Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume I (part 4 of 6)
Because of the extremely heavy official duties caused for Professor Schroeder in his capacity as chief medical officer by the imminent collapse of German military resistance, this affair was only a small segment of his official duties and it must be admitted that he could not concern himself further with this affair.
A further consideration which Professor Schroeder had to bear in mind was whether such experiments were dangerous and possibly damaging to the health of the experimental subjects. Professor Schroeder had thoroughly studied this question and contemplated all possible aspects of the problem. Professor Schroeder also knew that sea-water is used by doctors for drinking cures and that the criterion of harmfulness depends on the doses. If there was medical supervision then there would be no danger to health. Therefore, the prosecution’s charge that he failed to take the possible hazards sufficiently into account is not justified.
Nothing shows the high degree of responsibility which characterized Professor Schroeder more than the instructions which the medical inspector issued to the man carrying out the experiments.
Professor Schroeder was convinced that the experiments held no danger to the experimental subjects and he expressed this opinion to Reich Physician SS Grawitz. Such danger was excluded particularly if and when the quantity of sea-water to be taken was regulated in accordance with the best medical experiences, and when it was definitely ordered that the experiments should be stopped at a certain time; and, furthermore, if the selection of the man in charge of the experiments guaranteed, on the basis of professional and ethical standards, that the experiments would be carried out in a humane manner, taking into account all medical and clinical considerations.
Therefore, it is fully justified if Professor Schroeder claims that he, from his position as a physician and a leading medical officer, considered all possible situations and attempted to avert all possible sources of danger as far as humanly possible. His direction to the man in charge to discontinue the experiments as soon as the experimental subject refused to take in further water, and if dangerous injury to the body were recognizable, must be mentioned in Schroeder’s favor. The person carrying out the experiments was furnished with all necessary assistants and a number of special co-workers from medical circles as well as all machinery to carry out his work in an orderly fashion.
The contention that both the planning and preparation of the experiments by Schroeder can stand any examination, that that planning was with full moral responsibility and with a true feeling of duty and humanity was reaffirmed, too, before this Tribunal by Professor Dr. Vollhardt, as well as by the American expert, Professor Ivy. It is simply unthinkable that instructions to one conducting experiments could be more correct from a medical point of view than those which Professor Schroeder worked out.
By this plea and the evidence, all charges against Professor Schroeder in the sea-water complex are refuted.
* * * * *
EXTRACTS FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK
* * * * *
The Persons Subjected to the Experiments
As regards this subject [sea-water experiments] I want to put the defendant’s statements first (Tr. pp. 8703-4):
“DR. STEINBAUER: Did you have influence on the selection of the experimental subjects?
“DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK: No. I was told at the Medical Inspectorate that arrangements had been made with the SS, and the SS in accordance with these arrangements would supply the experimental subjects. I did not have to worry about that.
“Q. Did you have orders to find out where the experimental subjects came from and what the specified circumstances and conditions were?
“A. No. That too was not a decision that I could have made, nor could the Luftwaffe.
“Q. Did you know before that gypsies had been used?
“A. I only found out that gypsies were coming into Dachau from the camp commandant. * * * I, therefore, do not feel that I am responsible either for the selection of the place where the experiments were carried out nor for the selection of those persons who were used.”
Defendant Professor Dr. Schroeder states regarding this (Tr. pp. 3676-7): [Transcriber Note: The text ends here. No further statement printed in the original text.]
CROSS-EXAMINATION
“MR. MCHANEY: Did you say anything to Beiglboeck about the experimental subjects?
“DEFENDANT SCHROEDER: No. We only spoke about the matter as such. I am not quite sure whether the question ‘concentration camp’ was already established at that time. Please, why don’t you ask Beiglboeck himself? I don’t know if it was before or after 1 June.
“Q. You didn’t say anything to Beiglboeck about making sure that only German volunteers were used in the experiments?
“A. That was a matter of course. There was no discussion about it. It was no subject of discussion. There wasn’t anything to be discussed.
“Q. Well, you didn’t tell him that then?
“A. I don’t know. I can’t tell you that under oath. I know that there were volunteers; and I certainly did not say that they had to be German because I didn’t take any other possibility into consideration at all and couldn’t have said it. These are all reconstructions which came up later, but at that time weren’t subjects of discussion at all.”
These were gypsies wearing the black badge of the asocials. The defendant states that the Sturmbannfuehrer in charge of the shipment told him that these persons were all asocials, who were interned on account of punishable offenses and not for social reasons. As we read in Kogon’s book “The SS State”[48] the black badge was in fact the designation of the asocials. We see from Document NO-179, Prosecution Exhibit 135, that SS Gruppenfuehrer Nebe suggested as persons to be used for the experiments asocial persons of mixed gypsy blood in Auschwitz concentration camp, who were in good health but at the same time unsuitable for labor. In the book on gypsies of the Royal Police Directorate Munich 1905, (Beiglboeck 28, Beiglboeck Ex. 11), we read:
“The greatest difficulty arises in securing a census of gypsies. The majority of them make every effort to obscure their identity through false statements or through a pretense of ignorance * * *.”
Their asocial character led to a series of police regulations, of which the most important are the following, as far as Germany is concerned:
Decree of 16 May 1938, RMB1.i.V. (Bulletin of the Reich Ministry of the Interior) pages 883-4, concerning measures against the gypsy nuisance.
Decree of 8 December 1938, RMB1.i.V., page 2105, concerning measures against the gypsy nuisance.
Decree of 10 November 1939, RMB1.i.V., page 2339, concerning employment records for gypsies.
Decree of 2 September 1939, Reich Law Gazette, I, page 1578. Prohibition of wandering of gypsies in the frontier zone[49] (Sec. 4 of the ordinance concerning frontier protection).
The witness Dorn states (Tr. p. 8618):
“As far as I know, the brown sign was done away with in Buchenwald in 1940 and all gypsies arrested for racial reasons were asocial. In other words, from 1940 on, there were no gypsies in the camp who were not designated in the filing system as asocial, as unwilling to work.”
The same witness states (Tr. pp. 8661-2):
“I can merely say that initially all gypsies were arrested for racial reasons. Later on this was changed. Some of the gypsies who were not declared asocial elements were removed from Dachau to the Labor House in the Rebdorf Bavarian penitentiary.”[50]
The famous Swiss Psychiatrist E. Bleuler, Zuerich, writes in his Textbook on Psychiatry, Berlin, Springer, 1937 on pages 397-400 about:
Constitutional ethnical deviations
“* * * A large number of asocials show what type of character they are while still young. Most of them are backward at school, even if their intelligence is good, because they adjust themselves too little and show too little industry and attention. Extraordinary achievements in any single direction are rare. Many of them are lazy, thieving, lying, cruel to animals and people, exacting, often deliberately and negligently damaging their own and others property, vain, unreliable, and egotistical. They cannot submit to authority, run away if they do not like anything; punishments are not respected, altogether neither sugar plums nor the whip have any visible effects. When carrying out mean tricks they develop cunning and energy, soon learn from others what is bad, with difficulty or not at all what is good, have an instinctive inclination for bad company.”
I have not made any special reference to asocial character to point out that we must be particularly careful when estimating their trustworthiness, on account of their tendency to mendacity and because of a certain psychotic cupidity concerning claims for compensation. This is not necessary where the judges are so experienced; I am referring to this fact for legal reasons. It is well known that there is no legal definition of crimes against humanity. According to legal authors, such crimes can only be committed against persons who are persecuted for political, religious, and racial reasons.
To complete this chapter in its legal aspects, I would also like to mention the racial regulation of the gypsy question as far as it can be seen from German legislation. According to the 12th decree implementing the Reich Citizenship Law, dated 25 April 1943 (Reich Law Gazette I, p. 268), gypsies who are not yet German citizens cannot acquire citizenship. Section 4 of this decree reads:
“Jews and gypsies cannot become citizens. They cannot become citizens either subject to revocation, or protected persons * * *.”
According to the first decree implementing the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor of 14 November 1935 (Reich Law Gazette I, p. 1334), marriage between gypsies and Germans is prohibited. Section 6 of this decree reads:
“A marriage shall furthermore not be contracted if the progeny to be expected from it would endanger the purity of German blood.”
In all fairness, however, one must admit in this connection that in the practice of the Third Reich no strict distinction seems to have been made when gypsies were put in a concentration camp, so that we should need the criminal record and family history of each person subjected to the experiments to be able to ascertain accurately the asocial character of each individual. It is a fact that in the gypsy book mentioned by me, 11 names of persons subjected to experiments are to be found, who must no doubt be characterized as asocial.
Origin of the gypsies as to nationality
As I have already mentioned, the gypsies themselves like to leave this point vague. Therefore no point of the evidence contains so many conflicting statements as this particular one. Beiglboeck himself cannot make any definite statements as to this matter, but as he used to speak to all of them, they must all have understood German. Among the names we also find plenty of Slav names, having a Polish, Ukrainian, or Southern Slav sound. In the old Austrian Monarchy, these people were jumbled together a good deal and in their wanderings they also entered German Reich territory. After the break-up of the Monarchy, some of the so-called Carpatho-Russians became citizens of Hungary or Slovakia. In the eastern provinces of the German Reich, there were many Poles or Germanized persons with Polish names. The mere name, therefore, admits of no conclusion as to nationality. The fact, however, that most of them could make themselves understood in the German language allows the conclusion that none of the persons subjected to experiments were imported from the Allied countries.
* * * * *
The witness Fritz Pillwein states in his affidavit (Beiglboeck 32, Beiglboeck Ex. 21):
“The experimental subjects in most cases spoke their gypsy dialect. Many of them were obviously of Slav origin. I did not see identification papers, however, as this was quite impossible in a concentration camp and as I did not ask them anything of the kind, I cannot make any exact statement regarding the nationality of the individual gypsies. I did not ask them because the gypsies were very primitive people, and some of them did not even know their own birthdays.”
The witness Mettbach stated when questioned by Dr. Steinbauer (Tr. p. 9729):
“DR. STEINBAUER: What language did you speak among yourselves?
“WITNESS METTBACH: Mostly gypsy language.
“Q. What was the citizenship of the individual experimental subjects?
“A. Mostly they were Germans. There were a lot of Austrians and a lot of them came from East Prussia and Upper Silesia and the Burgenland [Province bordering Austria-Hungary].”
When questioned by counsel for the prosecution the witness Mettbach stated (Tr. pp. 9737-8):
“MR. HARDY: Were there any foreign nationals—that is, men other than Germans—used in these experiments?
“WITNESS METTBACH: Austrians and Burgenlaender and some from Upper Silesia and East Prussia.
“Q. No Czechs?
“A. No.
“Q. No Russians?
“A. No.
“Q. No Poles?
“A. A couple of them talked Polish but I think they came from Upper Silesia or East Prussia. That very often happens. Lots of Upper Silesians can talk Polish.”
When questioned by counsel for the prosecution the witness Joseph Vorlicek stated (Tr. p. 9388):
“MR. HARDY: Do you know the nationality of the various subjects?
“WITNESS VORLICEK: For the most part I do.
“Q. Can you tell the Tribunal the nationality of the various subjects, as near as you can recollect?
“A. There were Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Austrians, and Germans.”
During direct examination the witness Vorlicek stated (Tr. p. 9388):
“MR. HARDY: Well, did they ever volunteer for any special detachment or some such thing?
“WITNESS VORLICEK: Well, this is how it happened. Since I know the Slavonic language, and there were some Czechs among them, I spoke to them.”
Therefore, the defendant’s statement, that the persons concerned were Slovaks from the Bratislava area (Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia) is not without foundation.
The Rations of the Gypsies
The defendant states that the persons subjected to the experiments got the Luftwaffe flight rations before the experiments, and the same rations after the experiments, and that there was a hitch only once due to the bombing of the provisions warehouse. During the experiments, the persons got shipwreck rations. The Englishman, Ladell also says that he gave his soldiers shipwreck rations during the experiments. On this point, see extract from Beiglboeck 20, Beiglboeck Exhibit 8:
“* * * In all the experiments the food given was the ‘shipwreck diet’; this comprises 1 ounce each per day of biscuits; sweetened condensed milk; butter, fat, or margarine; and chocolate.”
That food was provided is evident from two documents. (Beiglboeck 26, Beiglboeck Ex. 13; Beiglboeck 27, Beiglboeck Ex. 14.)
The witness Massion states in his affidavit (Beiglboeck 31, Beiglboeck Ex. 12):
“Before beginning the experiment, the experimental subjects were given the same food as that supplied to the flying personnel of the Luftwaffe, that is to say, a very nutritious diet of sardines, butter, cheese, milk, meat, etc. During the experiment, 4 persons assigned to the thirst group received no food whatsoever, the others received sea-emergency rations, with chocolate, etc. I know that on one occasion difficulties arose in the food supply which possibly were connected with an air raid. I was sent to Frankfurt with the urgent order to obtain sea-emergency rations there.”
* * * * *
The Treatment of Gypsies
Beiglboeck treated the experimental subjects in a humane manner. It is natural that he insisted the strict observance of the whole experiment was not to be a farce. The whole experiment was a constant struggle against the understandable attitude of the experimental subjects who wanted to save themselves by cheating the director of the experiment (by secretly drinking water and pouring away the urine), and by obtaining special favors, in particular cigarettes, which in 1944 were hard to get—and that not only in the concentration camps.
In regard to this point I refer to a document in which Professor Dr. Dennig writes (Beiglboeck 29, Beiglboeck Ex. 15):
“While the people are able for the first few days successfully to fight their thirst with good grace, their strength of will is insufficient during the later stage; they devise extremely subtle means of obtaining water, e. g., the case of Juergensen.”
Witness Ernst Mettbach states in regard to this point when questioned by Dr. Steinbauer (Tr. p 9722):
“DR. STEINBAUER: The professor forbade your bringing them water. Did you nevertheless bring them water? Now, be honest.
“WITNESS METTBACH: Several times I brought my relative, Mettbach, water to drink.
“Q. Where did you give it to him?
“A. Sometimes I smuggled it in to the experimental station myself. Sometimes I stuck it through the fly screen on the window which was a little bit loose.”
Later we shall speak in detail about the secret drinking of water. At this point I just want to say in general that every drop of water which was consumed in secret not only diminished the scientific value of the experiments, but is also of greatest significance from the point of view of criminal law, because it decreased the feeling of thirst. As I said before, the treatment of the experimental subjects was a humane one. In regard to this point compare the statement of Dr. Lesse (Bieglboeck 14, Bieglboeck Ex. 20):
“Q. What was his attitude to the prisoners in general?
“A. Very humane and benevolent.”
Witness Massion states in his affidavit (Beiglboeck 31, Beiglboeck Ex. 12):
“Dr. Beiglboeck treated the prisoners as humanly as ordinary patients. He was rough to them only when they obtained drinking water contrary to orders. I know definitely that none of the experimental subjects were turned over to the SS for punishment because of any offenses.”
Witness Pillwein states in his affidavit (Beiglboeck 32, Beiglboeck Ex. 21):
“Q. How did Beiglboeck treat the inmates?
“A. Beiglboeck treated the patients well, which was a striking contrast to the treatment which we inmates received from the SS. Beiglboeck only became very angry when the gypsies lied to him regarding the drinking of water, and when he found out about it from the blood test.”
* * * * *
d. Evidence
Prosecution Documents Pros. Doc. No. Ex. No. Description of Document Page NO-184 132 Letter from the Technical Office of the Reich 447 Minister of Aviation (Goering) to Himmler’s office, 15 May 1944, concerning methods to render sea-water potable. NO-177 133 Minutes of conference at the Reich Ministry of 448 Aviation, 20 May 1944, concerning methods for making sea-water potable. NO-185 134 Letter from Schroeder to Himmler and Grawitz, 452 7 June 1944, requesting subjects for sea-water experiments. NO-183 136 Teletype from Rudolf Brandt to Grawitz, 453 undated, concerning experimental subjects. NO-182 137 Letter from Sievers to Grawitz, 24 July 1944, 454 concerning experiments on the potability of sea-water.
Defense Documents
Doc. No. Def. Ex. No. Description of Document Becker-Freyseng Becker-Freyseng Affidavit of Dr. Ludwig 455 42 Ex. 29 Harriehausen, 9 January 1947, regarding use of patients in sea-water experiments.
Testimony
Extracts from the testimony of prosecution witness Karl 456 Hoellenrainer Extracts from the testimony of defendant Beiglboeck 468 Extracts from the testimony of defense expert witness Dr. Franz 474 Vollhardt
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-184 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 132
LETTER FROM THE TECHNICAL OFFICE OF THE REICH MINISTER OF AVIATION (GOERING) TO HIMMLER’S OFFICE, 15 MAY 1944, CONCERNING METHODS TO RENDER SEA WATER POTABLE
[Stamped] Secret
[Letterhead] Reich Minister of Aviation and Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe Technical Office Ref. Nrs. 91a, 0016 GL/C-E (51V) No: 26 773 secret (In your answer to the above reference, please give date and short summary.)
Berlin W 8, 15 May 1944 Leipziger Strasse 7 Cable address: Reichsluft Berlin Phones: Local: 520024 218241 120047 Long distance: 218011 Extension: 4335
Re: Rendering sea-water potable. Reference: Letter of the Reich Leader SS No. 39/4/44 secret of 17 January 1944. To: Reich Leader SS and Chief of the German Police, Personal Staff. Berlin
With reference to the interoffice conference between Oberstingenieur Christensen and Haupsturmfuehrer Engineer Dohle regarding the above-mentioned matter, it is announced that two processes have been worked out by the office to render sea-water potable:
1. The I. G. method, using mainly silver nitrate. For this process quite a large plant needs to be set up, which would require about 200 tons of iron and cost about 250,000 RM. The amount of the product needed by the Luftwaffe and Navy requires 2.5 to 3 tons of pure silver a month. Besides, the water which is rendered potable by this preparation has to be sucked through a filter in order to avoid absorption of precipitated chemicals. These facts make the application of this process practically impossible.
2. The second process which was worked out is the so-called Berka method. According to this method, the salts present in the sea-water are not precipitated, but are so treated that they are not disagreeable to the taste. They pass through the body without oversaturating it with salts and without causing an undue thirst. No special plants are necessary for producing preparations needed for this process; nor do the preparations themselves consist of scarce materials.
It can be presumed that this method will be introduced in the Luftwaffe and the navy in a short time. Now that German technical science has actually succeeded in rendering sea-water potable for people in distress at sea, in accordance with the above, the knowledge as to how foreign countries intend to solve this problem is no longer of prime importance. Naturally the office is very much interested in ascertaining how, above all, the United States has solved this problem, and it is requested that this information be sought, without, however, compromising any person or any office too much.
Should the office there be interested in the Berka method, let us know. Samples can then be delivered.
The cube dispensed is not a preparation to render sea-water potable, but a milk cube such as is already familiar to the offices.
[Signature illegible]
Enclosure: [Notation: both crossed out]
1 Milk cube
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-177 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 133
MINUTES OF CONFERENCE AT THE REICH MINISTRY OF AVIATION, 20 MAY 1944, CONCERNING METHODS FOR MAKING SEA WATER POTABLE
Personal Staff RF-SS. Filing Department, File No./220/5
Technical Office GL/C-E 5 IV No. 26860/44 secret
Berlin, 23 May 1944 [Handwritten] W 29.6
[Handwritten]:
Just received for reading given to RF [Himmler]
[Signature] R. Br. [Rudolf Brandt] Reichsarzt SS 4/July Minutes of the conference on 20 May 1944 re methods for making sea-water drinkable
Present:
* * * * *
10. Oberstingenieur Christensen German Air Ministry— GL/C-E 5 IV 120047/28 11. Stabsingenieur Dr. Schickler dto. 120047/4335 12. Stabsingenieur Berka E-Tra Vienna B 23566 13. Stabsarzt Dr. Becker-Freyseng Chief Medical 278313 Service 14. Unterarzt Dr. Schaefer Luftwaffe Medical Research 27 83 13 Institute
I. On 19 May 1944 a preliminary discussion was held at the Reich Air Ministry—GL/C-E 5 IV. Present were the following persons:
GL/C-E 5 IV Obersting. Christensen dto. Stabsing. Dr. Schickler E-Tra. Stabsing. Berka L. In. 14 Major Jeworrek Chief of the Medical Service Stabsarzt Dr. Becker-Freyseng [Office] dto. Unterarzt Dr. Schaefer Herr Pahl.
At this meeting Captain (med.) Dr. Becker-Freyseng reported on the clinical experiments conducted by Colonel (med.) Dr. von Sirany and came to the final conclusion that he did not consider them as being unobjectionable and conclusive enough for a final decision. The Chief of the Medical Service is convinced that, if the Berka method is used, damage to health has to be expected not later than 6 days after taking Berkatit, which damage will result in permanent injuries to health and—according to the opinion of N. C. O. (med.) Dr. Schaefer—will finally result in death after not later than 12 days.
External symptoms are to be expected such as drainage, diarrhea, convulsions, hallucinations, and finally death. As a result of the preliminary discussion it was agreed to arrange a new series of experiments of short duration. A commission was to be set up for the arrangement of these series of experiments. This commission should be set up together with the High Command of the Navy at the conference on 20 May 1944.
The series of experiments should include the following:
1. a. Persons to be given sea-water processed with Berka method. b. Persons to be given ordinary drinking [Shorthand notation]: water. One copy to be submitted to the ministry. c. Persons without any drinking water at all. d. Persons given water treated according to the present method. (0.7 liters of drinking water for 4 persons and 4 days.)
For the duration of the experiments all persons will receive only an emergency sea diet such as is provided for persons in distress at sea.
Duration of experiments: Maximum 6 days
In addition to these experiments a further experiment should be conducted as follows:
2. Persons nourished with sea-water and Berkatit, and as diet also the emergency sea rations.
Duration of experiments: 12 days
Since in the opinion of the Chief of the Medical Service permanent injuries to health—that is, the death of the experimental subjects—have to be expected, as experimental subjects such persons should be used as will be put at the disposal by the Reichsfuehrer SS.
Herr Pahl reports that due to the latest improvements in the I. G. Farben method, smaller quantities of iron are needed for the construction of the manufacturing equipment than were originally provided for and estimated by I. G. Herr Pahl reports further that if the Wofatit equipment which has to be constructed could not be used later for the manufacturing of the sea-water preparation another use would be quite possible. As to the silver problem GL/C-E 5 IV will check whether the necessary quantities of silver are available.
With GL/C-B 5 it is to be determined whether the same quantities of the preparations will be required as heretofore.
II. At the main conference on 20 May 1944, Stabsingenieur Dr. Schickler will report on work done since the last conference, especially re the results of the preliminary discussion described in part I.
The navy emphasizes that it is considered to be of great importance to obtain a method which under the given conditions could be introduced at once without undue delay. In the opinion of the navy the results obtained at the clinical experiments are sufficient, since they are mainly interested in being able to nourish their men 3 to 5 days with the preparation. A longer nourishing period up to 12 days would probably only be necessary in very few cases. But in spite of this the High Command of the Navy agrees that the series of experiments, as proposed by the Chief of the Medical Service in paragraph 1, should still be carried out.
These series of experiments should be finished and reported on not later than the end of June. During this period all preparations are to be made for the commencement of production according to the Berka method at a date not later than July 1st 1944, and also, if the I. G. method should be introduced, for the start of the construction of the necessary manufacturing equipment by the I. G.
The commission which has to determine the conditions for the series of experiments still to be conducted is composed as follows:
Professor Eppinger, Vienna, Representative of the Chief of the Medical Service of the Air Force
Representative of the German Air Ministry GL/C
Representative of the High Command of the Navy
Stabsarzt Dr. Becker-Freyseng is being contemplated as representative of the Chief of the Medical Service. Stabsingenieur Dr. Schickler and Stabsingenieur Berka as representatives of GL; and Professor Orzichowski as representative of the High Command of the Navy.
It was decided that Berlin, Reich Air Ministry GL/C-E 5 IV should be the meeting place of the commission. (The originally proposed meeting place was changed from Munich to Berlin after a telephone call from Dr. Becker-Freyseng); and that the meeting should be on 25 May 1944 at 10:00 a. m.
It was decided that Dachau was to be the place where the experiments should be conducted.
Stabsarzt Dr. Becker-Freyseng would invite Professor Eppinger and would get in touch with the Reich Leader SS. The High Command of the Navy would invite Professor Orzichowski.
Distribution:
High Command of the Navy—Medical Department
High Command of the Navy, Department for Research, Inventions and Patents
Research Operation of the Reich Ministry for Aviation and High Command of the Luftwaffe
For information of:
Medical Experimentation and Instruction Division of the Air Force Jueterbog
E-Office Rechlin (E med)
Institute for Aviation Medicine,
D. V. L., Berlin-Adlershof
L. In. 14. 1. Abt. 2 Abt., Gruppe 3, KTB
Reich Leader SS
Technical Academy, Vienna
[Signature] C. CHRISTENSEN [Handwritten] A— RSHA. Through asocial gypsies GERHABDT.
[Stamp] Personal Staff RFSS—enclosures received on: 12 June 1944 Journal No. 39/4/44g. to:
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-185 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 134
LETTER FROM SCHROEDER TO HIMMLER AND GRAWITZ, 7 JUNE 1944, REQUESTING SUBJECTS FOR SEA-WATER EXPERIMENTS
[handwritten] Top Secret
Chief Medical Service of the Luftwaffe File: 55 Nr. 510/44 top secret (2F).
Saalow, 7 June 1944 ueber Zossen/Land 2 Copies—1st copy
To the Reich Minister of the Interior and Reich Leader SS through Reich Physician SS and Police
Berlin W, Knesebeckstr. 51
Highly respected Reich Minister!
Earlier already you made it possible for the Luftwaffe to settle urgent medical matters through experiments on human beings. Today again I stand before a decision which, after numerous experiments on animals as well as human experiments on voluntary experimental subjects, demands a final solution. The Luftwaffe has simultaneously developed two methods for making sea-water potable. The one method, developed by a medical officer, removes the salt from the sea-water and transforms it into real drinking water; the second method, suggested by an engineer, leaves the salt content unchanged, and only removes the unpleasant taste from the sea-water. The latter method, in contrast to the first, requires no critical raw material. From the medical point of view this method must be viewed critically, as the administration of concentrated salt solutions can produce severe symptoms of poisoning.
As the experiments on human beings could thus far only be carried out for a period of 4 days, and as practical demands require a remedy for those who are in distress at sea up to 12 days, appropriate experiments are necessary.
Required are 40 healthy test subjects, who must be available for 4 whole weeks. As it is known from previous experiments that necessary laboratories exist in the concentration camp Dachau, this camp would be very suitable.
Direction of the experiments is to be taken over by Stabsarzt Dr. Beiglboeck, civilian; Chief Physician of the Medical University Clinic in Vienna, Professor Dr. Eppinger. After receipt of your basic approval, I shall list by name the other physicians who are to participate, in the experiments.
Due to the enormous importance which a solution of this problem has for shipwrecked men of the Luftwaffe and navy, I would be greatly obliged to you, my dear Reich Minister, if you would decide to comply with my request.
Heil Hitler! [Signature] SCHROEDER
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-183 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 136
TELETYPE FROM RUDOLF BRANDT TO GRAWITZ, UNDATED, CONCERNING EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS
[stamp] Top Secret
Teletype:
To the Reich Physician SS and Police SS Obergruppenfuehrer Dr. Grawitz, Berlin
Subject: Experiments by the Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe.
Reference: Your letter of 28 June 1944—Journal Number 13/44 secret
Obergruppenfuehrer!
The Reich Leader SS has decided that in accordance with the suggestion of SS Gruppenfuehrer Nebe, gypsies should be used for the experiments. In addition, three other prisoners will be made available.
Heil Hitler! [Signed] BRANDT SS Standartenfuehrer
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-182 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 137
LETTER FROM SIEVERS TO GRAWITZ, 24 JULY 1944, CONCERNING EXPERIMENTS ON THE POTABILITY OF SEA WATER
Reich Leader SS Personal Staff “Office-A”
(13a) Waischenfeld/Ofr. No. 135, Tel. No. 2 24 July 1944
Secret
SS Standardtenfuehrer Ministerialrat Dr. Brandt, for Information.
To SS Obergruppenfuehrer Reich Physician SS and Police Dr. Grawitz
Berlin W 15, Knesbeckstr. 51
[Handwritten remark] Gbl 29.7
Subject: Experiments on the potability of sea-water.
Refer: Your letter of 11 July 1944, Journal No. 13/SS top secret
Dear Obergruppenfuehrer!
I want to inform you about my talks with SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ploetner and Chief Physician Beiglboeck in Dachau on 20 July. There will be employed: 1 person in charge, 3 medical chemists, 1 female assistant, 3 ranks for supervision. Prospective time: 3 weeks. In our research station only the 40 experimental persons can be accommodated, otherwise there is absolutely insufficient room since the Ploetner section is fully occupied and work cannot be interrupted. Our laboratory is insufficiently equipped, since some essential equipment is wanting. In spite of serious difficulties, the following agreement was arrived at: 1. In the Ploetner section a desk will be reserved (in the laboratory). 2. The remaining rooms will be placed at our disposal in our Entomological Institute for a period of 3 weeks. Equipment needed must be provided by the Luftwaffe. Thus it will be assured that the female assistants can work in Dachau too, because the Entomological Institute is located outside the concentration camp. 3. Billet must be arranged between Chief Physician Dr. Beiglboeck and the commandant’s office, since we have no billets at our disposal. 4. SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ploetner will give his assistance, help, and advice. He was, however, not selected for internal guidance, because this is being done by the Luftwaffe physicians themselves.
The experiments are to begin on July 23 if experimental persons are available by then and the camp commandant is in possession of the required order of the Reich Leader SS. Dr. Beiglboeck himself wanted to get in touch with SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Frowein, Adjutant of the Reich Physician SS, on this subject.
I hope that this arrangement may permit a successful conduct of the experiments. When the results are reported at the proper time, please arrange to point out the participation and assistance of the Reich Leader SS.
With best regards and Heil Hitler! [Signature] SIEVERS SS Standartenfuehrer PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF BECKER-FREYSENG DOCUMENT 42 BECKER-FREYSENG DEFENSE EXHIBIT 29
AFFIDAVIT OF DR. LUDWIG HARRIEHAUSEN, 9 JANUARY 1947, REGARDING USE OF PATIENTS IN SEA-WATER EXPERIMENTS
* * * * *
Dr. Schroeder, as my superior, often visited the hospitals in my charge, especially the Luftwaffe hospital in Brunswick of which I had been medical superintendent since 1942.
* * * * *
I recall very well that I was once asked whether it would be possible to carry out control experiments with sea-water, made drinkable by various methods, on patients suffering from minor complaints and the slightly wounded in the Luftwaffe hospital in Brunswick which was under my supervision. Whether Professor Dr. Schroeder or one of his representatives put this question to me, and at what exact time, I cannot recall exactly. It could have been in June 1944. I had to refuse the undertaking of such experiments, as I had strict orders to send all patients and wounded who could be released back to the troops; thus I did not have at my disposal hospital inmates suitable for these experiments. Furthermore, the hospital was overcrowded at this time and was, therefore, not suitable for scientific experiments. I can also recall clearly that, at a later time, I again spoke to Professor Dr. Schroeder about this matter, and that he expressed his regret on this occasion that these experiments could not be carried out in the Luftwaffe hospital in Brunswick which was under my direction.
* * * * *
EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF PROSECUTION WITNESS KARL HOELLENRAINER[51]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
* * * * *
MR. HARDY: Now, Witness, for what reasons were you arrested by the Gestapo on 29 May 1944?
