Chapter VII: Extracts From Argumentation and Evidence of Prosecution and Defense (2)

Ruff attempts to explain the omission of mention of deaths in the final report on the ground that the deaths did not occur as a result of their experiments on rescue from high altitudes (i. e., parachute descending tests), but rather in Rascher’s own experiments with which they had nothing to do (i. e., prolonged stay at high altitudes). (_Tr. p. 6592._) It has already been proved that the basic premise to this spurious argument is completely false, since Ruff and Romberg themselves were not interested in sojourn at high altitudes. The self-experiments of Romberg and Rascher were just such tests and they are specifically mentioned in the final report. These involved a stay of 30 to 40 minutes at altitudes between 12 and 13.5 kilometers (39,400 to 44,290 feet). But so also is the minor premise wrong. _Deaths were deliberately brought about in the course of the parachute descending tests._ In these tests it had been noted that the subjects suffered from spasmodic and clonic convulsions together with paralysis. This is reported in paragraph 3 of Rascher’s memorandum of 11 May 1942 on the experiments and also on pages 13 through 18 of the final report. In his memorandum, Rascher stated:

“To find out whether the severe psychic and physical effects, as
mentioned under No. 3, are due to the formation of embolism, the
following was done: After relative recuperation from such _a
parachute descending test_ had taken place, however before
regaining consciousness, some VP’s were kept under water until
they died. When the skull and the cavities of the breast and of
the abdomen had been opened under water, an enormous amount of
air embolism was found in the vessels of the brain, the coronary
vessels, and the vessels of the liver and the intestines, etc.”
[Emphasis supplied.] (_NO-220, Pros. Ex. 61._)

_This proves beyond any doubt that murders were committed in the parachute descending tests of Ruff, Romberg, and Rascher._ Ruff again tried to deceive the Tribunal by testifying that it was substantially impossible for air embolism to form in parachute descending tests. This is obviously disproved by the statement of Rascher quoted above and by the reference in the final report, already mentioned above, which alludes to this same problem. But the lie was also squarely nailed by the expert witness Ivy, who testified that it was possible for air embolism to form in subjects who were at altitudes above 12,000 meters (39,400 feet) only 3 minutes, that is to say, subjects who bailed out at 15,000 meters. Bubbles may form as low as 30,000 feet. (_Tr. p. 9102._) Thus, the defense that no deaths occurred during the experiments concerning rescue from high altitudes is completely spurious.

Moreover, it should be noted that while the joint final report does not describe any of the death cases, it also _does not deny_ that deaths occurred. On page 25 of the original, it says: “In conclusion, we must make it particularly clear that, in view of the extreme experimental conditions in this whole experimental series, no fatality and no lasting injury _due to oxygen lack occurred_.” (_NO-402, Pros. Ex. 66._) The deaths described in Rascher’s report quoted above _were not due to lack of oxygen_ but were deliberate killings to investigate air embolism.

But even the experiments which Ruff, Romberg, and Weltz admit were planned and performed under their responsibility were highly dangerous to the life and health of the subjects. Both Ruff and Romberg agreed that 12,000 meters was the upper limit of safety and that experiments of the type they performed above that altitude were hazardous. The description of the reaction of the subjects as set forth in the final report proves that the subject suffered severe convulsions and prolonged periods of disorientation. The expert witness Ivy pointed out that the experiments described in the final report of Ruff, Romberg, and Weltz were highly dangerous for the following reasons:

“I consider them to be dangerous because of the prolonged period
of unconsciousness to which the subjects were exposed. For
example, they were unconscious for periods of around twenty
minutes, and they were disoriented for periods of around thirty
to ninety minutes. That is a dangerous period of oxygen lack to
which to expose the brain. I agree that * * * the
electrocardiogram demonstrates that the heart of these subjects
was not momentarily affected or significantly affected by this
prolonged exposure to oxygen lack. But these experiments do not
show, or the results do not show that the cells of the brain
were not injured. One of the higher faculties of the brain is
learning, and we know that the learning process is rather
sensitive to oxygen lack, and the only way to check against the
possibility of damage of the learning mechanism by prolonged
exposure to oxygen lack would have been to have determined the
I. Q. of these subjects or the ability of these subjects to
learn before and after the subjects were exposed to such a
prolonged period of oxygen lack.” (_Tr. p. 9036._)

Dr. Ivy testified that the experiments described in the final report had reached the physiological limit and that work was being done in a very dangerous and hazardous zone as far as the welfare of the experimental subjects was concerned. He said that he should be reluctant to perform such experiments even on himself and that he would prefer to depend upon that degree of accuracy which could be obtained from calculations of the results of animal experiments. (_Tr. pp. 9081, 9112, and 9197._)

Finally it should be noted that the experiments were neither necessary nor a scientific success. “Necessity of the State” has been much used by the defendants as if it were a defense. This is clearly unfounded even though necessity, military or otherwise, be assumed. It is to be supposed that each defendant _thought_ there was some necessity to what he was doing. This is no defense. Rascher thought the same thing. It was deemed necessary to incarcerate hundreds of thousands of persons in concentration camps. It was deemed necessary to murder millions of Jews. The slave labor policy was bottomed on necessity. If that is a defense, then these trials lose all meaning. But, on the other hand if it is proved that these experiments were not necessary, not of scientific value, then it makes the guilty even more guilty. The brutal sacrifice of human life was to no avail. And such was the case here. Hippke, Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, when writing his thanks to Himmler on 8 October 1942 said the following:

