The experiments concerning mustard gas were conducted at Sachsenhausen,
Natzweiler, and other concentration camps and extended over the entire
period of the war. Wounds were deliberately inflicted on the victims,
and the wounds were then infected with mustard gas. Other subjects were
forced to inhale the gas, or to take it internally in liquid form, and
still others were injected with the gas. A report on these experiments
written at the end of 1939 described certain cases in which wounds were
inflicted on both arms of the human guinea pigs and then infected, and
the report states: “The arms in most of the cases are badly swollen and
pains are enormous.”
The alleged purpose of these experiments was to discover an effective
treatment for the burns caused by mustard gas. In 1944 the experiments
were coordinated with a general program for research into gas warfare. A
decree issued by Hitler in March 1944 ordered the defendant Karl Brandt
to push medical research in connection with gas warfare. The defendant
Rudolf Brandt sent copies of this decree to the defendant Sievers, to
Grawitz, and others, and transmitted Hitler’s request that they confer
soon with the defendant Karl Brandt “on account of the urgency of the
order given him by the Fuehrer.” Subsequently, Sievers, who was
thoroughly familiar with the mustard gas experiments being carried on in
the concentration camps, reported the details of these experiments to
the defendant Karl Brandt.
E. and F. Ravensbrueck Experiments Concerning Sulfanilamide and Other
Drugs; Bone, Muscle, and Nerve Regeneration and Bone Transplantation
The experiments conducted principally on the female inmates of
Ravensbrueck concentration camp were perhaps the most barbaric of all.
These concerned bone, muscle, and nerve regeneration and bone
transplantation, and experiments with sulfanilamide and other drugs.
They were carried out by the defendants Fischer and Oberheuser under the
direction of the defendant Gebhardt.
In one set of experiments, incisions were made on the legs of several of
the camp inmates for the purpose of simulating battle-caused infections.
A bacterial culture, or fragments of wood shavings, or tiny pieces of
glass were forced into the wound. After several days, the wounds were
treated with sulfanilamide. Grawitz, the head of the SS Medical Service,
visited Ravensbrueck and received a report on these experiments directly
from the defendant Fischer. Grawitz thereupon directed that the wounds
inflicted on the subjects should be even more severe so that conditions
similar to those prevailing at the front lines would be more completely
simulated.
Bullet wounds were simulated on the subjects by tying off the blood
vessels at both ends of the incision. A gangrene-producing culture was
then placed in the wounds. Severe infection resulted within 24 hours.
Operations were then performed on the infected areas and the wounds were
treated with sulfanilamide. In each of the many sulfanilamide
experiments, some of the subjects were wounded and infected but were not
given sulfanilamide, so as to compare their reactions with those who
received treatment.
Bone transplantation from one person to another and the regeneration of
nerves, muscles, and bones were also tried out on the women at
Ravensbrueck. The defendant Gebhardt personally ordered that bone
transplantation experiments be carried out, and in one case the scapula
of an inmate at Ravensbrueck was removed and taken to Hohenlychen
Hospital and there transplanted. We will show that the defendants did
not even have any substantial scientific objective. These experiments
were senseless, sadistic, and utterly savage.
The defendant Oberheuser’s duties at Ravensbrueck in connection with the
experiments were to select young and healthy inmates for the
experiments, to be present at all of the surgical operations, and to
give the experimental subjects post-operative care. We will show that
this care consisted chiefly of utter neglect of nursing requirements,
and cruel and abusive treatment of the miserable victims.
Other experiments in this category were conducted at Dachau to discover
a method of bringing about coagulation of the blood. Concentration camp
inmates were actually fired upon, or were injured in some other fashion
in order to cause something similar to a battlefield wound. These wounds
were then treated with a drug known as polygal in order to test its
capacity to coagulate the blood. Several inmates were killed.
Sulfanilamide was also administered to some and withheld from other
inmates who had been infected with the pus from a phlegmon-diseased
person. Blood poisoning generally ensued. After infection, the victims
were left untreated for 3 or 4 days, after which various drugs were
administered experimentally or experimental surgical operations were
performed. Polish Catholic priests were used for these tests. Many died
and others became invalids.
As a result of all of these senseless and barbaric experiments, the
defendants are responsible for manifold murders and untold cruelty and
torture.