WITNESS HOELLENRAINER: Because I am a gypsy of mixed blood.
Q. And after your arrest you were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp?
A. Yes.
Q. How long did you remain in Auschwitz?
A. About 4 weeks.
Q. And then where were you placed?
A. I was sent to Buchenwald.
Q. How long did you stay in Buchenwald?
A. I only stayed there for a few days.
Q. And then what happened to you?
A. I was in Buchenwald, and suddenly our numbers were called. Forty men were called out, including me, and we were told that we were going to Dachau to work. As soon as we arrived at Dachau we were put in a quarantine block. One day an SS man came and wrote down our numbers, and then we were X-rayed. Afterwards they sent us to the surgical department of a certain Luftwaffe doctor. I am afraid I can’t remember the physician’s name. I know that he was in the Luftwaffe and that he was an Austrian. He examined all of us, and then we were divided into groups for a sea-water experiment.
Q. Just a moment, Witness. I now want to ask you some brief questions concerning what you have just told us. You state that you went to Dachau to work. Did you consider going to Dachau to be good fortune?
A. Yes; a friend of mine, a gypsy, had already been to Dachau, and he told me that the situation was much better and that we would get better food. But that was not the case.
Q. Well, did you understand what you were to do when you went to Dachau, what type of work was it, bomb disposal or removal?
A. Yes. We went there to work.
Q. Did you understand that you were going to Dachau to volunteer for sea-water experiments?
A. No, never.
Q. Now, upon arrival in Dachau you then went to the quarantine block, is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. You stayed there for a day or two and were given a physical examination?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you also get an X-ray examination?
A. Yes.
Q. And then you were transferred to the experimental block?
A. Yes.
Q. And there you met a professor or a doctor?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you think you would be able to recognize that doctor if you saw him today?
A. Yes, immediately. I would recognize him at once.
Q. Would you kindly stand up from your witness chair, take your earphones off, and proceed over to the defendants’ dock, and see if you can recognize the professor that you met at Dachau?
(Witness leaves the stand.)
Q. Walk right over, please.
(Witness attempts assault on the defendant Beiglboeck.)
MR. HARDY: The prosecution apologizes for the conduct of the witness, your Honors. Due to the manner of this examination, the prosecution will have no further questions, your Honors.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: The marshal will keep the witness guarded before the Tribunal.
DR. STEINBAUER (counsel for the defendant Beiglboeck): I have no questions to put to the witness.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Will the marshal bring the witness before the bar of this Court? Will an interpreter come up here who can translate to the witness?
Witness, you were summoned before this Tribunal as a witness to give evidence.
WITNESS HOELLENRAINER: Yes.
Q. This is a court of justice.
A. Yes.
Q. And by your conduct in attempting to assault the defendant Beiglboeck in the dock, you have committed a contempt of this Court.
A. Your Honors, please excuse my conduct. I am very excited.
Q. Ask the witness if he has anything else to say in extenuation of his conduct.
A. Your Honors, please excuse me. I am so worked up. That man is a murderer. He has ruined my whole life.
Q. Your statements afford no extenuation of your conduct. You have committed a contempt in the presence of the Court, and it is the judgment of this Tribunal that you be confined in the Nuernberg prison for the period of 90 days as punishment for the contempt which you have exhibited before this Tribunal.
A. Would the Tribunal please forgive me. I am married and I have a small son. This man is a murderer. He gave me salt water and he performed a liver puncture on me. I am still under medical treatment. Please do not send me to prison.
Q. That is no extenuation. The contempt before this Court must be punished. People must understand that a court is not to be treated in that manner. Will the marshal call a guard and remove the prisoner to serve the sentence which this Court has inflicted for contempt? It is understood that the defendant is not to be confined at labor. He is simply to be confined in the prison, having committed a contempt in open court by attempting to assault one of the defendants in the dock.
MR. HARDY: At this time, your Honor, the prosecution will request a brief recess, if your Honors please.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Very well, the Tribunal will be in recess for a moment.
(A recess was taken.)
* * * * *
THE MARSHAL: The Tribunal is again in session. [1 July 1947.]
MR. HARDY: The prosecution wishes to recall the witness Karl Hoellenrainer to the witness stand, your Honors.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: The marshal will summon the witness Hoellenrainer.
(The witness Karl Hoellenrainer took the stand.)
JUDGE SEBRING: You will raise your right hand and be sworn. I swear by God, the Almighty and Omniscient, that I will speak the pure truth and will withhold and add nothing.
(Witness repeated the oath.)
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Counsel may proceed.
DIRECT EXAMINATION
MR. HARDY: Witness, your name again is Karl Hoellenrainer?
WITNESS HOELLENRAINER: Yes.
Q. Witness, at the close of your testimony the other day, you were proceeding to tell the Tribunal about your activities after your arrival at the Dachau concentration camp?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, when did you arrive for the first time at the Dachau concentration camp?
A. That was about the middle of July.
Q. And then you stayed at the camp hospital for a period of 1 or 2 days?
A. In Auschwitz?
Q. No, in Dachau, after your arrival?
A. Yes, yes, in Dachau.
Q. And then you were examined physically and also X-rayed?
A. Yes.
Q. After you had been physically examined and X-rayed, what happened to you?
A. Then, we came into the so-called surgical department. We were 40 men. Then a Luftwaffe doctor came and examined us. We had to take our clothes off and stand in line. Then he said, “Well, you will be given good food, such as you have never had, and then you won’t get anything to eat at all, and you will have to drink sea-water.” One of the prisoners whose name was Rudi Taubmann jumped up and refused. He was in an experiment, a cold-water experiment, and he didn’t want to be in any more experiments. The doctor from the Luftwaffe said, “If you are not quiet, and want to rebel, I will shoot you on the spot.” The doctor from the Luftwaffe always had a pistol, and then we were all quiet. For about one week we got cookies, rusks, and brown sugar. There were about 21 little cookies, and three or four little pieces of dextrose. Otherwise, we got nothing. The 8 days—
Q. Just a moment. Did you at any time volunteer for these experiments?
A. No.
Q. Were you asked whether or not you wished to volunteer for the experiments?
A. No.
Q. Were any of the other inmates asked if they would like to volunteer?
A. No.
Q. Was the young Mettbach a volunteer, the youngest Mettbach?
A. I know only one Ernst Mettbach from Fuerth, but I don’t know whether he volunteered.
Q. Was Ernst Mettbach in the experiments throughout; that is, did he complete the experiments?
A. No, he was only there a short time, 2 or 3 days maybe. Then, the doctor from the Luftwaffe put him out, and where he went I don’t know.
Q. Now, did the professor ask anyone for his approval before he was subjected to the sea-water experiments?
A. No.
Q. Did the professor or any of the other Luftwaffe physicians talk to the inmates and advise them as to the hazards of the experiment prior to the commencement of the actual experiments?
A. No.
Q. Now, will you, in detail, tell the Tribunal just what food the experimental subjects received prior to the experiments, during the course of the experiments, and after the experiments, and in doing so, Witness, kindly talk very slowly and distinctly so that the interpreters will be able to translate you more efficiently.
A. Yes. At first we got potatoes, milk, and then we got these cookies and dextrose and rusks. That lasted about 1 week. Then we got nothing at all. Then the doctor from the Luftwaffe said, “Now, you have to drink sea-water on an empty stomach.” That lasted about 1 or 2 weeks. This Rudi Taubmann, as I already said, got excited and didn’t want to participate; and the doctor from the Luftwaffe said, “If you get excited and mutiny, I will shoot you,” and then we were all quiet. Then we began to drink sea-water. I drank the worst kind, that was yellowish. We drank two or three times a day, and then in the evening we drank the yellow kind. There were three kinds of water, white water, and yellow water [two kinds]; and I drank the yellow kind. After a few days the people became raving mad; they foamed at the mouth. The doctor from the Luftwaffe came with a cynical laugh and said, “Now it is time to make the liver punctures.” I remember one very well.
Q. Talk more slowly, Witness. Thank you.
A. Yes. The first row on the left when you came in, the second bed, that was the first one. He went crazy and barked like a dog. He foamed at the mouth. The doctor from the Luftwaffe took him down on a stretcher with a white sheet over him, and then he stuck a needle about this long (indicating) into his right side, and there was a hypodermic needle on it, and it bled, and it was very painful. We were all quiet and excited. When that was over, the other inmates took their turn. The people were crazy from thirst and hunger, we were so hungry—but the doctor had no pity on us. He was as cold as ice. He didn’t take any interest in us. Then, one gypsy—I don’t know his name any more—ate a little piece of bread once, or drank some water; I don’t remember just what he did. The doctor from the Luftwaffe got very angry and mad. He took the gypsy and tied him to a bed post and sealed his mouth.
Q. Witness, do you mean that he put adhesive tape over this gypsy’s mouth?
A. Yes.
Q. Go ahead, continue.
A. Then a gypsy, he was lying on the right, a big strong, husky fellow, he refused to drink the water. He asked the doctor from the Luftwaffe to let him go. He said he couldn’t stand the water. He was sick. The doctor from the Luftwaffe had no pity, and he said, “No, you have to drink it.” The doctor from the Luftwaffe told one of his assistants to go and get a sun. Naturally, we didn’t know what a sun was. Then one of his assistants came with a red tube about this long (indicating) and thrust this tube first into the gypsy’s mouth and then into his stomach.
Q. Just a moment. That tube was how long? How long would that be, a half a meter long?
A. About this long (indicating).
Q. That will be about a half a meter?
A. Yes, about a half a meter. And then the doctor from the Luftwaffe took this red tube and put it in the gypsy’s mouth and into his stomach. And then he pumped water down the tube. The gypsy kneeled in front of him and beseeched him for mercy but that doctor had none.
Q. Witness, during the experiments was your temperature taken?
A. Yes.
Q. Who took your temperatures?
A. There were two Frenchmen, one tall thin and one short blond one; and they took the temperatures and the doctor from the Luftwaffe took the temperatures, too.
Q. When you say “the doctor from the Luftwaffe” you mean the man you referred to as the “professor.” The professor and the doctor from the Luftwaffe are the same or are they two different people?
A. Yes.
Q. I see. Thank you. Now, who performed the liver punctures?
A. The doctor from the Luftwaffe carried out the liver punctures himself. Some people were given liver punctures and at the same time a puncture in the spinal cord. The doctor from the Luftwaffe did that himself. It was very painful. Something ran out at the same time at the back. It was water or something—I don’t know what it was.
Q. Well, did you receive a liver puncture?
A. Yes.
Q. Did the professor tell you for what reason he gave you that liver puncture?
A. The doctor from the Luftwaffe came to me and said, “Now, Hoellenrainer, it’s your turn.” I was lying on the bed. I was very weak from this water and from not having anything to eat. He said, “Now, lie on your left side and take the clothes off your right side.” I held on to the bedstead on top of me and the doctor from the Luftwaffe sat down next to me and pushed a long needle into me. It was very painful. I said, “Doctor, what are you doing?” The doctor said, “I have to make a liver puncture so that the salt comes out of your liver.”
Q. Now, Witness, can you tell us whether or not the subjects used in the experiments were gypsies of purely German nationality or were there some Polish gypsies, some Russian gypsies, Czechoslovak gypsies, and so forth?
A. Yes, there were about seven or eight Germans and the rest of them were all Poles and Czechs, Czech gypsies and Polish gypsies.
Q. Were any of the experimental subjects ever taken out of the station room to the yard outside the experimental barracks?
A. Yes, at the end when the experiments were all finished; and three people were carried out with white sheets over them on a stretcher. They were covered with sheets but I don’t know whether they were dead or not. But we, my colleagues and I, talked about it. We never saw these three again, neither at work nor anywhere in the camp. We often talked about it and wondered where they were. We never saw them again. We thought that they were dead.
Q. Do you know where they were taken?
A. No, I don’t know.
Q. Well, during the course of the experiments were you weighed every day?
A. Yes. We were weighed, too.
Q. Was that every day or every other day?
A. I don’t remember exactly.
Q. Well, now, after the completion of the experiments in early September what happened to you?
A. When we had finished the experiments?
Q. Yes.
A. I told you that already. We were sent to the hospital and the doctor from the Luftwaffe came and said we were to take our clothes off and we lined up and were divided into three groups. The doctor from the Luftwaffe said, “Now you will be given good food. You have never had such good food.” We were given potatoes, dextrose, cookies, milk—
Q. Just a minute, Witness. I am referring to the end of the experiments, after the experiments were all completed. Could you tell us what date your experiments were completed and you were transferred from the experimental station?
A. The experiment lasted, maybe, 4 or 5 weeks altogether. I don’t know the date.
Q. Well, then, they were completed in early September. Is that correct? You arrived—
A. Yes.
Q. Now, after the experiments were completed did you then return to the camp proper or to the camp hospital?
A. No, to the camp, into Block 22. We couldn’t walk. We all had to support each other. We were exhausted. I forgot to tell you one thing. Before we began the experiments and we had this good food for about one week, the doctor took us out into the courtyard near the hospital. The doctor from the Luftwaffe came. He had a little bottle in his hand and we all had to line up. There was some liquid in the bottle and he put a number on our chest. I had number “23.” It burned a lot. Then we went back into the block. On every bed there was a number, the same number we had on our chests. One man—but I don’t remember who it was—one of the inmates, said: “That is what they call the death number.” I was pretty scared and the inmates said, “Yes, that is the death number so that the doctor of the Luftwaffe will know right away who is dead.”
We didn’t want to go on with the experiments but what choice did we have? We were just poor prisoners. Nobody bothered about us. We had to let them do with us what they wanted. We couldn’t resist. I haven’t got the power to relate everything as it—
Q. All right. Just a moment. Was your bed number “23”?
A. Yes.
Q. Then you were considered to be experimental subject number 23?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you sick during the course of the experiments, Witness?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, Witness, after the completion of the experiments in early September were you then called in and weighed to determine your weight about 2 weeks later?
A. No, not after 2 weeks.
Q. Were you called in and weighed 1 week after you had completed the experiments? Do you remember?
A. I don’t remember. But we were weighed.
Q. You were weighed every day during the experiments?
A. Yes.
Q. What I want to know is, were you weighed after the completion of the experiments? For instance, you were weighed every day during the experiments; then the experiments were completed; then you were not weighed again for a period of 1 or 2 weeks. Did you get weighed 1 or 2 weeks after the completion of the experiments?
A. When the experiment was all finished? No.
Q. Well, now after you left the experimental block and went to the camp how long was it before you were able to resume work?
A. A few days. Then we were sent in a detachment to a farm in Feldmochingen. We had to work hard and the food was better than in the camp but, you know, if you are a prisoner, what did the farmers give you? A little bread, some soup—but, in any case it was better than in the camp; and then every evening we came back to our block and then we got the regular camp food.
* * * * *
CROSS-EXAMINATION
* * * * *
DR. STEINBAUER: When you were examined the first time you said that you had no previous convictions. Do you maintain this assertion?
WITNESS HOELLENRAINER: No, I have been convicted.
Q. Then why did you lie?
A. I did not lie. I meant from the experiments.
Q. The question was whether before you came to the Gestapo you had ever been convicted and punished by the police. Nothing was mentioned about experiments at that time. That’s an excuse. Do you admit that you lied? It’s much better for you.
A. No. I did not lie.
Q. Well, you have been convicted?
A. Yes.
Q. For theft?
A. Yes.
Q. For fraud?
A. Yes.
Q. For assault?
A. Yes.
Q. For blackmail?
A. What do you mean by that?
Q. Well, coercion.
A. No.
Q. For using a false name?
A. No. I never used a false name.
Q. You have to speak more slowly. We will come back to that. You were arrested then for desertion?
A. Yes.
Q. You were prosecuted for desertion?
A. Yes.
Q. You refused to obey your draft order?
A. Yes.
Q. Isn’t that why you were sent to the concentration camp?
A. No, I was sent to the concentration camp merely because I am a gypsy. My brothers were in the war and they came back from Russia and were sent to Sachsenhausen and were murdered there, because there weren’t supposed to be any more gypsies in the German Army.
Q. What kind of a badge did you wear in the camp?
A. A black one.
Q. You and your wife, too, have stated that you participated in malaria, phlegmon, typhoid, and sea-water experiments?
A. No, only this one experiment, no malaria.
Q. Do you admit that you lied to the young doctor who talked to you?
A. No, I didn’t lie to the doctor. I just told him the exact truth. My wife and I weren’t allowed to marry. My wife had a child from me and it was cremated in Birkenau. My sister was cremated and both her children.
Q. Don’t get excited. I asked you whether you told the young doctor that you were in four different experiments. All you have to say is yes or no.
A. I told the doctor I drank salt water.
Q. Listen, Herr Hoellenrainer, don’t be evasive as gypsies usually are. Give me a clear answer as a witness under oath. Did you tell the doctor that you participated in other experiments, yes or no?
A. No. I just drank salt water.
MR. HARDY: Your Honor, the testimony of this doctor is not in evidence before this Tribunal. I don’t understand what Dr. Steinbauer is referring to.
* * * * *
DR. STEINBAUER: You said you were in Auschwitz?
WITNESS HOELLENRAINER: Yes.
Q. Were you in the Birkenau extermination camp?
A. Yes.
Q. Were the gypsies in a big camp there?
A. Yes.
Q. Were there women and children there?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you have a wife there?
A. Yes, my fiancee, Ida Schmidt. She was gassed. She was burned to death. I never saw her again.
Q. Didn’t you once beat your wife until the blood spurted out on to the wall?
A. No.
Q. Did you ever beat her?
A. No.
* * * * *
Q. I asked you whether what I have just read to you is true, that you were divided up and your numbers were called out, etc.?
A. We weren’t asked at all. Forty of us were collected together and we were sent to Dachau.
Q. Now, I have to tell you that your countryman—he is from Fuerth too, called Mettbach—said that he talked to you and particularly said that he wanted to go to Dachau because it was nearer Fuerth than Buchenwald; is that true?
A. That might be. I didn’t mind going to Dachau either because my brother lived in Munich.
Q. Then you did go voluntarily?
A. No, I did not.
Q. How does it happen that Laubinger said something else? Laubinger said you were deceived, that is why you volunteered?
A. No, I never volunteered. I certainly wouldn’t volunteer for these death experiments.
Q. Well, you went to Dachau?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know the old Herzberg?
A. No.
Q. You don’t remember the gypsy from Bratislava?
A. No.
Q. Who was the oldest gypsy?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. You were with your comrades for weeks and don’t know their names?
A. No.
Q. It is possible that Mettbach did not know all the names then, isn’t it?
A. How should I know? I did not have time to ask everybody what his name was.
Q. When the experiments were to begin, did the professor explain the purpose? That it was for rescuing people from shipwrecks, and that it was a sea-water experiment?
A. Yes, of course.
Q. Did he explain that you would be very thirsty?
A. Yes, he did first.
Q. And that thirst was very unpleasant?
A. Yes.
* * * * *
Q. Witness, the thirst dried out the mouth?
A. Yes.
Q. How can you explain that these people foamed at the mouth?
A. They had fits and foamed at the mouth, they had fits of raving madness.
Q. I am just asking you how there can be foam on a mouth which is completely dried out?
A. I don’t know.
Q. You don’t know. Then some became mad?
A. Yes.
Q. You gypsies stick together, don’t you?
A. Yes, of course.
Q. Then you must be able to tell me who became mad?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. You must know. If a friend of mine—I was a soldier twice—and if a friend of mine had gone mad then I would have noticed it.
A. It was a tall man who was in the first row. He was the first one to start. He became raving mad and had fits and thrashed around with his hands and feet. He was a tall slim gypsy.
Q. You said that you were weighed?
A. Yes.
Q. Isn’t it possible that after the experiment, when you received good food again and plenty of water, you were re-weighed?
A. No.
Q. But then they had a chart showing where you were weighed every day?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Were you weighed standing up or lying down?
A. Standing up.
Q. Were some of the people weighed lying down?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Were the scales ones on which people could be weighed lying down?
A. I don’t know.
Q. What did these scales look like?
A. Well, they were big scales. You had to stand on it. There was an indicator which showed the weight.
Q. The man who had his mouth sealed, did he have a tube in his stomach too?
A. I don’t remember.
Q. Your liver was punctured?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you have a scar?
A. A scar? I don’t know.
Q. Don’t you ever look at your body?
A. Yes. You want to see it?
Q. No. I am just asking you if you have a scar?
A. You mean a little mark?
Q. Have you a little round scar there?
A. I did not look as carefully as that.
Q. Well, do you think you have one or not?
A. I don’t know. I didn’t bother with these camp matters any more, otherwise I would go crazy. I don’t want to hear anything more about the camp. We suffered long enough.
Q. Witness, do you think you are mad or mentally retarded?
A. No. I don’t think I am mad. I said, I’d very soon go mad if I thought about these things at the camp.
Q. Do you think there is something wrong with you mentally?
A. No.
Q. You say you are going crazy?
A. Well, if I keep thinking of that camp.
MR. HARDY: I object to this line of questioning, your Honor.
DR. STEINBAUER: Well, your liver was punctured?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know whether you have a scar, yes or no?
A. I don’t know.
Q. What was the nationality of the people in the camp who were experimental subjects?
A. Poles and Czechs.
Q. How many Germans were there?
A. Seven or eight, who spoke German.
Q. Were there some Hungarians and Burgenlaender?
A. No. I don’t know.
* * * * *
EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK[52]
CROSS-EXAMINATION
* * * * *
MR. HARDY: Do you have any ability to write shorthand, Doctor?
DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK: Yes, I know shorthand.
Q. Are these your stenographic notes on the back of Document C-23?
A. Yes.
Q. Would you kindly read those to the Tribunal—transcribe them? Would that be too difficult, or would you like to have me give you my transcription of them to aid you?
A. It says: “The thirst acquires forms which are difficult to bear. The patient is apathetic.”
Q. Pardon me, Doctor. It might be helpful if you used this transcription. I have had experts transcribe the notes; and then the interpreters can follow us more readily. I have the English copies also for the Tribunal to follow you, and if you have any discrepancy to point out with transcription as set out in the English—
JUDGE SEBRING: Are you offering this, Mr. Hardy?
MR. HARDY: That is a problem, your Honor. I want to have him transcribe the notes, and when the Tribunal settles who will offer this document into evidence, either the defense or prosecution, at that time, if necessary, I will give this a document number. I think we will have to wait to clarify that point later.
Q. Would you check that transcription, Professor?
A. That is correct, except in the first line it says—
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: You have read your own stenographic notes, have you not?
DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK: Yes, and I have compared them with this transcription.
Q. What you should now read is your own version of these shorthand notes as you say they are correctly read. You understand that? You can read them from that, as you corrected it. You can read them from shorthand direct or from the typewritten transcription, as you please. Read slowly, too, please.
MR. HARDY: While he is reading that, your Honor, I suggest that he stop at the correction he wishes to make and we can correct our English copy and the interpreters can correct the German copy.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: He will call attention to the corrections which you make.
DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK: “The thirst assumes forms difficult to endure.” The second version reads: “already unendurable”. My notes do not read like that.
“The thirst assumes forms difficult to endure. The patient lies there quite motionless with half-closed eyes. The patient lies apathetically. He takes little notice of his surroundings. He asks for water only when he awakes from his somnolent condition.
“The appearance is very bad and shows signs of a decline. The general condition gives no cause for alarm.
“Respiration somewhat flatter, moderately frequent.
“Respirations 25 per minute.
“The eyes are deeply hollowed”, it should read “deeply”. Here it says “often”.
“The turgor of the skin greatly reduced.
“Skin dry, tongue completely dry, whitish coating in the middle fairly free.
“The mucous membranes of the mouth and the lips dry, latter covered with crusts. Lungs show slight very dry bronchitis, lower border VI-XI.” It is supposed to read “XI”. Originally it said “XII” and apparently I corrected it to read “XI.”
“Sharpened vesicular”, the word “breathing” is omitted here, of course.
“Sharpened vesicular breathing”—that is a medical expression.
“Heart beats very low, barely audible. Pulse weak. Filled. Palpability of the pulse worse.” Here it says that the pulse is “felt” and it should be “filled”. The pulse is less full.
Then this which is described here as undecipherable reads: “The cell walls are somewhat thickened.” Here I probably said “more strongly thickened”.
“Liver 2½-3 fingers below sternal margin, rather soft, moderately sensitive to pressure.”
“Spleen soft” is wrong. It says: “Spleen reutoric, enlarged in a ring form, slightly enlarged.”
“Musculature hypotonic. Joints can be extended excessively. Calves slightly sensitive to pressure.” Then what is described here as illegible reads: “Indication of horizontal welt formation strong welt vertical formation.” That refers to the reaction of the muscle upon knocking, the so-called ideo-muscular welt.
Q. Would you kindly start that paragraph again and read it as it is written?
A. It reads here: “Musculature hypotonic. Joints can be extended excessively. Calves slightly sensitive to pressure. Indication of horizontal welt formations. Strong vertical welt formations.” Up to this point, that is how it reads in the text; then in order to explain it, I added that we were concerned with the so-called ideo-muscular welt.
Further the text continues: “Reflexes” with two little crosses, that is, they react strongly. “Abdominal reflexes”, also two little crosses. “Romberg” as it says here. “Babinski negative”.
“Left”—here it says “Leif” “phenomenon”. Here on the left, “phenomenon of Becher”. “Oppenheim negative”. “Rosselimo negative”. “Bulbous reflex bad”. “Tonus of the bulb of the eye bad”. “Bulbous reflex” with a little cross—that is positive.
[Interruption.]
Q. Now, Professor Beiglboeck, looking over these stenographic notes in the sentence in the first paragraph, which will be the third sentence, which states: “He takes little notice of his surroundings”, has an erasure been made in the stenographic notes in that sentence?
A. No. I can’t see any.
Q. In place of the word “little” which appears in the present text on the back of C-23, was there originally a symbol, stenographic symbol for the word “no” and then the word “no” was erased and replaced by the word “little”?
A. I see here that actually something else had been written there; probably at the time I wrote over it. I don’t see anything erased.
Q. Now, in the sentence in the same paragraph, the first paragraph, the fourth sentence where it states: “He asks for water only when he awakes from his somnolent condition”, did another word appear in the same place as the character for “somnolent condition”? Did another word appear in the same place as the character for “somnolent” now appears, and can you make out whether or not that other character that has been erased was the word “semiconscious” and has now been replaced by “somnolent”? I think the original character can be well recognized to read “semiconscious”.
A. What is legible under here says: “Numb”.
Q. After the sentence that I have just read: “He asks for water—”
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: I did not understand the witness’ explanation of that last double reading of the shorthand. What was your explanation, Witness?
DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK: The German word “benommen”, numb.
Q. Numb? Not unconscious?
A. Numb.
MR. HARDY: In the first instance, in the sentence: “He takes little notice of his surroundings”, is an erasure noticeable there, in that the word “no” has been replaced by the word “little”?
DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK: Something has been written over.
Q. Will you show that to the Tribunal, please, that character that has been written over? Would you point that out to them, Doctor? Point out the character in that sentence: “He takes little notice of his surroundings”, and point that out, this character here (indicating) on the second line of characters.
MR. HARDY: Here it is, your Honor, the last character on the page.
Q. Now, would you show the Tribunal also where the word “semiconscious” or “numb” appeared and that has also been written over? That is the last character on the third line.
A. Yes, here (indicating).
Q. Now, after the sentence: “He asks for water only when he awakes from his somnolent condition,” which is the fourth stenographic line on the back of chart C-23, we notice that an entire line or half line has been erased. This half line had previously contained stenographic symbols but they are now no longer identifiable. Is that correct?
A. Yes. Something has been erased here.
MR. HARDY: Your Honors can see the red erasure that has been used to erase that half line of characters; the impression of the eraser is still obvious there.
Q. Now, Professor, in the sentence in the next paragraph of stenographic notes, the second sentence reads: “The general condition gives no cause for alarm.” Is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, throughout your writing of these characters, between each word you usually leave a space to indicate another word, do you not? That is very clear throughout your transcription. You have left spaces between each character signifying words. Is that correct?
A. No. It varies. Sometimes the words are written closer together, quite closely, for example here (indicating).
Q. Well now, here in this sentence where it says, “The general condition gives no cause for alarm”, the word “no”—that is, this character here—does not have the spaces between it that all the other characters on the sheet have, does it? In fact, the symbol for “no” touches the previous symbol for “general condition”, leaving no spacing. Did you add the word “no” at a later date in a different pencil?
A. No. I do that quite frequently. When something is written above the line in shorthand I raise the adjoining sign as well.
Q. Now, if you will turn to the sentence in the third paragraph which reads: “Respiration somewhat flatter, moderately frequent”. The word “is” appeared instead of “somewhat” originally, did it not, before an erasure was made? Didn’t it read originally “Respiration is flatter, moderately frequent”?
A. It still says so: “somewhat frequent; moderately frequent.” I wrote that twice.
Q. Well, now, how does that sentence read?
A. “Respiration somewhat flatter, moderately frequent; respiration 25 per minute.”
Q. Did the word “is”, the character for the word “is”, appear in that sentence before a change was made?
A. Which word?
Q. “Is”—“i-s”.
A. No.
Q. Can’t you clearly see in that sentence that the word “is” has been erased and in its place the word “somewhat” has been written, the character “somewhat”?
A. No.
Q. You can’t see that. Did you look at it through the glass, Doctor?
A. In shorthand I write the word “is”—
Q. Now, later in this same sentence, Dr. Beiglboeck, after the word “flatter”, didn’t the word “hardly” appear originally in place of the word “moderately”? The word “hardly” was erased and replaced by “moderately” and then crossed out twice.
A. Here it said “troublesome”.
Q. It says, “respiration flatter”. It could say “hardly frequent” before the changes, couldn’t it?
A. “Hardly moderately” it says here. That means: “Hardly moderately frequent”.
Q. Has the character been changed at all?
A. I said already originally it read “troublesome”.
Q. Have any erasures been made in that sentence?
A. It was written over.
Q. And then crossed out?
A. Yes.
Q. What word was written over? Is that word there that is written over, that is now legible, the word “moderately” or is that the word “hardly”?
A. It didn’t read “hardly”. It read: “troublesome”.
Q. Well, which character said “troublesome”, the one that is legible now or the one that has been written over?
A. It is legible; it was “troublesome”.
Q. Well now, in the sentence which starts out in the eighth paragraph with the words: “Heartbeats very low, poorly audible,” in that sentence has a character been erased and another one written over? Has the character “scarcely” been erased and replaced by “poorly”? I believe the marks of the original symbol for “scarcely” can still be clearly distinguished, can they not?
A. Yes, that is correct.
Q. Who made these changes, Doctor? Did you make them yourself?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. When did you make them?
A. I am no longer able to tell you exactly when I made them.
Q. Did you make them at Dachau?
A. No.
Q. Did you make them in Nuernberg?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you erase these shorthand characters that appear on the fourth line here in Nuernberg?
A. Yes, I did that too.
* * * * *
Q. Now, Doctor, you have had the opportunity to think over during the course of last evening your examination yesterday, and you have told this Tribunal that these stenographic notes were altered by yourself here in Nuernberg; are you prepared to tell this Tribunal now just why it became necessary for you to alter these stenographic notes?
