IBDP Extended Essay
Figure 3- Strezelecka, Irena. Voices of Memory 2, Medical Crimes : The Experiments in Auschwitz. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print pg. 88
To what extent was Nazi medical research the consequence of Nazi racial
ideology?
Abstract
This essay investigates the question “To
what extent was Nazi medical research the consequence of Nazi racial ideology?”
This investigation makes use of a variety of
sources: My first primary source is Voices of Memory 2, Medical Crimes- The
Experiments in Auschwitz by Irena Strzelecka. This book translates the
documents surrounding the experiments of 12 German doctors at the Auschwitz
Birkenau camps. It includes testimonies from the Nuremberg Trials, letters
between doctors and SS officers and scanned copies of their observations. That
Was Dachau 1933-1945 by Stanislav Zámečník describes in great detail what
happened at Dachau Concentration Camp and includes a very thorough section on
the medical investigations performed there. For the second part of the
investigation, I primarily used the essay written François Haas, German
science and black racism—roots of the Nazi Holocaust. This essay provides a
very compelling argument of the true origins of Nazi racial ideology. In
preparation for this essay I visited Auschwitz Concentration Camp (where I was
able to do some research in their archives) and Dachau Concentration Camp. This
investigation also utilizes several other books and websites.
The investigation will be broken down into two
parts. The first part contains the analysis of three experiments completed at
Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps (two from Auschwitz Birkenau and one
from Dachau). In the second part, we will investigate the origins of the Nazi’s
racial ideology which will help us find out if the experiments were a
consequence of the Nazis or of past history.
The main conclusion reached in this
investigation was that Nazi medical research was
certainly founded on Nazi racial ideologies however, the experiments were one
of the final consequences of a history of racial discrimination and prejudice
that began in German in the late 1800s/early 1900s.
Word count: 297 words
Introduction
In this essay, we will discuss “To what
extent was Nazi medical research the consequence of Nazi racial ideology”. Eva Kor, a survivor of Nazi Human
Experimentation remarked, “Medical science can only benefit mankind when the
researchers respect the wishes of their human subjects and treat them with
dignity”_. Her
use of the words “respect” and “dignity” are surprising as they
are two words which are far from the description of the terrible afflictions
Nazi doctors put their victims through. Throughout 1939-1945 German doctors
performed a variety of tests on concentration camp prisoners of varying ages,
nationalities, sexes, and degrees of health. These experiments were barbaric
and usually left the prisoner with life long handicaps. Although human experimentation and mass
genocide were performed in the later years of the Nazi regime it’s hard to pin
down where its origins lay. On one hand, the medical research could be one of
the final products of the NSDAP’s harsh racial ideology. On the other hand, its
roots could lay far before the Nationalist Socialist Party had any
influence.
This
topic remains relevant as we still strive to understand Nazi ideology and the
reasoning behind it. As Nazism continues to be a topic that we study and teach
to students, it is important that we study the significant medical events that
were going on during World War Two. By investigating the experiments conducted
at concentration camps and racism during Germany’s colonial history, we can
learn whether medical research was conducted due to the influence of Nazi
racial ideology or whether there was already hate in the German population and
NSDAP power only awakened it.
This
question has great personal interest to me as I’m surrounded by it. Living in
Munich has allowed me to see sites like Auschwitz and Dachau Concentration
Camps first hand. This has really helped me gain a better grasp on what I’m
studying and will give me a unique opinion on the subject.
Methodology
We will start our
investigation by giving some context about the racial ideology of the NSDAP and
the Nuremberg Trials that took place from December 9th, 1946 to the 20th of
August 1947. Afterwards, I will give a short analysis of the primary sources I
am using for this investigation. For the first half of our investigation, we
will analyze how Nazi racial ideology influenced three prominent experiments
conducted in Auschwitz Birkenau and Dachau Concentration Camps. During our
analysis we will look at the doctors’ background, the experiments they
performed, the purpose of their experiments, and the outcome they achieved.
Presently, I would argue that these experiments were strongly influenced by
Nazi racial ideology however, for the second part of the investigation we will
look into whether this claim ignores context and
greater history (specifically whether it ignores the influence of policies
developed by German physicians and scientists in the late 19th Century during
the German colonial period in Africa).
Analysis of Sources
Source 1// Voices of Memory 2, Medical Crimes-
The Experiments in Auschwitz by Irena Strzelecka
Voices of Memory 2, Medical Crimes- The
Experiments in Auschwitz is a part of a series published by the International Centre for
Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust. I was recommended this book after
leaving the archives at Auschwitz as it contains original German sources like
letters and testimonies translated into English. Being translated is one of its
greatest values as it allows historians who don’t speak German to know what was
written in these sources about Nazi Doctors and their practices. Since the
sources range from letters between members of the NSDAP and doctors to
testimonies from victims and prisoner doctors, we receive both point of views
which is valuable as we can learn what the intentions were compared to what
actually happened. In my opinion, this piece provides all the necessary
information you need when writing about the doctors of Auschwitz Birkenau. The
only limitation I can find is that since the sources in the book were
originally written in German (and in many cases, handwritten German), the
translations are not completely reliable.
Source 2// That Was Dachau 1933-1945 by
Stanislav Zámečník
My primary source for information on the
experiments performed at Dachau Concentration Camp is That Was Dachau
1933-1945._ Unlike other historians, Zámečník’s purpose
for
writing this book was to “compare archive
records with the testimony of witnesses”_. This work covers several aspects of Dachau Concentration Camp however,
there is chapter on the medical experiments done on prisoners there. This
chapter is valuable as it breaks down every experiment completed and talks
about their origins, the doctors involved, the method(s), and the results
thereof. Compared to Source 1, it focusses a lot less on the victims of the
experiments and more on the doctors who performed them- this is both beneficial
and hurtful as it’s important that we know about the doctors intentions
however, we also need to know about the effects of the experiments on the
prisoners as it shows how far against the Hippocratic Oath the doctors were
willing to go.
Source 3//
German science and black racism—roots of the Nazi Holocaust by François
Haas
Unlike Sources 1 and 2, Source 3 is an essay published in the FASEB
journal. The purpose of this essay is to argue how the Nazi’s policy on racial
hygiene was developed by German scientists during Germany’s colonial time. It
focusses on how the mass genocide and racial discrimination in Germany’s
African colonies was a precursor of what happened during the Nazi regime. This
source is valuable as the the argument is not spread out over a whole book but
rather compact in a six page piece. It is also valuable as it covers all of the
important time periods and presents several quotes, figures, and tables. As an
essay, it is limited to further development of the claims made and is limited
to only one case study.
Theory
It is common knowledge that Hitler had a
strong belief in the “master” or Aryan race. His ideology was rooted in what he
called “the basic principle of blood”. This principle is that the blood
of every person and race contains their soul. Hitler believed that the Germanic
(or as he called Aryan) race had the purist blood and therefore was the highest
race. After Hitler gained power, he started instilling this belief in the
German people. As this ideology became more popular among the ‘pure Germans’,
the discrimination against those of other races, religions, political
affiliations and sexual orientations increased. From 1941 to 1945, these people
who were considered a threat to German society were sent to concentration camps
around Europe. At extermination camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, it was doctors
who chose who went to
work, who went to the gas chambers, and which
were the select few to be apart of their experiments.
Fast forward to after the war and we have the
Nuremberg Trials that were held from the 9th of
December 1946 to the 20th of August 1947. During these specific trials,
23 German physicians were tried for their war crimes and their crimes against
humanity. After almost 140 days, the testimonies of 85 witnesses, and the
submission of almost 1,500 documents, the judges pronounced their verdict. Of
the 23 doctors, 16 were found guilty, 9 were sentenced to time in prison, and 7
were sentenced to death.