“It is true that no conclusions as to the practice of
parachuting can be drawn for the time being, as a very important
factor, namely, cold has so far not yet been taken into
consideration; it places an extraordinary excess burden on the
entire body and its vital movements, so that the results in
actual practice will very likely prove to be far more
unfavorable than in the present experiments.” (_NO-289, Pros.
Ex. 72._)

When asked his opinion concerning the necessity for the typical experiment described on page 13 of the final report of Ruff, Romberg, and Rascher, the witness Ivy testified:

“I do not believe that it was necessary to do this experiment in
order to determine the equipment to supply aviators who have to
bail out of an airplane at high altitude.” (_Tr. p. 9035._)

The witness Ivy stated further that the information which was obtained by these experiments on concentration camp inmates could have been obtained from animals as indicated by the results of Lutz’ and Wendt’s animal work referred to in the final report. The differences in the reactions of human subjects and animals, as reported by Lutz and Wendt, were not sufficient to warrant the carrying out of these hazardous experiments on human beings. (_Tr. p. 9036._)

* * * * *

c. Selections From the Argumentation of the Defense

_EXTRACTS FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT RUFF_[19]

* * * * *

Certainly Dr. Ruff gave his agreement and approval to high-altitude tests with a low-pressure chamber of the Reich Air Ministry being performed by his collaborator of many years, Dr. Romberg, together with Stabsarzt Dr. Rascher, in a concentration camp, using concentration camp inmates as experimental subjects. He agreed after the performance of urgent experiments in the Dachau concentration camp had already been agreed upon in principle and approved by Professor Dr. Hippke and Professor Dr. Weltz.

Therefore, the question arises whether these high-altitude experiments were already illegal for the reason that they were performed on concentration camp inmates.

This question must be denied for only such inmates were used for the experiments as had volunteered for them, or who at least were regarded by Ruff as volunteers and could be regarded as such in view of the whole situation, and no one could reproach him for having erred in this respect because other persons had perhaps deceived him about these facts.

There are, however, some witnesses who apparently maintain that the prisoners used in the Ruff-Romberg experiments were not volunteers. Above all the witnesses Vieweg and Neff are of this opinion.

During his direct examination on 13 December 1946 the witness Vieweg mentioned a series of various experiments which were performed at the Dachau concentration camp. Referring in particular to the high-altitude experiments there, which alone can be considered in the indictment against Dr. Ruff, he states firstly that high-altitude experiments with the low-pressure chamber were performed on 10 patients; “for these experiments frequently patients and also male nurses were used who during the experiments were seen in the corridor of the adjacent hospital ward.”

By this Vieweg apparently wanted to point out that these “patients” and “also the nurses” were not volunteers. These 10 “official experimental subjects” had been well fed and supplied with smokes, but in addition to these 10 so-called “exhibition patients”, a large number of people had been selected from the camp who were again and again sent to the high-altitude experiment institute. That happened to a block leader who probably had pneumonia a few hours later and ended in the sick bay mortuary. The same happened in the malaria department of the witness Vieweg. One day a patient who had some differences with Zill, the leader of the camp, concerning protective custody, was sent to the experimental institute, and he (Vieweg) found him in the mortuary the next day. He (Vieweg) knows by hearsay that, “a great number of patients who took part in these experiments died, and ended up in the sick bay mortuary.” (_German Tr. p. 476._)

Between the lines of this rather obscure and vague statement one may read that, according to Vieweg’s statement, these further experimental subjects, and especially those who had died during the experiments, did not belong to the 10 “official experimental subjects” and had not been volunteers. However, in the direct examination by the prosecution the witness Vieweg did not express himself explicitly about this alleged compulsion of the so-called experimental subjects.

During the cross-examination by the defense counsel of Dr. Romberg, the witness Vieweg explained his expression, the “10 exhibition patients”. (_German Tr. p. 485._) The 10 selected patients who were used for the high-altitude tests had been accommodated in a special room and had been well nourished; they had been exhibited, and they had been presented to Himmler during one of his visits. Himmler made them big promises; if they survived, they would be set free * * * these 10 patients had been drawn into the experiments * * * they had told him (Vieweg) that they were very exhausted by the whole affair, but as far as he could remember “they all survived” (_German Tr. pp. 486, 489_). On being questioned the witness Vieweg repeatedly stated (_German Tr. pp. 486, 487, 489_), that as far as he could remember Dr. Rascher had carried out the experiments himself. The only thing Vieweg could state about participation of “Luftwaffe officers” in these high-altitude experiments, was that some Luftwaffe officers “had also been there”. But he could not say anything about the actual participation of the Luftwaffe officers. From the description on page 501 (German Transcript) these two gentlemen of the Luftwaffe certainly were not identical with Buff and Romberg. He himself (Vieweg) had only talked with these 10 official experimental subjects, the so-called “exhibition patients”, but not with any of the other experimental subjects. He himself had never observed that these other prisoners were used for high-altitude tests, but he had been told about it frequently. Vieweg repeatedly stated that the 10 official experimental subjects had still been alive at the end of the experiments (_German Tr. p. 489_), that no deaths had occurred among them.

So much for the statement of the witness Vieweg. It is, of course, unreliable because it does not establish a clear distinction between the high-altitude experiments authorized by Ruff and carried out with the cooperation of Dr. Romberg, and other experiments in the low-pressure chamber which Rascher undertook by order of Himmler, without the authorization or previous knowledge of Dr. Ruff and without the cooperation of Dr. Romberg. This distinction, which is of decisive importance in judging this case, only appears in Vieweg’s statement insofar as the 10 official experimental subjects (the so-called “exhibition patients”) were exclusively used for the first experiments (Ruff-Romberg-Rascher), whereas other prisoners were used for the other experiments (by Rascher alone). Of course, the significance of this distinction was not clear to Vieweg at that time and could not be observed by him because Vieweg did not know anything at all about Dr. Ruff’s activity and since he did not know anything at all about the agreements which had been reached between Dr. Ruff and Dr. Rascher.

