Chapter IX: Part I: , p. 1457.) Moreover, there is no proof that any of the (6)

I testified that the two experimented subjects whom I met in connection with the altitude experiments, in reply to a question by me, confirmed specifically that they had volunteered. Witness Neff of the prosecution confirmed this voluntary status of the witnesses. Likewise Dr. Romberg during his direct examination stated on the strength of his own knowledge that my testimony was correct. The only experimental subject whom I met in connection with the typhus experiments upon my definite question regarding the voluntariness of his testimony, confirmed that this was so. My testimony was also confirmed through the affidavit of a former prisoner, and witness, Grunzenhuber, contained in my second document book.

The prosecution believed that they had to charge me with having placed myself at the disposal of the IMT on the behalf of the SS. This was rather a peculiar statement considering my own defense in this trial. I explained when I was on the stand that without my own initiative, in fact against my own will, the defense counsel for the SS called me in order to use me as a witness. Attorney Pelckmann, then defense counsel of the SS, has confirmed the correctness of my statements in an affidavit. According to that, I immediately informed Pelckmann at the time in writing regarding my former membership in the resistance movement against the National Socialist regime and told him I was not a suitable witness. At the same time I presented attorney Pelckmann with a copy of my letter, in which I placed myself at the disposal of the International Military Tribunal as a witness as early as 20 December 1945, as the IMT record shows. I have stated my regrets on this same witness stand, that my preparedness to aid justice and to help in prosecuting past crimes was not accepted and that considerable evidence was thus destroyed.

As early as August last year, I furnished the prosecution with a report about my activities in the resistance movement, indicating again my willingness. This was passed over, however, when I stated that I was not prepared to sign affidavits which were not completely true. I openly and frankly stated at that point that I did not understand this action. I had to do this, and I could do it because I had been looking for truth and right at the risk of my life, undaunted, even during the time of tyranny. Was one now to be a collaborator in methods which I thought had passed with the National Socialist regime; and which, as remains my firm conviction, would never lead to a true pacification of this world such as we all desire? I am mentioning this with regret and only because I have always claimed that I myself, and my statements, in responsible situations, deserve to be believed. The prosecution did not only feel in a position to doubt my credibility, but they even consented to call me a liar during their argument, against their better knowledge and their better conscience. Consequently, I had to draw your attention to the testimony of various witnesses which confirmed, in full, my testimony on the stand in these complicated matters. I can truly be satisfied that it was not up to me, but to the prosecution’s own witnesses, to contradict the incorrect statements made against me. History will honor such action, and judge the persistent attempt to stick to preconceived ideas. There is no blessing connected with it. I am only sorry for those who are misguided by false ideas. My firm conviction that this high Tribunal will fully believe my testimony during my defense is based on these facts.

In this connection, with reference to the experiences which I have just described, I am forced to say how on the other hand it calmed and strengthened me, and gave me confidence to see with what wisdom, calm, and patience this high Tribunal stood above matters and disclosed a conduct of trial in which one could feel sheltered; all my friends, who fought in the secret resistance movement with me and repeatedly attended this trial in the audience, share these sentiments with me.

I have explained to you, your Honors, for what reasons I was in immediate, direct contact with the NSDAP and the SS. I have told you how I always tried to prevent the Ahnenerbe from becoming involved in medical research. This attempt failed, due to the ambitious attitude of Himmler. Only on the strength of my own feelings had I to find an attitude with regard to this new question of experiments on human beings. I did not approve of them, and I attempted to take the consequence, which could only be that I immediately resigned from my post as the Reich manager of the Ahnenerbe. I think the testimony of the witness Hielscher, in this stand, and the affidavits from witness Deutelmoser, witness Dellmann, witness Schmitz, and others prove beyond doubt that I had the true intention of resigning from the Ahnenerbe. And these witnesses have also clearly testified why I didn’t do so, not because of personal ambition, not for reasons of comfort, or for what other low reasons might be attributed to me in this point. It was due to the persistent urging on the part of my political friends that I remained, in order to serve further the task which had taken me to the NSDAP and the SS. Inwardly I rejected contact with human experiments even as I refused to be a follower of the NSDAP and of the ideology they represented. Outwardly, I had to live up to the name of a National Socialist if I was to hold on to the political ideal to which I had devoted myself since 1929 and not endanger it. In his affidavit, witness Niebhausen, who was the most important member in the circle of the secret German resistance, and who has acted on behalf of Dr. Kempner too, and who is obviously a personality beyond reproach, says that his illegal activity which continued for five years would have been quite impossible without my assistance. I do not, indeed, know what the prosecution is prepared to recognize as being a resistance against the Nazi regime, if not even such activities as these. It is not necessary to relate again all the details which have been testified to in this courtroom.

That in true recognition of the consequences which might be daily expected for myself and my family I devoted myself to resistance, continued in it undaunted, and never abandoned it, is now the only reason why I find myself in this dock. For that reason, I look forward to the judgment of this Tribunal with confidence, due to my conviction that I have lived for a good cause and acted on it, on behalf of something which—then as today—filled me with true belief.

L. Final Statement of Defendant Rose[44]

Mr. President, may it please the Tribunal, the scientists who are among the defendants in this trial are confronted with a principal difficulty, the fact that purely scientific questions have been made political, ideological questions by the prosecution. In the opening speech by the Chief of Counsel, General Taylor, the political and ideological nature of the indictment has been expressed as clearly as possible.

