Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume IIVarious
Philosophy
Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume II
Various
Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946; War crime trials -- Germany -- Nuremberg
“The conference with Dr. Genzken was extremely brief. As far as
I remember we were standing close to his desk. I told him that
the various vaccines which I mentioned to him had a different
effect; I told him that the effect varied as to the length of
the temperature and a reduction of fatalities; and I told him
that after having vaccinated the entire SS we could count on
some protective effect for all soldiers. On that occasion I
showed him a few charts which Ding had handed over to me at that
time, the same charts which Ding reproduced in his paper, and I
used these charts in order to explain the effectiveness of the
vaccines to him.”
Q. “The mortality figures and the temperature figures could be
derived from these charts, couldn’t they?”
A. “Yes. If I remember correctly, on the heading of these charts
the information was given what the day of the infection was.
This entire conference was very brief and it is quite possible
that Dr. Genzken—who was only concerned with the most important
points which he had to know—it is quite possible that he
overlooked that. I had no cause to point it out to him in
particular since I was not reporting to him about Ding’s series
of experiments but was only reporting to him about the
protective value of various vaccines which he, as medical chief,
had to know. These were two completely different points of
view.”
The Tribunal is convinced that prior to 1 September 1943, Genzken knew
the nature and scope of the activities of his subordinates, Mrugowsky
and Ding, in the field of typhus research; yet he did nothing to insure
that such research would be conducted within permissible legal limits.
He knew that concentration camp inmates were being subjected to cruel
medical experiments in the course of which deaths were occurring; yet he
took no steps to ascertain the status of the subjects or the
circumstances under which they were being sent to the experimental
block. Had he made the slightest inquiry he would have discovered that
many of the human subjects used were non-German nationals who had not
given their consent to the experiments.
As the Tribunal has already pointed out in this judgment, “the duty and
responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon
each individual who initiates, directs, or engages in the experiment. It
is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to
another with impunity.”
We find that Genzken, in his official capacity, was responsible for,
aided and abetted the typhus experiments, performed on non-German
nationals against their consent, in the course of which deaths occurred
as a result of the treatment received. To the extent that these
experiments did not constitute war crimes they constituted crimes
against humanity.
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