Apart from these obscurities one has to regard the statement of the witness Vieweg with the greatest reserve for another reason. Vieweg is the witness who, with unusual unscrupulousness, committed plain perjury in the sessions of 13 and 16 December 1946. He tried first (_German Tr. p. 474_) to give the impression that he had been sent to the concentration camp without any reason, that he had been committed for “political protective security”. This representation of the witness Vieweg is completely in accordance with his previous behavior, because formerly he had generally pretended to be politically persecuted—an innocent man who had been thrown into a concentration camp without ever having learned the reason. Under this false pretense he offered himself as witness for this trial, and because of this misrepresentation he was presented as a witness by the prosecution whom he had deceived. However, during cross-examination, Vieweg had to admit that in 1934 he was sentenced to 4 and to 6 years’ penal servitude for forgery of documents and fraud, that is to say for common crimes which, as a rule, have nothing to do with politics. On repeated questioning the witness Vieweg stated again and again (_German Tr. pp. 483 ff._) that he could not remember having received any other previous conviction in addition to those 4 and 6 years’ penal servitude. He insisted on this statement, even though he had been repeatedly reminded that he was under oath. His stereotype phrase was, he could not remember; he even emphasized that he had deposed to this or that under oath (_German Tr. p. 484_), and he continued to insist on his statement, even though he was told that his previous convictions could be determined without difficulty since his files had been sent for.

Now, let us compare the testimony given under oath with the list of convictions of the witness Vieweg, which was submitted as Document Ruff 24.

Besides the 4 and 6 years of penal servitude which he admitted, the witness Vieweg received in reality not less than 6 prison terms prior to 1934, among them 5 years’ penal servitude and 5 years’ loss of civil rights for repeated grave thefts.

This extract from the penal register shows why the witness Vieweg had such a “bad memory”. He never was politically persecuted, as he pretended to be, but he is the type of incorrigible professional criminal who could not be changed or educated even by the most severe penalty. If anybody deserved to be sent to a concentration camp it was this Vieweg. But even the 5 years he spent in the concentration camp did not help. For now he is again in prison, in Bamberg, where charges were brought against him on 5 March 1947 at the District Court for forgery of documents and fraud, as well as for five cases of repeated theft, for attempted abortion, for active bribery, and for black market dealings.

This incorrigible professional criminal allowed himself to be presented here as a star witness for the prosecution against an honorable, blameless citizen, as which Dr. Ruff emerged in the course of this trial. Can the Court base its verdict on the statements of a person like Vieweg, who on top of everything shamelessly lied to the Tribunal and committed the worst possible perjury.

The other witness presented by the prosecution for the Dachau experiments is Walter Neff.[20] He is at present in the Dachau camp for war criminals and will soon have to stand trial himself before the American Tribunal, for experiments in which he took an active part. This witness Neff, who not only continuously participated in the successful experiments of Dr. Romberg, but also in the inhuman freezing experiments, in the deadly “severe experiments” of Rascher, and who cooperated in many other cruelties, is, I think the last who should appear as a witness against a man like Dr. Ruff, or condemn him.

Let us recall what this witness said about himself at the close of his testimony. According to his own admission, he produced three prisoners (a certain Robert Wagner, a prisoner named Hutterer, and a man named Sammendinger) for deadly experiments, on his own initiative without being ordered to do so. According to his own testimony, he delivered these three people over to a violent death; he murdered them. It is characteristic of his ethics that he even boasted of this act here in the courtroom! (_German Tr. pp. 737-739._) That does not trouble his conscience, as he himself declared under oath (_German Tr. p. 737_); he is just the type of those inmates who, to quote his own words “were often worse than the SS in their cruelty and brutality”. (_German Tr. p. 737._) That is the second witness who was presented against Dr. Ruff by the prosecution. The one, an unscrupulous swindler, an incorrigible habitual criminal, an old jailbird; and the other a murderer many times over whose hands are stained with much blood—a murderer who boasts that he has no conscience. Is the Court to lend credence to such people? These witnesses quite obviously believed they would be able to elude the hangman’s noose by saddling other defendants with untrue, fabricated statements.

All those facts are a warning that Neff’s testimony, too, must be regarded with considerable caution. At any rate, his testimony has a certain importance for Dr. Ruff inasmuch as Neff (_German Tr. p. 652_) confirms that Dr. Ruff was in Dachau only on one single occasion during the high-altitude experiments. Thus the truth of Dr. Ruff’s own testimony has been established. Furthermore, the witness Neff, states in his testimony of 17 December 1946 that “10 prisoners, designated as permanent experimental subjects, were taken to the station and told that nothing would happen to them; they were especially assured of this”. (_German Tr. p. 711._) The witness Neff then told of the killing of the 16 Russians who were sentenced to death and who were murdered by Dr. Rascher. However, according to Dr. Neff, this act was carried out by Dr. Rascher together with the two members of the SS, while Dr. Romberg was not even present on that day. (_German Tr. pp. 654, 656._) Special importance must be attached to the witness Neff’s further assertion regarding a Jewish tailor who worked in the sick bay. Neff called Dr. Romberg’s attention to the fact that this man was not sentenced to death, and Romberg thereupon immediately went to Rascher with Neff in order “to set matters straight”. Upon intervention by Dr. Romberg, Rascher then actually sent the tailor back; when the accompanying SS man again threatened the Jew, Rascher again intervened and “immediately had the man (the tailor) brought to safety in the bunker”. (_German Tr. p. 655._) Again, in the case of a second inmate, a Czech, who wrongly and without his consent had been brought in for the experiments, Dr. Romberg, according to Neff’s report, intervened on behalf of the prisoner, with the result that Dr. Rascher entered a complaint against the criminal SS man with the camp commander, Piorkowski. Thereupon, the SS man was immediately transferred to Lublin. In that way the Czech was saved from certain death by Dr. Romberg.

