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. Since this letter prevented me from doing anything, I calmly asked
him what idea he had of these experiments, what he wanted to do, what he
wanted to achieve. He said that Dr. Fahrenkamp would help him and that
he would have electrocardiograms for heart failure from the most various
reasons and would compare them with electrocardiograms in the case of
death at high altitudes with the change in severe altitude sickness and
with later recovery. In addition, in the hospital in Munich he had taken
electrocardiograms in cases of heart failure. In Dachau, he said, he had
also registered electrocardiograms when there were executions by
shooting. If he really had evaluated all this material together with a
heart specialist, then it would, of course, have been quite valuable.
* * * * *
Q. Now, did you do anything, and what did you do in order to stop
Rascher’s experiments and did you incur any danger and, if so, what?
A. What I did against Himmler’s orders and against my signed promise to
keep secrecy, the fact that I reported the incidents to my boss who
passed the information on—all this was dangerous. One probably
understands enough about conditions under Himmler to realize that. The
witness Neff has described my attitude to Rascher’s experiments. He
confirmed that I intervened in one case when he was present. Perhaps he
knows nothing about my other objections. In general, the discussions
between Rascher and myself did not take place in the presence of the
prisoners. The low-pressure chamber was removed from Dachau earlier than
intended at our instigation. Against Rascher’s and Himmler’s wishes, it
was never returned to Dachau. The extent of the accusations made by the
SS in this direction is shown by the document. These efforts begin with
Wolff’s telegram to Milch on 12 May, which is answered in the negative
in Milch’s letter of 20 May. (_343-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 62._) In answer to
further efforts from Himmler, Milch ordered that the chamber was to
remain 2 months longer in Dachau. (_NO-261, Pros. Ex. 63._) At this
time, we had already removed the chamber. On 5 June, Rascher again
writes to Himmler about the low-pressure chamber. Document NO-284,
Prosecution Exhibit 64, is the answer to this letter of 5 June. The
letter itself is, unfortunately, not available. This letter, no doubt,
says that the chamber was removed from Dachau in May, while the
prosecution alleges that the experiments continued until August. Then
there is a certain pause in Rascher’s and Himmler’s efforts, because
Rascher is busy with the cold experiments. When the film is shown in
Berlin in the Air Ministry, Rascher does not forget to tell Milch again
of his wishes in regard to the low-pressure chamber. But hardly has the
first phase of the cold experiments—the series with Holzloehner—been
finished, when he writes to Himmler again on 9 October. (_1610-PS, Pros.
Ex. 73._) He asks Himmler to get him the low-pressure chamber so that he
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