A subject of the personal charges against myself is my attitude toward experiments on human beings ordered by the state and carried out by other German scientists in the field of typhus and malaria. Works of that nature have nothing to do with politics or with ideology, but they serve the good of humanity, and the same problems and necessities can be seen independently of any political ideology everywhere, where the same dangers of epidemics have to be combated.

Just as Claus Schilling, in his malaria research, had to make experiments with human beings, before him and after him malaria scientists of various nations had to carry out experiments on human beings. Just as Haagen, on his own initiative, but with the approval of competent authorities of the state, tested the value of a new, living typhus vaccine, before him that was done in the course of fighting plague by your great compatriot, Richard B. Strong, when he experimented on natives of the Philippines, who were not American citizens, with the approval of your government.

Just as Dr. Ding, on the instruction of the highest and decisive authorities of the German civilian health administration, tested the value of the typhus vaccine on humans in times of greatest typhus danger, others have done so before him in less pressing emergencies, sometimes in agreement with, sometimes upon the instruction of their governments.

From the witness stand I testified about the actual role which I played in regard to the charges of human experiments with malaria and typhus. And I have explained from the witness stand the legal evaluation of my actions, and they have been submitted to you by my defense counsel, Dr. Fritz. I need not add anything to it. But, as a matter of principle, I stated my attitude towards the experiments on human beings in medical research, not first of all in this courtroom, but also when the National Socialist German Government was at the height of its limitless power. At that time I was cut short by a man, Professor Schreiber, who about a year ago in this very courtroom, claimed to be a defender of medical ethics.

The fact is undoubted that human experiments, which were exactly the same as those, the participation in which I am unjustly charged with, have been carried out in other countries, above all, in the United States which has indicted me. That has led the prosecution to place the center of gravity of its charges upon the outside conditions of the persons put at my disposal for experiments by the German authorities. In that connection the question of whether they were voluntary was put into the foreground. I shall not discuss the question as to what extent the doctor who is charged with the experiments is responsible for these external, formal questions, at least a doctor who was so far removed from the experiments themselves as I was. But in connection with the principal question of subjects being volunteers, I have to make a few statements. A trial of this kind presents probably the most unsuitable atmosphere to discuss questions of medical ethics. But since these questions have been raised here, they have to be answered. Everyone who, as a scientist, has an insight into the history of dangerous medical experiments, knows with certainty the following fact. Aside from the self-experiments of doctors, which represent a very small minority of such experiments, the extent to which subjects are volunteers is often deceptive. At the very best they amount to self-deceit on the part of the physician who conducts the experiment, but very frequently to a deliberate misleading of the public. In the majority of such cases, if we ethically examine facts, we find an exploitation of the ignorance, the frivolity, the economic distress, or other emergency on the part of the experimental subjects. I may only refer to the example which was presented to the Tribunal by Dr. Ivy when he presented the forms for the American malaria experiments.

You yourselves, gentlemen of the Tribunal, are in a position to examine whether, on the basis of the information contained in these forms, individuals of the average education of an inmate of a prison can form a sufficiently clear opinion of the risks of an experiment made with pernicious malaria. These facts will be confirmed by any sincere and decent scientist in a personal conversation, though he would not like to make such a statement in public. That I myself am, on principle, an opponent of the idea of dangerous experiments on human beings is known to you gentlemen of the Tribunal.

The state, however, or any human community which, in the interest of the well-being of the entire community, did not want to forego the experiments on human beings, only bases itself on ethical principles as long as it openly assumes the full responsibility which arises therefrom, and imposes sacrifices on enemies of society to atone for their crimes and does not choose the method of apparent voluntary submission, which imposes the risk of the experiment on the experimental subjects, who are not in a position to foresee the possible consequences.

The prosecutor in his plea criticized the preponderance of affidavits during the presentation of evidence on the part of the defense. The difficulties which exist for a defendant in prison in the Germany of today to acquire other documents are almost prohibitive. In order to give a few examples: When the malaria experiments of Schilling were discussed, the prosecution, among other material, submitted to the Tribunal an excerpt from the well-known Dachau sentence concerning the statements contained therein about the number of victims in these experiments. I have stated in the witness box that I would rather sit here as a defendant than put my signature on the opinion which would confirm these statements. How right I was in making that statement can be seen from a letter by Professor Allenby of the University of London which, unfortunately, has only now been received by my defense counsel, in which he termed the statement that 300 experimental subjects had died, a grotesque untruth. My defense counsel in his final plea has quoted the passage of that letter.

The prosecution at that time when the excerpt of the Dachau sentence was submitted, promised that the entire files of the Dachau trial would be put at our disposal. Unfortunately, all my efforts to gain an insight in these files have been in vain.

When State Secretary Dr. Conti during the war was toying with the idea to commission Professor Schilling, who was at that time in Italy, with malaria research in Germany, I, at that time, Chief of the Tropical Medical Department of the Robert Koch Institute, was first of all assigned by the Reich Ministry of the Interior to give an opinion. In this opinion, for reasons which I have explained in the witness box, I rejected Schilling’s plan. Had one followed my advice, the experiments by Schilling in Dachau would never have taken place. In the course of these proceedings I made all efforts to come into the possession of that opinion but in this case also I was unsuccessful, although that opinion in two copies is in the hands of the military government, possibly even in this building.