This testimony of the witness Neff plays an important part in answering the question whether or not the experimental subjects used were volunteers, and also, what Dr. Romberg, and therefore Dr. Ruff, knew about them and what Dr. Romberg’s attitude was toward this question. In this connection, Neff said: “Romberg, Ruff’s deputy, therefore, did not want any dangerous experiments. He tolerated no murder and considered only experiments with volunteers.”

However, the further assertions of the witness Neff suffer from the same shortcomings as those of the witness Vieweg; for Neff also did not know that only part of the high-altitude experiments in Dachau were carried out with the approval of Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg; nor did Neff have any knowledge of the agreements made by the participating physicians, and he therefore treated all high-altitude experiments equally, without distinguishing whether or not Dr. Ruff had agreed to them that there “were 180 to 200 inmates who participated in high-altitude experiments” (_German Tr. p. 656_) and that “during the altitude flight experiments, 70 to 80 people lost their lives.” These figures may be correct, but they refer to the whole of the Dachau low-pressure chamber experiments; that is, they also include the experiments which Dr. Rascher made on his own authority, without the prior knowledge of Dr. Ruff, and in which alone all the fatalities occurred; while in the legitimate experiments—that is, those approved by Dr. Ruff—no fatality occurred at all. Of course, Neff could not know all this. As he said himself it was impossible for him to distinguish “from whom the order came for the individual experiment, and in whose interest the experiment was made.” (_German Tr. p. 715._)

The same shortcoming is demonstrated by Neff’s testimony with regard to the nationality of the experimental subjects (_German Tr. pp. 656, 657_) and the manner of their “selection”. However, Neff’s testimony does show that the selection of the experimental subjects was carried out in two different ways: For the “_dangerous experiments_” Rascher ordered the subjects through the local headquarters, and they were produced by the SS; they were therefore people condemned to death (_German Tr. p. 663_), for the “_serial experiments_”. On the other hand, and “for most of the other experiments which took place, the people were brought to the experimental station from the blocks, that is, from the camp” (_German Tr. p. 657_) by the block leaders. (_German Tr. p. 663._) These “serial experiments” were obviously the experiments approved by Ruff, and Neff expressly establishes that “_volunteers reported for these experiments_”! (_German Tr. pp. 657, 712._) He even gives the reasons why the prisoners volunteered: As Rascher, and Himmler too, had promised various inmates that, “if they, participated in the experiments, they would be given a better labor assignment”, and as Himmler promised that they might even be released, volunteers reported to Rascher on their own initiative as he went through the camp, without any special efforts being necessary to find volunteers (_German Tr. p. 657_).

There can be no doubt that these volunteers, estimated by Neff to number about 10, are identical with the 10 “official experimental subjects” or “exhibition patients” mentioned already by the witness Vieweg, and it is noteworthy that Dr. Ruff, too, in his testimony always spoke of 10 or 12, or at the most 15 persons from the very beginning (of course he did not count them himself), who were regularly called in for the high-altitude experiments, and whom he saw himself when he was once present to observe and check the experiments in Dachau. This number Dr. Ruff had mentioned at a time when Neff’s and Vieweg’s testimony was not yet available. He therefore could not have anticipated that these witnesses would confirm his figures as correct.

To be sure, the witness Neff testified in another place (_German Tr. p. 666_) that the first 10 experimental subjects were not volunteers. But this statement is obviously in direct contradiction to his other testimony which, in the last analysis implied—and could not be interpreted otherwise—that the so-called “10 official experimental subjects” were those prisoners who had voluntarily offered themselves, who were given all possible privileges in return, who were promised rewards for their service by Rascher as well as by Himmler, and who were repeatedly reassured that nothing would happen to them during the experiments. This whole presentation would be incomprehensible if one were to assume that these 10 persons were involuntary subjects as well, that they were simply ordered to take part in the experiments, forced to participate, for them all this would not have been necessary at all, since at that time nobody in a concentration camp would have thought of troubling himself about these people, if they had been forced against their will to take part in the experiments.

In a concentration camp, according to the opinion of Himmler and his men, 1,000 people were of no consequence. Therefore, if efforts were made to obtain these inmates for the experiments, and to get them willingly, if even a Himmler found kind words to say to them and promised them rewards, then as we know today, this can only be explained by the assumption that even in concentration camps, for some reason, it was desirable to obtain voluntary subjects for the experiments and to induce them to go through the experiments voluntarily. This assumption is not refuted by the contrary assertion of Neff (_German Tr. p. 666_). For 1½ days, during his examination on 17 and 18 December 1947, Neff did not know that these first 10 experimental subjects had not been volunteers. For 1½ days he did not dare to make such an assertion here in the witness box, and only during the cross-examination did he finally go so far as to make this assertion, thereby completely overthrowing his previous statements.

