| Nazi Medical Experiments |
| ~ Medical experiments conducted in concentration camps had dubious medical value. ~ Most experiments were performed in Dachau, Buchenwald, Saschenhausen, Natzweiler, Ravensbruck, and Auschwitz concentration camps. ~ Estimated 350 doctors committed medical crimes, including experimentation. Experiments Generally Fell into Two Categories: 1. Experiments sponsored by the Regime for a specific military and ideological purpose. 2. Experiments done ad hoc by the alledged scientific interest of an SS doctor. Examples of Military Experiments: Typhus research Malaria research High Altitude experiments Examples of Ideological Experiments: Sterilization Castration Examples of Doctor's Interest: Pre-cancerous conditions of the cervix by Dr. Wirths Research on twins and dwarfs by Dr. Mengele SOME EXPERIMENTS IN SPECIFIC CAMPS: AUSCHWITZ Experiments were mainly conducted in Block 10. Dr. Clauberg conducted experiments in mass sterilization of women by inserting a caustic substance into the cervix in order to obstruct the fallopian tubes. Clauberg's victims were women between twenty and forty years old. Dr. Johannes Goebel was Clauberg's assistant and worked at producing the substance and improving X-ray tracing material. Estimated number of women sterilized by Clauberg's method: Seven Hundred to Several Thousand. Dr. Horst Shumann conducted experiments in mass castration of men and women using X-rays for several minutes to burn the victims, then removed their reproductive organs to test the effectiveness of the X-rays. Shumann's victims were healthy men and women in their late teens or early twenties. Estimated number of men and women castrated by Shumann's method: About one Thousand. Dr. Helmuth Vetter ran medical trials for Bayer Group WII of the I.G.Farben industry using several therapeutic agents, including sulfa medicines. Number of victims of medical trials: Unknown Dr. Josef Mengele conducted research on twins, dwarfs, and other rarities. Mengele tried to discover a way to guarantee Aryan women multiple births. Mengele's work was initiated by others and possibly himself in the Frankfurt and Berlin institutes, stressing genetic determinism. Prisoners from Auschwitz were also sent to other camps for experimental purposes: Eight prisoners were sent to Sachsenhausen for experiments with epidemic hepatitis. Twenty-Five children (5-12 years old) were sent to Neuengamme for injections of virulent tubercular serum and other experiments. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) |