Also, in vain, I attempted to get the file note, so important for my defense, which I dictated to the witness Block about my conferences with State Secretary Conti and President Gildemeister, after I had gained knowledge about the conduct of the typhus experiments in Buchenwald. What little correspondence I had with Professor Haagen is apparently entirely in the hands of the prosecution. In spite of that, it has been submitted only in part to you. That fact offered an opportunity to the prosecution to interpret passages taken out of the context incorrectly. Unfortunately, I have no opportunity to force anyone to submit the missing documents which would clarify matters in my favor.

To evaluate the work of Haagen, and my defense counsel has pointed that out already, the statement of an unbiased expert would have been of decisive importance. Therefore, I can only regret that the interrogation of the Frenchman Georges Blanc for whom I applied and who has the best knowledge in this field, did not take place, although he had volunteered to appear before this Tribunal as an expert.

Professor Lecrout, Director of the Institute Pasteur in Paris, was frequently in Nuernberg during this trial. After an interview, the prosecution refrained from calling him as an expert witness to clarify some difficult questions resulting from the work of Haagen. I ask the high Tribunal to draw its conclusions from these facts and to assure that the lack of these pieces of evidence should not result in a damage to my interests.

Prosecutor McHaney has explained in his plea that one still had to find that doctor among the defendants who would have subjected himself to such experiments as are covered by the indictment here. I do not feel that that concerns me. Not only from the statement which I have made here before you but also from my case history, which was available to the authorities of the prison long before indictment, it can be seen that not only did I repeatedly offer myself as an experimental subject to test vaccines but that frequently in my official capacity and in my research work I gave myself injections with cholera, typhus, malaria and hepatitis epidemica and that I am still suffering from the consequences.

Finally, Prosecutor McHaney has asserted in his plea that all of those indicted here are guilty of murder, and that includes me too. If the Tribunal were to look at the present problem from this point of view, I would regret having said a single word in my defense. However, if you believe me, that in all actions of mine which have been discussed here, I was only moved by sincere devotion to duty, then I put my fate with confidence into your hands.

M. Final Statement of Defendant Ruff[45]

May it please the Tribunal: As far as the written and oral statements of my defense counsel are concerned which deal with the points of the indictment, and as far as my activities as a doctor and scientist are concerned, I have nothing or hardly anything to add. I can only repeat today what I said at the end of my examination when I was on the stand. After detailed inquiry into my conscience, I still today hold the belief that I never sinned against my duty as a man and as a doctor.

N. Final Statement of Defendant Brack[46]

Your Honor, I cannot be described as one of the earliest followers of Hitler. In 1929, I joined the NSDAP when more than six million German voters were already backing Hitler. His later successes during the years of peaceful reconstruction consolidated my conviction that he had forever liberated Germany from the misery in which it seemed to have fallen. For all those years I had no reason to have any misgivings with regard to Hitler’s personality. Therefore I also believed in the legality of the euthanasia decree as it emanated directly from the head of the state. The state officials and doctors, competent for me at that time, told me that euthanasia had always been an endeavor of mankind and was morally as well as medically justified. Therefore, I never doubted the legal character of the euthanasia decree.

In this connection, however, I was assigned duties, the extent and importance of which I could not foresee. Neither my training nor my qualifications sufficed for this task. Nobody can deny, however, my good faith in its justification. I frankly admitted what I did in the framework of the euthanasia measures and tried to prove that my collaboration was merely of a subordinate nature and exclusively directed by human aspects. I cannot be made responsible for later actions carried out by other offices and without my knowledge. These were the measures which I deeply regretted, in which the prohibition of the inclusion of foreign nationals and Jews was infringed.

Through my activity in the Fuehrer’s Chancellery, I early became acquainted with the Gestapo terror. The testimonies of my witnesses prove how I fought against them and the concentration camp system. I did so because I felt that I was obliged to help those who suffered from arbitrariness and oppression. I did not do it because I already recognized in it at that time symptoms of a leadership that always and only knew arbitrariness and oppression.

But this is particularly the reason why I was so shocked about the misuse of some of the euthanasia institutions for the Action 14 f 13; this action affected particularly those persons whose detention I considered unjust, and which I therefore opposed. It was only in this courtroom, however, that I learned of this action.

That I did not hate the Jews has been proved by numerous documents. Without hatred of the Jews, however, participation in the extermination of Jews is unthinkable. The measures of suppression to which the Jews were subjected forced me to give them the same assistance within my competence as I accorded to the political persecutees. Thus during the course of the years I helped hundreds of thousands of persons by my activity. Thus only could the sterilization suggestions come into existence. They were nothing but an attempt to prevent the extermination of innumerable Jews.

In spite of all the efforts of my defense counsel, it was impossible to procure the witnesses who could testify to this effect. They preferred to evade their responsibility of serving the truth. I am utterly alone. I must leave it to this high Tribunal to ascertain on the basis of the presented expert scientific opinions that all my proposals were actually so formulated as to show my convictions of their harmlessness, and the impossibility of realizing them.