Through
the Nuremberg “Doctor Trials”, it became clear that unethical human
experimentation might surface as problem again. Thus, it seemed important to
Dr. Leo Alexander and the United States Counsel of War Crimes that “a set of
research ethics principles for human experimentation” _ be declared. What
resulted was the Nuremberg Code. “The Nuremberg Code includes 10 principles
to guide physician-investigators in experiments involving human subjects.”_ These principles cover consent, legitimacy of the experiment, the degree
of risk that experimenters should take and many other seemingly obvious points.
It seems clear that when performing an experiment on other human beings, one
would do it in the best, and least harmful way. This begs the question, what
did the German doctors do for such a code to be written? As a part of this
investigation, I will explore how each doctor’s experiments broke the Nuremberg
Code as well as the purpose each doctor had for performing their experiment and
the supposed benefit it would have.
Investigation
Part 1// Doctor Analysis
Auschwitz Birkenau Doctors
Carl Clauberg
Carl Clauberg was born in Wuppertal, Germany
on September 18, 1898. He was an MD with a specialty in gynecology and was a
professor at the Königsberg University. During the war, Clauberg was the
director of Women’s Disease Clinic at St. Hedwig’s Hospital in Königshütte.
Clauberg worked at Block 10 of Auschwitz Ⅰ and Barrack no. 30 at the women’s camp. There, he performed
sterilization experiments on approximately 700 Jewish female prisoners._ Through these experiments, Clauberg developed a method of non-surgical
sterilization where he injected a chemical substance into a prisoner’s
Fallopian tubes. This substance caused the adhesion of the Fallopian tubes and
thus their obstruction._ Once the method had been
perfected, it was still used on female prisoners though less for experimental
purposes but more for it’s actual purpose- to take away a woman’s ability to
have children. According to one witness_, the procedure “was carried out brutally, and often caused complications
in the form of peritonitis, inflammation of the ovaries, and high fever.”_ Other accounts included that victims suffered from weakness_, “delusions”_, severe pain, and in
some instances, death_. Being a doctor and having the ability to
cause that much pain and suffering to healthy people
truly shows how far Clauberg was willing to go in order to further his
exploration. This begs the question of what influenced Carl Clauberg to run
these inhumane trials.
There
is one reason that leads me to believe that Clauberg’s Nazi medical research
was the direct consequence of Nazi racial ideology. This reason involves the
origins of Clauberg’s work and is one of the reasons why I chose to focus on
Clauberg rather than other doctors. Unlike other doctors, Dr. Clauberg was
specifically asked by a member of the NSDAP to complete his investigation. In
May 1942, Heinrich Himmler_, who had heard of
Clauberg from an SS officer whose wife’s
infertility had been treated by him_, approached Clauberg with the question of how possible it would be to
perform mass sterilization of non-Aryans_ (specifically 1,000 women a day_). Being non-surgical was important to Himmler because it allowed women
to be able to go back to work and it could be applied inconspicuously._
The
investigation on different methods of sterilization was not only researched by
Clauberg but also through other doctors (such as Horst Schumann who
investigated sterilization through the use of X-Rays_). The NSDAP’s interest in sterilization seems clear- their belief in
the “basic principle of blood” suggests that anyone who is not of Aryan descent
has “dirty” blood. Although the “Final Solution” was underway, mass
sterilization would guarantee a stop to Jewish repopulation. Rudolf Brandt
explains the NSDAP’s interest in sterilization more thoroughly in his
affidavit:
Himmler was extremely interested in the
development of a cheap and rapid sterilization method which could be used
against enemies of Germany, such as Russians, Poles and Jews, One hoped thereby
not only to defeat the enemy but also to exterminate him. The capacity for work
of the sterilized persons could be exploited by Germany, while the danger of
propagation would be eliminated. As
this mass sterilization was apart of Himmler’s
racial theory, particular time and care was devoted to these sterilization
experiments. Surgical sterilization was of
course known in Germany and applied; this
included castration. For mass application, however, this procedure was
considered as too slow and too expensive. It was further desired that a
procedure be found which would result in sterilization that was not immediately
noticeable._
Clearly Nazi medical research on sterilization
methods was not solely due to Clauberg’s interest. In fact, his method of sterilization was inspired by
his practice of doing the opposite with seemingly infertile women._ The affidavit above as well as letters between Clauberg and Himmler
prove that these experiments were started with Nazi racial ideology in mind. In
Hitler’s eyes, the Jews were “the personification of the devil as the symbol
of all evil”_ and it is clear that the
Nazi’s wanted to eradicate any blood that might poison the Aryan.
Josef Mengele
Josef Mengele was born in Günzburg, Germany on
March 16, 1911._ He was a doctor of philosophy and medicine, a
member of the NSDAP and was inducted into the Waffen-SS from February to May
1943._ According to Irena Strzelecka’s book Medical
Crimes, The Experiments in Auschwitz, Mengele was transferred to Auschwitz
at his own request to carry out medical and anthropological research. For the
three years he was there, he held several leadership roles across the different
camps.
Mengele’s
experiments at the Auschwitz Birkenau camps were primarily centered on the
inherited traits in twins, dwarfs, and noma_. For this investigation, we will focus on Mengele’s “favorite pastime”_, the twin experiments.
Unlike other doctors, Mengele’s experiments
were quite secretive. Former prisoner Dr. Alfred Fiderkiewicz quoted that “What
the results of these experiments were, none of the doctors seemed to know.”_ Thus, we have to rely on the testimonies of former prisoners who were
subjected to his experiments and of those who worked for Mengele for our
information. According to former prisoner Elżbieta Piekut-Warszawska,,
Mengele’s twins underwent three kinds of examinations- anthropological, x-ray,
and morphological._ These were done in
preparation for “further experimental operations”._ The anthropological examinations
included striping the children naked and measuring their bodies for hours with
the help of protractors, compasses, and calipers. This was done to verify
whether the twins were identical and copious notes were taken. Afterwards, they
were x-rayed from head to toe. The most drastic examinations were the
morphological ones. “Samples of blood were collected first from the fingers
and then from the arteries, two or three times from the same victims in some
cases”._ Doctors also put drops into the children’s
eyes in order to observe how the children’s eyes would react- whether they
would swell, get red, or cause pain. There are many more accounts where Mengele
would take ‘interesting cases’ (twins who, for example, had different colour
irises) with him to examine however little is known about what happened to
these children._
The
twin experiments almost always resulted in severe pain and death of at least
one of the twins. In one example, a set of Hungarian twins we put through
several days of torturous examination_ until they received lethal injections of to the heart_. To be able to inflict that kind of agony on children who called him
“Onkel”_ is truly baffling. Learning Mengele’s
justifications and intentions will never make him more honorable but it may
help us understand if the experiments we done with an actual purpose in mind or
if they were simply to torture.
With the research I have conducted, I have
found two points that suggest to me that Mengele’s medical research was the
consequence of Nazi racial ideology. Firstly, Mengele is described to be a
respected member of the SS. From his letter of reference by Edward Wirths_, he is described as being “absolutely trustworthy, frank and
straightforward”_ with a “spiritual and physical predisposition
that must be defined as simply exceptional.”_ In relation to his research as an anthropologist, Wirths emphasized
that Mengele’s research would make a “significant contribution to
anthropological knowledge.”_ To be so universally
liked and respected implies that not only was he an active member in the NSDAP
but that he was a zealous one.
My second point lies in the aim of Mengele’s
twin experiments. According to Dr. Miklos Zyiszli_, ‘the great aim of this research [was] to increase the birth rate of
the “higher race” which had been summoned to rule. More precisely, to ensure
that every German mother gives birth to twins in the future...The idea [was] to
propagate the German race, and the final goal [was] enough Germans to populate
the territories defined as Lebensraum of the Third Reich_”_. With an aim such as this, it’s obvious that
these experiments were founded out of Nazi racial ideology.