A. I ask permission to be allowed to make the following explanation. I changed these notes before these sheets were handed in, that is, after they had been returned from Professor Vollhardt. I only made some changes in these stenographic notes, and then I told my defense counsel, whom I had not informed about this—this I want to emphasize—I said to him we should withdraw the weight chart, because I was immediately sorry that I had changed something. I originally intended to submit the weight charts of these persons, because I believe from the changed weights alone one can see on the whole how this experiment developed. And then, when I had committed this thoughtless action, my conscience immediately bothered me, and I told my defense counsel that I should not submit it. But I want to state that I did not make any changes in the rest of the report on the course of the experiments; that in the urine amounts, as well as in the temperatures, and especially in the case of the weights, they are definitely the original values, as also in the case of the blood pressure. So in what you see here, on the front pages of the chart, nothing has been changed since these charts arrived here.
Q. Could you tell us just what was your reason for changing some of the stenographic notes?
A. Because a person who does not know the condition of thirst would receive a stronger impression of the condition from the description as it was here than the actual condition really was.
Q. Do you have anything further to say about those alterations, Doctor? You may at this time explain to the Tribunal anything else in connection with those alterations if you wish.
A. Well, I want to state again that I am very sorry that I did it. As I said, I only intended to submit the charts to show the weights, and not because of the other results of the medical examinations, because I am of the opinion that from the weight charts one can definitely recognize, first, how much weight the experimental subject lost; secondly, they reveal unequivocally on which days water was drunk; thirdly, they reveal clearly that immediately after the conclusion of the experiment there was a gain in weight in the case of all the experimental subjects; and, fourthly, one sees that when the persons were discharged in most cases they had again reached their original weight.
JUDGE SEBRING: Well, Doctor, how do you explain the fact that names have been erased from many of these charts?
DEFENDANT BEIGLBOECK: This erasing of names must have been done before. I did not do that here. I did not change anything on the front pages of these charts. It is possible that this already happened in Dachau. I can’t tell you that. It is possible that I erased them later on in Tarvis. I did not erase them here.
* * * * *
EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENSE EXPERT WITNESS DR. FRANZ VOLLHARDT[53]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
* * * * *
DR. MARX: Please, would you briefly tell the Tribunal what your scientific activities have been and in what special field you have taken a particularly great interest, and since when?
WITNESS VOLLHARDT: I am Professor of Internal Medicine at Frankfurt and predominantly I have dealt with the questions of circulation, metabolism, blood pressure, and kidney diseases.
Q. Which are the German universities where you have been a lecturer?
A. Halle and Frankfurt.
Q. Are you an author of scientific works regarding this special field of activity?
A. Yes.
Q. Have they been circulated and translated in foreign countries and in foreign languages?
A. Yes, they have been translated into Russian, behind my back.
Q. Considering the facts you have just stated, it would be right to say that you have had honors allotted to you in this country and abroad; so would you please tell the Tribunal what types of decoration you have received abroad?
A. I really have to?
Q. Which foreign academies and foreign societies have you been a member of? Professor, I really want you to answer my questions because my questions pursue certain purposes.
A. I am Honorary Doctor of the Sorbonne, Paris, of Goettingen and Freiburg; and, as far as societies are concerned, there are a lot of them, Medical Society at Edinburgh, at Geneva, at Luxembourg. I am an Honorary Member of the University at Santiago, and so on and so forth.
Q. Thank you very much. Then I would be interested to hear from you whether you had connections with the NSDAP and what sort of connections they were and whether the Party persecuted you in any way. Perhaps you might answer the last question first.
A. When I was lecturing in Spanish in South America, and when I was giving a lecture in Cordoba, Argentina, before a medical congress, I received a telegram to the effect that I had been relieved from my office and the reason given was lack of anti-Semitic attitude.
Q. When was that?
A. 1938.
Q. And since when have you been reinstated and active again?
A. Since 1945.
Q. As a full professor?
A. Yes, as full professor for internal medicine at the University of Frankfurt.
Q. Now, Professor, a few questions regarding your own research work. You have dealt particularly with hunger and thirst treatment in the case of kidney diseases. Is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. So that you have personal medical and scientific experience regarding the observation of human beings when they undergo hunger and thirst treatment?
A. Yes.
DR. MARX: Mr. President, before continuing with the examination of this expert witness, I should like to permit myself to make a suggestion. There are two types of possibilities for the examination of Professor Vollhardt regarding questions which interest us here. One possibility, the one which I myself consider the correct one, is that Professor Vollhardt should give us a continuous expert opinion regarding the entire complex of questions which are of interest here, and that at the end I would then permit myself to put a few concluding questions to the expert here as, of course, any defense counsel and prosecutor is entitled to do, too. The other possibility would be that I put a number of individual questions to the expert which would deal with the subject chronologically and technically from a medical point of view. But, that would distort the context and would not give as clear a picture of the situation as would the first possibility. I should like therefore, Mr. President, for you to make a decision whether the expert is to give an opinion in the form of a lecture first.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: If counsel would propound to the witness a hypothetical question covering the basic facts which here are at issue, and if the witness would answer that hypothetical question without further question from counsel and make his response brief and to the point, and without enlarging too much upon the fact that salt water is not fit to drink and is injurious, which the Tribunal very well knows, we might proceed as suggested by counsel. The hypothetical question should cover the facts here at issue, that experiments were tried upon a group of people, a control group, a noncontrol group, and others, then the witness may answer that question without further interruption by counsel if his answer is, as I said, brief and not enlarging too much on generalities.
DR. MARX: Very well, Mr. President.
Q. Now, Professor, have you sufficient insight into the planning and carrying out of the so-called sea-water experiments to give an expert opinion on that subject?
WITNESS VOLLHARDT: Yes.
Q. What documentary evidence did you have?
A. I had the original records prepared by Beiglboeck.
Q. I shall first of all deal with the character and type of the experiments. Are there differences between the character of these sea-water experiments and experiments with artificial infection with malaria and cholera and if there are differences, what are they?
A. You can’t compare the two at all, because in the case of the sea-water experiments you have things so perfectly under control and can interrupt so instantaneously, and because the experiments take such a short time that the danger of injury could be excluded with absolute certainty. In the case of artificial infection you cannot do that.
Q. You are saying that in the case of sea-water experiments, providing they are interrupted in time, danger to health and body can be avoided with certainty or bordering on certainty.
A. Not the latter. I said with absolute certainty.
Q. I shall now come to the planning of these experiments. I suppose you know of the meeting of 25 May 1944, which was decisive for the planning of the experiments. Did the presence of Professors Eppinger and Heubner guarantee the purely scientific and medically proper treatment of the problem?
A. Undoubtedly it did. Professor Heubner is a leading scientist and an extremely critical person, and Professor Eppinger was one of the leading clinicians in the world and a most outstanding expert, and I assume both of these gentlemen had reasons for allowing these experiments to be carried out, presumably in order to strengthen the medical men, vis-a-vis, the technicians. Secondly, Eppinger’s idea apparently was that under such stringent experimental conditions, the kidney would suffer to an unusual degree and that Berkatit, which contains vitamins, might assist the work of the kidney.
Q. Professor, what is your opinion about the individual experimental groups?
A. I think that scientifically speaking the planning was excellent and I have no objection to the entire plan. It was good to add a hunger-and-thirst group because we know by experience that thirst can be borne less well than hunger, and if people are suffering from hunger and thirst too, they do not suffer from hunger, but do suffer from thirst; and that resembles what shipwrecked persons would be subjected to because they only suffer from thirst. It was excellent that Wofatit was to be introduced into the experiments too, although it was expected from the beginning that this wonderful discovery would show its value. It turned out that groups given sea-water treated according to the Schaefer method reacted similarly to a group that was subjected to a reasonable hunger treatment and did not suffer any great discomfort. In the hunger treatment of 12, or, we should say 8 days, because the people still ate during the first 4 days, that is a minor affair, and we carry that out innumerable times for medical reasons. There exists a sanitarium where people are made to go without food for 4 weeks, and as long as they get water in the shape of fruit juice, they still carry on well and often with enthusiasm. Group 2 was Schaefer’s group, groups 3 and 4 were the groups that received 500 cc. of sea-water, once without and once with Wofatit. Group 3 was the one which drank 1,000 cc. of sea-water. That one could only use volunteers for this group is an obvious fact, since the cooperation of the experimental subject is indispensable; without his good will such an experimental arrangement is impossible. That sufficient volunteers could be found for a case was a matter of course, since a period of 10 days of excellent food before and after the experiment was before them, and since one could assure them with the best of confidence that there would not and could not be any danger.
Q. We will come to that, Professor. You have just started to speak about food, nourishment. What is your opinion about the food before, during, and after the actual experiments?
A. Well, before the experiments it was splendid. During the experiments it was meager, corresponding to that of shipwrecked persons and afterwards quite excellent. In my opinion during such brief experiments nourishment doesn’t play any part.
MR. HARDY: May it please the Tribunal, might I inquire whether the witness is now testifying to facts as he has ascertained them from studying graphs and charts made by Professor Beiglboeck or is he testifying from hearsay that food was given to these inmates, or what is the basis of his knowledge that he is eliciting here?
A. I was giving my testimony based on the records which I have studied.
MR. HARDY: Thank you.
A. But I don’t attach any importance to the meager food served during the experiments because that is an insignificant point which as I have said we have allotted to others many times.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Witness, when you referred to this examination of the records, state briefly just what records you examined.
A. The original records.
* * * * *
DR. MARX: Professor, how do you judge the individual examinations carried out by Professor Beiglboeck? Were they adequate for the solution of the practical question whether Berkatit was sufficiently useful and preferable to thirst treatment, and was it sufficient to judge the daily condition of the experimental subjects so that the right time to interrupt the experiments could be ascertained?
Did you get my question?
A. Yes. I got it. I thought that the arrangement of these experiments was splendid from the scientific point of view, and Beiglboeck apparently devoted himself with tremendous industry and great responsibility to carrying out of these experiments which he had been ordered to do.
Q. Would it be right to say that a personality such as Beiglboeck, as a professor of internal medicine and chief medical officer at a clinic for many years on the basis of daily examinations and through his personal consideration and examination of the experimental subject, would be in a position to recognize any threat to the health of the person before such a threat could actually become serious?
A. That was a matter of course. Beiglboeck is an excellent internal medical man and the great care with which he carried out these experiments shows that he was fully conscious of his responsibility. Only, it’s hard to imagine that, during such brief experiments, serious damage could have occurred at all.
* * * * *
Q. Professor, a little earlier you briefly dealt with the question of starving, of hunger or of thirst for the purpose of treatment, and I now want to ask you whether the administration of hunger and thirst cures of several days is a medically recognized fact, and also how long would you consider that hunger and thirst with complete refusal of food and liquid could take place without putting someone’s health in jeopardy?
A. It depends who it is. Initially, I recommended hunger and thirst treatment in the case of acute inflammation of the kidneys, but there people have a great deal of water in their system and the water is absorbed during such a cure. Astonishing as it may seem, a cure is effected very rapidly. In such cases, three, five, seven, and even more days of hunger are employed. In other cases, where no water surplus is in existence, we would only apply 6 days of hunger treatment. During the time when I had to be interested in these particular experiments, there were four women in my clinic, all of whom were there because of high blood pressure. They were aged 50, 51, 53, and 63 years. One had a blood pressure of 210/100, and 6 days later it had been reduced to 170/100. The third had a blood pressure of 280/160 and 6 days later it dropped to 180/100. The loss of weight amounted to 3 or 4 kilograms and the patients naturally, during those days, suffered from thirst and felt weak at the end of the sixth day, but they were so happy about the improved condition that they considered the unpleasantness of the recent days as being worth forgetting.
Q. Is it correct that when water is withdrawn, nourishment should also be withdrawn?
A. It’s easier to suffer thirst when you are also hungry because the supply of nourishment makes claims upon the kidneys and, if you exclude salt in the nourishment, the water loses further humidity. Thus, appetite disappears when you are thirsty. Therefore, it is definitely better to be hungry and thirsty simultaneously.
Q. Professor, is it right to observe the individual doses in order to prevent diarrhea, and, if individual quantities of less than 300 cc. are admitted, can you prevent diarrhea?
A. In the case of sea and bitter water you only suffer from diarrhea if you drink a large quantity at once. If you distribute it over a day you suffer from constipation.
Q. Yes, but you didn’t quite answer my question. I inquired about the individual doses.
A. Yes, well, I’m trying to say that if you spread it out over a day, giving smaller individual doses instead of giving it all at once, then there isn’t any danger of diarrhea.
Q. Can you describe sea-water as poisonous at all?
A. Absolutely not. There is a trend towards treatment with sea-water which is increasing, and people drink half a liter of sea-water every day for weeks. There can’t be any question of any poisonous quality. In fact, people say they feel splendid. The only difference is that in the case of such cures fresh water is administered, too, in the manner of tea, coffee, and soup, so that the dehydrating effect of the sea-water is counteracted.
Q. Professor, I wonder if you would speak a little more slowly and make a pause after individual answers in order to enable the interpreters to follow.
Has there been an experiment during which a dose of 500 to 1,000 cc. of sea-water daily was taken and is it to be described as dangerous, providing the experiment is discontinued as soon as there is a threat of danger to health?
A. There can’t be any question of there being any danger to health during the first few days. The only question is, how long can the body stand up to this continued deprivation of humidity? Sea-water has a three-percent salt water content. Generally speaking, at least so far, we have assumed that the kidneys cannot deal with such a salt concentration. This means that salt will remain in the system, collecting water from the tissues. In the beginning, this is of no importance, but after 6 or 7 or 8 days, this becomes unpleasant and it is to be expected that after the twelfth day there is some danger. There have been cases of sea rescue when even 17 or more days afterwards recovery was achieved, but I would say that I would never dare to continue such an experiment beyond the twelfth day, and in this case with which we are concerned, all experiments were discontinued after the sixth day, so that danger to health during that period was out of the question.
Q. Could the aim of these experiments have been achieved with a semipermeable membrane?
A. I don’t understand how one can imagine this. What we are concerned with is the question of how long the human body can survive without water and under the excess quantity of salt. Now, that is subject to the water content of the body and it depends first of all, upon whether water is only used by the intermediary tissues or whether the cell liquid too is being used up. In the latter case, there is a danger which becomes apparent through excess potassium quantities, and this was also continuously observed and checked during such experiments, and there were no excess potassium quantities such as can be expected after 6 days.
Q. Nor would it be right to say that these experiments were not planned scientifically and medically, is that correct?
A. Absolutely not.
Q. Could they have been planned differently?
A. I couldn’t imagine how.
Q. Were these experiments in the interests of active warfare, or in the interests of the care of shipwrecked sailors or soldiers?
A. The latter.
Q. In other words, for aviators and sailors who were shipwrecked or might be shipwrecked?
A. Towards the end of the war there was an increase in the number of pilots shot down as well as of shipwrecked personnel, and it was, therefore, the duty of the hygiene department concerned to consider the question of how one could best deal with such cases of shipwrecked personnel; that was the reason for this conference. Previously Schaefer, as we heard yesterday, had recommended that no liquid should be taken. When, together with I. G. Farben, he succeeded in eliminating salt and bitter salt from sea-water through Wofatit, the problem was really solved scientifically. There were, however, considerable technical difficulties, and it isn’t exactly simple to equip each flier with so much Wofatit in addition to everything else he has to carry in order to protect him against the danger of shipwreck. That is no doubt why Eppinger and Heubner were in favor of the experiment, and it was unfortunate that Mr. Berka appeared with Berkatit at the same time, and impressed the technicians because his method was more simple and cheaper.
Q. Professor, was there any reason to expect symptoms of injury which might appear later than 10 days after the end of the experiment?
A. It was entirely out of the question, even after the seventh day. Later injury is out of the question, because the duration of the experiments is too short.
Q. To what do you attribute the loss of weight during such experiments?
A. That is almost entirely the loss of water. As I have already told you, the excess salt supply in the body deprived the body of water. The body must have a supply of water if it is to supply salt. In other words, if the body is not receiving any other water than sea-water, an attack on the water held by the body must take place, and therefore loss of weight is bound to occur which, however, can be made up very quickly.
Q. What would you say was to be expected in the way of the loss of substance of the body and how much loss of water?
A. I would say the bulk is the loss of water, but to split this up is something I consider impossible to do with certainty. You might possibly compare just how much was lost during the time applied by Schaefer when there was considerable hunger and how much was lost in the case of Berka.
Q. Does the speed with which the loss of water takes place play an important part?
A. Yes, of course, a tremendous part. The colored nostras is a well-known example, during which disease the most tremendous loss of water and salt takes place during 24 hours. I knew a case where 10 liters of water and 150 grams of salt had to be added intravenously through the veins, the skin, and through the stomach in order to save the life of a person suffering from such an acute loss of water. If, on the other hand, this is spread out over a period of days and if you do not have to expect such a dangerous loss of salt, then the body can stand up to it for a much longer period. I might perhaps add that the loss of salt is just as dangerous as excess quantities of salt, and also in the event of the loss of salt which is always connected with loss of water, considerable losses of weight are suffered. It is well known that an expedition on the mountain Monte Rose lost 5 kilograms of salt and water in weight, and that the weight could not be replaced in spite of the addition of water when salt was also added.
Q. Professor, according to the documents at your disposal were these experiments sufficiently well prepared?
A. It was my impression that they were extremely well prepared, and I was particularly impressed by the fact that Beiglboeck had sufficiently examined the participants carefully and had considered the use of three of them to be unsuitable since he found a defect of the lungs.
Q. I also want to deal with such preparations—
MR. MCHANEY: I do not think by any stretch of the imagination this witness can testify from the records that Beiglboeck conducted an examination or rejected three experimental subjects. In my opinion it does not appear from the records, and he can only testify what Beiglboeck told him. Unless he can say it does appear in the records, I think it should be stricken.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Counsel has an opportunity of cross-examining the witness at the close of his testimony.
DR. MARX: Professor, would you not say that regulations for these experiments also mean that certain experiments, such as experiments on one’s self and animal experiments, printed regulations, if you like, must have been in existence or was that true of this case?
A. Yes, a report from Beiglboeck about an experiment carried out upon himself is in existence which describes most efficiently the condition in which he found himself during a sea-water experiment, and this description tallies to the highest possible degree with what my volunteers who submitted themselves to these experiments described. I might deal with that later.
Q. What opinion do you have regarding the experiments which were carried out by Sirany in Vienna?
A. There appeared to me to be a lack of critical attitude. I think Schaefer had the same impression yesterday.
Q. Are symptoms recognizable regarding the planning of these experiments which would go beyond the absolutely essential practical purposes and which would lead to considerable pains or painful feelings or might have led to that?
A. Of course it isn’t fun to be thirsty, and that is the major complaint in these cases. These people are increasingly thirsty, and they are disappointed to find that drinking sea-water doesn’t decrease but increases their thirst, and towards the end of the experiments there are disturbances of the muscles, and the temper doesn’t exactly improve. It is the same in the salt water experiments where there are cramps of the calf because of the lack of water, but the characteristics of that are that these symptoms disappear instantaneously at the very moment when the first glass of water is drunk.
Q. Would you consider it possible that disturbances of the nerve end might appear? Temperature?
A. Temperature doesn’t happen at all, and I can’t imagine there being disturbances of the nervous system at all.
Q. How about fits?
A. In the case of insane people there may appear insane fits, maybe, but not in the case of normal human beings.
Q. If you yourself had been placed in this position, and considering your attitude toward medical ethics, would you have objected to carrying out the same type of experiment as was carried out here, if healthy, strong, young men had been at your disposal?
A. I actually did it. Since I was interested in connection with sea-water experiments, I called for volunteers among my young doctors, and five of them volunteered, among them my youngest son, and they drank synthetic sea-water, having the exact salt content of real sea-water, drinking up to 500 cc.; they got a little food, because they were to continue on duty during the experiment. The loss of weight varied and was around one kilogram a day. At the end of the experiment, my son was pretty thin, but after having a cup of tea was fine. Two days later he had regained his lost weight fully. All five participants described the experiment in the same way as Beiglboeck described the experiment carried out on himself. Four of these subjects interrupted the experiment after 5 days. One carried it out for 6 days, and apart from continuous thirst, he had no complaints. Any serious disturbance or damage is out of the question, and the extraordinary fact was the speed with which all symptoms of thirst disappeared after water had been taken.
Q. Now, Professor, the experiments we were talking about; did they have a practical valuable aim and did they show a corresponding result?
A. Yes, that is correct. For instance an important observation was made which Eppinger had expected; he wanted to see if the kidneys did concentrate salt under such extreme conditions to an even higher extent than one expected previously. One thought that it would be something like 2.0 percent but 2.6 or 2.7 percent and record figures of 3.0, 3.5, 3.6, and 4 percent are shown, so that the fortunate man who is in a position to concentrate 3.6 percent or 4 percent of salt would be able to live on sea-water for quite a long period.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Witness, after a question is propounded to you by your counsel, would you pause a moment before giving your answer so that the question may be translated and conveyed and when you begin to make your answer, would you speak a little more slowly?
A. Finally, one unsuspected fact was shown which may be connected with this, and that is that the drinking of small quantities of sea-water up to 500 cc. given over a lengthy period turned out to be better than unalleviated thirst.
DR. MARX: What do you think of Wofatit generally?
A. It is a wonderful thing.
Q. Is it correct to say that sea-water really assumes the character of drinking water through it?
A. Yes, the only difficulty would appear to be to obtain the drug in sufficiently large quantities for a man who is shipwrecked and did not have his luggage; but it is a wonderful discovery.
Q. So, you think that the result of these experiments is not only of importance in wartime, but is also of importance for the problems of seafaring nations?
A. Quite right, it is a wonderful thing for all sea-faring nations.
Q. So that both the experiments with Wofatit, as well as the experiments made regarding the symptoms when such a drink was not available, were important to show, for instance, the result of the consumption of sea-water in certain given doses.
A. That is quite correct.
Q. That was only discovered by these experiments?
A. Quite correct.
* * * * *
CROSS-EXAMINATION
* * * * *
MR. HARDY: On what precisely is your testimony with respect to the experiments by Beiglboeck based?
WITNESS VOLLHARDT: On the records and the descriptions that Beiglboeck gave of the experiments.
Q. Precisely what records have you seen of these experiments?
A. The records that the defense counsel had in his hand yesterday or today.
Q. Doctor, I will have passed up to you a set of records which are numbered from 1 to 44 in red pencil, and I ask you, did you have those records before you and did you make a study of them?
A. Yes, I had these records, and I asked one of my collaborators who took part in these experiments to read through these records and to make excerpts from them. He happens to be here also.
Q. Who was this collaborator?
A. One of my assistants by the name of Werner. He is in the audience at the moment.
Q. You said something about his having participated in experiments; you don’t mean the Dachau experiments, do you?
A. No. In experiments that I carried out with my students.
Q. Did you personally examine these records at all?
A. I saw them, but I didn’t study every one of them. I left that up to the young man.
Q. And what did the young man do?
A. He gave me a very exhaustive report on them.
* * * * *
Q. Your testimony, then, is based upon a summary made by your assistant, is that correct?
A. Yes. That is so.
Q. Now what other records were made available to you upon which your testimony is based here?
A. The charts that were filled out in pencil with figures.
* * * * *
Q. Now, were there any other records that you got which we have not heard about, on which your testimony here is based?
A. I cannot say at the moment. I would have to confer with—
Q. I believe that the defense had reports by Becker-Freyseng and by Beiglboeck?
A. These were reports on the whole development of the question.
Q. Well, Professor, what sort of reports were they? We have not seen them, you know, and we would like to know on what you are basing your opinion before this Tribunal.
A. Descriptions of the whole course that the matter took regarding the conference, how the decision was reached, how the experiments were planned, and then Beiglboeck’s report on his own experiments on himself, which is a very careful description and corresponds exactly to what my subjects experienced when they carried out experiments on themselves.
Q. Did you read and study these experiments carried out by Becker-Freyseng and Beiglboeck?
A. Of course.
Q. And they influenced your testimony before this Tribunal; you relied on them in making your testimony here?
A. From these I had an idea of the situation as a whole; in order to form my own opinion I performed experiments myself.
Q. And your testimony here is based in part upon the reports made by Becker-Freyseng and Beiglboeck; that is true, isn’t it, Doctor?
A. Yes.
Q. And these records made by Becker-Freyseng and Beiglboeck were not contemporaneous records of these experiments, were they, Professor?
A. I don’t believe so.
Q. They were, rather, essays or reports which they have written up since their arrest and incarceration; isn’t that true, Professor?
A. That is very possible.
Q. How old a man is this assistant of yours, Professor?
A. Twenty-six.
Q. Twenty-six years old?
A. Twenty-seven.
Q. Twenty-seven years old; has he studied medicine?
A. Of course.
Q. Where did he study?
A. Heidelberg.
Q. Herr Professor, I will ask you to testify from your own memory, and if the defense counsel wishes to put your assistant on the stand, they are privileged to do so; but I am interested primarily in knowing what you know about your assistant. Now, you did not know he studied at Heidelberg until he told you just now?
A. I have 40 to 50 young men at the clinic, and it is impossible for me to know of each one where he studied, but I made his acquaintance at the clinic. He is a very industrious and intelligent person and for that reason I asked him to do this work and take some work off my shoulders.
Q. How long has he been working with you?
A. More than a year.
Q. Working with you about a year, and since that time you have conducted these sea-water experiments yourself?
A. We carried them out shortly before Shrove Tuesday.
Q. Of 1947?
A. Yes, this year.
Q. How did you happen to carry out these experiments; were you requested to do so by defense counsel?
A. No. I had been asked very often to interest myself in this matter, and I was interested to see for myself the effect of sea-water on the experimental subjects. This was interesting to me because I already had considerable experience in the field of hunger and thirst.
Q. Were you approached at all with respect to this case before the time you started these sea-water experiments?
A. Yes, that is why I started to interest myself in the matter, because I was asked to appear here as a witness, but I carried out these experiments entirely spontaneously, without outside interference and for my own interest.
Q. But the fact that you were approached to come here and testify influenced your decision to carry out these experiments, is that right?
A. Of course, of course.
Q. And did you make any effort to have these experiments coincide with the conditions which you were told existed in the Dachau experiments?
A. Yes, we made only one distinction in this, namely, that the experimental subjects received roughly 1,600 calories a day, because they were not to interrupt their work. To be sure, as the experiment went on they ate less and less of the 1,600 calories, because thirst made them lose their appetite.
* * * * *
Q. Now how many experimental subjects did you use in your experiments?
A. Five of them.
Q. And you say that they were volunteers, your assistants, is that right?
A. Yes, they were all doctors, volunteers, and, as I said, also included my youngest son who also happens to be here.
Q. And precisely what happened during these experiments?
A. These persons were assembled in one room, received the same amount of salt each and more or less continued their work. They drank 500 cc. of sea-water, and one of them drank 1,000, and they stuck pretty closely to the provisions set down for the experiment.
Q. You say four of them drank 500 cc. of sea-water per day and the fifth one drank 1,000 cubic centimeters of sea-water?
A. The fifth drank on one day, on the last day I think, an additional 500 cc. because he was very thirsty.
Q. When did you start the experiments?
A. On the Monday before the beginning of Lent.
Q. And how long did they run?
A. As I said, four broke off the experiment after four days because of the carnival season and one of them stuck it out for six.
Q. Well, you spoke of four days, do you know how many hours they were under the experiments?
A. Five times twenty-four in general and the other one six times twenty-four.
Q. Well, I misunderstood you, or else your testimony has changed; you said four of the students stayed on the experiments for four days and one went on for six days. Is that right?
A. No, four did it for five days, four broke off at the end of the fifth day, and one stayed until the end of the sixth day.
Q. And you are prepared to testify it was five times twenty-four, is that right, 60 hours [sic]?
A. I would have to check on that for sure in the record, whether it was five times twenty-four or four times twenty-four, or sixteen or eighteen. Those things didn’t seem very important to me. I was interested primarily in seeing how greatly the persons suffered under the experiments, but the man who did it for six days did do it for six times twenty-four hours. However, I don’t want to make a statement for certain under oath regarding the number of hours.
Q. Well this little experiment conducted by you, as I take it, had as its purpose to find out how much a man suffers, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. You didn’t know that before you conducted this experiment, is that right?
A. I assumed that they would be very thirsty, but I wanted to see what the subjective sensations or feelings of the experimental subjects were. What was most important to me was to know whether these experiments could be characterized as cruel or inhumane or brutal, and if they were experiments which led to a pretty strong sense of discomfort, namely, thirst, but did not do any damage to health, that is what I wanted to know.
Q. And your testimony before this Tribunal is based upon those experiments; is that right?
A. No, on both, of course, both on those carried out by Beiglboeck and on my own.
Q. Well, your judgment was also influenced by what Beiglboeck told you about how much the experimental subjects suffered, is that right?
A. Beiglboeck drew up his own report on his own experiment on himself and a general report on whatever complaints the subjects uttered.
Q. What is the experiment that Beiglboeck conducted by himself? You mean he has been undergoing an experiment back in the prison?
A. No, before the experiments began, he carried out a sea-water experiment on himself.
Q. Where did these experimental subjects of yours stay during this experiment? I seem to recall you said they continued their work or something of that sort.
A. They all stayed in one room where they ate and slept, and this was done to make the conduct of the experiment easier, as they were to receive special rations.
Q. Well, now all five experimental subjects were in one room during the whole course of the experiment, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And what did they do?
A. They went from this room to wherever they had to work, but they returned to the room for sleeping and eating.
Q. Well, Doctor, we are having great difficulty in really getting a clear picture about how this experiment went on. Now you mean to say they carried on their work about the clinic? They didn’t stay in this room the whole time, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. They actually only ate in the room and slept in the room; is that right?
A. That is correct.
Q. Did they leave the clinic at all?
A. I believe that they did not during those days.
Q. But you don’t know?
A. I can’t swear to it.
Q. You can’t swear that they didn’t go to a local cinema during the course of the experiments for example?
A. No, I can’t swear to that. I just don’t know.
Q. In other words, they had their normal daily life available to them during these experiments?
A. They carried on their daily work and in this case it is perfectly certain that they did not drink any fresh water. They knew perfectly well what the point of the experiment was.
Q. How much food did they get, again?
A. 1,600 calories.
Q. And do you know what the food was?
A. Yes, that is also in the record. It was meat, fat, and what not, but I can’t tell you that from memory. However, I could give you the record in writing.
Q. In what record? Have we any record on these experiments?
A. Yes. There was a record.
Q. Now, they got absolutely no fresh water during the course of the experiments, is that right?
A. No.
Q. Did they get any other water or fluid other than salt water?
A. No, that was the whole purpose, that they should receive no other fluid and that is why they lost their appetite later.
Q. They got no milk and no fruit juices?
A. No, no, that would have violated the whole experiment, and then they would not have lost so much weight.
Q. I can appreciate that, Professor. Where did you get the sea-water that these experimental subjects drank?
A. We manufactured it carefully in the chemical laboratory according to a chemical analysis of sea-water that can be found in many text books. I have a chemist who was in charge of the laboratory and he made this sea-water according to the formula. We couldn’t get any natural sea-water for this experiment.
* * * * *
Q. Now, you didn’t keep any of your experimental subjects without any water whatever, did you?
A. Five hundred cc. of sea-water was the liquid they received.
Q. Well, were there not some experimental subjects at Dachau who did not get any water at all, sea-water or otherwise?
A. Yes, the first group fasted and thirsted. I have already spoken about that and said that thirst can more easily be tolerated if one is fasting at the same time, so that the kidney has as little as possible to do; thus the body is able to retain more water.
Q. But you can’t testify to the Tribunal about what pain and suffering those experimental subjects were subjected to, can you? You didn’t run any similar experiments yourself?
A. I do not understand you. I carried out these experiments to know what sort of suffering the experimental subjects went through.