I must also leave it to the Tribunal to judge whether a man who intended the extermination of the Jews would apply for service with the army, just at the moment when the aim which he is alleged to have pursued was achieved, and the extermination measures had started. Or does it not appear paradoxical to assume that one and the same man should give his approval of the extermination of the Jews, and in fact aid such a program, and, at the same time, save Jews he has never known, such as Georgii, Passow, Meyer, Warburg, and others, from these measures?

I can only emphasize that particularly the sterilization suggestions to Himmler appeared to me to be the last possibility to take any action to save Jewry. Had I been indifferent to the Jewish fate, I would not be accused today. But I also tried in this respect, as was my habit, to give assistance and I am still convinced, that it had at least delaying, if not preventative effect. It is certain that many Jews were in this way saved from destruction. The realization that such proposals should never have been made by me on the strength of my medical knowledge, my capacities, or my position at the time, even to the best of my intention, is something I could not reach until this trial was in progress. My good intention, which was the basis of these proposals, and my good will to help by means of them cannot be denied by anybody, and can in no event be understood as my conscious cooperation in the extermination of the Jews.

O. Final Statement of Defendant Romberg[47]

In the course of this trial, I have had full opportunity to speak in my defense. With special gratitude we realize the great opportunity offered to us, of which we took advantage, which was given by the possibility of individually questioning Professor Ivy in this trial. I have seen how the Tribunal itself, by a precise questioning, clarified the facts, and to the statements made by my defense counsel I have nothing to add, because they are the truth.

P. Final Statement of Defendant Becker-Freyseng[48]

Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Tribunal: I also was given opportunity to submit all the statements and the evidence required to refute the charges of the indictment. For that I have to thank the Tribunal and my defense counsel, Dr. Tipp. But I have nothing to add to it. For all the irrelevant, spiteful talk with which outside circles believed they had to twist around the objectivity of these proceedings like thorn bushes, the verdict of this Tribunal must be and will be the appropriate answer. I look forward to it with the firm conviction that I never failed in my duty to mankind as a physician and scientist, and as a soldier to my Fatherland.

Q. Final Statement of Defendant Weltz[49]

I have nothing to add to the statement made by my defense counsel. I thank Dr. Wille for his efforts made in my defense.

R. Final Statement of Defendant Schaefer[50]

May it please the Tribunal, since I consider myself entirely innocent, I have nothing more to add. I ask to be acquitted, if possible, even before the verdict.

S. Final Statement of Defendant Hoven[51]

I have nothing to add to Dr. Gawlik’s plea of yesterday. I would at this point like to thank my defense counsel for the considerable help he has given me.

T. Final Statement of Defendant Beiglboeck[52]

May it please the Tribunal, the experiments which I conducted, I did not carry out on my own initiative, neither according to the plans of my own, nor spontaneously. The medical part was played with the knowledge and approval of my clinical teacher, and civilian superior for more than ten years, I was a disciple of Eppinger. During those ten years I had come to know and respect his ways of thought and his superior knowledge. My relations to him were based on deep personal gratitude and awe-inspired devotion. If there was anything which he considered right and important, then for psychological reasons alone, it would have been difficult for me to believe the contrary.

The experiments were to solve the problem of saving human life and that had to be approved. It was a military order which compelled me to carry them out in the atmosphere of a concentration camp. I struggled against it, and was inwardly opposed to it, and tried to avoid the task, but I was not successful. So I had to carry it out.

May it please the Tribunal, in your evaluation of this fact, please do not fail to consider that this did not happen in times of peace, nor in a country which granted its citizens individual freedom of decision in all matters, personal and professional, but during the bitter days of a most horrible war. What I carried out, I did in accordance with a plan previously determined and specified. I did not overstep the limits of my task. I had to require of my experimental subjects to undergo hardships; they suffered from thirst with all of its unpleasant sensations, with its physical and mental characteristics. It was in the nature of the experiments, and this could not be avoided. I did not, however, do this without first informing myself by an experiment on my own system of what I expected them to undergo, nor did I expect it of anyone else, unless I was firmly convinced that he undertook it voluntarily. It is not true to say that I might have forced anybody to do it, neither psychologically, by reprisals, nor by threat, nor by force of arms. Many eyewitnesses have agreed that my conduct was never brutal or inhuman towards any of the experimental subjects under my care. Among these witnesses are even some who were brought here to testify against me.

At last, in the final stage of this trial, one experimental subject could be found who thought it appropriate to introduce a dramatic note in an atmosphere artificially created. You will decide how much credibility you will attribute to this witness. Based on a layman’s misinterpretation of nondangerous, indeed harmless medical procedures, combined with the uncertain recollection emotionally presented by more or less distorting and misconstruing my motives, the attempt was made to lend an impression to my experiments and to my own personality.

In contradiction to that, a few others who came from the concentration camp and who loved the truth have painted another picture which reveals that my behavior in the medical sense, as well as from the human point of view, was correct, to say the least. By my experiments, no human life was sacrificed, nor did they result in any lasting damage to their health. I also believe, I have proved that I intervened for the inmates, as far as that was within my power and that I did not consider my experimental subjects as individuals of an inferior type whom I could well afford to ill-treat, for ideological reasons, as has been charged.

For over 15 years as a physician, I always felt the strongest responsibility for those entrusted to my care. Thousands who were my patients will confirm it. My assistants and colleagues have testified to it. I was never directed by any sentiment other than that of a human being and of a physician. The experiments as they were actually conducted never went beyond what can be justified by the physician. I consider myself free of guilt as a physician and as a human being.