Dachau Experiments
High-Altitude Experiments
The experiments I will focus on from Dachau
Concentration Camp are the high-altitude experiments run by Sigmund Rascher.
These experiments are different to the experiments we analyzed earlier as they
are not specifically related to Nazi racial ideology. In 1941, Germany was in
the process of developing high-altitude missions for the Luftwaffe. During this
time, questions arose how a pilot would react to the conditions and what his
chances of survival were during decompression and parachute jumps._ Upon hearing these conversations, Rascher offered to take on this
problem and perform tests for it using “professional criminals”_. Soon after, Himmler supplied Rascher with an experimental chamber at
Block 5 and number or prisoners_.
Rascher’s experiments followed an “officially
sanctioned program”_- pressure chambers were
set to emulate an altitude of 21km and prisoners we sent inside in order to
observe “at what altitude the oxygen supply is sufficient without pressurized
cabins and the reaction of the human body to decompression and parachute-jumping.”
As time went on, the experiments became more radical and resulted in Rascher
and Hans-Wolfgang Romberg_ performing extreme
craniotomies and open heart surgery on living prisoners. The results of these
extreme experiments thrilled Himmler however quite surprisingly he asked that
if they succeeded in resuscitating a prisoner from an altitude of 10.5km (the
height they had been testing), “the death sentences could thus be commuted, as
an act of clemency.”_ According to Romberg,
between 200 and 300 experiments were performed. Of these, approximately 80_ died immediately while others suffered injuries from the extreme
exposure_.
As we mentioned earlier, these experiments
don’t relate to Nazi racial ideology as closely as the sterilization and twin
experiments do. One pattern that appeared through the the period of Nazi
medical research was that as the war progressed, doctors started being asked to
perform investigations on problems seen at the front. For example, in 1944 Emil
Kaschub was sent to Auschwitz to perform experiments that exposed the various
methods of malingering used among the German troops_. In this experiment, the Nazi Party needed aeronautical medicine to be
developed in order to advance their warfare. Still, there are ways we can relate
these high-altitude experiments to the Nazi’s racial ideology. Firstly, these
tests would have been impossible to complete if the Nazi’s didn’t have racial
ideology they infamously had. If there hadn’t been a “basic principle of
blood”, there wouldn’t have been any concentration camps and thus, no people to
perform tests on. Additionally, since this experiment originated from a need to
develop Luftwaffe missions, it can be linked to racial ideology through the war
itself. Seeing as the war was announced on Germany when Hitler attempted to
obtain all of Czechoslovakia, we can link this to racial ideology since
Hitler’s purpose for gaining Czechoslovakia was for German Lebensraum. If there
wouldn’t have been this conflict, there wouldn’t have been this need for
aeronautical medicine.
Part 2// Greater History
In the first part of this investigation, we
have been suggesting that all of the doctors involved in Nazi medical research
only became firm believers in racial hygiene when the NSDAP started gaining
popularity and power. What we have failed to question is whether or not the
German doctors already had this belief before World War One, when Germany
settled parts of Africa.
With
the popularization of Social Darwinism in the late 1800s, the proposition that
races were in a struggle for survival of the fittest became a belief. “German
Darwinists [including doctors] argued that innate racial inequalities
gave each individual life a different value and the extermination of inferior
races was not only appropriate but unavoidable.” _ During this time, German doctors had strong political leverage. With
this leverage they essentially authored Germany’s racial policies. They created
a program with a series of discrete steps that resulted in ethnic cleansing. As
a consequence of this, when Germany occupied colonies in Africa, the
native peoples there were forced into hard labor. Things escalated in Namibia
when the 80,000 Hereros rebelled against their German overlords in 1905. The
Germans sent troops to combat the conflict however, Lorthar von Trotha
proclaimed that no war would be conducted on “non humans” and instead announced
an “annihilation order”. Of the 80,000 Hereros, an estimated 65,000 were
murdered while the remaining 15,000 were instated in the first
Konzentrationslager. Similar to the concentration camps we are familiar with,
these camps were established to “extract economic benefits...under conditions
that would lead to mass fatalities”_. With hindsight, we can see how the events that occurred during this
genocide set a template for Nazi extermination in later years.
Interestingly,
the African concentration camps also became a location for anthropological
studies. Similar to what happened in Auschwitz, autopsies were performed on
dead prisoners and their bodies were preserved and sent to Berlin for study.
Once in Germany, the body parts were dissected and carefully measured (this
relates again to what doctors did at Auschwitz).
It’s obvious that the Nazis modeled their plan
for ethnic cleansing after the Herero and Namaqua Genocide however, did German
doctors maintain a belief in the ideal race after World War One? Their early
involvement with the NSDAP suggests that they did. Professor Robert Procter
remarked: “The National Socialist Physicians’ League proved its political
reliability to the Nazi cause long before the Nazis seizure of power, and with
an enthusiasm, and an energy, unlike that of any other professional group.”_ Statistics back up Procter’s statement as even before the NSDAP gained
power, 11,000 MDs had already joined the Nazi Party, by the war’s end, 48% of
psychiatrists and neurologists had joined the NSDAP and, more than 7% of male
MDs belonged to the SS_. Later, when Hitler asked the medical
profession to lead the race issue_, it was taken on by the
doctors and they started working the issues immediately._ As Bavarian Cabinet Minister Hans Schemm said, “National Socialism
is nothing but applied biology”. Combining all of our evidence, I believe
we can say that the science behind the racial ideology the Nazi’s supported
interested the doctors in Germany and they didn’t realize/care about the
implications it would have.
Conclusion
This investigation has sought to answer the
question “To what extent was Nazi medical research the consequence of
Nazi racial ideology?” The evidence and arguments considered
have led me to the conclusion that Nazi medical research was influenced by Nazi
racial ideologies however were the overall consequence of a longer history of
prejudice and hate that started in Colonial Germany. The experiments we
investigated are all related to an aspect of racial ideology in one way or another
however, when we look at the origins of the ideology itself, we realize that it
is not unique to the Nazis and that the ideas were carried over from one time
period to another.
Nevertheless, my studies demonstrate that
there are clearly problems with reaching a final answer. The main limitation of
this essay was the word count provided which meant that I was restricted to
investigating three experiments. If this investigation was to be rewritten with
the same word limit, I would have maybe focused on the medicine itself and less
on the doctors so I could a developing my ideas more in depth. Another
limitation is a lack of reliable sourcing. I already hinted to this in my essay
but in many cases I had to rely on testimonies of ex-prisoners which isn’t the
most reliable. If I were to write another essay on this topic, I would be
interested in analyzing the ethics behind Nazi medicine and how right it is for
us to profit off of the results of the horrific experiments.
Translations and Abbreviations
NSDAP- Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
MD- Doctor of Medicine
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei- National Socialist German Workers Party (Official name for Nazi
Party)
Waffen SS- Armed Protective Squadron
Onkel- Uncle
SS Standortarzt- SS Stationed Physician
Luftwaffe- German Air force
Konzentrationlager- Concentration Camps
Bibliography
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Essays
•Haas, François. "German Science and
Black Racism- Roots of the Nazi Holocaust." FASEB Journal (n.d.): 332-37.
Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
Images
Figure 1- Picture taken of Block 10. Digital
image. Out and About in Europe. N.p., 30 June 2014. Web. 28 Sept. 2014. <http://outandaboutineurope.blogspot.de/2014/06/historic-locations-arent-always-fun-but.html>.