Q. But you didn’t carry out one where a man fasted for 5 or 6 days without either food or water. They did carry out such an experiment in Dachau. So you have no basis to testify about pain and suffering to which that group of experimental subjects were subjected, do you?
A. I mentioned that at the same time I was having four women fast and thirst who had come to the clinic with very high blood pressure and for six whole days these women fasted and thirsted. This so improved their condition that they consequently forgot the unpleasantness involved in the fasting and thirsting. I also mentioned among them one woman who weighed only 51.7 kilo, and who lost 3. However, her blood pressure went down from 245/125 to 185/100. I carried out such experiments almost daily in the clinic. That is done by the hundred. And, in the case of persons with kidney disease, that is the accepted method so that during the war people from the fronts went through thousands of such hunger and thirst cures. I didn’t have to have any control experiment in this; that was furnished daily by the clinic.
Q. And these women went without food and water for 4 days?
A. Six days without food and water.
Q. And what was the result on them aside from their blood pressure? Did they suffer much pain?
A. There is no question of pain in such cases. They simply felt thirst. Strangely enough they do not complain of being hungry. The body water that still remains is enough to keep the body metabolism supplied with the necessary chemicals. However, there is a lack of sodium nitrate in the body which, however, can be overcome by giving sodium nitrate. They never complain about hunger, only thirst. Sometimes they complain of a feeling of weakness but fasting for 6 days is nothing very special. As I said, some people carry out hunger cures for 4 weeks. To be sure, they drink fruit juice during such a long cure. We also make use of it for therapeutic purposes. They will receive fruit juice but that is by no means so unpleasant as an 8-day long hunger and thirst cure.
Q. And you gave them no compensation for going without food and water whatever? You gave them no injections of any sort?
A. No, no. My whole purpose is to eliminate from the body all the unnecessary fluids in the blood so that the blood pressure will drop. I gradually bring these people over to a form of nourishment without any salt.
Q. Now you say that four out of five of your experimental subjects broke off on the fifth day?
A. Yes. For external reasons only, not because they could no longer tolerate it. It just happened that four of the men had dates on the 5th day, but the 5th one stayed on until the sixth day and I asked him specifically whether he felt particularly tortured or in pain and he said no. He said that with the first drink of water he took all unpleasantness and discomfort vanished. I observed my son myself. As soon as he drank a cup of tea, he was perfectly all right and 2 days after the experiment he had recovered all the weight he had lost. He had lost roughly one kilo a day.
Q. You say these four men had a date on the 5th. You mean they had an engagement with a young lady?
A. I do not know what details were planned for the carnival celebration. I could simply draw the regrettable conclusion that their interest in the carnival was a little greater than their interest in the experiment. But this does indicate that the experiments did not have a very deleterious effect on them, otherwise they could not have gone to the carnival and enjoyed it.
Q. Well, it might also indicate that they didn’t regard the experiments as being very serious and that, even though several men in this dock are quite interested in the results of this particular experiment, your four young assistants didn’t regard it as serious enough to refrain from going out on a date. Isn’t that about the size of it?
A. I can’t deny that. I wasn’t too pleased by their behavior.
Q. Were these men informed of the seriousness of this undertaking?
A. No.
Q. And what reason did you advance to them for undergoing the experiments?
A. Of course, I told them, and they knew, that such sea-water experiments were an issue, but I was perfectly convinced that these experiments could by no means be called inhumane or brutal and consequently we didn’t approach the experiments in too tragic a manner. All we wanted to know was how unpleasant such an experiment was.
* * * * *
EXAMINATION BY THE TRIBUNAL
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Professor, these subjects upon whom you conducted an experiment in your institute were very excellent subjects for such an experiment, were they not?
WITNESS VOLLHARDT: They were characterized by the fact that they were medical men who understood the meaning of the experiment and that I could rely on them. Physically, they certainly were no better-conditioned, according to the photographs at least, than those rather well nourished experimental subjects.
Q. I was not thinking so much of their physical condition, but they were men who were interested in this work, were they not?
A. Yes.
Q. The results of the experiment—each upon himself and upon each of his associates—would be interesting to each one, would it not? Is that not true?
A. I would assume so, yes.
Q. Each one was entirely controlling his own participation in the experiment, was he not?
A. Yes.
Q. If, at any time, any one of the subjects felt that the conditions which he was undergoing in the experiment were becoming too heavy for him, he would have been released from further participation upon his request, would he not?
A. No doubt he would have reported and he would have said, “I want to step out. This is too much for me.”
Q. That’s what I meant. He would have asked to be released and he would have been immediately released? Well, is it or is it not a fact that a human being will voluntarily undergo hunger, thirst, pain, discomfort, and stand it better when he knows that he is doing it under his own volition with a scientific objective, than a person of equal physical condition will stand such an experiment when, insofar as he is concerned, he has no personal interest whatsoever?
A. No doubt that is correct, and I am perfectly convinced that Professor Eppinger tried everything he could in order to obtain such volunteers. He was most uncomfortable about the fact that these experiments were carried out in Dachau. He would much rather have seen them carried out in Vienna on his own students but, at that time, there weren’t any students any more. They had all been called up, and medical officers were very scarce so that there was no question of obtaining volunteers. Hence, in this very tense and difficult time, no subjects could be found, to carry out such a series of experiments as was planned here, in a hospital or clinic of any kind. It would have been better, more practical and more sensible, by all means, if the experiments had been carried out at that time upon medical students, but, unfortunately, that was impossible.
Q. You prefaced your statement, Doctor, by saying that Dr. Eppinger had this sentiment. How do you know that?
A. Because, during the conference, it was mostly Professor Eppinger who was in favor of these experiments being made and, since Professor Eppinger had earmarked his favorite pupil, Beiglboeck, for the carrying out of these experiments, it is a matter of course that Eppinger would have liked nothing better than that these experiments should be carried out under his own control in Vienna.
Q. You are assuming that Eppinger would have felt as you would have felt under similar circumstances, is that correct?
A. I know that all those who were interested in these experiments were making efforts to find places where these experiments could be carried out in a military hospital on soldiers or convalescent patients or other persons, but, unfortunately, everything turned out to be impossible. You can only imagine the situation if you know how every hospital bed and every doctor was being utilized in this time. That was the final period of the war.
Q. You prefaced this last statement by saying, “I know.” Now, how do you know? By any other method than assuming that these gentlemen would have felt as you felt?
A. No. I recollect that I read that in one of the reports, that an attempt had been made to carry out the experiments elsewhere and that one had come across locked doors everywhere. For instance, one had Brunswick in mind, I know that by chance, the Luftwaffe hospital at Brunswick, and that was impossible. Thus, all inquiries had negative answers.
Q. I gathered from your answer to one of my questions a short time ago—I would like to return to that subject—that a person of intelligence will endure more discomfort, pain, and suffering, pursuing a voluntary experiment which he knows he can terminate at any moment than a person, probably of less intelligence, would display upon undergoing an experiment which he could not stop at his own volition. Is that correct?
A. Well, there is no question but that, for those persons in Dachau, the only bait was the good food before and afterwards and the cigarettes that they had been promised. That was not possible in the case of my doctors. They did it because they were interested and, of course, that would have been by far the best solution if it had been possible.
Q. And, insofar as the subjects at Dachau, if any of them, at any time during the course of the experiments, believed that the pain or discomfort or whatever it might be called, which they were suffering would not be compensated by cigarettes, or other promises which had been made to them, they would be very anxious then to be released from prosecution of that experiment. Is that true?
A. Certainly. That’s why quite a number of experimental subjects secretly drank water, because the strict course didn’t please them too much.
Q. Well, unlike the experimental subjects in your institute, those subjects would not be particularly interested in the result, would they? They had no scientific interest in the result, did they?
A. No, no. None at all. None whatever.
* * * * *
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[47] Final plea is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 16 July 1947, pp. 10942-10971.
[48] Eugen Kogon: Der SS Staat; published 1946, Verlag der Frankfurter Hefte, Frankfurt-Main.
[49] Counsel for the defendant Beiglboeck quoted the testimony of the prosecution witnesses Stoehr, Pillwein, and Tschofenig and the testimony of the defense witness Mettbach who stated that approximately 40 to 50 gypsies were used for the sea-water experiments and that they wore either black or green triangles. Black triangles had to be worn by those concentration camp inmates who were considered asocial and green triangles by those who were considered criminal.
[50] Same as Footnote 49 above.
[51] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 27 June, 1 July 1947, pp. 10229-10235, 10508-10545.
[52] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17 June 1947, pp. 8666-9028, 9326-9329.
[53] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 3 June 1947, pp. 8400-8493.
8. EPIDEMIC JAUNDICE EXPERIMENTS
a. Introduction
The defendants Karl Brandt, Handloser, Rostock, Schroeder, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, Poppendick, Sievers, Rose, and Becker-Freyseng were charged with special responsibility for and participation in criminal conduct involving epidemic jaundice experiments (par. 6 (H) of the indictment). During the trial the prosecution withdrew this charge in the case of Sievers, Rose, and Becker-Freyseng. On this charge only the defendant Karl Brandt was convicted, and the defendants Handloser, Rostock, Schroeder, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, and Poppendick were acquitted.
The prosecution’s summation of the evidence on the epidemic jaundice experiments is contained in its final briefs against defendants Handloser and Schroeder. Extracts from these briefs are set forth below on pages 494 to 498. A corresponding summation of the evidence by the defense on these experiments has been selected from the final plea for the defendant Handloser. It appears below on pages 499 to 503. This argumentation is followed by selections from the evidence on pages 503 to 508.
b. Selections from the Argumentation of the Prosecution
EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF AGAINST DEFENDANT HANDLOSER
* * * * *
Epidemic Jaundice
Following the attack on Russia, epidemic jaundice (hepatitis epidemica) became a disease of major proportions for the German Wehrmacht. (Tr. p. 2707.) In some units, casualties up to 60 percent were reported from this disease. (NO-010, Pros. Ex. 187.) Accordingly, an intensive effort was made to discover the causes of and vaccinations against epidemic jaundice. Dohmen and Gutzeit of the Army Medical Inspectorate and Haagen of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe were among the doctors working on this subject.
Dohmen and Gutzeit were attached to the Military Medical Academy and directly subordinated to Schreiber. (Tr. p. 2752.) The Military Medical Academy was, of course, subordinated to Handloser as Army Medical Inspector. (Tr. p. 2740.) Gutzeit was also consulting internist to Handloser. (Tr. p. 2700.) Dohmen was one of the first to isolate a virus which was claimed to be the cause of jaundice. This was accomplished by inoculating animals with germs taken from human beings suffering from the disease. (Tr. p. 2695.) However, considerable divergence of opinion still existed as to whether jaundice was caused by bacteria or a virus. (Tr. p. 3045.) On 1 June 1943, Grawitz, Reich Physician of the SS, requested Himmler to make concentration camp inmates available for infection by Dohmen with his virus. He stated that cases of death among the experimental subjects were to be anticipated. (NO-010, Pros. Ex. 187.) It was not stated whether the deaths were to be brought about for the purpose of performing autopsies (as in the cases of the high-altitude experiments), or whether they were to be expected from the disease itself (as in the cases of the typhus experiments).
Himmler consented to the use of eight Polish Jews, who had been condemned to death in the Auschwitz concentration camp, and to Dohmen’s conducting the experiments. (NO-011, Pros. Ex. 188.) The experiments were carried out by Dohmen in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and according to the affidavit of the defendant Rudolf Brandt, some of the experimental subjects died as a result. (NO-371, Pros. Ex. 186.) Even the defense witness Gutzeit, who collaborated closely with Dohmen, admits that Dohmen worked in Sachsenhausen, but stated that this was merely a ruse to avoid turning over the jaundice virus to Grawitz, and in reality no infection experiments were performed. (Tr. p. 2722.) Gutzeit did not explain, however, why Dohmen, who was in no way subordinated to Grawitz, should have engaged in such ridiculous scientific “horseplay.” (Tr. p. 2758.)
In weighing the credibility of the testimony of Gutzeit, consideration should be given to the fact that he was a member of the SS himself and that he was closely associated with Dohmen in his work. (Tr. p. 2760.)
In June 1944, a conference of experts was called by Handloser for the purpose of coordinating jaundice research. This conference took place at Breslau and was presided over by Schreiber. (Tr. p. 7252.) Handloser, Gutzeit, and Haagen, a consulting hygienist of the Air Fleet, were all present at this conference. (Tr. p. 2717.) Schreiber assigned groups of physicians to work together on jaundice problems. Dohmen, Gutzeit, and Haagen were assigned to one of these groups. (Tr. p. 2717.) On 12 June 1944, Haagen himself requested Schreiber to assign Dohmen to work with him. Generalarzt Schreiber at that time was commander of the Military Medical Academy. (NO-299, Pros. Ex. 190.) Schreiber complied with this request. (NO-300, Pros. Ex. 191.)
On 24 June 1944, Gutzeit wrote to Haagen that he was also requesting Schreiber to assign Dohmen to Haagen. He went on to state that he was making preparations for experiments on human beings and he wanted Haagen to supply him with his virus material. (NO-124, Pros. Ex. 193.) Haagen replied to Gutzeit’s letter on 27 June 1944 stating that he was glad that Dohmen would be assigned to him as of 15 July. He further stated that he was working with Kalk, Buechner, and Zuckschwert, all officers of the Luftwaffe, on jaundice problems and that he had arranged with Kalk to conduct human experiments with his material. (NO-125, Pros. Ex. 194.) On the same date Haagen wrote to his collaborator Kalk, who was attached to the staff of the defendant Schroeder, stating as follows:
“In the enclosure I send you a copy of a letter from Gutzeit and my reply. We must proceed as soon as possible with the experiments on human beings. These experiments, of course, should be carried out at Strasbourg or in its vicinity. Could you in your official position take the necessary steps to obtain the required experimental subjects? I don’t know what sort of subjects Gutzeit has at his disposal, whether they are soldiers or other people.” (NO-126, Pros. Ex. 195.)
The remark about “other people” is an obvious reference to concentration camp inmates, upon whom Haagen had long since been experimenting with virulent typhus virus, while the reference to “Strasbourg or in its vicinity”, indicates the concentration camp Natzweiler. (See typhus experiments supra.) Herr Kalk and his chief, the defendant Schroeder, were well advised on how to procure concentration camp inmates for medical experiments because only a few weeks before Schroeder himself had requested inmates from Himmler for the sea-water experiments. (NO-185, Pros. Ex. 134.)
The record shows that Dohmen did in fact go to Strasbourg to work with Haagen on the direct orders of Schreiber. (Tr. p. 2752.) Handloser was advised of this collaboration of Dohmen and Haagen. (Tr. p. 2757.)
Still another series of jaundice experiments was planned with which Handloser was connected. On 29 January 1945 Mrugowsky wrote to Grawitz as follows:
“Hauptsturmfuehrer Professor Dr. Dresel, Director of the Hygienic Institute of the University of Leipzig, has cultivated a virus from persons suffering from hepatitis and succeeded in transplanting it on animals.
“It is necessary to make experiments on human beings in order to determine the fact that this virus is indeed the effective virus hepatitis epidemica. The plenipotentiary for research on epidemics in the Reich Research Council therefore addressed himself to me with the request to carry out the above experiments.
“I am asking you to obtain authorization from the Reich Leader SS to carry out the necessary experiments on 20 suitable prisoners who have hitherto never suffered from hepatitis epidemica, at the typhus experimental station of the concentration camp in Buchenwald.” (NO-1303, Pros. Ex. 467.)
The plenipotentiary for research on epidemics in the Reich Research Council who requested these experiments on concentration camp inmates was Generalarzt Schreiber, at the same time commander of Lehrgruppe C of the Military Medical Academy under Handloser. (Tr. p. 5402.) Schreiber had been designated by Handloser for the very purpose of coordinating jaundice research, and the meeting in Breslau was called to that end.
In view of this evidence outlined above, it can only be concluded that the jaundice experiments were carried out by subordinates of the defendant Handloser with his knowledge and approval.
* * * * *
_EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF AGAINST DEFENDANT SCHROEDER_
* * * * *
EPIDEMIC JAUNDICE EXPERIMENTS
In June 1944 a conference of experts was called for the purpose of coordinating jaundice research. This conference took place at Breslau and was presided over by Schreiber. (Tr. p. 2752.) Handloser, Gutzeit, and Haagen were all present at this conference. (Tr. p. 2717.) Haagen admitted during cross-examination that experiments on human beings were discussed. That criminal experiments on concentration camp inmates were discussed is clear from the fact that Schreiber in January 1945 personally requested Mrugowsky to make available inmates for hepatitis experiments by Dr. Dresel. (NO-1303, Pros. Ex. 467.) Schreiber assigned groups of physicians to work together on jaundice problems. Dohmen, Gutzeit, and Haagen were assigned to one of these groups. (Tr. p. 2717.) On 12 June 1944 Haagen himself requested Schreiber to assign Dohmen to work with him. Generalarzt Schreiber at that time was commander of the Military Medical Academy under Handloser. (NO-229, Pros. Ex. 190.) Schreiber complied with this request. (NO-300, Pros. Ex. 191.)
On 24 June 1944 Gutzeit wrote to Haagen that he was also requesting Schreiber to assign Dohmen to Haagen. He went on to state that he was making preparations for experiments on human beings and he wanted Haagen to supply him with his virus material. (NO-124, Pros. Ex. 193.) Haagen replied to Gutzeit’s letter on 27 June 1944 stating that he was glad that Dohmen would be assigned to him as of 15 July. He further stated that he was working with Kalk, Buechner, and Zuckschwert, all officers of the Luftwaffe, on jaundice problems and that he had arranged with Kalk to conduct human experiments with his material. (NO-125, Pros. Ex. 194.) On the same date Haagen wrote to his collaborator Kalk, who was a consultant to defendant Schroeder and a specialist on hepatitis (Tr. p. 3632), stating as follows:
“In the enclosure I send you a copy of a letter from Gutzeit and my reply. We must proceed as soon as possible with the experiments on human beings. These experiments, of course, should be carried out at Strasbourg or in its vicinity. Could you in your official position take the necessary steps to obtain the required experimental subjects. I don’t know what sort of subjects Gutzeit has at his disposal, whether they are soldiers or other people.” (NO-126, Pros. Ex. 195.)
The remark about “other people” is an obvious reference to concentration camp inmates, upon whom Haagen had long since been experimenting with virulent typhus virus, while the reference to “Strasbourg or in its vicinity”, indicates the concentration camp Natzweiler. The witness Olga Eyer, secretary to Haagen, testified that prisoners were requested for the epidemic jaundice experiments. (Tr. p. 1759.) Haagen would have the Tribunal believe that he referred to Freiburg and Heidelberg which are 60 and 100 kilometers respectively from Strasbourg, while Natzweiler was only a few kilometers away. (Tr. p. 9579.)
Herr Kalk and his chief, the defendant Schroeder, were well advised on how to procure concentration camp inmates for medical experiments because only a few weeks before Schroeder himself had requested inmates from Himmler for the sea-water experiments. (NO-185, Pros. Ex. 134.)
* * * * *
c. Selection from the Argumentation of the Defense
_EXTRACT FROM THE FINAL PLEA FOR DEFENDANT HANDLOSER_[54]
* * * * *
Epidemic Jaundice (Hepatitis)
The problem of experiments in the field of hepatitis research consists in finding the most efficient treatment of the disease and identifying the virus in order to evolve a vaccine.
Discussions of this problem were extensive during this trial. The indictment on this point applies only when experiments on human beings, as understood by the prosecution, such as infection with jaundice germs, could have effects detrimental to health. On this the experts, Professors Gutzeit and Rose, have expressed their opinions. Professor Gutzeit, as one of the foremost specialists for problems connected with epidemic jaundice, on the basis of his extensive practical clinical experience and experiments on his own person, has described the effects as follows:
“As far as I, as clinical physician, can judge, the development of vaccines, and of experiments to gain these vaccines, is harmless. This harmlessness is shown by the fact that spontaneous outbreaks of jaundice are not dangerous in themselves. Like every other vaccine, a potential vaccine which is being developed for or against hepatitis may cause harmless local reactions on the place of vaccination.”
Furthermore he said, “it (epidemic jaundice) is a harmless disease” (German Tr. p. 2761); “it has no damaging after-effect on the liver.” (German Tr. p. 2763.) Professor Rose has expressed his expert opinion in the following words: “Hepatitis epidemica as such is not considered a dangerous disease by hygienists.” (German Tr. pp. 5433, 5434.) Then he continues that naturally, just as in the case of a nasal cold, so in the case of hepatitis, complications may arise as after-effects, “but no one would consider hepatitis as a dangerous disease for that reason.” (German Tr. p. 6454.) As to the experiments, Professor Rose says:
“In Germany, experiments with hepatitis virus have been carried out by Eppinger, Vogt, Esser, and Lembel and no incidents occurred. All experiments took place without ill effects. This is, of course, very limited experimental material, but material concerning hundreds of cases which permit a more accurate judgment has been published in England and America. Up to date I have knowledge of about 60 experiments on human beings for hepatitis and no single incident has been reported yet.”
The prosecuting counsel furnished no proof in this trial that infection experiments with jaundice organisms on unwilling persons took place at all in the concentration camps. Whereas in the case of the other facts the prosecution produced medical records or a witness to prove that such experiments had been carried out, this was not possible with regard to epidemic jaundice. Proof was limited to the presentation of documents which one must admit might have given any layman, or even a doctor who was not a hygienist or a clinical physician, the impression that the experiments in question must have been dangerous. The letter of Dr. Grawitz dated 1 June 1943 to Himmler (NO-010, Pros. Ex. 187) contains the sentence, “We must expect deaths.”
According to the expert opinions expressed by Rose, Gutzeit, and Hoering this view is incorrect and incomprehensible. The experts exclude in practice all possibility of death. Rose declares (German Tr. p. 6455):
“Grawitz, who had only concerned himself for years with the business of administration, did not have sufficient understanding of the matter,” or “that he was cautious to an exaggerated degree * * *.”
Professor Gutzeit (German Tr. p. 2764) says of Document NO-010, Prosecution Exhibit 187:
“The only way I can explain it to myself is that Grawitz himself was not sufficiently informed about this jaundice, the course of the disease, and its danger. Certainly Grawitz was no specialist on this matter, this jaundice, and has for a considerable time been out of touch with practical medicine.”
Professor Gutzeit gives the mortality figure for jaundice as less than 0.1 percent; finally he declares (German Tr. p. 2762) that severe pain and suffering, such as mentioned in the indictment, do not occur when a patient is injected with jaundice organisms. A layman can also understand that over-injection can only produce at the most the disease itself, the effects of which have already been represented as harmless.
As already stated, the prosecution furnished no concrete assertions that the intended experiments were made in Sachsenhausen. Here we are speaking of the time from June 1942. At this time Stabsarzt Dr. Dohmen was allowed to work in the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen in accordance with permission given by Himmler. Professor Gutzeit worked together with Stabsarzt Dr. Dohmen insofar as he conducted the hepatitis research work from the clinical side, while Dr. Dohmen was occupied with basic bacteriological research, in the Robert Koch Institute where he was stationed at the time in question and worked under Professor Gildemeister. Evidence was given by Professor Rose (German Tr. p. 6468) and Dr. Lentz. (Rose 16, Rose Ex. 12.)
As a result of the mutual exchange of experience which took place, we must assume that Professor Gutzeit was informed about Dohmen’s research work in this field. Gutzeit also testified upon oath what Dohmen had reported to him about his activity in Sachsenhausen. According to this, Dohmen was only able to escape pressure from Himmler and Grawitz to leave him his breeding stocks by apparently acceding to the offer that he should conduct experiments in Sachsenhausen, but in actual fact undertaking experiments only on prisoners of concentration camps which could be carried out without any risk of bodily harm or loss of life.
In like manner the prosecution was obliged to furnish proof with regard to the experiments asserted to have been made on concentration camp prisoners in Natzweiler. The only witness provided by the prosecution for this, a woman by the name of Eyer, did not confirm what the prosecution affirmed, namely that experiments intended by Professor Haagen in the research into hepatitis had been carried out in the concentration camp at Natzweiler. (German Tr. p. 1765.)
Dr. Cording testified in an affidavit submitted by Professor Rose:
“For my training in the study of hygiene and bacteriology I was detailed in February 1944 to the Hygiene Institute of Strasbourg University where I was engaged, until the military occupation of the town on 23 November 1944, almost exclusively on work connected with hepatitis (series of inoculations of mice and proof of virus in the organs of mice) under Professor Haagen.”
* * * * *
“It did not come to my ears that during the time I was in Strasbourg experiments with hepatitis were made on human beings within the framework of this cooperation. In the middle of July 1944 Stabsarzt Dr. Dohmen went from Giessen to visit Professor Haagen in Strasbourg for about 2-3 days. During this time he saw for himself in the Institute the results obtained from our research work in hepatitis. He confirmed that the results of his experiments had been similar but that all his research material had been destroyed in an air raid on Berlin. At present he was busy in Giessen making a fresh start with his own experiments.
“I know for a fact that Dr. Dohmen was not in Natzweiler during the time of his visit to Strasbourg. I know nothing of any further cooperation between Professor Haagen and Dr. Dohmen.”
Thus it is proved that Dr. Dohmen was not at the Natzweiler concentration camp and did not take part in any experiments on human beings there in this particular branch of medicine. In correcting his affidavit (NO-371, Pros. Ex. 186) the defendant Rudolf Brandt declared upon oath that he had no knowledge that these experiments had been carried out in Sachsenhausen and that some of the prisoners died. In like manner he revoked his evidence concerning the cooperation of Dr. Dohmen and Dr. Haagen in the Natzweiler concentration camp and declared that no facts were known to him about this. (German Tr. pp. 1990-1993.) Finally Rudolf Brandt declared in his affidavit (Handloser 11, Handloser Ex. 35) that no facts were known to him from which could be deduced that the defendant Handloser had any knowledge of the experiments in Sachsenhausen and Natzweiler.
If one also takes into consideration Professor Gutzeit’s testimony that Professor Handloser had reported nothing about Dohmen working in the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen or of his activity there, the following emerges: Professor Handloser’s answer is correct that he had no knowledge that experiments with epidemic jaundice were conducted on human beings in the concentration camps of Sachsenhausen and Natzweiler.
On the other hand Professor Handloser declares that he had a considerable interest in the hepatitis research work, as it is also established that not only his consulting physician Gutzeit but also numerous other offices had concerned themselves with hepatitis research. Professor Handloser gave reasons, confirmed by Professor Gutzeit, why he, as medical officer responsible for the management of health matters in the army, had the duty to give importance to the research in order to find out what caused epidemic jaundice. As far as Handloser knew, this research was carried out in accordance with recognized medical practice, i. e., by experiments on animals and on the persons of the experimenters themselves; likewise by unobjectionable clinical examinations of human beings.
This also emerges from the hepatitis meeting of June 1944 in Breslau. Professor Gutzeit also reported about this meeting and declared upon oath that six or seven different hepatitis research workers had given reports on their experiments and the results obtained. Nothing was said about experiments on human beings. From this Professor Handloser, who took part in the meeting which included the military and civilian sector, must have gained the impression that research into hepatitis was conducted in a generally recognized medical fashion.
As it could not be established at this meeting whether the organisms bred by the various offices were identical, or whether it was a question of different viruses (German Tr. p. 2737), the suggestion made by Generalarzt Dr. Schreiber, who as the delegate of the Reich Research Council for the combat of epidemics was the chairman of the meeting, was to the point and served the purpose. His suggestion was that various working groups for hepatitis research be formed in order that results obtained on each side might be compared. On both direct and cross-examination, Professor Gutzeit gave a convincing explanation for his letter of 24 June 1944 (NO-124, Pros. Ex. 193), in which he speaks of the experiments “crucis ad hominem.” He declared that he had prepared with his students and candidates a vaccination with the virus material placed at his disposal in Breslau. (German Tr. pp. 2739-2740.)
Dr. Dohmen’s visit to Strasbourg, which was requested by Haagen, was to have been made in compliance with the suggestion of Dr. Schreiber to form a circle of research groups.
* * * * *
d. Evidence
Prosecution Documents Pros. Ex. Doc. No. No. Description of Document Page NO-371 186 Affidavit of defendant Rudolf Brandt, 14 503 October 1946, concerning experiments to determine the cause of epidemic jaundice. NO-011 188 Note from Himmler to Grawitz, 16 June 1943, 504 concerning epidemic jaundice experiments at concentration camp Sachsenhausen. NO-299 190 Letter from Haagen to Schreiber, 12 June 505 1944, concerning epidemic jaundice experiments. NO-125 194 Copy of letter from Haagen to Gutzeit, 27 506 June 1944, concerning epidemic jaundice experiments on human beings.
Testimony
Extract from the testimony of defendant Karl Brandt 506
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-371 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 186
AFFIDAVIT OF DEFENDANT RUDOLF BRANDT, 14 OCTOBER 1946, CONCERNING EXPERIMENTS TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF EPIDEMIC JAUNDICE
I, Rudolf Brandt, being duly sworn, depose and state:
* * * * *
Experiments to Determine the Cause of Epidemic Jaundice (Hepatitis Epidemica)
3. About the middle of 1943, Dr. Grawitz, Reichsarzt SS, wrote to Himmler that Dr. Karl Brandt wished to obtain prisoners for experimentation on the causes of a jaundice epidemic. He had been doing research on this problem with the assistance of Dr. Dohmen, a medical officer attached to the Army Medical Corps and the Robert Koch Institute. Experiments had thus far disclosed that contagious jaundice is transferred by a virus and human beings were desired for inoculation with germs which had been cultivated in animals. Grawitz advised that death of some of the experimental subjects must be expected. He wanted to know if Dr. Dohmen could be permitted to carry out the experiments at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, as desired by Dr. Karl Brandt.
4. Himmler wrote Grawitz that Dr. Dohmen had his permission to conduct the experiments at Sachsenhausen, and for that purpose he had Oswald Pohl of the WVHA allocate a number of prisoners to be used as experimental subjects. I know that these experiments were carried out and that some of the prisoners died as a result.
5. Dr. Eugen Haagen, Oberstabsarzt and consultant in hygiene for the Luftwaffe, had also been doing research work at the Natzweiler concentration camp in an effort to discover an effective inoculation against epidemic jaundice. As I recall, Dr. Dohmen collaborated with Haagen in 1944 at Natzweiler and experiments on involuntary human beings were conducted which resulted in deaths.
6. These experiments were of course well known to Karl Brandt as he was personally furthering them. Handloser and Schroeder must also have known of them because Dohmen and Haagen were doctors in the Medical Services of the Army and the Luftwaffe respectively. Generalarzt Paul Rostock was also well informed on all research work of this nature.
I have read the above statement in German, consisting of two (2) pages, and it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. I have had the opportunity to make any changes and corrections in the foregoing statement. This statement was given by me freely and voluntarily, without promise of reward and I was subjected to no duress or threat of any kind.
[Signed] R. BRANDT
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-011 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 188
NOTE FROM HIMMLER TO GRAWITZ, 16 JUNE 1943, CONCERNING EPIDEMIC JAUNDICE EXPERIMENTS AT CONCENTRATION CAMP SACHSENHAUSEN
The Reich Leader SS Day Book No 1652/43, RF/BN
XIa-/-43 Field H. Q., 16 June 1943
Subject: Investigation of the cause of the infectious jaundice (hepatitis epidemica)
Reference: Yours of 1 June 1943—Az.: 420/IV/43—Diary No. 6/43 g.Kdos.
