* * * * * _EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT ROSTOCK_ _Introduction_ Mr. President, your Honors: The great English historian and sociologist, Thomas Carlyle, once said, “Your life, and were you the humblest of human beings, is not a wild dream but a lofty fact.” I do not want to speak to you in this courtroom without first recalling this saying and thereby seeing before my eyes the picture of the great number of our fellow human beings whose lives have really become a wild dream. The fact on which this trial is based, that defenseless human beings were used by doctors of my country for experiments and in part died after suffering tortures, cannot be denied. I, myself, would doubt the clarity of my judgment as a German jurist if I did not realize that general human rights, such as the fundamental standards anchored in all civilized nations, have been violated thereby. Medical science should bring help and healing to suffering humanity. I am proud to state that it was German doctors who, in the last century, saved millions of human beings from the most serious and fatal diseases by their research. Let me remind you only of names such as Robert Koch, Emil von Behring, Paul Ehrlich, Theodor Billroth, and August Bier, or medicines such as Germanin, atabrine, Salvarsan, diphtheria serum, tetanus serum, and many others. If it were possible to achieve such decisive results in any other way, this would only confirm the actual truth, that no one, no matter how highly placed and no matter how important his aims, has the right to lower other human beings to the level of guinea pigs by force. How could a man venture to dispose in that way of the life and health of his fellow men, be they ever so humble? It seems to me that this involves a fundamental contradiction to the duty of the doctor, a violation of the dignity of the individual, and a presumption which cannot remain without horrible results. There may be doubtful cases, there may be borderline cases, but the solution of these questions can be based on only one principle, which is that all creatures in human form have an equal right to life and health. Humanity would be in a sad state if again and again there were not volunteers from the ranks of physicians and laymen who made themselves available for experiments, conscious of their contribution toward saving and healing other human beings. But how can a man dare simply to designate others to suffer and die, when they, too, like to live and be free from want and fear, just like he himself? * * * 3. MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES a. Introduction