you were present?
A. That was right after that, on the next day, or the second day.
Q. After these deaths, did you ever have any arguments with Rascher
about his experiments and the way in which he performed them?
A. Yes, we had some minor arguments resulting from my objections, which
he always refused to accept; but after the third death when I started to
object again, he said first that Himmler had ordered it and I wasn’t to
interfere. When I later brought the subject up once more, he lost his
patience, and we got rather excited. I asked him why he was carrying out
these experiments; what he wanted to achieve. He said he wanted to
clarify the problem of caisson diseases, that is bends or aero-embolism,
because Himmler had ordered it. He was the first man to prove these air
bubbles in the blood during an autopsy under water. Also the question of
the electrocardiogram in bends and altitude sickness had to be clarified
as Himmler had given him a special assignment for it, and Fahrenkamp was
to do this work together with him. In addition he wanted to qualify as a
professor with Schittenhelm through this work.
Then he brought out a letter and read to me that the experiments were to
be continued; that Professor Fahrenkamp was to be called in; and that
people condemned to death who survived the experiments would, of course,
be pardoned. Then he held the letter out to me and asked me whether I
could read Himmler’s signature and whether I wasn’t satisfied with that.
Q. Was this the letter 1971-B-PS, Prosecution Exhibit 51?
A. Yes, 1971-B-PS, as Prosecution Exhibit 51.
Q. And what does this letter indicate?
A. Well, it showed that Himmler had actually ordered these experiments
and that he, therefore, had complete official coverage, that the
subjects were to be pardoned. It says in the letter: “Of course the
person condemned to death shall be pardoned to concentration camp for
life.” Then it says that Fahrenkamp is to be consulted. On the next page
it says that this order from Himmler goes to the Chief of the Security
Police and the SD and to SS Brigadefuehrer Gluecks, with a copy for
their information.
Q. Did Rascher give you any further explanation of this letter?
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