Top Secret
Reich Physician SS and Police 4 Copies Berlin 3d Copy
I acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 1 June 1943.
1. I approve that eight criminals condemned in Auschwitz (eight Jews of the Polish resistance movement condemned to death) should be used for experiments.
2. I agree that Dr. Dohmen should make these experiments in Sachsenhausen.
3. I agree with your opinion that a real fight against infectious jaundice would be of unheard [of] value.
[Signed] H. HIMMLER.
2. SS Obergruppenfuehrer Pohl,[55] Berlin
Carbon copy forwarded with request that you will duly note.
[Signature] SS Obersturmbannfuehrer
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-299 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 190
LETTER FROM HAAGEN TO SCHREIBER, 12 JUNE 1944, CONCERNING EPIDEMIC JAUNDICE EXPERIMENTS
12 June 1944
Generalarzt Professor Dr. Schreiber Academy of Military Medicine Berlin NW
Dear Generalarzt:
Enclosed I am sending you my hepatitis report for further use. At the same time I would like to use this opportunity to renew my invitation to Stabsarzt Dohmen. Since I do not know his present address, may I direct this invitation to you and suggest that Dr. Dohmen be assigned to me for several weeks so that we may discover and possibly work on questions we have in common. This would probably be the quickest way to determine whether we have the same virus or not. A satisfactory date for Dohmen’s visit to begin would be 15 July.
At the same time I should like to approach the subject of your negotiations for mice. My supplies, and particularly my cultures, are so depleted that they absolutely must be rejuvenated and refilled. You told me in Hohenlychen that it is possible for you to secure mice, even in large numbers. May I ask you to endeavor to secure for me several thousand mice of both sexes, preferably only young animals.
Thirdly I would like to ask whether the hepatitis research will be carried on in future out of funds of the Reich Research Council? My funds for this branch are now exhausted and I am faced with the question as to whether to apply for further funds to my Medical Chief of the Luftwaffe or to you. I would be grateful to you to be informed about this shortly.
With kindest greetings and compliments, Heil Hitler! Very devotedly yours, [Signed] HAAGEN
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-125 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 194
COPY OF LETTER FROM HAAGEN TO GUTZEIT, 27 JUNE 1944, CONCERNING EPIDEMIC JAUNDICE EXPERIMENTS ON HUMAN BEINGS
Oberstabsarzt Professor Dr. E. Haagen, Consulting Hygienist to the Air Fleet Physician Reich
Strasbourg, 27 June 1944
To: Oberstarzt Professor Dr. Gutzeit Consulting Physician to the Army Medical Inspector, Medical Clinic of University of Breslau, Hobrechtufer 4
My dear colleague Gutzeit,
Many thanks for your letter of 24/6/44. I am glad that Herr Dohmen will come here on 15 July. We shall then review all common hepatitis questions and perhaps also set up the experiments together.
I cannot at present definitely answer your inquiry about human experiments. As you know, I am working with Herr Kalk, Herr Buechner, and Herr Zuckschwert. Naturally, I have already arranged with Herr Kalk that we shall undertake that type of experiment with our material. I must therefore first determine the point of view of the others concerned.
I shall be very glad to begin work on the nephritis material from your Oberstarzt K (?) [sic].
With best greetings, Heil Hitler! Yours EXTRACT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT KARL BRANDT[56]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
* * * * *
DR. SERVATIUS: The indictment mentions experiments with hepatitis. A letter from Grawitz to Himmler says that you furthered these experiments. Did you yourself do any clinical work on this question?
DEFENDANT KARL BRANDT: I never did any work in connection with hepatitis epidemica, for that would have been during the war, as before the war this disease was not given much importance in Germany. During the war I did not deal with this question because I was too busy with other things, and also because such a purely internal disease, although perhaps of interest to the hygienist, was relatively uninteresting to me as a surgeon.
Q. Did you allocate research assignments on this subject? How about Dr. Dohmen?
A. I do not know why I should have given a research assignment to Dr. Dohmen. Of course the question of hepatitis was a question which interested everyone, for it was encountered everywhere in the East. But, for that reason I would not have given special attention to that disease. It had no relation to other things which were of more interest to me as a surgeon. I know the letter. I was told about it last year. I saw it here again for the first time this year. It says that I had asked Grawitz to have special hepatitis work carried out by Dr. Dohmen. Dr. Dohmen, the letter goes on, was to obtain seven or eight prisoners for that purpose and the lives of these prisoners would be endangered. It is not clear to me in what connection, and for what reason, my name was mentioned as the instigator of hepatitis research, for in all the rest of the correspondence, and in all the other documents, there is not even the slightest hint that I had any particular interest in this question, or that I was so interested that I would have started the research. I never really knew that the experiments were actually carried out, and I never received any report of results. There are indications contrary to the sense of this letter, especially when it says these experiments are to be carried out on persons condemned to death. Hepatitis epidemica is not a disease as dangerous as all that. I have inquired meanwhile, and know that compared with malaria, for example, it is only about a fifth or a tenth as dangerous. I have already discussed today my relationship with Himmler and with Grawitz. I did not invent that; that was actually the truth. On the other hand, it is interesting to note that in all the correspondence concerning hepatitis, one year later, after the first letter failed to have the desired effect, Professor Schreiber sought a way to approach Himmler in order to have hepatitis research work continued.
Schreiber was the deputy for epidemic control in the Reich Research Council, so that I may assume that, for some reason which is not quite dear to me, Grawitz possibly confused Schreiber and me in the first letter. That is conceivable. The letter is dated 1 June 1943. A short time before that there was a meeting of the Military Medical Academy, and probably Grawitz, who was present, talked to Schreiber as well. In any case I am not able to give any information about this question of hepatitis, and certainly not about any experiments which actually took place. I have no information; I received no report; and I have not heard from any other source even now that these experiments were really conducted. It seems to me significant that the witness Schmidt, who was heard here, testified that the experiments were certainly not conducted in Strasbourg, as Dohmen, who wanted to conduct them, was there for only two or three days himself.
* * * * *
-----
[54] Final plea is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 14-15 July 1947, pp. 10818-10849.
[55] Defendant in Case of United States vs. Oswald Pohl, et al. See Vol. V.
[56] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Feb. 1947, pp. 2301-2661.
9. TYPHUS AND OTHER VACCINE EXPERIMENTS
a. Introduction
The defendants Karl Brandt, Handloser, Rostock, Schroeder, Genzken, Gebhardt, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, Poppendick, Sievers, Rose, Becker-Freyseng and Hoven were charged with special responsibility for and participation in criminal conduct involving typhus experiments (par. 6 (J) of the indictment). In the indictment, “spotted fever” was used for the German word “Fleckfieber”, but later this was translated as “typhus”. (See also judgment, Vol. II.) On this charge the defendants Handloser, Schroeder, Genzken, Rudolf Brandt, Mrugowsky, Sievers, Rose, and Hoven were convicted, and the defendants Karl Brandt, Rostock, Gebhardt, Poppendick, and Becker-Freyseng were acquitted.
The prosecution’s summation of the evidence on the typhus experiments is contained in the final briefs against the defendants Mrugowsky and Schroeder. Extracts from them are set forth below on pages 508 to 528. The extract of the prosecution brief against Mrugowsky summarizes evidence concerning experiments with old blood plasma, blood transfusions, and withdrawal of blood from inmates of the Buchenwald concentration camp for the purpose of manufacturing a typhus convalescent serum. A corresponding summation of the evidence by the defense on these experiments has been selected from the closing brief for the defendant Rose and the final plea and closing brief for the defendant Mrugowsky. These appear below on pages 528 to 554. This argumentation is followed by selections from the evidence on pages 555 to 631.
b. Selections from the Argumentation of the Prosecution
EXTRACTS FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF AGAINST DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY
Typhus and Other Vaccine Experiments
The attack against Russia in 1941 gave rise to many military medical problems, not the least of which was typhus. The disease reached serious proportions in the fall of 1941, and typhus vaccines were so scarce that only doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel in exposed positions could be given inoculations. (Tr. pp. 3160-3161.)
One of the most important problems with respect to the increased production of typhus vaccines was the effectiveness of the so-called Cox-Haagen-Gildemeister vaccine, which was produced from egg-yolk cultures. The effective Weigl vaccine, produced from the intestines of lice, was available, but its manufacture was expensive and complicated. The egg-yolk vaccine was relatively simple to produce but its protective qualities were not regarded as having been sufficiently proved. (NO-732, Pros. Ex. 451.)
The entry for 29 December 1941 in the Ding diary proves that a conference was held on that date between Handloser, as Army Medical Inspector; Conti, of the Ministry of Interior; Reiter, of the Public Health Department; Gildemeister, of the Robert Koch Institute; and Mrugowsky, of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.)
At the conference it was decided that the typhus vaccine from egg yolks was to be tested on human beings to determine its efficacy. On the same day an earlier conference was held which discussed the same problem. It took place at the Reich Ministry of the Interior, and was attended by Bieber of the Interior; Gildemeister; representatives of the General Government in Occupied Poland; officials of the Behring Works of I. G. Farben, and Oberstabsarzt Scholz, of the Army Medical Inspectorate. The minutes of this conference state that:
“The vaccine which is presently being produced by the Behring Works from chicken eggs shall be tested for its effectiveness in an experiment. For this purpose Dr. Bieber will contact Obersturmfuehrer Dr. Mrugowsky.”
Since Mrugowsky was not present at this conference, it is obvious that other conferences took place in which this matter was discussed with him, which is corroborated in the entry of the Ding diary referred to above.
As a result of the decision reached at these conferences, the experimental station in the Buchenwald concentration camp under SS Sturmfuehrer, later Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ding-Schuler (hereinafter referred to as “Ding”) was established. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287; Tr. p. 1154.) The charts drawn by the defendant Mrugowsky, among other proof, show that the experimental station in Buchenwald was subordinated to the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS under Mrugowsky from the date of its establishment until the end of the war. (NO-416, Pros. Ex. 22; NO-417, Pros. Ex. 23.)
In the beginning of 1943, the research station in Buchenwald was officially called the “Department of Typhus and Virus Research” of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS. The experiments were carried out in Block 46, the so-called Clinical Block, with the exception of a few experiments early in 1942. In the autumn of 1943 a vaccine production department was established in Block 50. Both Blocks 46 and 50 were part of the Division for Typhus and Virus Research. The defendant Hoven was the deputy to Ding in both blocks. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287; Tr. pp. 1155-1156.)
Criminal experiments on concentration camp inmates without their consent were carried out in Block 46 to test typhus, yellow fever, smallpox, typhoid, para-typhoid A and B, cholera, and diphtheria vaccines.
The typhus experiments in Buchenwald were carried out on a very large scale and resulted in many deaths. The manner of execution and the results of the experiments are proved in great detail by the Ding diary and the testimony of Kogon as well as other evidence. The first experiment began on 6 January 1942 with the vaccination of 135 inmates with the Weigl, Cox-Haagen-Gildemeister, Behring Normal, or Behring Strong vaccines. All vaccinations were completed by 1 February. On 3 March 1942, all of the vaccinated subjects and 10 inmates who had not been vaccinated (known as the “control group”) were artificially infected with virulent virus of Rickettsia-Prowazeki furnished by the Robert Koch Institute. The experiment was concluded on 19 April 1942. Five deaths occurred, three in the control group and two among the vaccinated subjects. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287; Mrugowsky 10, Mrugowsky Ex. 20.)
In later experiments the number of experimental subjects usually varied between 40 and 60, but the proportion of control subjects was increased. Approximately two-thirds of the experimental subjects were vaccinated while one-third remained without protection. A few weeks after vaccination, all experimental subjects were artificially infected with typhus. The course of the disease was then observed in the protected and control groups and the effectiveness of the vaccine was determined. (Tr. p. 1168.) Therapeutic experiments were conducted in the same manner with various drugs. For example, between 24 April and 1 June 1943, experiments were performed to test the effect of acridine granulate and rutenol on typhus. Of a total of 39 inmates used, 21 died. (NO-582, Pros. Ex. 286.)
Artificial infection was accomplished in various ways. In the beginning the skin was lacerated and infected with a typhus culture. Contagious lice were used to a limited extent. For the most part, however, infection was brought about by the intravenous or intramuscular injection of fresh blood containing the typhus virus. For the sole purpose of maintaining a constant source of infected fresh blood, 3 to 5 inmates per month were artificially infected with typhus. The use of these so-called “passage persons” began at least as early as April 1943 and continued until March 1945. Substantially all of them died. These victims were so much “a matter of course” that their fatalities were not included by Ding in his diary. (Tr. pp. 1168-1171.)
An analysis of the Ding diary proves that a total of 729 inmates were experimented on with typhus, of whom 154 died. To these figures must be added the passage persons, of whom between 90 and 120 died.
So much for the cold statistics of the experiments. Block 46, where the experiments were carried out, was a horror for every inmate of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Everyone selected for the experiments expected to die a slow and frightful death. The man-to-man passage of the typhus virus created a form of “super” typhus. (Tr. p. 1168.) While typhus normally has a mortality of about 30 percent in unprotected cases, in an experiment on 13 April 1943 five out of six persons infected died. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.) Many of the experimental subjects became delirious. (Tr. pp. 1172, 1173.) In the experiments with acridine and rutenol, the subjects vomited up to seven times a day. Bronchial pneumonia, nephritis, intestinal bleeding, subcutaneous phlegmones below the larynx, parotitis, gangrene of the shank, furunculosis, bronchitis, and decubital sores developed as a result of this treatment. (NO-582, Pros. Ex. 286.) Experimental subjects who survived and had a lighter course of the disease because the vaccine with which they were vaccinated was effective were forced to watch the death struggle of their fellow inmates. There was an iron discipline in Block 46, the cat-o’-nine-tails ruled supreme, and the experimental subjects were completely deprived of the last vestige of personal freedom which they had in the camp. (Tr. pp. 1172, 1173.)
It is hardly necessary to state that the experimental subjects used in the typhus, as well as all other experiments in Buchenwald, were not volunteers. One does not normally volunteer to be killed. In the first series of typhus experiments, a number of inmates were duped into submitting after being told it was a harmless affair and that they would get additional food. They were not informed that they would be artificially infected with typhus nor that they might die. (Tr. p. 1162; see also the testimony of Kogon in Case 4,[57] Tr. pp. 731, 732; NO-3680, Pros. Ex. 536.) These subjects cannot be described as volunteers. After the first few experiments, it was no longer possible to deceive inmates into offering themselves for the experiments. Thereafter, up until about the fall of 1943, experimental subjects were chosen arbitrarily from among the inmates, whether criminals, political prisoners, or homosexuals. Intrigue among the prisoners themselves sometimes played a role in the selection. In the fall of 1943, the camp administration no longer desired to take the responsibility for the selection of the experimental subjects. Ding no longer was satisfied with verbal orders from Mrugowsky to carry out the experiments and he asked for written orders. He approached Mrugowsky with the request that the Reich Leader SS should appoint the experimental subjects. According to a directive from Himmler to Nebe of the Reich criminal police, only those inmates were to be used who had been confined for 10 years or more. Thereafter, most of the experimental subjects were habitual criminals, many of whom were transported to Buchenwald from other camps. But political prisoners were still included because they were in disfavor with the camp administration or because of camp intrigues. None of the experimental inmates had been condemned to death, except a few Russian prisoners of war who had not been tried or sentenced. They were from some 9,500 Russian prisoners of war who were killed in Buchenwald. The experimental subjects were generally in good physical condition. (Tr. pp. 1162, 1163.) The experimental subjects included not only Germans, but also Poles, Russians, and Frenchmen, as well as prisoners of war. The testimony of Kogon is applicable not only to the typhus experiments but to the other experiments in Buchenwald as well. (Tr. p. 1167.)
This testimony of Kogon is corroborated by the letter from Himmler to the Chief of the Security Police dated 27 February 1944. He said:
“I agree that professional prisoners be taken for experiments with the typhus vaccine. But only those professional criminals should be chosen who have served more than ten years in prison; that is, not with ten prior convictions but with a total penalty of ten years.
“SS Gruppenfuehrer Nebe is to supervise the disposal of these inmates. I don’t wish the physician to pick out inmates without my counter-control.” (NO-1189, Pros. Ex. 471.)
The same document shows that Mrugowsky received a copy of this decision on change in procedure and that it had been arrived at after a conference between Mrugowsky and Nebe.
The testimony of Kogon is further corroborated by the witness Kirchheimer (Tr. pp. 1321-1332) and the affidavit of Hoven. (NO-429, Pros. Ex. 281.)
The defense has contested the authenticity of the Ding diary. It is impossible to determine from the record precisely what their position is in that regard. That the diary does not consist of entries made day by day is obvious from the face of the document itself. It is rather a document which periodically summarizes the experiments which in many cases lasted several months. Ding also kept a daily diary and work reports. (Tr. p. 1226.) These obviously form the basis of the diary in evidence. The defense lays great stress on the fact that page one of the diary was typed with an older ribbon than pages two et seq., and hence was probably typed later. The prosecution has no quarrel with that. Kogon gave the very obvious explanation that the page was probably re-typed when the name of the experimental station was designated as the “Department for Typhus and Virus Research”. (Tr. p. 1228.) At best, the reasons for re-typing pages are now a matter of sheer speculation. No valid inference can be drawn from that fact alone. The Ding diary was taken by Kogon from Buchenwald. It was in his exclusive possession until delivered to the Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes. He testified that he did not alter the document in any respect and that the signatures of Ding, and later Schuler, are genuine. (Tr. pp. 1164-1166.) He had no motive for changing the diary. The document was authenticated by the prosecution as being in the same condition as when received.
The experts of the defense established that the document was written on the same typewriter with the same kind of paper. Mrugowsky admitted that Ding’s signature is on substantially all of the pages of the diary. (Tr. p. 5410.) There is no contention they have been forged. A comparison of the admittedly genuine signature of Ding on a vaccination chart (NO-578, Pros. Ex. 284), and of Schuler on an affidavit signed by him after the war (NO-257, Pros. Ex. 283), with the signatures of Ding-Schuler in the diary prove beyond any doubt that the signatures are authentic.
The defense has not established a single inaccuracy in the Ding diary. The prosecution, on the other hand, has proved the detailed accuracy of the diary time and again by the introduction of independent documents. It will suffice to cite a few examples. The work report of the “Division for Typhus and Virus Research” for the year 1943, which was sent to Mrugowsky, substantiates the corresponding entries in the diary in every detail. (NO-571, Pros. Ex. 285.) The paper written by Ding on the treatment of typhus with acridine derivatives, approved by Mrugowsky, checks to the last detail with the experiment reported by the entries in the diary for 24 April and 1 June 1943. (NO-582, Pros. Ex. 286.) Mrugowsky’s letter of 5 May 1942 to Conti, Grawitz, Genzken, Gildemeister, Eyer, and Demnitz reporting on a typhus vaccine experiment is in fact a description of the first experimental series in Buchenwald as given in the diary. This was a document submitted by the defense. (Mrugowsky 10, Mrugowsky Ex. 20.) Mrugowsky admitted he was reporting on that experiment. (Tr. p. 5414.) The entry in the diary for 19 August 1942 concerning the testing of the Bucharest [Cantacuzino] vaccine made available by Rose, is corroborated by Mrugowsky’s letter to Rose, dated 16 May 1942, asking for the vaccines. (NO-1754, Pros. Ex. 491.) The entry for 8 March 1944 concerning the experiments with the Ipsen [Copenhagen] vaccine, which the diary shows were suggested by Rose, is substantiated by Rose’s letter to Mrugowsky of 2 December 1943 (NO-1186, Pros. Ex. 492), and by Lolling’s letter to Grawitz of 14 February 1944. (NO-1188, Pros. Ex. 470; see also, NO-1189, Pros. Ex. 471.) The yellow fever vaccine experiments reported in the diary on 10 January 1943 are dealt with in a letter from the Behring Works to Mrugowsky dated 5 January 1943. (NO-1305, Pros. Ex. 469.) The phosphorus bomb experiments are noted in the Ding diary under the dates of 19 to 25 November 1943. The report on these experiments dated 2 January 1944 shows the burning of inmates began on 19 November and ended on 25 November 1943. (NO-579, Pros. Ex. 288.) As to the conference held on 29 December 1941 reported in the Ding diary, Mrugowsky made the following statement in a pre-trial interrogation: “I remember that meeting and it occurred to me that there were present Schreiber, Gildemeister, Ding, and myself.” Mrugowsky admitted in open court having made such a statement. (Tr. p. 5380.)
The above analysis of the authenticity and accuracy of the Ding diary, while not exhaustive, suffices to show that the defense objection to this document is completely without merit. There is scarcely a line in the whole diary which has not been substantiated either by documents or testimony. The diary must be accepted as accurate in its entirety. There is no basis whatever for accepting some entries and rejecting others. The defense has presented no credible evidence of any inaccuracies. The living record of the deceased Ding is the best evidence of what actually happened.
Other vaccine experiments were carried out in the experimental station in Buchenwald. On request of the Medical Inspectorate of the Army, yellow fever vaccine containing a live virus was tested in a large-scale experiment on inmates which began on 10 January 1943. The arrangements were made by Schreiber through the defendant Mrugowsky. (NO-1305, Pros. Ex. 469.) A very large number of inmates were vaccinated between 13 January and 17 May 1943 at which time production of the yellow fever vaccine was abandoned because of the military situation in North Africa. The results of these experiments were sent to Amt XVI in the SS Operational Headquarters, which was the hygiene office under Mrugowsky, and to the Army Medical Inspectorate. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.)
In the first part of 1943, Mrugowsky conferred with Handloser concerning multiple vaccinations. (Tr. p. 3064.) There can be no doubt that this was the motivation for the large scale vaccination experiments on 45 inmates of Buchenwald between 24 March and 20 April 1943, as set forth in the Ding diary. Each person was vaccinated on eight different days within four weeks against smallpox, typhoid, typhus, para-typhoid A and B, cholera, and diphtheria. The report on these experiments was sent to Mrugowsky’s office. Kogon testified that the experimental subjects were given para-typhoid bacilli in potato salad. He also stated that the experiments in Buchenwald with diseases other than typhus resulted in deaths, although relatively fewer. (Tr. pp. 1182, 1183.)
Mrugowsky would have the Tribunal believe that he is in no way responsible for the experiments carried out by Ding and Hoven in the Buchenwald concentration camp. He testified, in effect, that Ding was directly subordinated to Grawitz as far as the experiments were concerned. (Tr. p. 5067.) While he did admit that Ding was subordinated to him for purposes of vaccine production in Block 50 in Buchenwald, he said he had nothing whatever to do with the experiments carried out in Block 46. The same contention was made by the defendant Genzken. Mrugowsky testified that he was outraged by the idea of experimenting on human beings since he was of the opinion that human life is sacred. (Tr. p. 5066.)
The proof, however, is overwhelming that Mrugowsky ordered the experiments carried out by Ding in Buchenwald. In his own pre-trial affidavit Mrugowsky stated that the Division for Typhus and Virus Research of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS in Buchenwald was established in the beginning of 1942 by Genzken. He admitted that as Chief of Amt XVI (hygiene) in the SS Operational Headquarters and as Chief of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS, he was the immediate superior of Ding. He stated further that experiments on inmates were carried out by Ding in order to determine the effect of various typhus vaccines. He admitted he obtained full knowledge of the work of Ding; that he received reports from him on the experiments, including the death rates, and that he informed Genzken. (NO-423, Pros. Ex. 282.) The two charts drawn by the defendant Mrugowsky clearly show that the experimental station in Buchenwald under Ding was directly subordinated to Mrugowsky from the time of its establishment until the collapse of Germany. (NO-416, Pros. Ex. 22; NO-417, Pros. Ex. 23.) Mrugowsky admitted Ding’s connection with the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS on cross-examination. (Tr. p. 5371.)
The pre-trial affidavit of the defendant Hoven who was deputy to Ding and certainly in a position to know the facts, states that the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS under Mrugowsky received all the reports on the experiments in Block 46 and that Ding received orders directly from Mrugowsky. Hoven outlined the chain of command as: Grawitz, Genzken, Mrugowsky, and Ding. Ding went to Berlin for discussions with Mrugowsky nearly every second week. Mrugowsky visited the home of Ding on one of his trips to Buchenwald. (NO-429, Pros. Ex. 281.)
Kogon testified that Ding reported personally to Mrugowsky on the experiments, and when he did not go to Berlin himself, he reported regularly every three months in writing. (Tr. pp. 1155-1186.) The reports on the experiments carried out in Block 46 were sent to Mrugowsky in Berlin. (Tr. p. 1160.) Ding’s official correspondence was primarily with Mrugowsky. (Tr. p. 1157.) The instructions for the execution of the experiments came from Mrugowsky. (Tr. pp. 1163, 1219.) In the late summer of 1943 Mrugowsky became the sole chief of Ding and issued all orders to him. (Tr. p. 1202.) Mrugowsky occupied such an important position that it would have been dangerous for Ding to contact Grawitz over his head. (Tr. p. 1241.) Mrugowsky visited the experimental block in Buchenwald on several occasions. (Tr. pp. 1244, 1245; Tr. p. 1329.)
The proof outlined above as to Mrugowsky’s responsibility is repeatedly supported by documentary evidence. Ding’s work report for the year 1943, which lists the experiments carried out in Block 46, was sent to Mrugowsky and carried the letterhead “Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS, Division for Typhus and Virus Research, Weimar-Buchenwald.” (NO-571, Pros. Ex. 285.) This work report covers the experiments in Block 46 and the production of vaccines in Block 50, which conclusively proves that Mrugowsky’s assertion that his responsibility was limited to Block 50 is completely false. The same report shows that Mrugowsky inspected the Division for Typhus and Virus Research in Buchenwald on 3 September 1943, and that Ding had several conferences with Mrugowsky. Mrugowsky’s own secretary admitted that Ding’s reports about his experiments on inmates went via the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS to Grawitz. (Mrugowsky 38, Mrugowsky Ex. 13.)
Mrugowsky received Ding’s report on the treatment of typhus with acridine derivatives. (NO-582, Pros. Ex. 286.) This report speaks of clinical tests on human beings who were afflicted with typhus, but Mrugowsky knew that Ding experimented by artificially infecting the subjects. (Tr. p. 5066.) The report shows on its face that 21 of the experimental subjects died and that the inmates who survived had to fight severe complications of the disease. This same experimental series is reported in the Ding diary under the entries for 24 April and 1 June 1943.
The first experimental series on typhus carried out in Buchenwald between 6 January and 19 April 1942 in which 145 inmates were used as experimental subjects was the basis of a report by Mrugowsky to Conti, Grawitz, Genzken, Eyer, and Demnitz, dated 5 May 1942. (Mrugowsky 10, Mrugowsky Ex. 20.) Five of the subjects died as a result of these experiments. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.)
The experiments with the Cantacuzino vaccine from Bucharest, reported in the Ding diary under the entry for 19 August 1942, were ordered by Mrugowsky. This vaccine was furnished by the defendant Rose, who requested Mrugowsky to arrange for the experiments. On 16 May 1942 Mrugowsky wrote to Rose stating that Grawitz had consented to the execution of the experiments and that the vaccine should be sent to him (Mrugowsky). He also agreed to conduct experiments to determine whether the louse could be infected by a vaccinated typhus patient. This, of course, necessitated the infection of the experimental subject with typhus. (NO-1754, Pros. Ex. 491.) As a result of these experiments, four of the subjects died. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.)
The typhus experimental series No. VIII, during which the Ipsen vaccine from Copenhagen was tested, was also ordered by the defendant Mrugowsky. On 2 December 1943 Rose asked Mrugowsky to have the Ipsen vaccine tested in Ding’s experimental station in Buchenwald. (NO-1186, Pros. Ex. 492.) Mrugowsky expressly denied, during cross-examination, that he was ever approached by Rose to have the Copenhagen [Ipsen] vaccine tested in Buchenwald. He stated that: “If he had come to me I would have sent him on to someone else. I would have said: ‘My dear man, that does not have anything to do with me.’” (Tr. pp. 5434, 5435.) On 21 February 1944 Mrugowsky was notified that 30 “appropriate gypsies” would be made available for testing the Ipsen vaccine. (NO-1188, Pros. Ex. 470.) Mrugowsky was further advised on 29 February 1944 that the experimental subjects would be designated by the office of Nebe of the Reich criminal police. (NO-1189, Pros. Ex. 471.) The Ding diary proves that the experiments with the Ipsen vaccine began on 8 March 1944 with 30 experimental subjects, of whom six died as a result of the experiments.
On 12 August 1944 the defendant Mrugowsky ordered Ding to carry out experiments to determine the infectious character of blood of slight cases of typhus compared with that of serious cases. (NO-1197, Pros. Ex. 472.)
Mrugowsky ordered a series of experiments to determine whether the course of typhus could be tempered by intravenous or intramuscular injection of typhus vaccine. Of the 25 experimental subjects used, 19 died. This experiment was carried out between 11 November and 22 December 1944. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.)
* * * * *
Experiments with Old Blood Plasma and the Production of Blood Plasma and the Typhus Serum
Experiments with old blood plasma were conducted on inmates in Buchenwald by order of Mrugowsky at the request of the Military Medical Academy. Blood transfusions were carried out in order to determine whether old blood plasma could be used without danger, especially without danger of shock. Several series of experiments were performed, each with 10 to 20 experimental subjects. Some of the victims died, probably due to the combined effect of shock and poor physical condition. Mrugowsky received reports on these experiments. (Tr. pp. 1190-1192; NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.)
The entries for 26 May and 13 October 1944 in the Ding diary show that blood was withdrawn from inmates recovering from typhus for the purpose of making a typhus convalescent serum. The witness Kogon testified that this work was done by SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ellenbeck on order from Mrugowsky. Ellenbeck obtained the blood from typhus convalescents in Block 46 from the summer of 1944 until the spring of 1945. Blood was taken from these experimental subjects regularly, usually in amounts between 250 and 350 cubic centimeters. Taking the blood from the convalescent patients meant an extraordinary burden on them and a number died. While the precise cause of death could not be definitely ascertained under the circumstances, there is no doubt that the withdrawal of blood was a contributing factor. (Tr. pp. 1192, 1193.)
Kogon further testified that Ellenbeck, on orders from Mrugowsky, systematically selected invalids and old persons, especially Frenchmen, who were in the so-called “little camp” of Buchenwald, for the purpose of withdrawing blood to be used in making blood plasma. The horrible conditions in the “little camp” were vividly described. The blood was demanded from the victims and was taken from them. Sometimes extra food was given to these starving patients. (Tr. pp. 1194-1196.) Upon being asked whether any of these blood donors in the “little camp” in Buchenwald died from this blood-letting, Kogon replied:
“The question shows that it is very difficult to gain a real concept of the ‘little camp’ at Buchenwald. The people died there in masses. During the night corpses were lying in the blocks naked because they were thrown out of the bunks by the other prisoners so that they would have a little more space. Even the smallest pieces of clothing were torn off by those who wanted to survive. It is impossible to determine if anybody died as the direct and immediate result of the taking of blood, because many people fell and died while walking around in the ‘little camp’.
“But it is beyond doubt to anyone who knew the conditions there, that the taking of blood—even if a small measure of strength was given to these people as far as food was concerned—was a considerable contributing factor in the death of very many of them.” (Tr. p. 1196.)
Ellenbeck also conducted research concerning the oxygen content of the blood of human beings in various stages of exhaustion and artificially produced starvation oedema. Mrugowsky gave his approval to these experiments. (Tr. pp. 1257-1266.)