Figure 2- Strezelecka, Irena. Voices of
Memory 2, Medical Crimes : The Experiments in Auschwitz. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Print pg. 23
Figure 3- Strezelecka, Irena. Voices of Memory 2, Medical Crimes : The Experiments in Auschwitz. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print pg. 88
Were the results of the high-altitude experiments at Dachau useful?
Section A – Plan of the Investigation
This investigation aims to answer the question: Were the results of the
high-altitude experiments at Dachau useful? by focussing primarily on
the experiments that were carried out by Dr Rascher and his associates
from February to May 1942. A visit to the former site and access to its
archives will enable me to obtain valuable source material from the time
as well as the opportunity to seek the expertise of the staff. To
understand the nature of the experiments, their results and possible
application, sources from correspondence between Rascher and Himmler in
1942 to more recent scholarly works related to the research question
will be enlisted. This investigation will not "indulge in the luxury of
moral judgement”[1] and, despite their admittedly horrific nature, the
worth of the experiments will be clarified without the consciousness of
what is right and wrong.
Chief among the sources used will be the first-hand account
of Stanislav Zámečníc, a survivor of the camp whose book That was Dachau
provides an overview of the camp's history as well details of the
experiments, and a report by the University of Göttingen published the
year the camp was liberated and outlines dispassionately the
experimental information and the treatment of the results after the war.
These two sources will be evaluated in Section C.
Word Count: 215
Section B – Summary of Evidence
The first concentration camp built by the Nazis was opened on the 22nd
March 1933[2] in Dachau[3]. Simultaneously, the Luftwaffe was developing
new fighter airplanes that could operate at higher altitudes, but
“German aeronautical medicine was lagging behind”[4], so could not prove
that flying at such altitudes was safe. They carried out experiments on
volunteers, but these did not provide the ‘desired’ results because, at
high altitudes, the subjects experienced severe pain and the
experiments were stopped[5]. This triggered complaints, which were used
by Dr. Sigmund Rascher to initiate correspondence with Heinrich Himmler,
leader of the SS, on the 15th May 1941, appealing for permission to be
provided with “subjects for high-altitude tests, in which they could
well die”[6]. Rascher was granted permission to carry out the
experiments at Dachau along with Doctors Romberg and Ruff in an
experimental station set up in infirmary block 5, where a mobile
low-pressure chamber was provided.
The experiments lasted from February to May 1942. In these experiments,
titled the ‘Versuche zur Rettung aus großen Höhen’, or ‘attempt to
rescue from high altitudes”, the limits of human endurance and the
existence at high altitudes were tested[7].
Rascher detailed the results of the experiments, in which 80 prisoners
out of between 200 and 300 were killed[8] in a report dated the 11th May
1942:
“In parachute drop tests, survival proved possible from an altitude of
13km without oxygen, and from 18km with oxygen. In free-fall tests,
survival was possible from 21km”
The side effects of these experiments were described by an eyewitness from the camp:
“The prisoner would stand in a vacuum until his lungs ruptured… they
would go mad and pull out their hair to relieve the pressure. They would
tear their heads and faces in an attempt to maim themselves in their
madness. They would beat walls and scream in an effort to relieve
pressure on their eardrums. These cases usually ended in death.”[9]
The experiments were ended in May 1942 when “the goal had been
reached”[10]. After Dachau was liberated in April 1945[11], records of
what happened there soon became clear. The Nuremberg Doctors Trials in
1947 charged 20 doctors with conspiracy to commit war crimes[12]. The
scientific nature of the experiments and the subsequent reliability of
the results were questioned. Dr Rascher went on to conduct hypothermia
experiments before he was arrested and executed at Dachau concentration
camp in April 1945. Dr Ruff went on to head the Institute of Aviation at
Bad Gotesberg - he also taught a course at Bonn University – ‘Aviation
Medical Experiments’[13].
Word Count: 434
Section C – Evaluation of Sources
That Was Dachau, 1933 – 1945 by Stanislav Zámečníc was published in 2004
and provides a comprehensive account of life at Dachau concentration
camp during its operation. Using a variety of sources from the time
period, Zámečníc, who was awarded the Dachau Prize for Civil Courage in
2011[14], uses his experiences from working in the camp’s infirmary to
describe aspects of the camp, including the medical experiments that
were carried out. Zámečníc himself was a prisoner at Dachau and is now a
trained historian, which makes the process of analyzing and linking
together sources much easier[15]. This book is also sold at the
concentration camp, which shows that it is considered a valuable
official account. It is also a good source to use as it puts the
information into a chronological context[16]. Although this source is of
value due to the author’s first-hand connection[17], the title itself
illustrates the fact that this book provides a general overview of the
camp, and is not specifically focused on the topic of investigation.
Zámečníc himself warns against memoirs by prisoners that make up his
work as being "marked by a narrow, subjective perspective" which he
sought to avoid.[18], and, as he was not involved in the experiments,
his account of them is only useful in providing indirect information.
German Aviation Medical Research at the Dachau Concentration Camp,
obtained at the Dachau Memorial Site archives, is a report written in
October 1945 by researchers at the University of Göttingen. Ostensibly,
its purpose is to give details and results of the high altitude
experiments that were carried out at Dachau, along with providing
evidence regarding the use of the obtained results[19]. However are
suggestions that the report is is a “hagiographic account of the Nazi
doctors as heroic men who showed great scientific understanding and
personal research”[20] due to the fact that it plays up the results and
therefore doesn’t provide accurate details of the experiments, which
provides a limitation to the source. This, however, makes it useful
because it offers insight into the mind-set of the culture of the time
here in Germany, a perspective not offered by other sources. Because it
was written freshly after the war, it is valuable in the sense that it
uses first-hand sources and shows that the results were immediately
taken into consideration. Limitations arise in this source due to the
fact that, because it was published in 1945, it is unable to recognise
whether or not the test results were used in the long term after the
war, so it cannot be used to detail the full long term extent of the use
of the results that more contemporary sources may provide.
Word Count: 450
Section D – Analysis
In order to answer the research question, one must understand the issue
in historical context – the results were expected to be used by the
Luftwaffe to allow pilots to fly at the highest possible altitudes,
where it is more economical[21], and the German army could gain power
over their enemies. The experiments carried out at Dachau laid the
foundations for further medical experiments at concentration camps such
as Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen, and the manner in which all of these
experiments were carried out has been remembered throughout history.
The two sources put forward for analysis support the argument that the
high-altitude experiments carried out at Dachau were of minimal use. In
That Was Dachau, Zámečníc argues that the experiments were initiated
and carried out not for the purpose of scientific discovery, but for
career development – Dr Rascher believed that he should have been
rewarded for his “criminal actions”[22]. The report from the University
of Göttingen argues that the results of the experiments were useless as
they had been previously attained through more humane experiments
carried out by American research scientists– the results “disclosed
little or nothing of value to aviation medicine that was not already
known” and they “failed to solve many of the current medical problems
relating to aviation”[23]. It can therefore be seen that the two sources
analysed in Section C are significant in presenting two different
arguments that, when combined, argue that the high altitude experiments
at Dachau produced results of limited use.
The general interpretation of the results from the experiments is that
they weren’t useful – “they remain unexplained even after half a
century”[24]. Many believe that the experiments were invalid before they
were even started[25]. There is evidence to suggest that the
experiments weren’t scientifically justifiable – in Prosecution Exhibit
66 of the Nuremberg Trials it was declared by Rascher that “since the
urgency of the solution was evident, it was necessary to forego for the
time being the clearing up of scientific question”[26] – he knew that
the experiments wouldn’t produce useful results – he also “lacked the
qualifications to carry out the studies”[27]. It has been remarked that
the investigators “failed to record basic subject variables such as age
and level of nutrition” of the subjects (who were also malnourished and
so unsuitable for experimentation) and that “these omissions severely
limit the applicability and generalizability of the data”[28]. It has
been added that the design and method of the experiments were
“incomplete and reflect a disorganized approach”[29]. Although there is
resounding evidence that the results were not of any value or use, this
viewpoint could be negatively affected by the fact that now, with the
benefit of hindsight, our opinions may be clouded because we know that
the experiments were unethical – the viewpoint could therefore be
affected by historical bias, despite the amount of evidence present to
support it.