This allegation of the multiple murderer Neff now stands, however, completely isolated. There can be no doubt that, if these statements by Neff were true, it would have been easy for the office of the public prosecutor to produce numerous other witnesses who, likewise, had been inmates of the concentration camp at Dachau, who had perhaps experienced these experiments themselves, or who had spoken to subjects of these experiments or had even observed the experiments. However, not a single outsider, not a single incontestable witness has been produced, although half a year has elapsed since the days when, here in the courtroom, one could not fail to realize to what an unreliable and untrustworthy class persons of the caliber of Vieweg and Neff belong. This fact very strongly indicates that obviously no other witnesses are available, or could be made available, who could confirm that the experimental subjects who were used in the Ruff-Romberg altitude tests were not volunteers. Let the fact be mentioned here, for the sake of comparison, that in the case of the Gebhardt sulfanilamide operations for example, half a dozen incriminating witnesses were brought from Poland and Russia and were interrogated here as witnesses. Why was not a single trustworthy witness produced from among the Dachau experimental subjects and placed in the witness box? Because no one could be found, who could confirm the untrue allegations of a Vieweg and a Neff. On the other hand, during the trial, a whole series of persons who deserve a great deal more belief than Vieweg and Neff affirmed with certainty that all the experimental subjects in the Ruff-Romberg experiments were volunteers, and that from the very beginning the indispensable condition which was demanded and assured was that the subjects would be voluntary.

The witness Dr. Lutz for example, who was introduced by the office of the public prosecutor and therefore recognized by it as a credible witness, confirmed here on oath, “it was a tacit assumption that the criminals would volunteer”; and he added that he could almost say that, in a way, a favor was being conferred upon the criminals, because “they were given a chance of pardon by participating in the experiments,” and it is significant that this witness deposed further: “subsequently, we were very much surprised when, probably during the later stages of the experiments, as far as I recall now, no further mention was made of it,” namely, of the fact that only volunteers were to be used for the altitude experiments (_German Tr. p. 320_).

These depositions by the witness Dr. Lutz conform in every respect with the general impression received from all the pertinent descriptions. At first, only the altitude experiments approved by Dr. Ruff regarding the problem of “rescue from high altitudes” were carried out. These experiments were not dangerous as proved by their successful outcome; the inmates volunteered for them. Gradually, however, Rascher misused more and more the presence of the chamber in order to conduct his arbitrary experiments on Himmler’s orders for entirely different problems, namely, to conduct his notorious “difficult experiments” which had numerous fatal results. These were Rascher’s more cruel, painful experiments; naturally, no more volunteers reported for these because word was passed quickly through the camp that the experiments which Rascher himself conducted were dangerous, while the mere presence and cooperation of Dr. Romberg gave assurance to the inmates that his experiments were conscientiously conducted and were not dangerous.

Other witnesses also, not named by Dr. Ruff, have confirmed that the experimental subjects for the Ruff-Romberg high-altitude experiments were voluntary, namely, the witness Dr. Hielscher (_German Tr. pp. 6025-26, 6041, 6062_). Testimony on similar lines is given by the codefendant Sievers (_German Tr. pp. 5471, 5881_); and Dr. Hippke (_German Tr. p. 793_) “Prisoners who might volunteer”; (_German Tr. p. 795_) “these persons had to volunteer for the experiments.” Also the witness Karl Wolff, (_Ruff 21, Ruff Ex. 20_) “volunteer concentration camp inmates who were to be given compensatory privileges * * * the inmates, about 10 in number, appeared quite relaxed and, in their turn, willingly entered the low-pressure chamber which had been driven up * * * the inmates reported to Himmler, in my presence, that in this manner they could at least voluntarily * * * give a proof of their genuine good will * * * I never learned through Himmler, nor, as far as I remember, by any other means that later low-pressure chamber experiments * * * took place on a nonvoluntary basis * * * I only knew about voluntarily low-pressure chamber experiments and these were made, without doubt, on a voluntary basis.” Finally, the witness Herbert Wilschewske (_Ruff 11, Ruff Ex. 9_).

While the previous witness Wolff was only present for 1 day during the experiments, the witness Wilschewske, during the 2 years he spent in the concentration camp, spoke repeatedly to inmates who “had volunteered for the medical experiments”, and who, by reason of his repeated conversations with the prisoners, could give the following as reason for the willingness to volunteer for experiments “they could earn thereby their own liberty and rehabilitation as well as privileges for their family.” The witness Wilschewske is certainly an absolutely reliable witness with regard to his statements. He is a Polish Communist, served 2 years in Dachau concentration camp for this, and was proved to be only a political prisoner.

If one considers all these statements by witnesses, which certify that the experimental subjects in the Dachau high-altitude experiments of Drs. Ruff and Romberg were volunteers, it cannot be doubted that the concordant statements by Dr. Ruff, Dr. Romberg, and Dr. Weltz were absolutely true. They are defendants, it is true; but from all sides testimony is given of their irreproachable professional integrity. Although they are now sitting in the dock, their precise and clear statements deserve far more belief than the changing and contradictory statements of a habitual criminal who has committed downright perjury in this Court, or of a murderer who is actually more deserving of a place in this dock than these defendants are.