_EXTRACTS FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF AGAINST DEFENDANT SCHROEDER_
* * * * *
Typhus and Other Vaccine Experiments in the Natzweiler Concentration Camp
The appearance of Haagen as a defense witness requires consideration of his testimony on these experiments.
Haagen testified that in the summer of 1943 the defendant Rose, as consulting hygienist to the Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, prevailed upon him to resume active status as consulting hygienist to the Air Fleet Physician Reich. Haagen also accepted a typhus research commission from the Luftwaffe and as a result of this commission and his position in the Luftwaffe, he carried out certain typhus experiments. (Tr. pp. 9564, 9565.)
Haagen stated that Stabsarzt Graefe was assigned to him at the Hygiene Institute of the University of Strasbourg in 1942 by the Luftwaffe and that Graefe acted as his assistant. Graefe was militarily subordinated to Luftgau Physician 7 but technically subordinated to Haagen. (Tr. p. 9582.) Haagen was also militarily subordinated to Luftgau Physician 7. (Tr. p. 9563.)
Haagen had developed a murine typhus (rat typhus) vaccine which contained an attentuated virulent (living) virus. (Tr. pp. 9596, 9597.) Haagen testified that he performed compatability tests with this vaccine on 28 inmates of Schirmeck concentration camp, which was a sub-camp of Natzweiler. Eight inmates were vaccinated with .5 cc. of this virulent vaccine, ten with .5 cc. [of virulent vaccine], and ten with a dead vaccine plus .5 cc. of the virulent vaccine. Three additional inmates were vaccinated with a dead vaccine for purposes of comparison. He stated that no serious reactions occurred as a result of these vaccines. (Tr. p. 9603.) All of these vaccinations were carried out in the month of May 1943 and no vaccinations occurred after that date, according to Haagen. (Tr. p. 9636.) In the fall of 1943 Haagen transferred his activities to Natzweiler on the alleged ground that he felt a typhus epidemic was more likely there than in Schirmeck. (Tr. p. 9603.) He requested through Hirt that 100 concentration camp inmates be put at his disposal in Natzweiler for purposes of these experiments. These inmates were transferred from Auschwitz to Natzweiler during the month of November 1943, 18 of whom died on the way. Haagen found the remainder unsuitable for his purposes and requested an additional 100 which were made available during December 1943. He testified that of these, 40 inmates were subjected to a series of two vaccinations by injection to bring about immunity and a third vaccination by scarification to test the immunity. For purposes of comparison, a second group of 40 inmates designated as “controls” was given only the third scarification vaccination. The same vaccine was used for all of these alleged vaccinations and was a new vaccine containing an attenuated virulent Rickettsia-Prowazeki virus (louse typhus). The scarification vaccine applied to both groups of subjects contained a smaller quantity of vaccine than the first two injection vaccinations given to the group immunized. In the first group the injected vaccine produced what Haagen described as the normal vaccine reaction. Substantially the same reaction occurred in the control group which received only the third scarification vaccine. The reaction was no more serious than in those who were vaccinated by injection. (Tr. pp. 9615-7.)
Haagen admitted that the subjects used by him both in Schirmeck and Natzweiler were of many different nationalities, among whom were gypsies and Poles. (Tr. p. 9607.) He further testified that these inmates were not volunteers because, as he said, he was only carrying out protective vaccinations. (Tr. pp. 9541-2.)
Haagen stated that the only reason he performed these vaccinations in Schirmeck and Natzweiler was because he was asked to do so by Kramer, camp commandant in Natzweiler. He and Kramer were disturbed about the possibility of a typhus epidemic in the middle of 1943, although he testified that in fact no typhus cases actually occurred until March 1944. (Tr. pp. 9594-5.) He went to Schmireck only because he and Kramer feared an epidemic. (Tr. p. 9600.)
Haagen’s testimony, as outlined above, is completely incredible on its face as well as in view of the documents which were submitted by the prosecution and available to Haagen at the time he testified. Firstly, it is utterly ridiculous to credit his statement that he went to Schirmeck and Natzweiler only because he feared an epidemic. It is ridiculous to suppose that a concentration camp commander, on his own initiative, sought medical assistance from doctors in the towns surrounding a concentration camp. The WVHA, to which all concentration camps were subordinated, had a very elaborate medical system and it is unthinkable that a local camp commander would ask aid from an outsider. Secondly, it is ridiculous to suppose that Haagen, out of the kindness of his heart and the fear of an epidemic spreading beyond the confines of the camp, would use his precious typhus vaccine to protect the miserable wretches who were imprisoned in the concentration camps. Haagen himself stated that he had very little typhus vaccine. (Tr. p. 9613.) It has been repeatedly testified to during the course of this trial that typhus vaccines were critically short in Germany during the war and that there were not even sufficient quantities to vaccinate doctors, nurses, and other personnel exposed to special danger. That this vaccine would be used to protect concentration camp inmates is unthinkable. Thirdly, it is ridiculous to suppose that any scientist could have possibly thought that vaccinating 28 inmates in Schirmeck and 80 in Natzweiler could have had any possible effect on the likelihood of a typhus epidemic.
That Haagen perjured himself with respect to what he was really doing in Natzweiler during the course of his typhus experiments is clearly evident from his own letter of 27 June 1944 to Hirt. In a letter of 9 May 1944 to Hirt, Haagen requested that an additional 200 persons be furnished to him for his experiments. (NO-123, Pros. Ex. 303.) Supplementary to this request, he stated in his letter of 27 June 1944 that, “in the subsequent inoculations with virulent typhus which are to be made for the purpose of testing the protective vaccine, one must count on sickness particularly in the control group which has not received the protective vaccines. These after-inoculations are desirable in order to establish unequivocally the effectiveness of the protective vaccines. This time 150 persons will be used for the protective vaccine and 50 for the control inoculations.” (NO-127, Pros. Ex. 306.)
It should be noted specifically that in the letter quoted above, Haagen pointed out to Hirt that sickness was to be expected in the control group which had not received the protective vaccine. Haagen testified that this additional group of 200 inmates requested by him was merely for the purpose of vaccination, just as he had done in December 1943 and January 1944 on the 80 experimental subjects. He added that in May he had enough vaccine for 200 more persons and he was merely trying to increase the protection in the camp. (Tr. p. 9613.) The falsity of Haagen’s testimony is clearly apparent from the statement in the letter that sickness was expected in the control group. He had previously testified that there was no reason whatever to expect any more serious reaction to the scarification vaccination in the control group than to the injected vaccine in the immunized group. (Tr. p. 9618.) Indeed, there was every reason to expect that the vaccine injected in the immunized group would bring about a more serious reaction since more vaccine was given by injection than by scarification. Haagen applied a much larger quantity of the vaccine in the first two injections of the immunized group than in the scarification vaccination of both the immunized and the control group. The same vaccine was used throughout. (Tr. p. 9710.) The method of vaccination, whether by injection or scarification, has no effect on reaction to the vaccine. Haagen specifically testified that “if we vaccinate by scarification we can expect that the effect of the vaccine will be the same as if we inject subcutaneously or intramuscularly.” (Tr. p. 9710.)
Haagen was quite unable to reconcile his statement in his letter to Hirt of 27 June 1944 that “one must count on sickness, particularly in the control group” with his testimony that there was no difference in the reaction to the vaccine as between the immunized and control groups. Indeed, the only possible interpretation of his letter is that instead of vaccinating the immunized and control groups by scarification, he, in fact, infected them with typhus. Haagen knew that the unprotected control subjects would become ill with typhus. Haagen also had no explanation for the letter of Kahnt, Chief of Staff to Schroeder, of 29 August 1944, in which he was asked “whether it may be assumed that the typhus epidemic prevailing at Natzweiler at present is connected with the vaccine research.” (NO-131, Pros. Ex. 309.) He testified that he had completed his vaccinations of the 80 experimental subjects during January 1944 and that all of his serological examinations were finished no later than February 1944 and that the experimental subjects were released from confinement. Haagen submitted a report to the Luftwaffe no later than May or June 1944 to the effect that the vaccine had been a success. (Tr. pp. 9627-9.) There was no reason whatever for Kahnt and Rose to address such an inquiry to Haagen when he had long since completed his experiments, according to his testimony, and submitted a success report to the Luftwaffe at least two months before the inquiry. It is quite impossible that vaccine tests which caused no typhus in the vaccinated persons could cause typhus in other persons, as suggested by Rose during his examination. Moreover, it should be noted that Kahnt’s letter clearly indicated an understanding on his part that Haagen’s vaccine research in Natzweiler was contemporaneous with the epidemic. This, Haagen testified, he could not understand. Haagen also had considerable difficulty explaining why, in his letter of 19 September 1944, in reply to Kahnt’s inquiry, he didn’t state that he had conducted no vaccinations or experiments in Natzweiler since January 1944 and that his vaccinations had caused no illness in the subjects, let alone caused a typhus epidemic. Haagen simply stated in his letter that, “We hereby inform you that no connection existed between the cases of typhus in Natzweiler and the examinations dealing with typhus vaccine that is to be tested.” [Emphasis added.] (NO-132, Pros. Ex. 310.) Indeed, Haagen himself stated in his reply that the vaccine was still under test, contrary to his testimony before this Tribunal.
Haagen would have the Tribunal believe that he had no typhus virus strain which was pathogenic to human beings, that he could not have brought on a serious case of typhus even had he tried to do so. (Tr. pp. 9608, 9612.) In the very same breath he testified “that there was considerable danger of infection in working about the laboratory and that he gave his assistants a “risk bonus.” (Tr. p. 9608.)
Haagen testified that he performed no vaccinations after January 1944. He reiterated this time and again during the course of his examination. (Tr. pp. 9614-5.) When asked his reason for not vaccinating during the typhus epidemic in Natzweiler in the spring and summer of 1944, which offered an opportunity to test the anti-infectious effect of his vaccine under natural conditions, he lamely answered that he had to make so many official military trips that he had no time. (Tr. p. 9614.) Although he had sufficient vaccine to justify his asking for 200 additional experimental victims in May 1944, his only effort in the typhus epidemic, according to his testimony, was to send them decontamination equipment. (Tr. p. 9614.) It is not readily apparent, to say the least of it, just why some other doctor or an assistant of Haagen could not have performed the vaccinations which Haagen would have the Tribunal believe he was so anxious to have done for the protection of the camp.
All of the above contradictions and falsifications appear upon the face of Haagen’s testimony as well as from the documents which he had so carefully studied before his appearance. The documents submitted to him during cross-examination reveal his testimony to have been perjurious from start to finish. Haagen repeatedly testified that he carried out no vaccinations in Schirmeck after May 1943. He stated that in Schirmeck he only performed a single vaccination and not the series of vaccinations to test “anti-infectious immunity” because at that time his “knowledge hadn’t progressed so far.” (Tr. p. 9636.) In connection with the Ipsen vaccine, about which Rose had corresponded with him, he especially denied that he ever proposed to Rose that experiments be carried out with it. Haagen’s letter to Rose of 4 October 1943 squarely contradicts him on both of these significant points. (NO-2874, Pros. Ex. 520.) He stated in his letter that:
“I already reported to you the numeral results of experiments on human beings. The serum titer is considerably higher, also after a single vaccination, in comparison with three vaccinations with deactivated vaccines. I regret that it was not possible so far to perform infectious experiments on the vaccinated persons; I requested the Ahnenerbe of the SS to provide suitable persons for vaccination, but have not received an answer yet. We are now performing a further vaccination of human beings; I shall report later about the result. I guess we will then have reached the point of being able to recommend the introduction of our new vaccine for the time being without infectious experiments.” [Emphasis added.]
* * * * *
In this same letter of 4 October 1943, Haagen discussed Rose’s report concerning the Ipsen vaccine from Copenhagen. He concluded his letter by stating: “If we can get experimental subjects from the SS for test vaccinations, it would be an opportunity to test the liver vaccine as well on its anti-infectious effect. I would then suggest that our material be used parallel with the Ipsen tests.” Thus, Haagen testified falsely when he said that he did not propose experiments with Ipsen vaccine. In his letter he very specifically proposed performing anti-infectious experiments with the Ipsen vaccine as well as his own vaccine. This again proves that the use of the phrase “infectious experiments” could not possibly mean multiple vaccinations with living typhus vaccine. The Ipsen vaccine was a dead vaccine; it contained no attenuated virulent virus. Three vaccinations with a dead vaccine could not be designated an “infectious experiment” even by Haagen. (Tr. p. 9655.) Moreover the defense’s own proof shows that the Ipsen vaccine had already been tested for tolerability and found comparable with other vaccines used by the Wehrmacht. This is clear from Rose’s letter to the Behring-Works and Haagen, among others, dated 29 September 1943. (Rose 88, Rose Ex. 21.) It is quite clear that the only type of experiment left open for the Ipsen vaccine was precisely the kind that Haagen proposed, namely, after-infection of the vaccinated and control subjects with typhus.
Haagen was further impeached by the notes kept on his typhus experiments by his assistant, Miss Crodel. (NO-3852, Pros. Ex. 521.) Haagen definitely identified these notes as having been written by Miss Crodel. (Tr. p. 9691.) Miss Crodel had been an assistant of Haagen’s for many years and he found her most reliable. (Tr. p. 9701.) He conceded that Miss Crodel was very careful in her work. (Tr. p. 9697.) On page three of the notebook appears a series of entries dating from 30 April 1943 to 27 January 1944 concerning a series of experiments in Schirmeck. The entry for 19 May 1943 shows that two out of four mice injected with his vaccine died. The entry for 26 May reads: “(4 weeks) 3-6, 0.5 per person and 6 mice 0.5 i. p., 5 dead, after 10, 14, 14 days, the rest after 4 weeks.” This entry proves that on that date human beings were inoculated with Haagen’s vaccine. To say the least of this entry, five mice who were similarly vaccinated died as a result. The phrase “the rest after 4 weeks” can obviously refer also to deaths among experimental persons since it is quite impossible that this phrase could be used to refer to the one remaining mouse. The entry for 6 July indicates that on that date Haagen and his assistants appeared in Schirmeck for the purpose of withdrawing blood from ten persons, who had been previously vaccinated, for a Weil-Felix reaction test. The entry gives the serum titer value of eight of the experimental subjects. The entry is ended with the laconic note, “the other two were not here anymore.” This entry is conclusive corroboration of the testimony of the witness, George Hirtz, who stated that Haagen had tested his vaccine at Schirmeck in the summer of 1943. Approximately 20 Polish inmates were used in these experiments and, following the inoculations, two of the experimental subjects died. Hirtz testified that he himself sewed up the bodies of the inmates in paper bags and delivered them for cremation. The other experimental subjects had reactions such as high fevers, shock, and impairment of speech. (Tr. pp. 1293-1299.) His testimony is further corroborated by Haagen himself, who stated that two groups of ten inmates were inoculated by him in Schirmeck. The entry in the Crodel notes obviously has reference to one of these groups of ten, and upon arrival of Haagen and his assistants in the camp for the purpose of withdrawing blood, it was found that two of the subjects had died.
The entry for 4 October 1943 on page three of the Crodel notes reads “(six months) inoculated 20 persons in Schirmeck, Tube—2 cc. distilled water, 0.5 per person.” (NO-3852, Pros. Ex. 521.) This proves not only that Haagen testified falsely when he stated that he carried out no typhus vaccinations in Schirmeck after May 1943 but also that multiple vaccinations with his vaccine were performed. This entry bears the same date as Haagen’s letter to Rose, referred to above, which also stated that he was performing further vaccinations. The last entry on page three is dated on the original as 27 January 1943 and reads: “(9 months) mixed with the same amounts (as 21 May) distilled water tube, 20 persons 1.1 cc. each.” The date 1943 is obviously a mistake on the part of Miss Crodel in making the entry. This is proved by the fact that the period of time indicated in parentheses in the notes refers to the period of time the vaccine had been stored. Haagen so admitted. (Tr. p. 9711.) Thus the reference “(9 months)” means that the vaccine being used in that series of experiments had been stored for nine months since 30 April 1943, the date of the first entry on page three and the time the vaccine was first prepared. That 1943 in the original entry should really be 1944 also is apparent from page four of the notes wherein the last entry is for 27 January 1944. It is a common mistake for one to use the date of the old year during the first month of the new year.
Haagen inoculated another group of ten persons in Schirmeck on 10 October 1943 and 20 more on 27 January 1944 as seen from the entries on page four of the Crodel notes. Again on page five of the original, the entry for 14 October 1943 proves that ten persons were inoculated for the third time with 1.0 cc. of Haagen’s new vaccine. That this entry refers to the virulent murine vaccine and not to the Gildemeister dead vaccine can be seen from the preceding entry which speaks of four control persons being inoculated three times with Gildemeister vaccine. This fact is further apparent by comparing the quantity of the injections plus the amount of distilled water used per tube of Haagen’s new vaccine as set forth in other entries.
The entry for 25 May 1944 on page 7 of the Crodel notes states that 30 persons were inoculated in Natzweiler. “The inoculation took place during the incubation period (in a transport containing also sick people). Thirteen became sick in the period from 29 May to 9 June, of these, two died.” Haagen had repeatedly testified that he performed no vaccinations after January 1944 in Natzweiler. Not only did he perform experiments after January 1944, but as proved by the entry quoted above, subjects died during the course of such experiments. By his own testimony Haagen proves that these entries deal with an experiment during which the subjects were artificially infected with typhus. Although the entry euphoniously states that the vaccinations “took place during the incubation period,” Haagen testified, as had been repeatedly suggested by the prosecution, that it is impossible to know when persons are in the incubation period. The incubation period is that time between the infection and the first manifestations of the disease. Accordingly, it is impossible to know that a vaccination takes place during the incubation period unless the person has been artificially infected so that the date of infection is known. (Tr. pp. 9701-2.)
It is significant to note also that the chart on page 14 of Miss Crodel’s notes uses the word “nachimpfung,” meaning after-vaccination or re-inoculation, in connection with multiple vaccination experiments on two mice (both of which incidentally died), rather than the word “nachinfektion,” meaning after-infection or subsequent infection, which was repeatedly used by Haagen in his letters concerning experiments on human beings.
Haagen testified that the defendant Schroeder visited him on 25 May 1944, the very day on which he was carrying out experiments in Natzweiler. (Tr. p. 9632.) While it is, of course, entirely possible that Schroeder may have visited Haagen on 24 or 26 May, rather than on 25, the fact is quite clear that in any event Haagen’s very important experiments on typhus were discussed with Schroeder, contrary to the testimony of both men. The same is true with respect to the visit of the defendant Becker-Freyseng which took place shortly after that of Schroeder (Tr. p. 9569) and of Rose who visited Haagen both in 1943 and 1944. (Tr. p. 9570.) Haagen’s statement that Becker-Freyseng came all the way from Berlin to discuss with him the procurement of rabbits and mice is as incredible as the rest of Haagen’s testimony.
The defendant Schroeder testified that Haagen’s research assignment was not secret and attempted to argue on that basis that nothing criminal could have happened. (Tr. p. 3654.) Without pausing to point out the stupidity of such an argument, suffice it to say that Schroeder’s testimony was proved to be false by a list of research assignments issued by Schroeder’s office in 1944. Haagen’s typhus work was classified secret. (NO-934, Pros. Ex. 458.)
The testimony of the witness Nales corroborates the proof outlined herein above: That Haagen performed experiments to test the immunity of his vaccine by artificially infecting the subjects with typhus. Nales, a Dutch citizen, was arrested by the Gestapo in 1940 for allegedly participating in a resistance movement. Although he was tried and acquitted, he was committed to Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1941. In March 1942 he was transferred to Natzweiler and in November 1942 he became a nurse in the Ahnenerbe experimental station there. (Tr. pp. 10409-12.) He stated that in the latter part of 1943, 100 gypsies were sent to Natzweiler from Auschwitz for Haagen’s typhus experiments. Haagen found them physically unsuitable and thereafter an additional 90 gypsies were shipped in. These were divided into two groups and confined in separate rooms in the Ahnenerbe experimental station. One group was vaccinated against typhus. Approximately 14 days later, both groups were artificially infected with typhus. As a result, about 30 of the subjects died. Nales nursed the victims himself and saw the bodies. He talked to the subjects frequently and knows they did not volunteer, as indeed Haagen himself admitted on the stand. The gypsies were of various nationalities including Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, and Germans. (Tr. pp. 10419-23.)
* * * * *
Haagen’s long continued activity in Schirmeck and Natzweiler can be clearly seen from his account book on research tasks on yellow fever and typhus. His work in Schirmeck began as early as 20 April 1943. He was placing telephone calls to Schirmeck late in August 1944, over a year after Haagen’s alleged “last vaccination” there. These accounts were charged to the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe. (NO-3837, Pros. Ex. 542.) They were in such detail as to reveal on their face his activity in the concentration camps. (NO-3450, Pros. Ex. 519.)
Haagen admitted that by infection experiments one could mean only one of three things—(1) subsequent artificial infection with typhus, (2) vaccinations of large groups of people and then studying efficacy during a natural epidemic, and (3) Weil-Felix reaction tests carried out before and after a subsequent vaccination. (Tr. p. 9601.) He admitted that the prosecution’s interpretation of “infection experiments” and “subsequent infection” was equally consistent with his own. (Tr. p. 9611.) He admitted that the word “nachimpfung” (subsequent vaccination) could have been used as well as “nachinfektion” (subsequent infection). (Tr. p. 9611.)
There are no refined questions of documentary interpretation presented to the Tribunal. The simple issue is whether Haagen committed crimes during the course of his experiments. There is no dispute that these were “experiments”. Haagen repeatedly used the word in his own letters. There is no dispute that the inmates used as subjects were nonvolunteers, among whom were nationals of German occupied countries. Haagen admitted as much. The documents and the testimony prove that a substantial number of subjects were killed during the course of these experiments. Against this overwhelming proof stands the testimony of Haagen and Rose, both of whom perjured themselves repeatedly on the stand. Indeed, their own testimony is the best circumstantial proof as to the criminality of the experiments. One does not gratuitously testify falsely. Those who fear the light of truth commit perjury. These men regard their oaths as lightly as they did the lives of their helpless victims.
The guilt of Rose and Haagen is the measure of the guilt of Schroeder. As a medical officer of the Luftwaffe, Haagen was subject to his orders. (Tr. p. 3636.) The office of Schroeder issued the research assignments pursuant to which these experiments were carried out. It provided the funds with which to carry them out. It received reports on the experiments and knew they were performed on concentration camp inmates. (Tr. p. 1758.) Schroeder was himself in Strasbourg at the very time the experiments were going on. His guilt is clear and unequivocal.
c. Selections from the Argumentation of the Defense
_EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT ROSE_
Statements Regarding the Question of Responsibility of the Defendant Rose for the Typhus Experiments of Professor Eugen Haagen in the Concentration Camps at Schirmeck and Natzweiler and the Question of the Participation in These Experiments
In order to reach a decision on the question of whether punishable behavior on the part of the defendant Rose is established, the Tribunal will have to examine the following: Did Professor Rose, in his capacity as consulting hygienist with the Luftwaffe Medical Inspectorate, have any commanding authority or the right and obligation of supervision at all over Professor Eugen Haagen at the University of Strasbourg? Did the defendant Rose participate in a penally relevant form in the experiments with typhus vaccine conducted by Haagen in the concentration camps at Natzweiler and Schirmeck? If so, the question of whether Haagen made himself liable to punishment or not can be left completely undecided.
As far as the first question is concerned, one thing is certain. Above all, Professor Haagen was a full professor at the University of Strasbourg at the time and also director of the Institute for Hygiene at this University. At the same time he was consultant on hygiene for the civil administration of Alsace. (German Tr. p. 9526.) During the war, in addition to this, he was a part-time consulting, hygienist with an Air Fleet. Finally, he applied for so-called research assignments for his experiments, including his typhus experiments, that is, in practice, financial aid.
First of all, it must be ascertained in which of his many capacities Professor Haagen conducted his experiments. In this connection the facts are perfectly clear. As a witness, Professor Haagen himself explained that he requested and received the research assignments which made possible his experiments, not as an officer of the Luftwaffe, but as director of a civilian research institute. As usual, therefore, the initiative was taken by the scientist. (Becker-Freyseng 70, Becker-Freyseng Ex. 48; Tr. pp. 6251-3; German Tr. pp. 7941-2, 8399, 9583-5.) The correctness of this description can be seen from the letter of Professor Haagen, submitted by the prosecution, addressed to the rector of the University of Strasbourg, dated 7 October 1943. (NO-137, Pros. Ex. 189.) In this letter Haagen requests his civilian superior, the rector of the University of Strasbourg, for special privileges for the Institute for Hygiene of the University (i. e., a civilian institution) based on the research commissions assigned to him.
The fact that the position of Professor Haagen was also interpreted by the Luftwaffe in this manner can be seen, for example, from the style of the letters addressed to him in matters relevant to his research and vaccine production assignments. They are not clothed in the manner of military orders, but possess the character of correspondence with a civilian office which was not subordinate to the Luftwaffe, either in the matter of receiving orders or of being under its supervision. A number of those invested with such research assignments have described to the Tribunal how they accepted these assignments for opportunistic reasons, e. g., to obtain priority grading and to protect their personnel from being drafted to military service. However, the fact that no subordinate relationship or supervisory right arose through the acceptance of such an assignment, can be seen likewise from the numerous statements of the recipients of such Luftwaffe assignments. (Schroeder 30, Schroeder Ex. 22; Schroeder 31, Schroeder Ex. 23; Becker-Freyseng 79, Becker-Freyseng Ex. 63; German Tr. p. 6720.) Obligations arose solely with regard to the computation of the money allowed, the reporting of any possible results achieved, as well as the mention of assistance in the event of a scientific publication.
Moreover, such financial aid is in no way limited to Germany but is common in many countries. No responsibility for possible errors and crimes, which the recipients might commit, can result from such financial assistance. As a matter of fact, Haagen never received a special individual assignment to carry out a certain series of experiments, but he was accorded, as per request, assistance for “typhus research.” However, financial assistance for typhus research is something quite normal. Incidentally, Haagen not only utilized the means put at his disposal by the Luftwaffe, but also contributions from the Reich Research Council and, most important, the personnel and equipment of his institute. Therefore, his typhus research was not a part of his military activities but was carried out within the scope of his civilian activities. Also, the fact that a reserve officer of the Luftwaffe, namely, Staff Physician [Stabsarzt] Graefe, appears as a collaborator in his typhus research work, alters none of the facts of the case. It is true that Graefe was a reserve officer in the same way as Haagen. However, his main profession was that of assistant in the Institute for Hygiene of the University of Strasbourg, and in this capacity he was subordinate to Professor Haagen who was, of course, the director of this institute. He was in no way subordinate to Haagen in the military sense, but to the Air Force Area VII. (German Tr. p. 9718.) Staff Physician Graefe, who was drafted into the Luftwaffe, was transferred, therefore, for purposes of further training, to the civilian institute where he worked as an assistant in peacetime. Such incidents occurred quite frequently in order to enable research activities in civilian institutes to be continued in wartime. As a result of this assistance given in respect of personnel, these civilian offices did not fall under the command and supervision of the military authorities.
The fact that Professor Haagen felt himself to be completely independent in his research activities can also be seen unequivocally from the fact that he procured further assistance from other offices disregarding his subordinate position with respect to the military. This means, without going through the military channels which were prescribed as binding in military matters. In his capacity as Oberstabsarzt of the Luftwaffe, he could not deal with the Reich Research Council without informing his superior thereof. Even less could he deal with the Reich Leader SS, with other offices of the SS, or, for example, with the Generalarzt Schreiber, who belonged to the army. He was, however, well able to do all of this in his capacity as director of the Institute for Hygiene of the University of Strasbourg. The correctness of this statement is shown most clearly in the important point, namely the procurement of experimental subjects in the concentration camps. In this case he did not conduct negotiations through military channels via the Medical Inspection of the Luftwaffe, but through his civilian channels, through the mediation of his university colleague, Professor Hirt, via the Ahnenerbe. He never informed his military superiors of these negotiations nor asked for their assistance therein, for as matters were, there was no reason to do so. The files show quite clearly that Professor Haagen had already conducted his experiments on prisoners in Schirmeck in May of 1943 in the same way as he continued them until the middle of 1944. In May of 1943, however, Haagen was—in a military sense—on leave of absence, and as far as his activities were concerned he was in no way subject to the supervision of the Luftwaffe. His appointment as consulting hygienist did not ensue until after 14 July 1943, because the letter from the Reich Minister of the Luftwaffe dated 14 July 1943 was not addressed to Consulting Hygienist Haagen, but to Staff Physician [Stabsarzt] Haagen, who had been given leave to work in his institute. (NO-297, Pros. Ex. 316.) After his appointment as consulting hygienist, however, his research activities do not differ in any way from those which he performed before this appointment. They remained civilian research activities as formerly.
Further attention should be called to the fact that the Luftwaffe showed no special interest in Professor Haagen’s research work. The only real interest of the Luftwaffe might have been in the actual production of vaccine. They tried to influence him in this connection, but without practical success. The Luftwaffe received no typhus vaccine from Haagen. His research activities had no connection with the wishes of the Luftwaffe regarding production; they were even in conflict with these interests.
The prosecution, it is true, has submitted a number of accounts from which it can be seen that telephone calls to Schirmeck and Natzweiler were paid for from Luftwaffe funds. (NO-3450, Pros. Ex. 519; NO-3837, Pros. Ex. 542.) Even if one were to consider the fact proved that these calls were in connection with his work in concentration camps, the whole nature of the accounts shows that Haagen treated his research work as a unit and divided the costs according to his own point of view among the different funds which had been placed at his disposal. The purpose served by the telephone calls cannot be inferred from the accounts alone. The arbitrary division of costs can be seen, for example, from the fact that a whole series of expenditures entered under “Influenza Account” referred to his typhus work. The department receiving the expense sheets had no possibility of checking in detail the purpose to which each enumerated item was put, and who the participants in the telephone conversations were.
Sufficient facts have already been produced to show that, in general, the Luftwaffe bore no responsibility for the research activities of the University Professor Haagen. Nevertheless, it is proposed to examine the question of whether a responsibility on the part of the defendant Rose for Haagen’s research work can be deduced from the fact that Professor Rose was consulting hygienist with the Medical Chief of the Luftwaffe; because the prosecution is mainly attempting to construe responsibility on the part of the defendant Rose from (1) the existence of the research assignments given by the Luftwaffe; and (2) the fact that Professor Haagen belonged to the Luftwaffe as a reserve officer.
There can be no doubt that Haagen was the medical officer of the Luftwaffe. First of all, he was consulting hygienist with the Air Fleet 1 until the year 1941. Then he was given leave to work in his Institute for Hygiene until a certain time, which must have been shortly after 14 July 1943. Then he became consulting hygienist with the Air Fleet “Mitte” which was later renamed Air Fleet “Reich”.
However, he did not conduct his experiments in his capacity as consulting hygienist. The tasks of a consultant did not include scientific research. They lay in other fields. Professor Haagen was never subordinate to the defendant Rose even in this military position as consulting hygienist of an Air Fleet. On the other hand, the defendant Rose had neither commanding authority, and neither the right nor the duty of supervision as far as Haagen was concerned.
From a military standpoint Haagen was subordinate to his air fleet physician in every respect. Incidentally, the defendant Rose had no superior rights nor supervisory obligations either with respect to Professor Haagen or to all the other consulting hygienists of the Luftwaffe. His official duties were exclusively limited to consultations with the Medical Inspector, that is, the Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe. (Compare Rose 6, Rose Ex. 6; Rose 7, Rose Ex. 7; Rose 8, Rose Ex. 29; Handloser 12, Handloser Ex. 12; Tr. pp. 2987, 6259; German Tr. p. 3346.)