U. Final Statement of Defendant Pokorny[53]

Your Honors, during this trial I have often asked myself what I should have done at the time in order to record my true motive for the letter I had written to Himmler. But I believe that at the time when I dispatched this letter, I could not do anything else but to talk to the people in whom I had confidence and who I knew would not betray me, and confide in them my true reasons.

If today, this letter, which is against me, may seem objective, then this is a fact with which I must bear, although to the end I must say in correspondence with the truth that selfish reasons were not the cause of my writing this letter, but that letter was written because at the time I had heard facts about Himmler’s plans, and, because at that time in my position, standing lonely and slandered because of my family implications in a small town in Czechoslovakia, I felt that I was able to take the action described.

I retain the hope that you, my judges, will draw your conclusions from my conduct and the situation in which I found myself at the time, and will come to the conviction that the true motive was a different one than that which is objectively shown by this letter, and that you will not sentence me but will believe me in what I have not only told you, my judges, but others previously during my interrogations and what I have told my friends, at a time when this present situation had not arisen, in order to clarify my motives as being true.

With this hope I am looking forward to your judgment, and in that connection I am thinking of my children who, for years now, have lived under the protection of an allied power, and who will not believe that their father, after everything that he has suffered, could possibly have acted as an enemy to human rights.

V. Final Statement of Defendant Oberheuser[54]

I have nothing to add to the statements I have made from the witness box under oath. In administering therapeutical care, following established medical principles, as a woman in a difficult position, I did the best I could. Moreover, I fully agree with the statements made by my defense counsel and will refrain, at this late stage of the trial, from making any further statements.

W. Final Statement of Defendant Fischer[55]

Your Honors, when this war began I was a young doctor, 27 years of age. My attitude towards my people and my Fatherland took me to the front line as an army doctor. I there joined an armored division, where I remained until I was incapacitated due to the loss of an arm. For only a very brief period, during these years of war, I worked as a medical officer in a military hospital back home. There too, my conception of my duties was directed by the wish to serve my country. During this time of my work at home, I received the order, the execution of which made me a subject of the indictment of this trial.

The order for my participation in the experiments originated from my highest medical and military superior and was passed on to me, as the assistant and first lieutenant, through Professor Gebhardt. Professor Gebhardt was the famous surgeon and much honored creator of Hohenlychen. He was a scientific authority whom I looked up to with reverence and confidence. As a general of the Waffen SS he was my unconditional military superior. I believed him, that I had been earmarked by him to assist in the solution of an urgent medical problem which was to bring help and salvation to hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers, and which was to be a cure for them; and I believed that this problem would mean a question of life and death to my people who were fighting for their existence. I believed unconditionally that this order had come to me from the head of the state, and that its execution was a necessity for the state. I considered myself first as bound by this order, as were the thousands of soldiers whom I had seen walk to their deaths during my years at the front, following an order by the state. This moving impression from the front bound me doubly, particularly since I had had the privilege during that time of working in a hospital at home. I considered myself, particularly at home, doubly bound like every soldier at the front to obey the order of my Fatherland unconditionally.

What this order demanded from me had been introduced as a method of modern medicine in all civilized countries. I was only concerned in the clinical part of it, and that was taking place just as a course of treatment in the institute of Hohenlychen, or any other clinic. What I did was what was ordered, and I did nothing beyond that order. I believed that I, as a simple citizen, did not have the right to criticize the measures of the state, particularly not at a time in which my country was engaged in a struggle for life and death.

I hope that through my unconditional service at the front and through my two wounds, I have shown that I did not only expect others to make sacrifices at this time, but that I was prepared at any time to sacrifice myself with my life and my health. Within the scope of the order given to me I did what I could, in my limited position as an assistant doctor, for the life of the experimental subjects and for an exact and proper clinical development of the experiment. I never could expect and foresee that deaths would occur. When such fatalities did occur, contrary to all expectation, I was as shaken by that event as I was by the death of a patient in our clinic. After that, the experiments were immediately discontinued, and I went back to the front.

Together with Professor Gebhardt, I reported about these experiments to the German public. Like many other Germans, there are many things which, in retrospect, I see more clearly today and in another light than in the past years. In my young life I have tried to be a faithful son of my people, and that brought me into this present miserable position. I only wanted what was good. In my life I have never followed egotistical aims, and I was never motivated by base instincts. For that reason, I feel free of any guilt inside me. I have acted as a soldier, and as a soldier I am ready to bear the consequences. However, that I was born a German, that is something about which I do not want to complain.

-----

[33] Tr. pp. 11311-11314.

[34] Tr. pp. 11315-11316.

[35] Tr. pp. 11316-11317.

[36] Tr. p. 11318.

[37] Tr. pp. 11318-11319.

[38] Tr. pp. 11319-11324.

[39] Tr. pp. 11325-11328.

[40] Tr. pp. 11328-11329.

[41] Tr. pp. 11330-11335.

[42] Tr. pp. 11335-11338.

[43] Tr. pp. 11338-11342.

[44] Tr. pp. 11342-11347.

[45] Tr. pp. 11347-11348.

[46] Tr. pp. 11348-11351.

[47] Tr. p. 11351.