The correctness of this conception is confirmed again on the one hand by the fact—already mentioned in another connection—that Dr. Romberg, as has been proved repeatedly, actively intervened and prevented the use of experimental subjects for experiments by Rascher when he could see that nonvoluntary experimental subjects were to be used, and on the other hand, it was known that in the high-altitude experiments which Dr. Ruff had carried out with Dr. Romberg only voluntary experimental subjects could be used, and only with voluntary experimental subjects could the experiments succeed. The whole idea of this type of high-altitude experiment (the Ruff-Romberg method) was based on the theory that the experimental subject, immediately on recovering from the state of unconsciousness—the “high-altitude malady”—reaches up with his arm and pulls down the handle of the parachute, which in practice reduces the speed of the fall, insuring the flier of a smooth landing on the ground. All this necessitated active cooperation on the part of the experimental subject; one was absolutely dependent on his cooperation, otherwise each of these experiments would have been useless right from the start. Naturally, Dr. Ruff knew this, as did Dr. Romberg, and therefore for them the first and most important condition for each experiment of this type was that the experimental subject should be voluntary (_see Ruff’s statement in German Tr. pp. 6638-40_). There are therefore also important inherent reasons why the statements by Ruff and Romberg are correct.

Actually the high-altitude experiments carried out in Dachau were successful. They were of considerable help in clarifying the problem of “rescue from great heights”, and this was only possible when the experimental subjects themselves cooperated when they took part in the experiments voluntarily and took an interest in them. This was, by the way, also the reason why this type of high-altitude experiment could not be made with animals as experimental subjects, a fact which, for example, Ruff and Romberg pointed out in their summary report of 28 July 1942. (_NO-402, Pros. Ex. 66._)

I come, therefore, to the following conclusion: There can be no doubt that the experimental subjects for the Dachau high-altitude experiments were volunteers, at least as far as the experiments authorized by Ruff are concerned. Whether volunteers reported for the special experiments continued by Dr. Rascher or whether the prisoners were forced into the experiments by Dr. Rascher does not need to be examined, because Ruff and Romberg did not participate in those experiments in any way. But even if any doubt as to their being volunteers were possible, it cannot be denied that Ruff and Romberg were firmly convinced that all their experimental subjects actually were volunteers. This was stipulated from the very beginning, and in all the discussions of Dr. Ruff with Hippke, Weltz, and the representative of the SS, Ruff was consequently convinced that only volunteers were actually concerned.

Dr. Ruff’s conviction was strengthened through personal conversation with various prisoners on that day on which he himself went to Dachau to control the execution of the experiments and to ascertain that everything was carried out in a completely orderly manner. And finally in this connection it cannot be overlooked that Dr. Ruff, as he has stated under oath and as is confirmed by numerous affidavits, had never at any other time in his life worked with nonvoluntary experimental subjects. Just because he considered it indispensable for the success of the experiments that the experimental subjects were volunteers, that they themselves cooperate, Dr. Ruff never thought that the Dachau prisoners were not fully and completely in agreement with the experiments.

* * * * *

It is obvious that the voluntary character of these experimental subjects, whether an actual fact or whether Dr. Ruff deluded himself into believing that this was the case, does not in itself relieve him of all responsibility. On the contrary, Dr. Ruff himself is of the opinion that, besides voluntariness, several other conditions would have to be fulfilled before the experiments and the way in which they were performed could be considered lawful:

1. The experiment would have to be _necessary_, particularly necessary in the interests of aviation and thus essential to the fatherland’s war effort. This condition is obviously fulfilled. This is confirmed above all by the statement of the witness Dr. Hippke who stated that it was Dr. Ruff’s duty to work on the research tasks assigned to him by the Medical Inspectorate of the Luftwaffe and to submit reports on them to the Medical Inspectorate.

The experiments carried out by Ruff were necessary, for “high-altitude experiments in particular have been undertaken intensively in America, too, because the question of pressure drop [Drucksturz] and the cabin development is of particular importance.” (_Ruff 23, Ruff Ex. 22._) Dr. Hippke developed this point of view not only during the trial but stated it very clearly in his letter to Himmler, dated as early as 8 October 1942 (_NO-289, Pros. Ex. 72_), where he writes: “These-experiments represent a very valuable and important supplement. The fact that such an extreme deficiency of oxygen can be endured at all for some time is very encouraging for further research.” Dr. Hippke’s opinion about the necessity of the high-altitude experiments is therefore extremely important because Hippke was the highest official expert in that field in Germany at that time.

But most of all, the absolute necessity of Ruff’s experiments is acknowledged by all experts who testified in this trial in connection with these problems. I recall, for example, the statements of the witness Dr. Scheiber that “at a later judgment of Dr. Ruff’s scientific work, his name will be remembered together with the names of all of those well-known scientific research workers who, by personal, devoted, and heroic effort, rendered immeasurable service to the advance of science and therewith to the welfare of humanity.” Professor Dr. Strughold expresses himself in a similar way in his affidavit. He was chief of a German institute for aviation medicine for several years and writes concerning Dr. Ruff that “he (Ruff) can be considered as a man who surpasses by far many academically proficient and recognized scientists as far as scientific experience and scientific success is concerned.” Of particular importance, however, seems to be the opinion of Dr. Grauer, who is at present in America as a research worker and experimenter in matters of aviation medicine.

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According to the opinion of the Air Force General, Adolf Galland, and the statements of all the other experts, it is an established fact that the Dachau experiments of Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg were absolutely necessary.

This necessity does not cease to exist because the people concerned realized that with this first series of experiments, carried out in Dachau in the spring of 1942, the problem in question (rescue from high altitudes) was not yet entirely solved. Ruff and Romberg pointed out in their final report of 28 July 1942, that the “danger of freezing has to be considered.” On the basis of this final report the medical inspector, Dr. Hippke, later pointed out in his letter to Himmler of 10 October 1942 (_NO-289, Pros. Ex. 72_) that in the Dachau high-altitude experiments of Ruff and Romberg of spring 1942, “a very important factor was not yet taken into consideration, namely freezing.” He remarked, however, at the same time that “the necessary supplementary work was started meanwhile.” Hippke did not leave any doubt that this fact would not impair the value and the importance of the Dachau high-altitude experiments, which he stressed; for it is in the nature of such experiments that both parts of the problem, high altitude and freezing temperatures, cannot be dealt with simultaneously, but that at first only one part must be considered, then the other. This was Ruff’s plan from the very beginning, and the special experiments with regard to the influence of freezing temperatures on descent from high altitudes were carried out according to plan in the Berlin institute of Dr. Ruff in the summer and fall of 1942. (Compare this with Dr. Grauer’s affidavit of 28 January 1947.)