However, there are those who make the argument that the results
were “integrated in complex research projects and widely discussed at
scientific conferences of the aeromedical research community”[30] as
justification that they were of some value. The majority of the use of
the results was by the USA – they were “confiscated” by the US
government after Dachau’s liberation and “used for the US Air
Force”[31]. Dr. John Hayward at the University of British Columbia even
admits to using the results in his research despite his discomfort,
because there is no way of reproducing them in an “ethical world."[32].
Others, such as Katz, argue that they have studied the results obtained,
consider them to “contain valuable information”[33]. There is also an
argument that the results were of indirect use – the results “formed the
foundation of post-war aviation medicine”[34]. After concluding their
findings, Rascher and his team proposed to the Luftwaffe to implement
“automatic catapult seats, barometrically controlled parachutes and a
portable oxygen apparatus”[35] if consciousness was lost at high
altitudes, although there is no evidence of these recommendations being
pursued by the Luftwaffe. Although there has been some recorded use of
the results obtained through the experiments, most of the evidence
points towards the fact that the results of the high-altitude
experiments at Dachau were of little or no scientific value and use –
“they contained all the ingredients of scientific fraud and should be
rejected on purely scientific grounds”[36].
Word Count: 724
Section E - Conclusion
Based on the evidence presented, it can be seen that the results of the
high-altitude experiments at Dachau were of very little to no use
whatsoever. Rather than being based on scientific fact, they were
initiated in the pursuit of career development and, due to the lack of
science behind the experiments, the results cannot be classified as
useful – they were carried out immorally and with no factual
justification. Although there is some evidence that suggests that the
results were used by the USA and influenced post-war aviation medicine,
this evidence is very few and far between and is outweighed by the
overwhelming amount of evidence that suggests that the high-altitude
experiments did not produce useful results – as Evans notes, “none of
this research ever brought any benefit to the airmen that it was
intended to help – it had no defensible medical application”[37]. In
summary, therefore, after analyzing a number of sources related to the
research question, it a clear answer – the results obtained in the
high-altitude experiments were not useful.
Word Count: 172
Section F – List of Sources
1) Bastian, Till. Furchtbare Ärzte: Medizinische Verbrechen im Dritten Reich. Munich: C. H. Beck oHG, 1995.
2)
Berger, Robert L., M.D. "Nazi Science - The Dachau Hypothermia
Experiments." The New England Journal of Medicine 322 (1990): 1435-440.
Print.
3)
Black, Peter. "Das War Dachau Review." Holocaust and Genocide
Studies 23.1 (2009): 104-07. Project MUSE. The Johns Hopkins University
Press. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. .
4) Dixon, Bernard. "Citations of Shame." New Scientist 28 Feb. 1985: 31. Print.
5)
Ebbinghaus, Angelina and Klaus Dörner. Vernichten und Heilen: Der
Nürnberger Ärtzteprozeβ und seine Folgen. Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 2001.
6)
Eckart, Wolfgang Uwe. Man, Medicine and the State: The Human Body as an
Object of Government. Munich: Printservice Decker & Bokor, 2006.
7) Evans, Richard J. "Preface." Preface. The Coming of the Third Reich. New York: Penguin Group USA, 2003. Print.
8) Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich at War. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2009.
9)
“German Aviation Medical Research at the Dachau Concentration Camp” –
Secret report by the University of Göttingen, 1945. Accessed at the
Dachau Archives (File 36.205) on the 14th September 2012.
10)
"German Dachau Awards Czech Historian Zámečník." Prague Daily Monitor.
The Czech News Agency (ČTK), 10 June 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. .
11)
Hunt, Linda. Secret Agenda: The United States Government, Nazi
Scientists, and Project Paperclip, 1945 to 1990. New York: St Martins,
1991. Print.
12)
"Introduction." Visitor Information - Dachau Concentration Camp
Memorial Site. KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. .
13) Katz, J. “Abuse of human beings for the sake of science.” (1992) In A.R. Caplan, When
Medicine Went Mad (pp. 233-270). Totowana, NJ: Humana Press.
14) Lifton, Robert Jay. The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. New York: BasicBooks, 1986.
15)
Marcuse, Harold. "Reviews of Books." Rev. of That Was Dachau by
Stanislav Zámečníc. American Historical Review 113 (2008): n. pag. USCB
Department of History. The Regents of the University of California. Web.
5 Nov. 2012.
16) "Medical Experiments at Dachau." Scrapbookpages.com. N.p., 27 Feb. 2009. Web. 28 Oct. 2012.
17) Meskil, Paul. Hitler’s Heirs – Where are they Now?. New York: Pyramid Books, 1961.
18) "Nazi Horrors: Medical Monsters." Hitler's Third Reich 1 (1998): 22. Print.
19) Smith, Marcus J. Dachau: The Harrowing of Hell. New York: State University of New York, 1995.
20)
Spitz, Vivien. Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi
Experiments on Humans. New York: First Sentiment Publications, 2005.
21) Zámečníc, Stanislav. That was Dachau, 1933 – 1945. Paris: Le Cherche Midi, 2004.
Footnotes:
[1]
Evans, Richard J. Preface. The Coming of the Third Reich. New York:
Penguin Group USA, 2003.Print. [2] Lifton, Robert Jay. The Nazi
Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. New York:
BasicBooks, 1986. Page 152. [3] It was situated in a “swampy, forested
area to the left of the Schleissheim road” Zámečníc, Stanislav. That was
Dachau, 1933 – 1945. Paris: Le Cherche Midi, 2004. Page 27. [4]
Zámečníc 257 [5] Bastian, Till. Furchtbare Ärzte: Medizinische
Verbrechen im Dritten Reich. Munich: C. H. Beck oHG, 1995. Page 75. [6]
Zámečníc 258 [7] Zámečníc 65. This was seen as necessary after the
German army had suffered numerous losses of parachute troops in Crete in
1941 due to ‘altitude complications’ (found in the secret report by the
University of Göttingen, accessed in the Dachau Archives as file
36.205) [8] Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich at War. London: Penguin
Books Ltd, 2009. Page 602. [9] Meskil, Paul. Hitler’s Heirs – Where are
they Now?. New York: Pyramid Books, 1961. Page 49 [10] Ebbinghaus,
Angelina and Klaus Dörner. Vernichten und Heilen: Der Nürnberger
Ärtzteprozeβ und seine Folgen. Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 2001. Page 129
[11] "Introduction." Visitor Information - Dachau Concentration Camp
Memorial Site. KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. [12]
Bastian 76. [13] Meskil 49 [14] "German Dachau Awards Czech Historian
Zámečník." Prague Daily Monitor. The Czech News Agency (ČTK), 10 June
2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. [15] In his words, “the linking of the
position of the historian and the witness may enrich the work, and,
particularly today, be useful” (Zámečníc 13) He also states that “one
cannot get an idea of conditions inside the camp without comparing
archive records with the testimony of a witness. (Ibid 13). [16]
Zámečníc’s account “represents the cutting edge of research on the
Dachau camp’s history, masterfully assessing the source material on such
questions” about topics such as the “medical experiments”. Marcuse,
Harold. "Reviews of Books." Rev. of That Was Dachau by Stanislav
Zámečníc. American Historical Review 113 (2008): n. pag. USCB Department
of History. The Regents of the University of California. Web. 5 Nov.