[48] Tr. p. 11352.

[49] Tr. p. 11352.

[50] Tr. p. 11352.

[51] Tr. p. 11352.

[52] Tr. pp. 11352-11355.

[53] Tr. pp. 11355-11356.

[54] Tr. p. 11356.

[55] Tr. pp. 11356-11358.

XII. JUDGMENT

Military Tribunal I was established on 25 October 1946 under General Orders No. 68 issued by command of the United States Military Government for Germany. It was the first of several military tribunals constituted in the United States Zone of Occupation pursuant to Military Government Ordinance No. 7, for the trial of offenses recognized as crimes by Law No. 10 of the Control Council for Germany.

By the terms of the order which established the Tribunal and designated the undersigned as members thereof, Military Tribunal I was ordered to convene at Nuernberg, Germany, to hear such cases as might be filed by the Chief of Counsel for War Crimes or his duly designated representative.

On 25 October 1946 the Chief of Counsel for War Crimes lodged an indictment against the defendants named in the caption above in the Office of the Secretary General of Military Tribunal at the Palace of Justice, Nuernberg, Germany. A copy of the indictment in the German language was served on each defendant on 5 November 1946. Military Tribunal I arraigned the defendants on 21 November 1946, each defendant entering a plea of “not guilty” to all the charges preferred against him.

The presentation of evidence to sustain the charges contained in the indictment was begun by the prosecution on 9 December 1946. At the conclusion of the prosecution’s case in chief the defendants began the presentation of their evidence. All evidence in the case was concluded on 3 July 1947. During the week beginning 14 July 1947 the Tribunal heard arguments by counsel for the prosecution and defense. The personal statements of the defendants were heard on 19 July 1947 on which date the case was finally concluded.

The trial was conducted in two languages—English and German. It consumed 139 trial days, including 6 days allocated for final arguments and the personal statements of the defendants. During the 133 trial days used for the presentation of evidence 32 witnesses gave oral evidence for the prosecution and 53 witnesses, including the 23 defendants, gave oral evidence for the defense. In addition, the prosecution put in evidence as exhibits a total of 570 affidavits, reports, and documents; the defense put in a total number of 901—making a grand total of 1,471 documents received in evidence.

Copies of all exhibits tendered by the prosecution in their case in chief were furnished in the German language to the defendants prior to the time of the reception of the exhibits in evidence.

Each defendant was represented at the arraignment and trial by counsel of his own selection.

Whenever possible, all applications by defense counsel for the procuring of the personal attendance of persons who made affidavits in behalf of the prosecution were granted and the persons brought to Nuernberg for interrogation or cross-examination by defense counsel. Throughout the trial great latitude in presenting evidence was allowed defense counsel, even to the point at times of receiving in evidence certain matters of but scant probative value.

All of these steps were taken by the Tribunal in order to allow each defendant to present his defense completely, in accordance with the spirit and intent of Military Government Ordinance No. 7 which provides that a defendant shall have the right to be represented by counsel, to cross-examine prosecution witnesses, and to offer in the case all evidence deemed to have probative value.

The evidence has now been submitted, final arguments of counsel have been concluded, and the Tribunal has heard personal statements from each of the defendants. All that remains to be accomplished in the case is the rendition of judgment and the imposition of sentence.

THE JURISDICTION OF THE TRIBUNAL

The jurisdiction and powers of this Tribunal are fixed and determined by Law No. 10 of the Control Council for Germany. The pertinent portions of the Law with which we are concerned provide as follows:

ARTICLE II

“1. Each of the following acts is recognized as a crime:

* * * * *

“(_b_) _War Crimes._ Atrocities or offenses against persons or
property constituting violations of the laws or customs of war,
including but not limited to, murder, ill-treatment or
deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose, of civilian
population from occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of
prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages,
plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of
cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by
military necessity.

“(_c_) _Crimes against Humanity._ Atrocities and offenses,
including but not limited to murder, extermination, enslavement,
deportation, imprisonment, torture, rape, or other inhumane acts
committed against any civilian population, or persecutions on
political, racial or religious grounds whether or not in
violation of the domestic laws of the country where perpetrated.

“(_d_) Membership in categories of a criminal group or
organization declared criminal by the International Military
Tribunal.

“2. Any person without regard to nationality or the capacity in
which he acted is deemed to have committed a crime as defined in
* * * this Article, if he (_a_) was a principal or (_b_) was an
accessory to the commission of any such crime or ordered or
abetted the same or (_c_) took a consenting part therein or
(_d_) was connected with plans or enterprises involving its
commission or (_e_) was a member of any organization or group
connected with the commission of any such crime * * *.

* * * * *

“4. (_a_) The official position of any person, whether as Head
of State or as a responsible official in a Government
Department, does not free him from responsibility for a crime or
entitle him to mitigation of punishment.

(_b_) The fact that any person acted pursuant to the order of
his Government or of a superior does not free him from
responsibility for a crime, but may be considered in
mitigation.”

The indictment in the case at bar is filed pursuant to these provisions.

THE CHARGE

The indictment is framed in four counts.

COUNT ONE—_The Common Design or Conspiracy._ The first count of the indictment charges that the defendants, acting pursuant to a common design, unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly did conspire and agree together to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, as defined in Control Council Law No. 10.

