In the sterilization experiments conducted by the defendants at
Auschwitz, Ravensbrueck, and other concentration camps, the destructive
nature of the Nazi medical program comes out most forcibly. The Nazis
were searching for methods of extermination, both by murder and
sterilization, of large population groups, by the most scientific and
least conspicuous means. They were developing a new branch of medical
science which would give them the scientific tools for the planning and
practice of genocide. The primary purpose was to discover an
inexpensive, unobtrusive, and rapid method of sterilization which could
be used to wipe out Russians, Poles, Jews, and other people. Surgical
sterilization was thought to be too slow and expensive to be used on a
mass scale. A method to bring about an unnoticed sterilization was
thought desirable.
Medicinal sterilizations were therefore carried out. A Dr. Madaus had
stated that caladium seguinum, a drug obtained from a North American
plant, if taken orally or by injection, would bring about sterilization.
In 1941 the defendant Pokorny called this to Himmler’s attention, and
suggested that it should be developed and used against Russian prisoners
of war. I quote one paragraph from Pokorny’s letter written at that time
(_NO-035_):
“If, on the basis of this research, it were possible to produce
a drug which after a relatively short time, effects an
imperceptible sterilization on human beings, then we would have
a powerful new weapon at our disposal. The thought alone that
the 3 million Bolsheviks, who are at present German prisoners,
could be sterilized so that they could be used as laborers but
be prevented from reproduction, opens the most far-reaching
perspectives.”
As a result of Pokorny’s suggestion, experiments were conducted on
concentration camp inmates to test the effectiveness of the drug. At the
same time efforts were made to grow the plant on a large scale in
hothouses.
At the Auschwitz concentration camp sterilization experiments were also
conducted on a large scale by a Dr. Karl Clauberg, who had developed a
method of sterilizing women, based on the injection of an irritating
solution. Several thousand Jewesses and gypsies were sterilized at
Auschwitz by this method.
Conversely, surgical operations were performed on sexually abnormal
inmates at Buchenwald in order to determine whether their virility could
be increased by the transplantation of glands. Out of 14 subjects of
these experiments, at least 2 died.
The defendant Gebhardt also personally conducted sterilizations at
Ravensbrueck by surgical operation. The defendant Viktor Brack, in March
1941, submitted to Himmler a report on the progress and state of X-ray
sterilization experiments. Brack explained that it had been determined
that sterilization with powerful X-rays could be accomplished and that
castration would then result. The danger of this X-ray method lay in the
fact that other parts of the body, if they were not protected with lead,
were also seriously affected. In order to prevent the victims from
realizing that they were being castrated, Brack made the following
fantastic suggestion in his letter written in 1941 to Himmler, from
which I quote (_NO-203_):
“One way to carry out these experiments in practice would be to
have those people who are to be treated line up before a
counter. There they would be questioned and a form would be
given them to be filled out, the whole process taking 2 or 3
minutes. The official attendant who sits behind the counter can
operate the apparatus in such a manner that he works a switch
which will start both tubes together (as the rays have to come
from both sides). With one such installation with two tubes
about 150 to 200 persons could be sterilized daily, while 20
installations would take care of 3,000 to 4,000 persons daily.
In my opinion the number of daily deportations will not exceed
this figure.”
In this same report the defendant Brack related that, and I quote
(_NO-203_):
“* * * the latest X-ray technique and research make it easily
possible to carry out mass sterilization by means of X-rays.
However, it appears to be impossible to take these measures
without having those who were so treated finding out sooner or
later that they definitely had been either sterilized or had
been castrated by X-rays.”
Another letter from Brack to Himmler, in June 1942, laid the basis for
X-ray experiments which were subsequently carried out at Auschwitz. The
second paragraph of this letter forms a fitting conclusion to this
account of Nazi depravity, and I quote (_NO-205_):
“Among 10 millions of Jews in Europe there are, I figure, at
least 2 to 3 millions of men and women who are fit enough to
work. Considering the extraordinary difficulties the labor
problem presents us with, I hold the view that these 2 to 3
millions should be specially selected and preserved. This can,
however, only be done if at the same time they are rendered
incapable to propagate. About a year ago I reported to you that
agents of mine have completed the experiments necessary for this
purpose. I would like to recall these facts once more.
Sterilization, as normally performed on persons with hereditary
diseases, is here out of the question because it takes too long
and is too expensive. Castration by X-rays, however, is not only
relatively cheap but can also be performed on many thousands in
the shortest time. I think that at this time it is already
irrelevant whether the people in question become aware of having
been castrated after some weeks or months, once they feel the
effects.”