There is no need to comment further on the fact that the defendant Rose particularly did not possess such rights and obligations with respect to Haagen in his capacity as a research scientist and director of the institute of the University of Strasbourg, which was in no way subordinate to the Luftwaffe. The correctness of these statements was unequivocally confirmed on the witness stand during my examination, not only by Professor Haagen himself (German Tr. pp. 9679-80) but also by the defendant Schroeder, who, after all, should know, having been the former Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe. (German Tr. p. 3734.) These facts should be sufficient to show that the defendant Rose had neither the power of command and neither the right nor obligation of supervision over Professor Haagen.
We still have to examine the second question of the possible participation of the defendant Rose in Professor Haagen’s research work in the concentration camps at Natzweiler and Schirmeck.
It is incontestable that the defendant Rose was cognizant of the fact that the Luftwaffe gave several research assignments to Professor Haagen, and that the reports issued by Haagen within the framework of these assignments were sent to him for his information. However, these reports never contained details from which a criminal activity on the part of Professor Haagen could have been inferred or assumed. Even the prosecutor, Mr. McHaney, during his interrogation of the defendant Rostock, expressly declared that even he doubted whether Haagen would have disclosed such details. (German Tr. p. 3346.) This interpretation corresponds completely with the facts. Professor Haagen’s reports consisted purely of scientific research work which was designated for publication. No reader could gather that they were based on illegal experiments. A plan of experiments was never submitted by Haagen in detail.
As has already been stated, it is true that the defendant Rose knew of the research commissions which had been assigned to Professor Haagen by the Luftwaffe. According to the nature of his official position, however, he exercised no influence on the assignment of such commissions. There were no misgivings about the assignments as such, for nothing of a suspicious or objectionable nature could be seen from their formulation. (Becker-Freyseng 37, Becker-Freyseng Ex. 23.)
This situation is not altered by the fact that the defendant Rose visited Professor Haagen twice in Strasbourg during the course of the war, the first time in the year 1943 and the second time in 1944. Clearly outlined assignments were dealt with on both occasions. During the first visit the question was discussed whether Haagen wished to reassume in addition the functions of a consulting hygienist of an Air Fleet. The second visit resulted from the desire of the medical inspection of the Luftwaffe that Haagen should comply with the request repeatedly made to him, to take up the production of vaccine. This second visit further served the purpose of discussing the question of a particularly expensive but necessary installation for reproducing various climates for the rabbit hutch in Professor Haagen’s Institute.
The reasons just mentioned for these two visits will be substantiated by documents submitted. The question regarding Professor Haagen’s assumption of the functions of a consulting hygienist with the Air Fleet “Mitte” is mentioned in the letter from Rose addressed to Haagen, dated 9 June 1943, (NO-306, Pros. Ex. 296) the procurement of the climate installation in Document NO-2874, Prosecution Exhibit 520. Moreover, the first of these two documents just mentioned shows quite clearly that the defendant Rose had no influence on the assignment of research commissions to Haagen. In answering a question from Haagen relevant to this matter, Rose had to limit his reply to the statement that the competent expert was absent.
In examining the relationship between Rose and Haagen, their further exchange of correspondence must also be mentioned.
Rose met Haagen when they were both division chiefs at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin from 1937 until 1941. Both were specialists in the field of research into infectious diseases. Haagen specialized in virus diseases including typhus. The defendant Rose specialized in tropical diseases, parasitology, and vermin control. This fact explains the existence of a scientific private correspondence, part of which can be found in the files. According to the testimony of the witness, Olga Eyer, this correspondence was extremely cursory and consisted of only five to six letters from 1941 to 1944, during which time Fraeulein Eyer was Haagen’s secretary. (German Tr. p. 1781.)
The prosecution is obviously in possession of the entire exchange of correspondence between Rose and Haagen. The letters the prosecution has submitted from this correspondence deal with two subjects: The first group consists of the two letters of 5 June 1943 and 9 June 1943 (NO-305, Pros. Ex. 295; NO-306, Pros. Ex. 296) which contain an answer to the questions on the production technique of typhus vaccine. Rose, who himself is not a specialist in this field, had requested technical information and had received it. (In passing, it should be stated that the 30 to 40 persons mentioned in this exchange of correspondence signified the required manpower figure and not possible experimental subjects, as the prosecution asserts.) (German Tr. p. 9063.)
The principal letter of Haagen to Rose, dated 4 June 1943, which is mentioned in Rose’s reply dated 9 June 1943, would clear up the matter absolutely unequivocally. Unfortunately, it has not been submitted by the prosecution.
The second part of the correspondence between Rose and Haagen concerns the attitude of Haagen to the Copenhagen vaccine. Among others, Rose had also informed Professor Haagen, one of the leading German typhus-research scientists, about the result of his conversation with Dr. Ipsen in Copenhagen, as can be seen from the distribution of the report on the Copenhagen trip. (Rose 22, Rose Ex. 21.) This second part of the correspondence developed as a result of the transmission of this strictly scientific information, and the following letters from it were introduced by the prosecution during the trial:
Letter from Haagen to Rose dated 4 October 1943 (NO-2874, Pros. Ex. 520).
Letter from Haagen to Rose dated 29 November 1943 (NO-1059, Pros. Ex. 490).
Letter from Rose to Haagen dated 13 December 1943 (NO-122, Pros. Ex. 298).
Professor Rose furnished a detailed explanation of this exchange of correspondence during his direct examination. At the time he was only in possession of his aforementioned letter to Haagen dated 13 December 1943, whereas the two other letters were still withheld by the prosecution. Although, as a result of this, he was put in the difficult position of having to testify regarding an exchange of correspondence which took place four years ago, only a part of which he had available for reference, the correctness of his statements was completely confirmed in the essential points by the two other letters which were not introduced until later in the trial. (Tr. p. 6281.) It can be seen quite definitely from the first paragraph of Haagen’s letter to Rose dated 4 October 1943 that the actual interest of the defendant Rose lay in inducing Professor Haagen to produce a proven vaccine.
The question hinged on the climate installation which was necessary for the production of the Giroud vaccine from the lungs of rabbits. It was only necessary to establish an additional production plant for the Luftwaffe because the vaccine concerned was obtained from dead typhus bacilli and had been introduced for some time. At the end of his letter Professor Haagen once more refers to this purely technical question of production. In his letter Haagen also expresses his opinion and valuation of the Ipsen method. The penultimate paragraph of this letter is particularly important. It describes the great importance Professor Haagen attached to the serological experiments in weighing the results of the vaccination and of the state of immunity. He writes in this connection:
“I generally regret that, in judging immunity, much too little consideration is being given to the serological reaction. My experiments with the nonphenolized vaccine particularly proved again that the titer of agglutination should be considered. No doubt, much greater importance must again be attached to the serological result when judging the state of immunity in accordance with our present opinion on the course of the infection of the virus diseases, especially in their initial stages.” (NO-2874, Pros. Ex. 520.)
At the end of his letter, Haagen suggests that his own vaccines and the Ipsen vaccine be compared by examination. This is unequivocal proof of the proposal having been made by Haagen. The defendant Rose had not the slightest reason to assume that Professor Haagen intended to perform an immunity check with a virulent virus causing disease in human organism, since the Professor particularly stressed the importance of serological methods when testing the condition of immunity. On the contrary, he had to assume that Professor Haagen considered such an infection superfluous.
The prosecution objects to the fact that Haagen, when discussing the planned experiments in his correspondence with Rose, used such terms as “experiments of infection” and “subsequent infection.” But Professor Rose knew that Haagen was engaged in the development of live vaccine nonpathogenic to human beings. He even mentioned this in his lecture on typhus and malaria at Basel in 1944. (Rose 25, Rose Ex. 31.) Every expert knows that the application of living virus for the purpose of protective vaccination is a procedure of infection.
He was aware that Haagen worked on the further development of the method evolved by the Frenchman Blanc. This, too, can be found in the same passage of his Basel lecture mentioned above. The fact that the term “subsequent infection” was used by Professor Haagen in distinguishing protective vaccinations from live and weakened vaccines could in no way surprise or startle him. (Rose 69, Rose Ex. 59; Rose 60, Rose Ex. 60; Tr. pp. 6295-6; German Tr. 9639.)
It must be pointed out in this connection that the notes of the Natzweiler camp physician himself distinctly describe the vaccination which Haagen had occasionally called “subsequent infection,” as “vaccination”. His entries of 22 March 1944 state that “the actual ‘vaccination’ will now be carried out after two protective vaccinations have taken place.” (German Tr. p. 9782.)
The report taken from the Tropical Diseases Bulletin which I introduced in this trial shows, however, quite clearly that these infections were not dangerous and could, in the main, be controlled. (Rose 58, Rose Ex. 58.)
This report states that the Blanc live typhus vaccine was used by the French Government in Algeria in 3.5 million cases to combat typhus, and that as a result of these protective vaccinations, real typhus illness was found in only 5-6 cases per thousand. If one compares this figure of 5-6 per thousand with the total number of the vaccinations, it appears that in the course of this vaccination action carried out by the French Government, 17,500 to 21,000 cases of typhus illness took place as a result of vaccination. This result may justly give weight to the assumption that the French Government considered these incidents a justifiable and tolerable risk in view of the extent of the threatened danger.
It would be unfair to blame the defendant Rose for having taken no steps at all on learning that another research scientist, namely Haagen (who was not subordinated to him) was using a method which he knew was widely practiced. He had much less reason to do so since it was Haagen who tried by preliminary vaccinations with dead vaccines to avoid and to reduce the extent of the vaccination reactions and the danger of sickness as a result of the vaccination. Haagen’s reports and publications only deal with this object of a preliminary vaccination with dead vaccines and of the subsequent vaccination with a live, virulent vaccine nonpathogenic to human beings (subsequent infection). This field, with which he was not so familiar, was described in detail by the defendant Rose in his direct testimony. When interrogated, Professor Haagen, as the actual originator of the plans, substantially enlarged and in some instances corrected this description.
It does not seem feasible to me to classify as criminal, experiments which tend to make more bearable and less dangerous a recognized method already applied on millions of people.
In addition, there is no reply from the defendant Rose to this letter from Professor Haagen of 4 October 1943. It is not certain whether he actually received it. However, the possibility that he did receive it cannot be denied.
Chronologically, the next letter in this correspondence is Haagen’s letter to Rose of 29 November 1943. (NO-1059, Pros. Ex. 490.) The defendant Rose cannot remember ever having received this letter.
It is true that after this letter had been submitted to him by the prosecution during cross-examination, Professor Rose assumed that he must have received it, judging by the date and the conditions of the postal service at that time. (Tr. p. 6428.) However, he was misled when making this statement by a mistake in the reproduction. Whereas this letter is actually dated 29 November 1943, the date on the letter is given as 29 November 1942 in the German mimeographed copies distributed by the prosecution in the course of the cross-examination. Thus it was sent at a time when large quantities of mail were destroyed in trains or at post offices by the heavy air raids on German towns and communications. According to the resultant state of affairs, it is probable that he actually did not receive this letter. In this very letter Professor Haagen mentions that 18 of the 100 inmates had already died en route. The answers the defendant Rose gave on cross-examination before this letter had been submitted to him show clearly that he could not remember such information. (Tr. p. 6424-5.) He would hardly have been able to forget such a gruesome report if he had actually received this letter.
It also cannot be stated that the defendant Rose could only have written his letter to Haagen of 13 December 1943 (NO-122, Pros. Ex. 298) after having received Haagen’s letter of 29 November 1943. Prosecuting counsel, Mr. McHaney, however, alleged this when cross-examining Rose (Tr. p. 6431) thus causing confusion in the mind of the defendant Rose. For, in reality, Rose’s letter of 13 December 1943 is the reply to a further letter from Haagen dated 8 December 1943, as appears clearly from the introductory sentence in Rose’s letter of 13 December 1943. From this state of affairs it can only be concluded that either Professor Haagen did not mail this letter at all—perhaps in view of the information contained therein about the unfavorable conditions of health of the inmates—or else the defendant Rose did not receive the letter because it was destroyed along with a lot of other mail of the same date in the heavy air raids. The prosecution, no doubt, would not have failed to introduce this letter into evidence if the defendant Rose had replied to Haagen’s letter dated 29 November 1943. Professor Haagen’s suggestion in his letter of 4 October 1943 that the Copenhagen vaccine be tested, is again dealt with in Rose’s letter of 13 December 1943. In this letter Rose exclusively speaks of the testing of vaccine, without mentioning infections at all. In the letter a parallel is drawn to the Buchenwald typhus experiments only insofar as he indicated the advantage of the simultaneous testing of several vaccines. On direct examination, that is, prior to the submission of other documents which give greater clarification to the whole matter, the defendant Rose stated quite clearly and in agreement with subsequent evidence and the later testimony of Haagen, that the point in question was the application of the Copenhagen vaccine for preliminary vaccination, aiming at the weakening of the vaccination reaction in connection with subsequent vaccination with a live, avirulent vaccine nonpathogenic to human beings.
The two biologically parallel conditions which are obvious to every layman, one, the weakening of a reaction following vaccination with a live vaccine, and two, the weakening of a natural sickness, were explained in detail by Professor Rose on direct examination. (Tr. p. 6281.)
Finally, it must be emphatically pointed out that the plan discussed in this correspondence to test the effect of the Copenhagen vaccine on the weakening of vaccination reactions followed by the application of the new live avirulent typhus vaccine pathogenic to human beings as compared with other vaccines, was not carried out at all. After Haagen had succeeded in weakening the reaction in another way, namely by long storage, he was no longer interested in the Copenhagen vaccine. (Becker-Freyseng 62[58]; German, Tr. 9614-5.)
Therefore, there only remains the examination of the question of whether the defendant Rose was responsible for Haagen’s activities, knowing that Professor Haagen had performed experiments on inmates with live avirulent typhus vaccines still in the testing stage. Apart from the correspondence discussed just now (part of which did not deal with experiments at all, while the other part referred to the discussion of an experimental plan which had been temporarily under consideration), the defendant Rose was only informed of Haagen’s activities through the latter’s reports which were sent to him for information and comments by the chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, through official channels. These, however, either contained simple information about the fact that Professor Haagen had asked for and received a commission for research, or else they were scientific publications containing nothing to which objections could be made.
The prosecution concluded from the letter of the Luftwaffe Medical Academy, dated 7 July 1944 to the Luftlottenarzt Reich [Air Fleet Physician Reich] that Haagen must have infected human beings with virulent typhus bacilli which were pathogenic to human beings because “control persons” were mentioned in this letter. (NO-128, Pros. Ex. 307.) This letter approves the publication of Professor Haagen’s work and that of his assistant Crodel: “Experiments with a New Dried Typhus Vaccine.” This work which had been submitted to the defendant Rose prior to publication actually shows clearly that these controls were meant to be a comparison of the results of serological examinations on patients from the camp epidemic with the serological examinations on persons protectively vaccinated. Haagen, whose main interest was in serological examinations, as already mentioned, had no reason whatsoever to perform artificial infections since the epidemic in the concentration camp at Natzweiler offered an abundance of persons for the purposes of comparison.
Finally it must be stated, in addition, that the experimental plans discussed in Haagen’s letter of 27 June 1944 to Professor Hirt never became known to the Luftwaffe Medical Inspectorate nor to Rose. (NO-127, Pros. Ex. 306.) Moreover, the general development of the situation (Haagen’s absence from Strasbourg, evacuation of the camp at Natzweiler, etc.,) shows that this planned experiment could never have been performed. The truth of this statement is further clearly proved by the testimonies of the witnesses Broers and Nales, according to which no more typhus vaccinations took place after April 1944.
* * * * *
_EXTRACTS FROM THE FINAL PLEA FOR DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY_[59]
The prosecution stated in its plea: If Grawitz were still alive, he would sit here as one of the principal defendants on the defendants’ bench. This is certainly true. But Grawitz passed sentenced on himself. And what does the prosecution do? It indicts Mrugowsky instead of Grawitz. It does not consider in its arguments that Mrugowsky was not a private person but a medical officer in the Waffen SS, that is a soldier, and that Grawitz and Himmler were his military superiors. It speaks of conspiracy but it does not examine thereby to what extent a conspiracy may be conceived when military subordination plays its part. In its summing-up, both written and oral, the prosecution merely submitted the original allegations of the indictment. It completely ignored the evidence produced by the defendants, and merely pointed out a little scornfully that this evidence was mostly composed of affidavits. But this is no fault of the defendants. They would have preferred to be able to produce counter-proof taken from their own records. But all the documents belonging to the defendants and to other offices, from which the prosecution evidence emanates, are in the hands of the prosecution. It merely submitted those parts of the documents which, torn from their context, seem to incriminate the defendants. On the other hand, the prosecution made it impossible for the defendants to find the records connected with the prosecution evidence which would ensure a complete elucidation of the true facts.
I would ask the Tribunal to consider in particular this difficult position of the defendants with regard to evidence. It places particular emphasis on the old legal principle that the defendant is considered not guilty until his guilt has been proved, and in doubtful cases the Court is to decide in favor of the defendant.
The charges against Mrugowsky are composed of three groups:
(1) The typhus experiments and the aconitine execution which did not concern volunteers. In these cases the Tribunal will have to consider whether state emergency contended by Mrugowsky really existed, and if so, if the typhus experiments and the aconitine execution were justified. If the answer is in the affirmative, then neither the typhus experiments nor the aconitine execution is criminal, since there is no objection raised as to the manner in which they were performed. If the question is answered in the negative, then the next consideration is, if and to what extent Mrugowsky participated in them and if he is responsible under criminal law.
(2) The second group consists of the actions of Ding which he performed on his own initiative, e. g., his participation in a killing by phenol and the poison experiment on 6 persons.
(3) The third group consists of the protective vaccinations for which volunteers were available, according to the evidence produced by the prosecution.
The defendant Mrugowsky is indicted first of all for his alleged participation in the typhus experiments at Buchenwald and in other medical experiments. In its submission of evidence, the prosecution treated these experiments as criminal and as experiments performed by doctors. During the examination of the experts, Professor Leibbrandt and Professor Ivy, the prosecution also treated these medical experiments as experiments performed by doctors and asked the experts if these experiments were to be considered as admissible from the point of view of medical ethics.
I am convinced that the experiments on which the prosecution bases its indictment were in no way experiments which originated from the initiative of the executive physicians themselves. The experiments were a form of research work necessitated by an extraordinarily pressing state emergency, and ordered by the highest competent governmental authorities.
Professor Ivy also admitted that there is a fundamental difference between the physician as a therapeutist and the physician as a scientific research worker. When asked by Dr. Tipp: “So you admit that to the physician as a therapeutist, the physician who cures, other rules and, therefore, other paragraphs of the oath of Hippocrates apply,” he gave the answer: “Yes, I do, very definitely.”
Consequently, experiments on human beings, performed for urgent reasons of a public character and ordered by the competent authorities of the state, cannot simply be considered as criminal merely because the experimental persons chosen by the state for the research work were not volunteers.
The prosecution ought to have brought additional evidence with regard to the individual experiments to prove why they were criminal, apart from the fact that the experimental persons were not volunteers.
The largest space in the indictment against Mrugowsky is taken up by the typhus experiments at Buchenwald. The prosecution does not contend that Mrugowsky participated in them personally, but I further think I have proved in my written arguments that he neither suggested nor ordered nor controlled these experiments; that he did not further them nor even approve of them.
Nevertheless for precaution’s sake, I also must prove that the experiments in question were not illegal and that under no aspect can they be considered as criminal since they were caused by an urgent state emergency. This proof can be produced in a particularly impressive manner in the case of the typhus experiments.
In the Flick trial,[60] the prosecution submitted Document NI-5222 which I have offered to the Tribunal. (Mrugowsky, Ex. 99.) This document, which comes from the Labor Office Westphalia and is dated 3 February 1942, states that according to information from military quarters, until recently the number of Soviet prisoners of war dying of typhus was still 15,000 daily.
I think I need no longer emphasize that a most pressing state emergency is considered to exist if from one single epidemic there are, I repeat, 15,000 deaths daily in the camps for Russian prisoners alone.
On the other hand, the prosecution stated that from the beginning of 1942 until the beginning of 1945, a total of 142 persons died as a result of the typhus experiments at Buchenwald. I place these two figures intentionally at the beginning of my argument. They show that during the entire period of the experiments in Buchenwald, the number of fatalities amounted to one percent of the toll taken every day by typhus in the Russian prisoner camps alone in winter 1941-42. In addition to these victims in the Russian P. W. camps, one has to consider the enormous number of people who died of typhus among the civil population of the occupied eastern territories and the German Armed Forces.
It is clear that under these conditions drastic measures had to be taken. When judging the typhus experiments carried out in the concentration camp Buchenwald one must not forget that Germany was engaged in war at the time. Millions of soldiers had to give up their lives because they were called upon to fight by the state. The state employed the civil population for work according to state requirements. In doing so it made no distinction between men and women. The state ordered employment in chemical factories which was detrimental to health. It ordered work on the construction of new projectiles which involved considerable danger. When unexploded enemy shells of a new type were found at the front, or unexploded bombs of new construction were found after an air raid at home, it ordered gunnery officers to dismount such new shells or bombs with the aid of assistants in order to learn their construction. This implied great danger. Then the fillings of the new shells and bombs had to be examined by analytical chemists to determine their composition. In certain cases this work was detrimental to the health of the chemists and their assistants and always considerably dangerous.
In the same way the state ordered the medical men to make experiments with new weapons against dangerous diseases. These weapons were the vaccines. The fact that during these experiments not only the experimental persons but also the medical men were exposed to great danger was proved when Dr. Ding infected himself unintentionally at the beginning of his typhus experiments and became seriously ill with typhus.
With regard to such medical experiments, one has to agree on principle with the opinion of Professor Ivy and Professor Leibbrandt that such experiments may only be performed on volunteers. But even Professor Ivy admitted that there is a difference between those cases in which a scientific research worker starts such experiments on his own initiative and the cases in which the competent organs of the state authorize him to do so. He answered the question of whether the organ of the state is responsible in the affirmative; but he added that this has nothing to do with the moral responsibility of the experimenter towards the experimental subject.
If the experiment is ordered by the state, this moral responsibility of experimenter towards the experimental subject relates to the way in which the experiment is performed, not to the experiment itself.
The prosecution did not contest that the experiments at Buchenwald were carried out correctly. By way of precaution, I offered evidence for the correct execution in my closing brief.
In answer to a question by Dr. Sauter, Professor Ivy observed that he did not think the state could take the responsibility of ordering a scientist to kill a man in order to obtain knowledge.
The case with the typhus experiments is different. No order was given to kill a man in order to obtain knowledge. But the typhus experiments were dangerous experiments. Out of 724 experimental persons, 154 died. But these 154 deaths from the typhus experiments have to be compared with the 15,000 who died of typhus every day in the camps for Soviet prisoners of war, and the innumerable deaths from typhus among the civilian population of the occupied eastern territories and the German troops. This enormous number of deaths led to the absolute necessity of having effective vaccines against typhus in sufficient quantity. The newly developed vaccines had been tested in the animal experiments as to their compatibility.
I explained this in detail in writing.
The Tribunal will have to decide whether, in view of the enormous extent of epidemic typhus, in view of the 15,000 deaths it was causing daily in the camps for Russian prisoners of war alone, the order given by the government authorities to test the typhus vaccines was justified or not. If the answer is in the affirmative, then the typhus experiments at Buchenwald were not criminal, since the prosecution did not contest that they were carried out according to the rules of medical science. In this case, any responsibility of Mrugowsky for these experiments is excluded. If, on the other hand, the Tribunal answered the question in the negative and declared the typhus experiments at Buchenwald to be criminal, then examination would have to be made as to whether Mrugowsky was responsible for them in any way.
In my written statement I explained in detail that Block 46 at Buchenwald, where the experiments were carried out, was not subordinate to Mrugowsky, but that Dr. Ding worked under the immediate orders of Grawitz. Out of the extensive evidence I offered to prove this fact, I only want to stress, one, the letter addressed by Grawitz to Mrugowsky in which Grawitz declared explicitly on 24 August 1944 that he gave his consent for the series of experiments he mentioned in the letter to be performed in Block 46 at Buchenwald, and two, the letter addressed by Mrugowsky to Grawitz on 29 January 1945 in which he suggests the testing of a jaundice virus and writes: “Please obtain permission from the Reich Leader SS to perform the infection experiments in the typhus experimental station of the concentration camp Buchenwald.”
These two letters demonstrate that even in autumn 1944 and early in 1945 Mrugowsky could still only have performed a series of experiments in Block 46 with special permission. This refutes the assumption of the prosecution that Block 46 was subordinate to Mrugowsky.
But above all, I want to stress again the affidavit given by Dr. Morgen on 23 May 1947 in which he stated that when he investigated the occurrences in Block 46 at Buchenwald, Dr. Ding showed him an order signed by Grawitz in which Ding was commissioned explicitly to carry out the experiments.
Dr. Morgen has further stated that he had to report to Grawitz personally about the result of his investigations as an examining magistrate at Buchenwald. The results here, too, according to the affidavit given by Dr. Morgen showed that Grawitz ordered the experiments. On this occasion he called Dr. Ding “his man,” and said he would be very sorry if the investigation caused any charges to be brought against Dr. Ding, since he had employed him for the experiments. Morgen emphasized that the name of Mrugowsky was not mentioned in the course of his conversations with Ding and Grawitz. This clearly shows, I think, that Mrugowsky had nothing to do with Block 46 at Buchenwald. As further evidence that Ding was actually subordinate to Mrugowsky in Block 46, the prosecution referred to the sketches designed by Mrugowsky. (NO-416, Pros. Ex. 22 and NO-417, Pros. Ex. 23.) These pictures show that the Division for Typhus and Virus Research in Buchenwald was subordinate to Mrugowsky; Mrugowsky does not deny this. Division for Typhus and Virus Research was only Block 50. Block 46 was called as formerly “Experimental Station of the Concentration Camp Buchenwald.” Mrugowsky’s letter just quoted shows this. Block 46 was merely attached to the Division for Typhus and Virus Research without establishing thereby any relationship of subordination to Mrugowsky. This is described and proved in detail in my closing brief.
From the two sketches designed by Mrugowsky, showing that the Division for Typhus and Virus Research was under his control from its establishment to the end of the war, nothing can be deduced, therefore, about whether he was Ding’s superior in Block 46.
This fact and the further evidence brought in my closing brief demonstrate that Block 46 at Buchenwald was not subordinate to Mrugowsky. Therefore, Mrugowsky bears no responsibility for the typhus experiments in Block 46.
In this connection, I want to emphasize that Mrugowsky never denied that he knew the typhus experiments at Buchenwald were ordered by Grawitz and carried out by Dr. Ding. He never denied that he saw, for instance, the report about the series I of the experiments, which he rewrote in his letter of May 5, 1942, and that he saw Ding’s essay about acridine which Ding sent to Grawitz for approval to publish 18 months after the experiments were completed, and which Grawitz then gave to Mrugowsky to return to Ding. But from this knowledge, no responsibility on the part of Mrugowsky can be deduced for the typhus experiments. The experiments were ordered by Himmler and Grawitz as his highest military superiors. As a medical officer of the Waffen SS, Mrugowsky had no possibility at all of opposing these experiments ordered by his superiors. When Grawitz first suggested the experiments, he resisted at once, and induced him to ask for a decision from Himmler as the highest superior. Himmler decided against Mrugowsky. Under these conditions Mrugowsky could do no more. His opposition, however, resulted in the fact that he was not commissioned with the experiments, but that Ding received the order for execution.
Nor has the prosecution brought any evidence to show that Mrugowsky subsequently intervened in any way in the typhus experiments at Buchenwald; that he furthered them, or participated in them in any way. On account of the fact that Mrugowsky knew about the typhus experiments, no charge can be made against him under criminal law, because neither in law nor in fact had he any possibility of preventing the experiments or enforcing their cessation later on.
The prosecution further based its charge against Mrugowsky on the depositions of several witnesses to the effect that he had been Ding’s chief in Block 46, also insofar as the experiments carried out by Ding in Block 46 were concerned. I have energetically contested this. All the statements produced by the prosecution in this respect originate from Ding. None of these statements comes from anybody who worked in Block 46 himself. It is significant that the prosecution has not been able to submit one single order given by Mrugowsky to Ding for the execution of typhus experiments, although its witness, Balachowsky, stated that Kogon had managed to collect and secure extensive evidence which he had handed over to the American Army. If there had been any written orders from Mrugowsky to Ding, the latter would certainly not have destroyed them for the sake of his own protection, and Kogon would have given them to the American Army with his other documents. It is true that the witness Kogon (whose unreliability I shall prove later) maintains that Mrugowsky gave mostly only oral orders to Ding. But he further testified that from the year 1943 onwards, Ding was no longer satisfied with oral orders from Mrugowsky but asked for them to be given in writing. In spite of this, not a single written order from Mrugowsky to Ding concerning the execution of a series of typhus experiments was produced.
The only witness who might be able to state from his own knowledge anything about the order given to Ding in respect of the typhus experiments is the witness Dr. Morgen. I just indicated that Morgen saw the order given by Grawitz to Ding for the execution of the typhus experiments, and that Grawitz personally told Dr. Morgen that Ding was his man at Buchenwald and said he employed him there.
The error of the witnesses, who stated that Mrugowsky had been Ding’s chief, results from the fact that Ding was dependent on Mrugowsky in respect of the production of vaccine in Block 50 and also concerning his activity as a hygienist. I proved in my closing brief that from 1942 to 1945 Ding was only working on the typhus vaccine experiments for about 2½ months, if one adds up all the hours he worked on them. All the rest of his activity in approximately 3 years was devoted to the vaccine production and the work of a hygienist, that is, work in which he was Mrugowsky’s subordinate. It is comprehensible that during the approximate period of 33 months when he worked for Mrugowsky, he received many more orders from him than from Grawitz for the execution of the 13 typhus vaccine experiments. It is, therefore, comprehensible that the main part of his correspondence under these circumstances was carried on with Mrugowsky.
In consequence of the description of the prosecution which hardly spoke of anything except the typhus vaccine experiments, and only produced documents thereon, the impression was certainly given that the typhus vaccine experiments were Ding’s main activity at Buchenwald. That is not so. In his main activity at Buchenwald, Ding was Mrugowsky’s subordinate. Therefore, because his main correspondence was with Mrugowsky and he called Mrugowsky his superior, one cannot assume that also in respect of the typhus vaccine experiments there was some connection between Mrugowsky and Ding, and that Mrugowsky participated in these experiments in any way or was responsible for them. The prosecution did not deny that such double subordination, as it existed between Ding on the one hand and Grawitz and Mrugowsky on the other, is possible in a military organization and happened frequently. I can refer also in this respect to the statement in my closing brief.
The testimony of the witness Kogon and Ding’s diary (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287) are the chief items of evidence submitted by the prosecution against Mrugowsky. This is why, in my closing brief, I explained in detail that neither Kogon’s statement nor the Ding diary furnish any substantial proof. As to Kogon’s testimony, I want to emphasize once more the principal points:
Kogon described on the witness stand the dramatic circumstances under which he pretends to have saved the so-called Ding diary. I needn’t point out that the particular occurrences which happened when he saved the diary would have impressed him so much that he would not forget them if his statement were true. Therefore, he couldn’t possibly give a different description of this event on several different occasions. In fact, in the doctors’ trial and in the Pohl trial,[61] he gave two reports about the way he allegedly saved the diary. These reports differ so fundamentally and in a manner which could only be possible if his contention that he saved the diary is untrue, and the descriptions he gives of this event are pure invention.