During the course of the trial the defendants challenged the first count of the indictment, alleging as grounds for their motion the fact that under the basic law the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction to try the crime of conspiracy considered as a separate substantive offense. The motion was set down for argument and duly argued by counsel for the prosecution and the defense. Thereafter, in one of its trial sessions the Tribunal granted the motion. That this judgment may be complete, the ruling made at that time is incorporated in this judgment. The order which was entered on the motion is as follows:

“It is the ruling of this Tribunal that neither the Charter of
the International Military Tribunal nor Control Council Law No.
10 has defined conspiracy to commit a war crime or crime against
humanity as a separate substantive crime; therefore, this
Tribunal has no jurisdiction to try any defendant upon a charge
of conspiracy considered as a separate substantive offense.

“Count I of the indictment, in addition to the separate charge
of conspiracy, also alleges unlawful participation in the
formulation and execution of plans to commit war crimes and
crimes against humanity which actually involved the commission
of such crimes. We, therefore, cannot properly strike the whole
of count I from the indictment, but, insofar as count I charges
the commission of the alleged crime of conspiracy as a separate
substantive offense, distinct from any war crime or crime
against humanity, the Tribunal will disregard that charge.

“This ruling must not be construed as limiting the force or
effect of Article 2, paragraph 2 of Control Council Law No. 10,
or as denying to either prosecution or defense the right to
offer in evidence any facts or circumstances occurring either
before or after September 1939, if such facts or circumstances
tend to prove or to disprove the commission by any defendant of
war crimes or crimes against humanity as defined in Control
Council Law No. 10.”

COUNTS TWO AND THREE—_War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity._ The second and third counts of the indictment charge the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The counts are identical in content, except for the fact that in count two the acts which are made the basis for the charges are alleged to have been committed on “civilians and members of the armed forces [of nations] then at war with the German Reich [* * *] in the exercise of belligerent control”, whereas in count three the criminal acts are alleged to have been committed against “German civilians and nationals of other countries.” With this distinction observed, both counts will be treated as one and discussed together.

Counts two and three allege, in substance, that between September 1939 and April 1945 all of the defendants “were principals in, accessories to, ordered, abetted, took a consenting part in, and were connected with plans and enterprises involving medical experiments without the subjects’ consent * * * in the course of which experiments the defendants committed murders, brutalities, cruelties, tortures, atrocities, and other inhuman acts.” It is averred that “such experiments included, but were not limited to” the following:

“(_A_) _High-Altitude Experiments._ From about March 1942 to
about August 1942 experiments were conducted at the Dachau
concentration camp, for the benefit of the German Air Force, to
investigate the limits of human endurance and existence at
extremely high altitudes. The experiments were carried out in a
low-pressure chamber in which the atmospheric conditions and
pressures prevailing at high altitude (up to 68,000 feet) could
be duplicated. The experimental subjects were placed in the
low-pressure chamber and thereafter the simulated altitude
therein was raised. Many victims died as a result of these
experiments and others suffered grave injury, torture, and
ill-treatment. The defendants Karl Brandt, Handloser, Schroeder,
Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, Poppendick, Sievers, Ruff,
Romberg, Becker-Freyseng, and Weltz are charged with special
responsibility for and participation in these crimes.

“(_B_) _Freezing Experiments._ From about August 1942 to about
May 1943 experiments were conducted at the Dachau concentration
camp, primarily for the benefit of the German Air Force, to
investigate the most effective means of treating persons who had
been severely chilled or frozen. In one series of experiments
the subjects were forced to remain in a tank of ice water for
periods up to 3 hours. Extreme rigor developed in a short time.
Numerous victims died in the course of these experiments. After
the survivors were severely chilled, re-warming was attempted by
various means. In another series of experiments, the subjects
were kept naked outdoors for many hours at temperatures below
freezing. * * * The defendants Karl Brandt, Handloser,
Schroeder, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, Poppendick,
Sievers, Becker-Freyseng, and Weltz are charged with special
responsibility for and participation in these crimes.

“(_C_) _Malaria Experiments._ From about February 1942 to about
April 1945 experiments were conducted at the Dachau
concentration camp in order to investigate immunization for and
treatment of malaria. Healthy concentration camp inmates were
infected by mosquitoes or by injections of extracts of the
mucous glands of mosquitoes. After having contracted malaria the
subjects were treated with various drugs to test their relative
efficacy. Over 1,000 involuntary subjects were used in these
experiments. Many of the victims died and others suffered severe
pain and permanent disability. The defendants Karl Brandt,
Handloser, Rostock, Gebhardt, Blome, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky,
Poppendick, and Sievers are charged with special responsibility
for and participation in these crimes.

“(_D_) _Lost (Mustard) Gas Experiments._ At various times
between September 1939 and April 1945 experiments were conducted
at Sachsenhausen, Natzweiler, and other concentration camps for
the benefit of the German Armed Forces to investigate the most
effective treatment of wounds caused by Lost gas. Lost is a
poison gas which is commonly known as mustard gas. Wounds
deliberately inflicted on the subjects were infected with Lost.
Some of the subjects died as a result of these experiments and
others suffered intense pain and injury. The defendants Karl
Brandt, Handloser, Blome, Rostock, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, and
Sievers are charged with special responsibility for and
participation in these crimes.

