He was promoted to the grade of Obersturmfuehrer in the Allgemeine SS on 1 January 1935, and in 1938 was classed as deferred in order that in case of war he might be free to serve on the staff of the Reich Chancellery in Hitler’s headquarters. During the month of April 1939 Karl Brandt was promoted to the rank of Obersturmbannfuehrer in the Allgemeine SS. In 1940 he was transferred from the Allgemeine SS to the Waffen SS, in which commissions were equivalent to those of the army. On 30 January 1943 he received a grade equivalent to that of major general in the Waffen SS, and on 20 April 1944 was promoted to the grade of lieutenant general in that organization. Having at some previous date been relieved as Hitler’s escort physician, he was again appointed as such in the fall of 1944. On 16 April 1945 he was arrested by the Gestapo, and the next day was condemned to death by a court at Berlin. He was released from arrest by order of the provisional government under Doenitz on 2 May 1945. On 23 May 1945 he was placed under arrest by the British authorities. By decree bearing date 28 July 1942, signed by Hitler, Keitel, and Lammers, Karl Brandt was invested with high authority over the medical services, military and civilian, in Germany. Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this decree, referring to Karl Brandt, read as follows: “3. I empower Professor Dr. Karl Brandt, subordinate only to me personally and receiving his instructions directly from me, to carry out special tasks and negotiations to readjust the requirements for doctors, hospitals, medical supplies, etc., between the military and the civilian sectors of the Health and Medical Services. “4. My plenipotentiary for Health and Medical Services is to be kept informed about the fundamental events in the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht and in the Civilian Health Service. He is authorized to intervene in a responsible manner.” By decree bearing date 5 September 1943, signed by Hitler and Lammers, Brandt’s authority was strengthened. This decree reads as follows: “In amplification of my decree concerning the Medical and Health Services of 28 July 1942 (RGBL. I, P. 515) I order: “The plenipotentiary for the Medical and Health Services, General Commissioner Professor Dr. med. Brandt, is charged with centrally coordinating and directing the problems and activities of the entire Medical and Health Services according to instructions. In this sense this order applies also to the field of medical science and research, as well as to the organizational institutions concerned with the manufacture and distribution of medical material. “The plenipotentiary for the Medical and Health Services is authorized to appoint and commission special deputies for his spheres of action.”