2012. [17] In the Preface of the Book, Paul Kerstenne, President of the
‘Internationale Stiftung von Dachau’ (International foundation of
Dachau) stated that the “victims could have found no one who would have
researched their story in a fairer way than themselves” (Zámečníc 11.)
[18] Black, Peter. "Das War Dachau Review." Holocaust and Genocide
Studies 23.1 (2009): 104-107. Project MUSE. The Johns Hopkins University
Press. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. [19] It uses the results to conclude that
apparatus should be designed to automatically rescue pilots if they lose
consciousness at high altitudes. [20] Hunt, Linda. Secret Agenda: The
United States Government, Nazi Scientists, and Project Paperclip, 1945
to 1990. New York: St Martins, 1991. Print. [21] At higher altitudes,
there is less wind resistance, which means that planes can fly faster
using less fuel, making it financially beneficial whilst also allowing
for an increased range of attack. [22] Rascher wanted to bribe Himmler
for a promotion in the SS, claiming that the experiments “whereby the
experimentees could die” were a ‘job-crime’, and would not normally be
allowed to be carried out. (Zámečníc 258.) Zámečníc also describes how
Rascher demonstrated the “attractive results” to a number of senior
officers in the SS and Luftwaffe in the hopes of being recognized for
his work (Ibid 261.) [23] Page 3, “German Aviation Medical Research at
the Dachau Concentration Camp” [24] Ebbinghaus and Dörner 222 [25]
Historians have shown that many of the doctors, including Rascher, “were
motivated by their desire for status and material gains, such as
promotion in the SS” (Smith, Marcus J. Dachau: The Harrowing of Hell.
New York: State University of New York, 1995. Page 264.) [26] Spitz,
Vivien. Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on
Humans. New York: First Sentiment Publications, 2005. Page 65. [27]
Berger, Robert L., M.D. "Nazi Science - The Dachau Hypothermia
Experiments." The New England Journal of Medicine 322 (1990): Print.
Page 1440. [28] Berger 1440 [29] Berger 1436 [30] Eckart, Wolfgang
Uwe. Man, Medicine and the State: The Human Body as an Object of
Government. Munich: Printservice Decker & Bokor, 2006. Page 112.
[31] It was reported that the Americans, namely Charles Lindbergh and
six colleagues, under the supervision of Dr Walter Boothby (Chair of the
Aviation Medicine Research Unit at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota),
carried out similar high altitude experiments in 1942 for the US Air
Force. ("Medical Experiments at Dachau." Scrapbookpages.com. N.p., 27
Feb. 2009. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. ) [32] Dixon, Bernard. "Citations of
Shame." New Scientist 28 Feb. 1985: 31. Print. [33] Katz, J. “Abuse of
human beings for the sake of science.” (1992). Page 264. [34] "Nazi
Horrors: Medical Monsters." Hitler's Third Reich 1 (1998): 22. Print.
Page 22. [35] Ebbinghaus and Dörner, 157 [36] Berger 1440 [37] Evans
612
Why Were the Human Hypothermia Experiments Conducted in Dachau Concentration Camp?
h i s t o r y i n t e r n a l a s s e s s m e n t
A.
The aim of this investigation is to
evaluate the reasons that resulted in conducting the human hypothermia
experiments in Dachau Concentration Camp between the years 1942-1943. A
thorough study shall be conducted, while establishing what the hypothermia
experiments were and why they were carried out, to arrive at an answer to the
research question: “Why Were the Human Hypothermia Experiments Conducted in
Dachau Concentration Camp?” It is worthy of investigation as the topic is
usually discussed in regards of its ethics or scientific validity, but the
reasons behind the horrific experiments are rarely considered.
Information will be gathered from multiple
primary and secondary sources, varying in historical views, focusing on “Doctors
from Hell” by Vivien Spitz, who was the first to document in detail all medical
cases in the Nuremberg trials, and “That was Dachau” by Dr. Zámečnik, a trained
historian who is also a survivor of the horrors of Dachau. Finally, the former
Concentration Camp will be visited, both to investigate the site as well as its
archives, and to collect first-hand information regarding the topic not
available elsewhere, ensuring a wide variety of sources. The investigation will
not however, assess the ethics of the experiments nor their validity or
reliability.
Word count: 202
B.
The hypothermia project, often described as
‘freezing experiments’[1], took place in
Dachau Concentration Camp between August 15th, 1942 to approximately May 1943.[2] It was issued by
Air Force Field Marshal Erhard Milch, and the deputy of the Aviation Medicine
department, Becker- Freyseng[3], and approved by
Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer[4], due to the need
for further research.[5]
A three-men team was initially set up, called “Seenot”[6], which was led by Professor Ernst Holzlöhner and the other two being Sigmund Rascher and Dr. Finke. Their primary aims were[7]:
A three-men team was initially set up, called “Seenot”[6], which was led by Professor Ernst Holzlöhner and the other two being Sigmund Rascher and Dr. Finke. Their primary aims were[7]:
to discover the most appropriate ways of
saving lives, and particularly to test the theory of the early
nineteenth-century Russian scientist, Lepinsky, who argued that rapid warming
was the most effective.
to determine which body organs first become
paralyzed by cold, and the exact cause of death.
to test the best options for preventive
life-saving in a cold war.
The descriptions in the ‘Dachau
Comprehensive Report’ of the design, materials, and methods of the experiments
are incomplete and reflect a disorganized approach.[8] However, it is believed that the
experiments were conducted in Block 5 of the Concentration Camp, where a 2x2
meters tank was built.[9] The tank was
filled with 8,000 litters of water, and ice was added until it measured three
degrees or less.[10] The subjects
were to wear a fully equipped flying suit or were placed into the tank naked,
while the length of the experiments varied. Once the subject’s body temperature
was lowered to 27-25ºC, they were thrown into a boiling bath to re-regulate
their temperature.[11] At least six
other methods of rewarming the subjects after immersion were documented.[12]
On October 10th, Holzlöhner and Finke
believed that they had achieved satisfying results after using 50 to 60
subjects, of whom between 15 to 18 died.[13] They concluded the experiments with a
lengthy report, reviewed by the Reichsführer himself, titled ‘Prevention and
Treatment of Freezing’.[14] The results
were also presented at a medical conference in Nuremberg in October 1942. It
included the average survival time in cold water, the effect of clothing on the
rate of cooling and came to the conclusion that the currently used life jackets
required modifications.[15]
Rascher, however, continued performing
lethal experiments from October onwards to collect sufficient data for his
postdoctoral thesis. Witness prisoner-nurse Walter Neff recalls in his
testimony of December 1946 (during the Nuremberg war-crime trials), that the
methods “were different when Rascher personally took over the experiments”.[16] Rascher started
his own program, investigating animal heat as a mean to revive subjects.
Rascher was more brutal, “keeping persons in the water until they were dead”.[17] Throughout the
seven months he conducted the experiments, 250 more experimental subjects were
used, 90 of whom died. He publicized his results at the 1942 medical conference
entitled “Medical Problems Arising from Sea and Winter”.[18]
Word count: 472
C.
Source A:
Spitz, Vivien. "Freezing Experiments." Doctors from Hell: The
Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans. Boulder, CO: Sentient
Publications, 2005. Print.