“(_E_) _Sulfanilamide Experiments._ From about July 1942 to
about September 1943 experiments to investigate the
effectiveness of sulfanilamide were conducted at the
Ravensbrueck concentration camp for the benefit of the German
Armed Forces. Wounds deliberately inflicted on the experimental
subjects were infected with bacteria such as streptococcus, gas
gangrene, and tetanus. Circulation of blood was interrupted by
tying off blood vessels at both ends of the wound to create a
condition similar to that of a battlefield wound. Infection was
aggravated by forcing wood shavings and ground glass into the
wounds. The infection was treated with sulfanilamide and other
drugs to determine their effectiveness. Some subjects died as a
result of these experiments and others suffered serious injury
and intense agony. The defendants Karl Brandt, Handloser,
Rostock, Schroeder, Genzken, Gebhardt, Blome, Rudolf Brandt,
Mrugowsky, Poppendick, Becker-Freyseng, Oberheuser, and Fischer
are charged with special responsibility for and participation in
these crimes.

“(_F_) _Bone, Muscle, and Nerve Regeneration and Bone
Transplantation Experiments._ From about September 1942 to about
December 1943 experiments were conducted at the Ravensbrueck
concentration camp, for the benefit of the German Armed Forces,
to study bone, muscle, and nerve regeneration, and bone
transplantation from one person to another. Sections of bones,
muscles, and nerves were removed from the subjects. As a result
of these operations, many victims suffered intense agony,
mutilation, and permanent disability. The defendants Karl
Brandt, Handloser, Rostock, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Oberheuser,
and Fischer are charged with special responsibility for and
participation in these crimes.

“(_G_) _Sea-Water Experiments._ From about July 1944 to about
September 1944 experiments were conducted at the Dachau
Concentration camp, for the benefit of the German Air Force and
Navy, to study various methods of making sea water drinkable.
The subjects were deprived of all food and given only chemically
processed sea water. Such experiments caused great pain and
suffering and resulted in serious bodily injury to the victims.
The defendants Karl Brandt, Handloser, Rostock, Schroeder,
Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, Poppendick, Sievers,
Becker-Freyseng, Schaefer, and Beiglboeck are charged with
special responsibility for and participation in these crimes.

“(_H_) _Epidemic Jaundice Experiments._ From about June 1943 to
about January 1945 experiments were conducted at the
Sachsenhausen and Natzweiler concentration camps, for the
benefit of the German Armed Forces, to investigate the causes
of, and inoculations against, epidemic jaundice. Experimental
subjects were deliberately infected with epidemic jaundice, some
of whom died as a result, and others were caused great pain and
suffering. The defendants Karl Brandt, Handloser, Rostock,
Schroeder, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, Poppendick,
Sievers, Rose, and Becker-Freyseng are charged with special
responsibility for and participation in these crimes.

“(_I_) _Sterilization Experiments._ From about March 1941 to
about January 1945 sterilization experiments were conducted at
the Auschwitz and Ravensbrueck concentration camps, and other
places. The purpose of these experiments was to develop a method
of sterilization which would be suitable for sterilizing
millions of people with a minimum of time and effort. These
experiments were conducted by means of X-ray, surgery, and
various drugs. Thousands of victims were sterilized and thereby
suffered great mental and physical anguish. The defendants Karl
Brandt, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, Poppendick, Brack,
Pokorny, and Oberheuser are charged with special responsibility
for and participation in these crimes.

“(_J_) _Spotted Fever (Fleckfieber)[56] Experiments._ From about
December 1941 to about February 1945 experiments were conducted
at the Buchenwald and Natzweiler concentration camps, for the
benefit of the German Armed Forces, to investigate the
effectiveness of spotted fever and other vaccines. At
Buchenwald, numerous healthy inmates were deliberately infected
with spotted fever virus in order to keep the virus alive; over
90 percent of the victims died as a result. Other healthy
inmates were used to determine the effectiveness of different
spotted fever vaccines and of various chemical substances. In
the course of these experiments 75 percent of the selected
number of inmates were vaccinated with one of the vaccines or
nourished with one of the chemical substances and, after a
period of 3 to 4 weeks, were infected with spotted fever germs.
The remaining 25 percent were infected without any previous
protection in order to compare the effectiveness of the vaccines
and the chemical substances. As a result, hundreds of the
persons experimented upon died. Experiments with yellow fever,
smallpox, typhus, paratyphus A and B, cholera, and diphtheria
were also conducted. Similar experiments with like results were
conducted at Natzweiler concentration camp. The defendants Karl
Brandt, Handloser, Rostock, Schroeder, Genzken, Gebhardt, Rudolf
Brandt, Mrugowsky, Poppendick, Sievers, Rose, Becker-Freyseng,
and Hoven are charged with special responsibility for and
participation in these crimes.

“(_K_) _Experiments with Poison._ In or about December 1943 and
in or about October 1944 experiments were conducted at the
Buchenwald concentration camp to investigate the effect of
various poisons upon human beings. The poisons were secretly
administered to experimental subjects in their food. The victims
died as a result of the poison or were killed immediately in
order to permit autopsies. In or about September 1944
experimental subjects were shot with poison bullets and suffered
torture and death. The defendants Genzken, Gebhardt, Mrugowsky,
and Poppendick are charged with special responsibility for and
participation in these crimes.