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
“In order to find out whether the severe psychic and physical
effects, as mentioned under No. 3, are due to the formation of
embolism, the following was done: After relative recuperation
from such a parachute descending test had taken place, however
before regaining consciousness, some experimental subjects were
kept under water until they died. When the skull and cavities of
the breast and of the abdomen were opened under water, an
enormous amount of air embolism was found in the vessels of the
brain, the coronary vessels, and the vessels of the liver and
the intestines.” (_NO-220._)
The victims who did not die in the course of such experiments, surely
wished that they had. A long report written in July 1942 by Rascher, and
by the defendants Ruff and Romberg, describes an experiment on a former
delicatessen clerk, who was given an oxygen mask and raised in the
chamber to an atmospheric elevation of over 47,000 feet, at which point
the mask was removed and a parachute descent was simulated. The report
describes the victim’s reactions—“spasmodic convulsions,” “agonal
convulsive breathing,” “clonic convulsions, groaning,” “yells aloud,”
“convulses arms and legs,” “grimaces, bites his tongue,” “does not
respond to speech,” “gives the impression of someone who is completely
out of his mind.” (_NO-402._)
The evidence which we will produce will establish that the defendants
Ruff and Romberg personally participated with Rascher in experiments
resulting in death and torture; that the defendant Sievers watched the
experiments for an entire day and made an oral report to Himmler on his
observations; that the defendant Rudolf Brandt was the agent of Himmler
in providing the human subjects for these experiments and in making many
other facilities available to Rascher and rendering him general
assistance; and that the defendant Weltz, in his official capacity,
repeatedly insisted on supervision over and full responsibility and
credit for the experiments. The higher authorities of both the German
Air Force and the SS were fully informed concerning what was going on.
Extensive correspondence will be introduced, for example, concerning the
availability of the low-pressure chamber which the German Air Force
furnished at Dachau, and concerning the availability of Rascher, who was
an officer in the Air Force Medical Service, to conduct the experiments.
Knowledge of, participation in, and responsibility for these atrocious
crimes on the part of the defendants here charged will be clearly shown
by the evidence.
B. Freezing Experiments
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