Spitz provides a mixture of court
transcripts from the Nuremberg war-crime trials, clinical descriptions of
doctors’ reports and multiple testimonies of survivors. Spitz was sent by the
American war department as a court reporter to the 1946 trials, whilst
documenting in detail the 20 human medical experiment cases. Spitz published
her documentations from 1946 in a vivid account, including previously
unpublished photographs used as evidence in the trials.[19] The primary purpose of the book is “to
expose the horrors of the past and to ensure they are not repeated in the future”.[20]
Although neither an historian nor a doctor,
Spitz provides an objective and valuable report as an eyewitness and was
honored for her work numerous times by the state of Israel and Bill Clinton.[21] While putting
extra emphasis on the human medical experiments by citing accurate testimonies
of inmates and other court transcripts, she does not focus on particular Concentration
Camps, resulting in a rather underwhelming retelling of the facts. Both Dachau
and the hypothermia experiments are mentioned numerous times, but are not the
primary focus of the book. Additionally, Spitz incorporates her own experiences
in post-war Germany, which hinders from its reliability as a source, due to her
degree of subjectivity. However, she maintains a dispassionate and critical
perspective when discussing the medical crimes. Although gathering all the
information and sources for the book in 1946, Spitz published her work only in
2005. The passage of time allows emotional detachment that otherwise may have
hindered the accuracy of her work if would have been published as early as
1946. “Doctors from Hell” is crucial to the success of this IA as it provides
not only with transcripts that have not been easily available to the general
public, but also testimonies and primary reports that describe the nature of
the hypothermia experiments and their results to a great extent.
Word count: 310
Source B:
Zámečník, Stanislav. That Was Dachau: 1933-1945. Paris: Fondation
Internationale De Dachau, 2004. Print.
Published in 2004, it is the first book to “compare and cross-reference many sources and eyewitnesses accounts”, aiming to refute common myths and provide new information about the death statistics and methods used in the Dachau Concentration Camp.[22] Zámečnik, who not only was an inmate in the camp and thus provides a valuable first hand account, but also a trained historian. Although this combination may enrich the work and ultimately be useful when contextualizing information, it also holds emotional bias that affects the retelling of facts and thus, hinders the accuracy of his work. Zámečnik himself states that “personal collections and subjective points of views” will be linked to “the historical sources”[23] throughout the book, which, at times, enriches his stories but also hinders their reliability. Using a large variety of sources and the help of Dr. Barbara Distel, the director of the Dachau Memorial Site, Zámečnik provides a reliable and comprehensive account, chronologically ordered, focusing on Dachau as a whole, as well as the medical experiments. The source is also believed to be of a high value as it is one of the very few recommended pieces of literature by the Dachau Memorial Site. As the focus of the book is primarily on Dachau Concentration Camp, it includes a well-researched account of the hypothermia experiments as well as the personal details about the doctors who conducted them. Zámečnik's knowledge as a survivor, as well as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Dachau and as an historian, contribute to its reliability as a source, which is arguably one of the most insightful book about Dachau Concentration Camp and therefore make it crucial for the success of the investigation.[24]
Word count: 280
D.
Germany had arguably the most “advanced
medical technologies” prior to World War Two.[25] However, statistics obtained in 1943
from the front lines,[26] show that
hypothermia was “accounting for more injuries to heavy bomber crews in World
War Two than all other causes combined”[27], and thus, sufficient data regarding
hypothermia was urgently needed. The wehrmacht and the Luftwaffe had therefore
ordered freezing experiments to be conducted on humans at the concentration
camp of Dachau. They were approved by the Reichsführer, Heinrich Himmler, in
1942,[28] suggesting a
genuine need for hypothermia research was indeed necessary. ‘Seenot’, the team
of Doctors Holzlöhner, Finke and Rascher, set up three main purposes for their
work; to discover the most effective and rapid way to save lives of hypothermic
subjects, to determine which body organs become paralyzed first and the exact
cause of death and lastly, to test the best life- saving options during a cold
war.
Professor Michalczyk argues that the main
reason for conducting the experiments was the lack of research regarding
hypothermia. He states that the hypothermia experiments in Dachau “gathered
data unavailable elsewhere”[29], thus proving
its necessity on the grounds of unavailability of data. However, numerous
researchers at the University of Göttingen claimed in their 1945 report that
hypothermia results “had been previously attained through more humane
experiments carried out by American research scientists”.[30] Additionally, the Medical Department of
the US Army states in its recent work that the results of the two countries’ experiments
regarding hypothermia were “considerably similar”.[31] Zámečnik also reveals in his book, that
“analogous experiments on large animals were conducted for the Luftwaffe in
Munich”.[32] Lack of data
regarding hypothermia was therefore not the main reason for conducting the
experiments and so this argument is refuted.
Both sources analyzed in section C are
significant in presenting compelling, yet opposing, arguments. Zámečnik argues
that the experiments were not necessary for the survival of Nazi troops in the
front lines, but rather for personal career development of the doctors. On
February 24th, ‘Seenot’ and Erich Hippke, the Chief Medical Officer of
Luftwaffe, felt that “enough satisfactory information concerning immersion
hypothermia experiments had been collected”, and Dr. Holzlöhner and Finke
withdrew from the project.[33] Dr. Rascher,
who was an “ambitious experimentalist”[34], continued operating on camp inmates
much for his own use, while employing the camp’s ‘equipment and resources to
pursue his “far more radical research”[35], particularly for his postdoctoral
thesis he was simultaneously working on. Although regularly reporting back to
the Reichsführer and presenting his findings in the “Medical Problems Arising
from Sea and Winter” conference, there are no evidence that suggest that his
findings were in direct use for the Luftwaffe.
Spitz presents another compelling argument,
based on numerous testimonies and transcripts, showing that intent for future
use by both the wehrmacht and, in particular, the Luftwaffe, was clearly
demonstrated through a lengthy exchange of letters between Rascher and Himmler.
Bioethics Professor at the University of Boston, George J. Annas, supports this
argument, arguing that the hypothermia experiments were an “integral part of
the total Nazi war effort”. Neff Walter’s testimony, an inmate nurse who
witnessed both ‘Seenot’ and Rascher’s experiments, incorporates both arguments
presented and claims that until October the experiments were conducted purely
to benefit the wehrmacht and the war effort.[36] However, once Holzlöhner and Finke
withdrew the hypothermia case, Rascher was using the camp's resources for his
own personal career development. Although a valuable eyewitness, Walter’s
testimony should be taken with a degree of skepticism as memory as well as
emotions may hinder the reliability of his account, evident through multiple
inaccuracies, such as confusion of dates.[37]
Word count: 604
E.
Based on the evidence and arguments
presented, it can be concluded that the human hypothermia experiments at Dachau
were initially conducted for future use by the Luftwaffe and wehrmacht.
However, following October 10th and the withdrawal of doctors Holzlöhner and
Finke (who, together with the Chief Medical Officer, believed that enough
sufficient data was collected), the experiments were conducted purely towards
Rascher’s own postdoctoral thesis. It is also clear that hypothermia research
and collection of data by the Nazis was needed, evident through the statistics
compiled by the German High Command and presented in Overmans’ book, even
though the argument claiming that unavailability of data was the main purpose
of the hypothermia experiments, remains untrue; given that multiple studies
with similar results were conducted prior to the start of ‘freezing experiments’.
Word count: 131
Total Word count: 1999
F.
BOOKS:
Annas, George J., and Michael A. Grodin.
The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code: Human Rights
in Human Experimentation. New York: Oxford UP, 1992. Print.
Berger, Robert L. "Nazi Science - the
Dachau Hypothermia Experiments". New England Journal of Medicine, 1990. 1435–40. Print.
Michalczyk, John J. "The Dachau Human
Hypothermia Experiments." Medicine, Ethics, and the Third Reich: Historical and
Contemporary Issues. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1994. Print.
Military Medical Ethics Volume 2 - U.S. Department
of Defence. 2003. N.p.: n.p., 2004. Print.
Overmans, Rüdiger. Deutsche Militärische
Verluste Im Zweiten Weltkrieg. München: R. Oldenbourg,
1999. Print.
Pozos, Robert S., PHD. "NAZI
HYPOTHERMIA RESEARCH: Should the Data Be Used?" Military Medical Ethics 2 (n.d.): Print.