Another prerequisite for the justification of the high-altitude experiments undertaken by Ruff and Romberg lies in the requirement that the experiments should not be extended any further than is necessary for the solution of the problems presented. This requirement, too, was fulfilled by Dr. Ruff. It is confirmed by his own testimony (_German Tr. p. 6704_), as well as by the testimony of Dr. Romberg (_German Tr. pp. 6879-80_), that Dr. Romberg was sent by Dr. Ruff to Dachau with a definite program which carefully outlined the kind as well as the extent of the experiments to be carried out. Only the problem of “rescue from high altitude” was to be investigated. Only experiments for this purpose were ordered by Dr. Ruff. Dr. Romberg was not allowed to undertake experiments for any other purposes, and the experiments were to be carried on only until either the problem was solved or its solution found impossible. Had Dr. Romberg not adhered to this program, which had been strictly outlined, had he carried out further experiments behind Dr. Ruff’s back, the latter could in no case have been responsible for them. Since he was not told of such further experiments by Dr. Romberg, he could not stop them. However, it must be stated expressly that Dr. Romberg adhered to Dr. Ruff’s orders; he did not carry out more extensive experiments than he had been permitted and had been ordered; this was done alone and solely by Dr. Rascher. The latter, however, was in no way subordinated to Dr. Ruff, nor to Dr. Romberg; moreover, he would certainly not have taken any orders from either of them. _The final report Ruff-Romberg-Rascher of 28 July 1942_ (_NO-402, Pros. Ex. 66_) furnishes clear proof of the fact that Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg were at all times conscious of their duty to restrict experiments to the extent which seemed absolutely necessary in order to explore a problem which was all-important at the time and to carry out no experiments which could not be considered especially important and of great consequence.

Even the introduction to this report of 28 July 1942 is significant for the delineation of the tasks set for these experiments. It reads: “Considering the urgency of finding a practical solution to this important problem [the rescue of airplane crews from high altitude], particularly in view of the prevailing experimental conditions, it was necessary to forego for the time being a detailed clarification of the purely scientific problems involved.” Here the basic tendency of all the experiments finds its clear expression. Only such practical requirements of aviation which could not be postponed during time of war should be solved, while investigations of purely scientific nature, without great practical significance, were to be excluded. This restriction of solutions sought demonstrates that the scientists in question (Ruff and Romberg) were not subject to the unbridled desire for experimentation which may be found in people of Rascher’s type.

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Were the Ruff-Romberg high-altitude experiments in Dachau dangerous to life? If it is demanded that experiments on humans are carried out as humanely as possible, pain avoided wherever possible, and damage to health eliminated, it is obvious that deaths must be prevented in every way possible. The conscientious research worker will always start from the standpoint that experiments can only then be carried out when, according to human estimation and the experience of science, death can in no way be expected. According to German Law (Article 216 of the German Penal Code) the intentional killing of a person would not be legalized through his agreement, not even at his expressed desire.

To this question the presentation of evidence has shown the following:

1. In the Summary Report Ruff-Romberg-Rascher of 28 July 1942, it is “expressly stated that in the whole series of experiments no death and likewise no permanent oxygen deficiency damage occurred.” (_NO-402, Pros. Ex. 66._) In direct contradiction to this appears to be, at least at first glance, the intermediary report which Dr. Rascher alone made on his experiments on 5 April 1942 to the Reich Leader SS Himmler (_1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49_) and also the following secret report, which likewise Dr. Rascher alone sent to Himmler on 11 May 1942. (_NO-220, Pros. Ex. 61._) These two special reports by Dr. Rascher prove that in the experiments described by Rascher alone several deaths occurred.

The explanation of the apparent contradiction is shown clearly by the presentation of evidence: In the experiments authorized by Dr. Ruff and carried out with his approval not a single death occurred. Only the arbitrary experiments which Rascher carried out without the approval of Dr. Ruff and against his will, and which were ordered by Himmler, were deadly.

This can be seen from Rascher’s intermediary report of 5 April 1942. (_1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49._) It falls into two parts.

In the first part Dr. Rascher describes the experiments carried out with Dr. Ruff’s approval. He states expressly, “the experiments conducted by myself and Dr. Romberg,” and he confirms that even “in a total of 15 extreme experiments, none of the experimental subjects died. Severe high-altitude sickness with unconsciousness occurred; however, the subject was always fully capable of action when approximately 7 km. was attained in the descent.”