Spitz, Vivien. "Freezing
Experiments." Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans. Boulder, CO:
Sentient Publications, 2005. Print.
Stephens, Martha. The Treatment: The Story
of Those Who Died in the Cincinnati Radiation Tests.
Durham: Duke UP, 2002. Print.
Weindling, Paul. Victims and Survivors of
Nazi Human Experiments: Science and Suffering in the Holocaust. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print
Zámečnik, Stanislav. "Medical
Experiments on Prisoners." That Was Dachau: 1933-1945. Paris: Fondation Internationale De
Dachau, 2004. Print.
Websites:
Websites:
Bekier, Manny, M.S. "The Ethical
Considerations of Medical Experimentation on Human Subjects." The Ethical Considerations of
Medical Experimentation on Human Subjects. N.p., 18 Nov. 2010. Web. 06 Aug. 2015.
Benedict, Professor Susan. "VIII:
ROLES OF PHYSICIANS AND NURSES IN THE “MEDICAL”
EXPERIMENTS FOR MILITARY." UT Health Science Center (n.d.): n. pag. Web
"Doctors From Hell." Sentient
Publications. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2015.
Hammermann, Gabriele. "Stanislav Zámečnik
Died." Dachau Concentration Camp: Memorial Site. N.p.,
2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.
O’Connell, James J., MD, Denise A.
Petrella, RN, CS, ANP, and Richard F. Regan, PA-C. "Hypothermia and Cold-Related Injuries." Van
Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia (2005): n. pag.
Web.
"ON SCIENCE: Medicine and Murder in
the Third Reich." N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2015.
Williams, Dion. "Medical Experiments
of the Holocaust." Remember. Holocaust Medical Experiments, n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2015.
REPORTS & TESTIMONIES:
“Aviation Medicine, General Medicine,
Veterinary Medicine and Chemical Warfare”. Rep. N.p.: U of Göttingen, 1945. Print.
“German Aviation Medical Research at the
Dachau Concentration Camp”. Tech. no. 331-45. N.p.: Harvard Medical Library in the Francis A. Countway Library
of Medicine, 1945. Print. U.S
Naval Technical Mission in Europe.
Nuremberg Trials, Medical Cases (1945)
(testimony of Neff Walter). Print.
[1] Williams, Dion. "Medical Experiments of the Holocaust." Remember.
Holocaust Medical Experiments, n.d. Web. 10 Aug. 2015. [2] Zámečnik,
Stanislav. That Was Dachau: 1933-1945. Paris: Fondation Internationale
De Dachau, 2004. 253. Print. [3] Spitz, Vivien. "Freezing Experiments."
Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans.
Boulder, CO: Sentient Publications, 2005. 85. Print. [4] Michalczyk,
John J. "The Dachau Human Hypothermia Experiments." Medicine, Ethics,
and the Third Reich: Historical and Contemporary Issues. Kansas City,
MO: Sheed & Ward, 1994. 87-88. Print. [5] Overmans, Rüdiger.
Deutsche Militärische Verluste Im Zweiten Weltkrieg. München: R.
Oldenbourg, 1999. Print. [6] “Sea Distress” [7] Zámečnik, Stanislav.
That Was Dachau: 1933-1945. Paris: Fondation Internationale De Dachau,
2004. 276. Print. [8] Berger, Robert L. "Nazi Science - the Dachau
Hypothermia Experiments". New England Journal of Medicine, 1990.
1435–40. Print. [9] Benedict, Professor Susan. "VIII: ROLES OF
PHYSICIANS AND NURSES IN THE “MEDICAL” EXPERIMENTS FOR MILITARY." UT
Health Science Center (n.d.): n. pag. Web. [10] Nuremberg Trials,
Medical Cases (1945) (testimony of Neff Walter). Print. [11] Berger,
Robert L. "Nazi Science - the Dachau Hypothermia Experiments". New
England Journal of Medicine, 1990. 1435–40. 435. Print. [12] Ibid.
[13] Pozos, Robert S., PHD. "NAZI HYPOTHERMIA RESEARCH: Should the Data
Be Used?" Military Medical Ethics 2 (n.d.): 447. Print. [14] Stephens,
Martha. The Treatment: The Story of Those Who Died in the Cincinnati
Radiation Tests. Durham: Duke UP, 2002. 251. Print. [15] Benedict,
Professor Susan. "VIII: ROLES OF PHYSICIANS AND NURSES IN THE “MEDICAL”
EXPERIMENTS FOR MILITARY." UT Health Science Center (n.d.): n. pag.
Web. [16] Nuremberg Trials, Medical Cases (1945) (testimony of Neff
Walter). Print. [17] Ibid. [18] Bekier, Manny, M.S. "The Ethical
Considerations of Medical Experimentation on Human Subjects." The
Ethical Considerations of Medical Experimentation on Human Subjects.
N.p., 18 Nov. 2010. Web. 06 Aug. 2015. [19] Spitz, Vivien. "Freezing
Experiments." Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi
Experiments on Humans. Boulder, CO: Sentient Publications, 2005. Print.
[20] Yuval Rotem, Consul General of Israel. [21] "Doctors From Hell."
Sentient Publications. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2015. [22] Ibid. 1-2.
[23] Zámečnik, Stanislav. "Medical Experiments on Prisoners." That Was
Dachau: 1933-1945. Paris: Fondation Internationale De Dachau, 2004. 13.
Print. [24] Hammermann, Gabriele. "Stanislav Zámečnik Died." Dachau
Concentration Camp: Memorial Site. N.p., 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2015. [25]
"ON SCIENCE: Medicine and Murder in the Third Reich.” N.p., n.d. Web. 07
Sept. 2015. [26] Overmans, Rüdiger. Deutsche Militärische Verluste Im
Zweiten Weltkrieg. München: R. Oldenbourg, 1999. Print. [27] O’Connell,
James J., MD, Denise A. Petrella, RN, CS, ANP, and Richard F. Regan,
PA-C. "Hypothermia and Cold-Related Injuries." Van Nostrand's Scientific
Encyclopedia (2005): n. pag. Web. [28] Michalczyk, John J. "The Dachau
Human Hypothermia Experiments." Medicine, Ethics, and the Third Reich:
Historical and Contemporary Issues. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward,
1994. 87-88. Print. [29] Michalczyk, John J. "The Dachau Human
Hypothermia Experiments." Medicine, Ethics, and the Third Reich:
Historical and Contemporary Issues. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward,
1994. 88. Print. [30] “German Aviation Medical Research at the Dachau
Concentration Camp”. Tech. no. 331-45. N.p.: Harvard Medical Library in
the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, 1945. Print. U.S Naval
Technical Mission in Europe. [31] Military Medical Ethics Volume 2 -
U.S. Department of Defence. 2003. N.p.: n.p., 2004. Print. [32]
Zámečnik, Stanislav. "Medical Experiments on Prisoners." That Was
Dachau: 1933-1945. Paris: Fondation Internationale De Dachau, 2004. 271.
Print. [33] Pozos, Robert S., PHD. "NAZI HYPOTHERMIA RESEARCH: Should
the Data Be Used?" Military Medical Ethics 2 (n.d.): 447. Print. [34]
Weindling, Paul. Victims and Survivors of Nazi Human Experiments:
Science and Suffering in the Holocaust. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. [35]
Zámečnik, Stanislav. "Medical Experiments on Prisoners." That Was
Dachau: 1933-1945. Paris: Fondation Internationale De Dachau, 2004. 270.
Print. [36] Nuremberg Trials, Medical Cases (1945) (testimony of Neff
Walter). Print. [37] “I think it was the end of October” Nuremberg
Trials, Medical Cases (1945) (testimony of Neff Walter). Print. 