In the second part, Rascher then describes his arbitrary experiments of which Ruff knew nothing, and was permitted to know nothing. This second part of the report is much more extensive and detailed than the first. That can be explained without difficulty because the experiments mentioned in this second part were carried out by Rascher himself; here he could describe the “merit” of the results he apparently gained all by himself. From this second part he obviously also hoped for complete new results for science, which he emphasized in the accompanying letter to Himmler of 5 April 1942, and he was obviously very proud that following his suggestions (as he emphasized) such “interesting standard experiments” were carried out. All this referred exclusively to the arbitrary experiments mentioned in the second part of the report, which Rascher carried out alone without the assistance of Dr. Romberg and without the authorization and previous knowledge of Dr. Ruff. (_1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49._)

Rascher himself made this distinction in his report (_1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49_): He contrasts in the second part of his report the “extremely dangerous experiments” with the “experiments carried out by myself (Rascher) and Romberg,” while he specially asked for an “SS doctor from the camp as witness” for the arbitrary experiments of the second part of his report, as “I carried out these experiments by myself.” But surely Dr. Rascher had his reasons for specially requesting “a camp doctor as a witness” for these experiments (which are described in the second part of his report), but intentionally kept Dr. Romberg away. Dr. Rascher indicates these reasons in his accompanying letter of 5 April 1942, talking about difficulties which the Luftwaffe created for him up to that time, whose removal he hopes for by the intervention of SS Fuehrer Sievers. These difficulties which hindered the research work of Rascher were discussed in various other documents which concerned the use of the low-pressure chamber and its return to Dachau, which the SS tried to arrange but never succeeded.

If Dr. Rascher in his intermediary report (_1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49_) emphasized that “only continuous experiments are fatal at heights above 10.5 km.”, this plainly confirms, in Dr. Rascher’s own words, what Ruff and Romberg stated from the very beginning, that two kinds of high-altitude experiments were carried out in Dachau with the low-pressure chamber. The one kind, which Dr. Romberg took part in and Dr. Ruff knew about, was carried out completely humanely and without any pain, and nothing happened; and the other kind, which Rascher carried out alone by order of Himmler, without Romberg and without the previous knowledge of Dr. Ruff, to which at one time an SS doctor was even asked to attend as a witness and which caused several fatalities.

This result is confirmed by the second report, which Rascher again alone (without the participation of Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg) submitted to Himmler, dated 11 May 1942, as a secret report (_NO-220, Pros. Ex. 61_). He describes here the experiments which he carried out jointly with Dr. Romberg and again states: “On the average, the experimental subjects were in complete accord of their actions at 12-13 km.; no disturbances of any kind in the general condition occurred in any of these experiments,” and even less, of course, a fatality. Only among the experiments described under figures 6 and 7 of this secret report of Rascher’s did fatalities occur, and that “during a continued high-altitude experiment, for example after half an hour in an altitude of 12 km.” But these experiments (according to figures 6 and 7) were the arbitrary experiments in which Rascher had other aims in mind, which had nothing to do with Ruff’s problem of “saving from high altitudes,” and which were carried out by Rascher alone.

It is also interesting that Rascher still mentions the partial assistance of Dr. Romberg in his first report (of 5 April 1942) (_1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49_) but does not say anything more in the final second report (of 11 May 1942), (_NO-220, Pros. Ex. 61_) where he described the affair as though he alone had carried, out the experiments. Compare page 81, line 21: “Experiments carried out by myself”; or page 79, lines 15-16: “_My_ heart experiments * * * that a very big sphere of work opened up for _me_,” etc. By that Rascher has clearly expressed that he did not have any assistance from Dr. Romberg in the experiments he thought particularly valuable, when he explains as particularly valuable his heart experiments and his observations concerning air embolism. Those were all experiments in which Ruff and Romberg had not the least interest, in which they never participated, and for which they would never have risked the health and the life of an experimental subject.

Even specialists like Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg could never understand the scientific or other aim which Rascher had in mind in the case of those arbitrary experiments with fatal endings. Even the layman can easily recognize the basic difference between the two categories of experiments. The legal experiments which had been authorized by Dr. Ruff were always restricted to a very short period of a few moments; but the fatal experiments of Dr. Rascher were, as he emphasized himself, continuous experiments without oxygen, therefore experiments lasting over 30 minutes. It is easily understandable that experiments of such a length without the administration of oxygen may be fatal. To prove this it would not have been necessary to sacrifice even one single human life in these experiments. Serious research workers like Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg had therefore never carried out and never authorized such experiments. That was also well known to Rascher, and this explains the fact as stated by Neff (_German Tr. pp. 668, 670, 671_) that Rascher kept Dr. Romberg intentionally away from his arbitrary experiments; furthermore that he even carried out his experiments at night to keep them secret from Dr. Romberg, and that he also did not ask Romberg to sign his intermediary report of 5 April 1942, nor his summarizing secret report of 11 May 1942, which Romberg would surely have refused to do.

* * * * *

It would therefore be quite wrong to attribute to Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg the intention of wanting to suppress something in their final report of 28 July 1942. (_NO-402, Pros. Ex. 66._) For it is a proven fact that not only Himmler was informed by Rascher of the cases of death which had occurred, but that Dr. Ruff had also reported the cases of death for which Dr. Rascher was guilty, to his supreme superior, the Inspector of the Medical Service [of the air force], Dr. Hippke. For this same reason he had caused the low-pressure chamber to be removed from Dachau and had asked the witness, Dr. Hippke, to consent to this. These proven facts show that Dr. Ruff did not conceal anything and had nothing to conceal. The fact that the cases of death were not mentioned in the final report of 28 July 1942 has therefore nothing to do with any concealment but is only due to the fact that those experiments which had fatal results had nothing whatsoever to do with the experiments of Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg and their problem.

For the same reasons it is not surprising at all that Dr. Ruff did not inform Dr. Weltz of the fatal accidents during the special experiments of Rascher. Weltz was neither Ruff’s superior nor his subordinate, and at the time when Dr. Ruff learned of the deaths which had occurred during Rascher’s experiments, Dr. Rascher had already been transferred from the Weltz Institute.