Kogon stated in the doctors’ trial that Ding sorted the secret documents to be burned in Block 46. While Ding and Dietzsch went into the adjoining room for a moment, he threw the diary and a heap of papers into a box to save them from destruction. Two days later he had told Ding that he had saved the diary and a heap of other papers from being destroyed and received permission to fetch them from Block 46; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to get them out. He fetched them and kept them ever since. This description is quite plausible and would be hard to refute if there was not Kogon’s own testimony in the Pohl trial.
In the Pohl trial, the same Kogon testified about three months later that he was standing with Ding and Dietzsch at the same table when the secret documents were sorted for destruction. Suddenly Ding pushed the diary and other papers towards him. He took them and carried them to Block 50, together with Ding. Ding did not know at this time that Kogon had the diary and the other documents with him, but he told Ding this on the same day.
A more striking contradiction than these two statements about the saving of the diary is hardly possible. If Kogon had really saved the diary in the way he described in the doctors’ trial, then the moment when he threw the diary into the box and his reflections during the two days before he told Ding that the diary had not been burned would have remained indelibly in his memory. He would have remembered the way from Block 46 to Block 50 to fetch the diary and the way back with the diary so well, that a different description would be impossible. Also, if the preservation of the diary had occurred in the way described by Kogon in the Pohl trial, it certainly would have been recollected by him so clearly that a different description would also be impossible. So the two descriptions about the preservation of the diary, differing so fundamentally from each other, can only be explained in two ways. Either Kogon’s statement is untrue and he didn’t save the diary at all—in this case, if he told the Tribunal a falsehood about such an important point, then his whole testimony is unreliable—or Kogon must have such a bad memory that his contradictions in his testimony can be explained therefrom. In this case, too, his entire testimony would have no probative value on account of his bad memory.
The Dietzsch testimony submitted by me speaks against the correctness of Kogon’s statement on the saving of the diary. Dietzsch states that during the destruction of the secret documents in Block 46 Ding tore up the diary in his presence and threw it into the lighted stove where it was burned. Dietzsch declared explicitly that Ding made sure that all the documents were entirely burned after the destruction of the papers was finished.
I should say that Dietzsch’s statement combined with the contradiction between the two statements of Kogon’s proves that what Kogon said about the saving of the diary is a falsehood.
In my closing brief I dealt in detail with still further points on which the statements made by Kogon in the doctors’ trial and in the Pohl trial contradict each other in a similarly marked manner concerning the preservation of the diary. It will not be necessary to repeat all these arguments here. I should like to refer the Tribunal to them.
The second main evidence of the prosecution against Mrugowsky is the diary which is said to have been saved. The two fantastic descriptions of the saving of the diary given by Kogon are unreliable. Therefore, Dietzsch must be believed. He said that Ding burned the original diary of Block 46 in his presence. This statement is supported by the opinion given by the handwriting experts, Zettner and Nastvogel, treated in detail in my closing brief.
In the meantime the prosecution declared while discussing the Beiglboeck evidence that it could have handwriting examined to determine the date of its origin at an institute in Frankfurt and also documents investigated in every way. The prosecution thereupon stressed explicitly that I also had the Ding diary examined by experts.
The Ding diary is of importance for the prosecution for the charges against several defendants. Therefore, the prosecution ought to have found it more important to have the genuineness of the Ding diary examined rather than the Beiglboeck documents. Ding signed in ink. So the institute at Frankfurt would have been able to ascertain without any difficulty whether the signature on the first page is several years older than the signature on the last page. Furthermore, the institute could have ascertained without any difficulty whether the whole diary from the end of the year 1941 till spring 1945 was written on exactly the same paper or not. But the prosecution did not hand the diary to this institute for examination. This fact shows that it was itself convinced that such examination would not have given a result favorable to the prosecution.
In my opinion, this is a particularly strong argument for the assumption that the diary was really composed and written subsequently. I also want to refer the Tribunal to my closing brief with reference to this point. The probative value of a diary lies in the fact that the man who kept it cannot foresee the future development when making his entries. Therefore it is to be presumed that the entries portray the events objectively and in their entirety. If a document which is subsequently composed is given the external form of a diary, one can deduce therefrom the intention to influence the reader in a certain direction and also to deceive him for this purpose. That is the reason why any record written subsequently and made up in the form of a diary has no probative value.
The prosecution tried to show that the Ding diary is of probative value by comparing its contents with a number of documents having the same contents as the entries in the diary. In my closing brief I dealt with these documents in detail and proved that they all, without exception, came from Ding. All documents which the prosecution compared with the diary, Ding still had at hand when he made the belated compilation after the original diary had been burned. They are vouchers he used for the entries he made in the diary we have now. Therefore, it cannot be deduced from the conformity of these documents and the diary that the latter is good evidence.
One of the documents the prosecution compared with the diary is the so-called work report of Ding. This work report is really only a draft which was not signed and was not sent to Mrugowsky. I explained this in detail in my closing brief and offered evidence for it. According to Kogon’s statement, this draft of the report was written in Block 50 by the second compound clerk. Such draft has no probative value unless it is signed by the person who should sign it. In this instance, it would have been Ding. Mr. Hardy admitted that this work report was only prepared for signature by Ding. He thereby admitted that it was not signed. Therefore, the draft has no probative value. If these three main elements of evidence fail, Kogon’s statement, the work report, and the Ding dairy, the chief part of the evidence brought forward against Mrugowsky fails.
The prosecution contended in its summing-up that the experimental subjects volunteered neither for the typhus experiments nor for the other experiments at Buchenwald. In respect of the other experiments, this is not correct. I shall deal with this later. In respect to the typhus experiments, it may be correct that most of the experimental subjects did not volunteer.
On the other hand, the closing brief of the prosecution shows no allegation for the period up to the fall of 1943 that Mrugowsky had anything to do with the selection of the prisoners for the experiments. This is correct and was also put in in my closing brief. In autumn 1943 according to the contentions of the prosecution, again relying on Kogon’s testimony, Ding is said to have asked Mrugowsky for the experimental subjects to be chosen by the Reich Leader SS. This statement of Kogon’s is also untrue. I have pointed this out in detail in my written statement.
In this connection, the prosecution mentions Himmler’s order of 27 February 1944 relating to the selection of the prisoners by the Reich police agency. But this order of Himmler was not given pursuant to a suggestion made by Mrugowsky. It is really due to the attempts of Dr. Morgen. He explained this accurately in his affidavit of 23 May 1947, which I offered in evidence.
So it is an established fact that until autumn 1943 Mrugowsky had nothing to do with the selection of the prisoners, and that from this time on, the prisoners for the typhus experiments were chosen by the Reich criminal police agency pursuant to Himmler’s order suggested by Dr. Morgen, so that after this time Mrugowsky had also nothing to do with the choice of the prisoners.
The prosecution calls the typhus experiments criminal, in particular, because control persons were used and above all because of the alleged “passage persons”.[62] As to the control persons, I explained at length in my closing brief that such vaccine experiments are impossible without the use of control subjects and lead to no practical result without them.
If one takes the Ding diary for information, it appears that in a number of test series the cultural virus used was no longer pathogenic to human beings. If no control persons had been infected, the fact that the experimental persons were not taken ill would have been explained as a consequence of the protection obtained by the vaccination. This would have led to entirely wrong deductions and to the use of inferior vaccines in practice. If one considers the typhus experiments as admissible, the use of control subjects is, therefore, indispensable. I explained this in detail in my closing brief.
On the other hand there was no justification for the use of passage persons who were infected merely in order to have live virus always on hand. I have demonstrated in my written arguments that such passage persons were never used. Until April 1943 there was no reason to use them. For until April 1943 it is stated explicitly in the Ding diary that in each series of experiments the infection was performed by means of cultural virus bred in the yolk sacs of hens’ eggs which Ding obtained from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. After 11 April 1943, Ding infected with fresh blood taken from persons suffering from typhus. But during this period, too, the use of passage persons was superfluous because Ding always had persons at his disposal who had contracted typhus spontaneously, and he could take the fresh infected blood from them.
If the prosecution had wanted to bring evidence to show that passage persons were used in Block 46, this could have been done best of all by Ding and Dietzsch. The prosecution produced statements from both in which the question of the passage persons is not mentioned. The prosecution knew from the examination of Mrugowsky on the witness stand that he denied the use of passage persons. When I said at the end of the presentation of my evidence that I did not call Dietzsch to the witness stand but only offered an affidavit from him, Mr. Hardy asked the Tribunal for permission to interrogate Dietzsch on certain facts.
However, he never produced a record of such an interrogation. This is further evidence that Dietzsch did not confirm the use of passage persons. All the witnesses who testified on the use of passage persons did not work in Block 46. They, therefore, know nothing from their own observation, but only through third persons. Dr. Morgen discovered nothing about passage persons during his investigations as an examining magistrate in Block 46 in Buchenwald. So there is no conclusive evidence of any kind to show that passage persons were used in Block 46. On the contrary, I proved in my closing brief that passage persons actually were not used.
If the Tribunal were, nevertheless, to assume that the use of passage persons was proved, there would be no guilt of Mrugowsky involved in the use of these passage persons because I demonstrated that Ding was not his subordinate in respect of his activity in Block 46, and also there is no evidence whatever to show that he even as much as knew about the use of passage persons.
In my written statements, I then dealt in detail with the experiments with acridine preparations within the framework of the typhus experiments. I proved that Ding did not obtain these preparations from Mrugowsky but from the I. G. Farbenindustrie A. G. There is no evidence whatever to show that Mrugowsky had any knowledge of these experiments performed by Ding.
Ding’s report on the acridine experiments submitted for publication was handed to Mrugowsky by Grawitz only about 18 months after the termination of the experiments. Therefore, no charge can be made against Mrugowsky under criminal law for the experiments with acridine preparations which caused a particularly high number of deaths.
_EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY_
* * * * *
Convalescence Serum, Blood Conservation, and Blood Serum Conservation CONVALESCENCE SERUM
In Ding’s diary (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287) two entries are found concerning the taking of blood for the purpose of extracting convalescence serum. During the period from 26 May to 12 June 1944, 6,500 cc. of blood were taken from 15 defervescent typhus patients, and between 13 October and 31 October 1944, 20,800 cc. of blood were taken from 44 defervescent typhus patients. The blood was taken between the 12th [14th] and the 21st day following the disappearance of the fever. Thus an average of 465 cc. for each patient can be calculated. The witness for the prosecution, Kogon, has testified on this question. (Tr. pp. 1192-3.) His statement contains several serious misinterpretations. In the first place, it must be stressed that the taking of blood from a convalescent patient by no means constitutes an “experiment,” as indicated by Mr. McHaney. What would be the experiment in that case? The only thing to find out is whether the person in question is suitable or not for the taking of blood.
Even Kogon admits that the taking of blood from convalescent patients is an ordinary procedure. I have proved the same thing through Mrugowsky 14, Mrugowsky Exhibit 37. The same appears from the affidavit of the expert, Professor Dr. Siebeck. (Mrugowsky 15, Mrugowsky Ex. 38.) There it says:
“* * * It is correct that in the case of typhus, convalescence serum is frequently used for therapeutical purposes * * *.”
The expert, Professor Dr. Vollhardt, also confessed to the same opinion. It is then a fact that the taking of blood from former typhus patients during convalescence is, in principle, in accordance with medical usage.
It has been proved that no objections can be raised against the treatment in Block 46. Accordingly, it is very improbable that the physician in charge should have exposed particularly asthenic patients to the taking of blood. The witness Dorn has stated that the delivery of drugs to Block 46 took place through the prison hospital and that he personally discharged the deliveries twice a week. Furthermore, the examining judge, Dr. Morgen (Mrugowsky 23, Mrugowsky Ex. 26) demonstrated that even in 1944—
“* * * the treatment and supply of the sick persons was careful and good in every respect. According to the impression I gained, the sick persons were treated similar to those in a good military hospital.”
This is also confirmed through the indictment of Morgen against Koch. (NO-2366, Pros. Ex. 526.)
Consequently, there is no reason to doubt that they were in a condition favorable to the taking of blood and that this constituted no danger for them. Mrugowsky expressed his opinion on this question during his examination. (Tr. p. 5166.) He pointed out that the taking of blood in a quantity not exceeding 500 cc. is in complete compliance with medical regulations and that the convalescent patients received additional food as compensation for the loss of blood. In his affidavit Dr. Ellenbeck propounded his view concerning the extraction of typhus convalescence serum. (Mrugowsky 120, Mrugowsky Ex. 110.) From this it appears that Ellenbeck also received blood from patients belonging to the Waffen SS, consequently not exclusively from prisoners in the concentration camps. In the above-mentioned document (Mrugowsky 15, Mrugowsky Ex. 38) Professor Siebeck expressly points out:
“It is at least quite improbable, if not impossible, for human beings, who are in the convalescent stage of typhus, to be so harmed by a single bloodletting of 439 cc. that they die after a certain period has elapsed in consequence of the loss of blood.”
The same opinion is endorsed by Professor Dr. Vollhardt.
In face of this evidence no support is to be found for the assertion of Kogon that many convalescent patients died at that time, nor for his suspicion that they died as a consequence of the taking of blood. The result of this exposition then is that:
1. The taking of blood for the purpose of extraction of convalescence serum is not an experiment but a medical measure. It is not criminal but customary throughout the world.
2. The bleedings were carried out according to the regulations of medical science.
3. The quantities taken were below the usual limit, probably even very far below.
4. It is absolutely impossible that any person whatsoever died as a consequence of the taking of blood.
On the other hand, the blood pressure of persons convalescing from typhus, in particular, is often too low. Their blood vessels are still not as elastic as before. In such cases, a withdrawal of blood within the normal limits is very often a practiced method of relieving the circulation.
PRESERVATION OF BLOOD SERUM
Furthermore, Kogon states that Dr. Ellenbeck carried out the taking of blood in the small camp to obtain a stock of blood serum. (Tr. p. 1192.) Kogon further states that in the part of the Buchenwald concentration camp, where blood was taken, there were enough volunteers and they received additional food. He answered the question as to whether anybody died as a consequence of the taking of blood as follows:
“* * * It is impossible to establish whether anybody died directly or indirectly as a consequence of the taking of blood * * *.”
Dr. Ellenbeck made the following statement concerning that question:
“From the fall of 1944 onwards, as far as I know by request of the leading physician of the concentration camps, the department for the conservation of blood produced a conserved blood serum to be used for the emergency treatment of prisoners since drugs became more and more scarce. I had nothing whatsoever to do with the drawing of blood and the supply. I had the blood sent to Berlin. On account of reasons to be found in the aerial warfare, the production of this conserved blood serum was only very small.
“Kogon maintained that SS medical personnel from Berlin drew the blood for this conserved blood serum. That is untrue. No SS medical personnel came from Berlin to Buchenwald in order to fetch blood, but ordinary couriers came who were not in a position to draw the blood.” (Mrugowsky 120, Mrugowsky Ex. 110.)
Therefore these amounts of blood, too, were only small. Ellenbeck can state positively that such stocks of serum were not made for other purposes in his laboratory. The medical officer of the concentration camp gave him the order. The stocks of serum he had prepared were made available to him again. * * *
“To the question as to whether people died after the removal of blood, I refer to the above-quoted statements of the specialists, Professor Dr. Vollhardt and Professor Dr. Siebeck.”
I would also like to point out that according to Kogon’s statement, Dr. Ellenbeck himself saw to it that the prisoners actually received their additional food after the removal of blood. The prisoners volunteered for the removal of blood and received additional food for it. That somebody died as a consequence of the removal of blood is a statement without any basis.
I cannot imagine how a criminal character can be attached to this removal of blood. The taking of blood from volunteers is not criminal in any way.
* * * * *
d. Evidence
Prosecution Documents
Doc. No. Pros. Ex. No. Description of Document Page NO-429 281 Extract from the affidavit of defendant 555 Hoven, 24 October 1946, concerning typhus and virus experiments. NO-265 287 Diary of the division for typhus and 557 virus research at the Institute of Hygiene of the Waffen SS, 1941 to 1945 (Ding diary). NO-257 283 Extract from the affidavit of Dr. Erwin 572 Schuler, 20 July 1945, concerning typhus experiments. NO-571 285 1943 work report for department for 573 typhus and virus research. NO-121 293 Letter from Haagen to Hirt, 15 November 578 1943, concerning prisoners to be used as experimental subjects for tests with typhus vaccine. NO-122 298 Letter dictated by Rose, addressed to 579 Haagen, 13 December 1943, concerning experimental subjects for vaccine experiments. NO-123 303 Letter from Haagen to Hirt, 9 March 1944, 580 concerning experiments conducted with typhus vaccine and requesting experimental subjects. NO-139 317 Letter from Dr. Grunske to Haagen, 7 581 March 1944, concerning reports on yellow fever virus experiments requested by a Japanese medical officer.
Defense Documents
Doc. No. Def. Ex. No. Description of Document Page Rose 16 Rose 12 Extracts from the affidavit of Professor 581 Otto Lenz, director of the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. Rose 46 Rose 20 Extract from a certified statement, 4 582 March 1947, of J. Oerskov, M. D., director of the State Serum Institute in Copenhagen.
Testimony
Extracts from the testimony of prosecution witness Eugen Kogon 583 Extracts from the testimony of defendant Rose 586 Extract from the testimony of defendant Mrugowsky 595 Extracts from the testimony of defense witness Dr. Eugen Haagen 606
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-429 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 281
EXTRACT FROM THE AFFIDAVIT OF DEFENDANT HOVEN, 24 OCTOBER 1946, CONCERNING TYPHUS AND VIRUS EXPERIMENTS
I, Waldemar Hoven, being duly sworn, depose and state:
* * * * *
Typhus and Virus Experiments
4. In the latter part of 1941 an experimental station was established in the Buchenwald concentration camp in order to determine the effectiveness of various typhus vaccines. This section was called the “Typhus Experimental Station—Division for Typhus and Virus Research” and was under the direct supervision of Dr. Ding, alias Schuler. This experimental station was set up in Block 46 of the camp. The Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS in Berlin, under the command of Dr. Joachim Mrugowsky, received all the reports of these activities and Dr. Ding took orders from Mrugowsky. In the early days, that is, between 1941 and the summer of 1943, Dr. Ding had many meetings in Berlin with Dr. Karl Genzken concerning his work at Buchenwald in connection with the typhus experiments. Dr. Ding told me that Dr. Genzken had a special interest in these matters and that he sent him reports at various times. Dr. Ding also said that Dr. Karl Genzken was one of his superiors. From my association with Dr. Ding, I understood that the chain of command in the supervision of the typhus experimental station was as follows: Reichsarzt SS Grawitz, Genzken, Mrugowsky, and Ding.
5. I can recollect that Dr. Genzken gave orders to Dr. Ding in January 1943 to enlarge the experimental station. At this time Block 60 was cleaned out and made into a station for the production of the various vaccines to be used in the experiments at Block 46. From this time on the experimental station was known as the “Division for Typhus and Virus Research of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS”. Then in the summer of 1943, Dr. Genzken turned all his duties over to Dr. Mrugowsky, and from that time on Genzken no longer actively participated in these matters. I can recall meeting Dr. Mrugowsky in the home of Dr. Ding on one of his visits to Buchenwald.
6. Inasmuch as I was constantly associated with Dr. Ding at Buchenwald, we became very friendly. I frequently discussed matters with Ding and visited his experimental station from time to time. As a matter of fact, Dr. Ding had to go to Berlin for discussions with Dr. Mrugowsky and others nearly 3 days out of every two weeks, and on such occasions I was in charge of the typhus institute. However, when Ding went to Berlin the experiments were discontinued until he returned.
7. The experiments in Block 46 in the Buchenwald concentration camp were conducted as follows: One group of victims was first vaccinated with the typhus vaccine and then infected with the typhus virus. In order to contrast the effectiveness of the vaccine, another group of inmates was merely infected with the typhus virus without previous vaccination. Between the autumn of 1942 and the summer of 1943 about 500 inmates of the Buchenwald concentration camp were used in these experiments. During my time about 10 percent of the total number of the inmates used, died as a result. I heard that a larger number of the victims died after my time, that is, about 20 percent.
8. The selection of inmates to be used for the purposes of medical experiments in Block 46 by the Division for Typhus and Virus Research was as follows: Whenever Dr. Ding needed human beings for his work, a request was made to the office of the camp commandant and referred to me for action. Usually a man named Schober, an SS Hauptsturmfuehrer, notified me to select the necessary number of prisoners for these purposes. In accordance with this request I selected various inmates, at random, from the roster of the camp. They were placed on a list over my signature and returned to Schober, who often removed certain names from the list for political reasons. In the event of particular prisoners being removed from the list, I was requested to select substitutes in order to provide Dr. Ding with the desired number of victims. After I returned the completed list to Schober, it was given to Dr. Ding for approval. He made a final check to ascertain, from a medical point of view, the physical condition of the selected inmates and to determine whether or not they met with his requirements.
* * * * *
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-265 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 287
DIARY OF THE DIVISION FOR TYPHUS AND VIRUS RESEARCH AT THE INSTITUTE OF HYGIENE OF THE WAFFEN SS, 1941 TO 1945 (DING DIARY)
29 Dec 41:
Conference between Army Sanitation Inspection [Inspector], General Chief Surgeon Professor Dr. Handloser; State Secretary for the Department of Health of the Reich, SS Gruppenfuehrer Dr. Conti; President Professor Reiter of the Health Department of the Reich; President Professor Gildemeister of the Robert Koch Institute (Reich Institute to Combat Contagious Diseases) and SS Standartenfuehrer and Lecturer [Dozent] Dr. Mrugowsky of the Institute of Hygiene, Waffen SS, Berlin.
It has been established that the need exists to test the efficacy of, and resistance of the human body to, the typhus serum extracted from the egg yolks. Since tests on animals are not of sufficient value, tests on human beings must be carried out.
2 Jan 42:
The concentration camp Buchenwald is chosen for testing the typhus vaccines. SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Ding is charged with these tests.
5 Jan 42:
Preliminary test A:
Preliminary test to determine the surest and most practical way of infecting human beings artificially. Five experimental subjects received intramuscular and subcutaneous injections of vitelline membrane diluted 1:25 with an emulsified Rickettsia-Prowazeki strain from the Robert Koch Institute in doses of 1 cc. Infection was not possible.
DR. DING SS Hauptsturmfuehrer
10 Jan 42:
Preliminary test B:
Preliminary test to establish a sure means of infection: Much as in smallpox vaccination, 5 persons were infected with vitelline membrane culture virus (strain Rickettsia-Prowazeki, Robert Koch Institute) through 2 superficial and 2 deeper cuts in the upper arm.
All experimental subjects used for this test fell ill with genuine typhus. Incubation period 2 to 6 days.
20 Jan 42:
Preliminary report of reactions to vaccinations. Through continuous blood pictures a strong surplus of neutrophile myelocytes was discovered.
20 Feb 42:
Case history and charts of the preliminary tests to establish a sure means of infection sent to Berlin.
1 death out of 5 sick.
DR. DING SS Hauptsturmfuehrer
6 Jan 42:
1 Feb 42:
Typhus Vaccine, Research Series I
Vaccination for immunization against typhus using the following vaccines:
1. 31 persons with Weigl vaccine from the intestines of lice from the Institute for Typhus and Virus Research of the Army High Command, Krakow.
2. 35 persons with vaccine from vitelline membrane cultures made by the Cox, Gildemeister, and Haagen process.
3. 35 persons with vaccine “Behring Normal” (1 egg in an emulsion of 450 cc. vaccine. Mixture of 70 percent Rickettsia Mooseri and 30 percent Rickettsia-Prowazeki).
4. 34 persons with “Behring Normal” “Behring Strong” (1 egg emulsified in 250 cc. solvent).
5. 10 persons for control.
3 Mar 42:
All persons vaccinated for immunization between 6 Jan 42 and 1 Feb 42, and the 10 control persons were infected with a virus culture of Rickettsia-Prowazeki in the presence of Professor Gildemeister. SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ding infected himself in the process (laboratory accident).
17 Mar 42:
Visit of Professor Gildemeister and Professor Rose (Head of the Department for Tropical Medicine in the Robert Koch Institute) to the experimental station. All persons experimented on fell sick with typhus except two who, as was established later, had already had typhus during an epidemic at the police prison in Berlin. SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ding fell sick with typhus and is in the hospital in Berlin. SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Hoven, station medical officer of the Waffen SS in Weimar, is supervising the stations in the meantime (Blocks 44 and 49).
19 Apr 42:
Final report on the 1st typhus vaccine research series: Stone Block 46 will be made available for the purpose of these typhus experiments.
5 deaths (3 control persons, 1 “Behring Normal”, and 1 “Behring Strong”).
DR. DING SS Hauptsturmfuehrer
19 Aug 42:
4 Sep 42:
Typhus Vaccine, Research Series II
Vaccination for immunization against typhus using the following vaccines:
1. 20 persons with vaccines made by the Durand and Giroud process (Pasteur Institute, Paris) from rabbit lungs.
2. 20 persons with vaccine made by the process of Combiescu, Zotta, and collaborators from dog lungs. (Producer: Cantacuzino, Bucharest.) This vaccine was made available by Professor Rose, who received it from Naval Doctor Professor Ruge from Bucharest.
15 Oct 42:
Artificial infection of all persons vaccinated for immunization between 19 September 1942 and 4 October 1942, and 19 persons for control with vitelline membrane virus (Rickettsia-Prowazeki).
25 Oct 42:
Infection has started with all persons experimented on.
20 Nov 42:
Charts and case history sent to Berlin.
4 deaths of control persons.
DR. DING SS Hauptsturmfuehrer
10 Sep 42:
10 Oct 42:
Unit of SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ding ordered to the Pasteur Institute in Paris to Professor Giroud.
22 Oct 42:
5 Nov 42:
Typhus Vaccine, Research Series III
Vaccination for immunization against typhus of 20 persons with vaccine made according to the process of Giroud, Paris. (This vaccine was brought from Paris by SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ding immediately after production.)
30 Nov 42:
Artificial infection with vitelline membrane material from the Robert Koch Institute of the 20 persons vaccinated for immunization and of 6 control persons. This research series was observed for 6 weeks and then abandoned without results, as no sickness broke out in the control group.
DR. DING SS Hauptsturmfuehrer
27 Oct 42:
8 Nov 42:
Typhus Vaccine, Research Series IV
Vaccination for immunization of 20 persons with a vaccine from intestines of lice made by the Weigl process (sent by lecturer Dr. Haas of the typhus institute “Emil v. Behring” in Lvov),
30 Nov 42:
To test the effect of the immunization, the infection is to be carried out with lice suffering from typhus. The lice and their cages must be burnt immediately, as the latter became leaky during transport, and therefore represent a danger of epidemic in Buchenwald camp.
3 Dec 42:
Newly sent lice applied to 15 persons (5 immunized and 10 persons for control). The lice must again be destroyed, as the cages are not tight.
Report made that infection with live typhus lice is not possible because the danger to the camp inmates is too great.
4 Jan 43:
Due to infection by lice on 3 December 1942, five persons show short nontypical illness.
The research series is concluded.
DR. DING SS Hauptsturmfuehrer
15-18 Dec 42:
Unit of SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ding ordered to the opening of the typhus research institute “Emil v. Behring” in Lvov in the General Government (lecturer Dr. Haas).
28-31 Dec 42:
Vaccination for immunization against diphtheria of the Reserve Battalion of the Leibstandarte SS “Adolf Hitler” (approx. 2,500 men), because of the outbreak of an epidemic.
Inspection of quarters and advice to the medical officer on the fighting of the epidemic.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer 1943
1 Dec 42:
20 Dec 42:
Typhus Vaccine, Research Series V
To determine the immunization effect, 20 persons are being actively vaccinated for immunization with “EM” vaccine of the Behring Works—Dr. Demnitz—(vaccine in which vitelline membrane as well as chicken embryos were used).
26 Jan 43:
Artificial infection with vitelline membrane virus OP No. 223 and 226 (Rickettsia-Prowazeki—strain from Robert Koch Institute).
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
9 Jan 43:
By order of the Chief of the Medical Service of the Waffen SS, SS Gruppenfuehrer and Major General of the Waffen SS Dr. Genzken, the typhus research station at the Buchenwald concentration camp becomes the “Division for Typhus and Virus Research.” The head of the division will be SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding. During his absence, the station medical officer of the Waffen SS, Weimar, SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Hoven, will supervise the production of vaccines. The Chief of the WVHA, SS Obergruppenfuehrer and Lt. General of the Waffen SS, Pohl, has ordered the extension of the block of stone buildings.
SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding is at the same time appointed chief departmental head for special missions in office XVI (Hygiene), of office group D (medical affairs of the Waffen SS) of the SS Main Operational Headquarters.
10 Jan 43:
Therapeutic Experiments with Acridine and Methylene Blue
At the suggestion of the I. G. Farbenindustrie A. G. the following were tested as typhus therapeutica:
a. Preparation 3,582 “Acridine” of the chemical pharmaceutical and sero-bacteriological department in Frankfurt-on-Main, Hoechst, Professor Lautenschlaeger and Dr. Weber.
(Therapeutic experiment A)
b. Methylene Blue, tested in an experiment on mice by Professor Kiekuth, Elberfeld.
(Therapeutic experiment M)
26 Jan 43:
Artificial infection with vitelline membrane virus OP Nos. 223 and 226:
20 persons for therapeutic experiment A: Acridine.
20 persons for therapeutic experiment M: Methylene Blue.
7 persons for control.
20 Feb 43:
The control persons from the typhus infections of the 26 January 1943 show no typical typhus symptoms; in the groups, vaccine “EM” of the Behring Works, Acridine, Methylene Blue, about ¼ are also not sick, the remainder have medium typhus.
The research series was designated to the manufacturer as “negative,” since the persons for control could not be infected properly.
One death in therapeutic experiment Acridine.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
10 Jan 43:
Yellow Fever Vaccine Tests
The Behring Works, Marburg-Lahn, the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, and the Institute for Typhus and Virus Research of the Army High Command in Krakow were commissioned by the Army High Command to manufacture the yellow fever vaccine of Beltier and collaborators. Since a live virus is being handled, a test is to be performed on 5 persons for safety’s sake from each vaccine charge.
At the same time 50 persons are to be vaccinated once with OP No. 25 of the Robert Koch Institute, which has already been tested for its harmlessness, to determine the decrease of working capacity.
The results of the yellow fever vaccine tests are to be sent to office XVI in the SS Main Operational Headquarters, in duplicate, who will forward one to the manufacturer, and one to the Army High Command, attention: Oberstabsarzt Dr. Schmidt, Army Medical Inspectorate.
List of Tested OP Numbers
Manufacturer │ │ No. 1. Behring Works, Marburg. │1, 2, 4. │13 Jan-26 Jan 43. 2. Robert Koch Institute, │28, 30, 37, 38, │11 Jan-26 Jan 43. Berlin. │ 39. │ 3. Robert Koch Institute, │46, 47, 48, 49, │30 Jan-8 Feb 43. Berlin. │ 50. │ 4. Behring Works, Marburg. │4, 5, 6, 7, 8, │30 Jan-8 Feb 43. │ 9, 10, 11, 12,│ │ 13, 14, 15, │ │ 16, 17, 18, │ │ 19, 20, 21, │ │ 22, 23. │ 5. Army High Command, Krakow. │19, 21, 22, 23, │9 Feb-22 Feb 43. │ 25, 26, 27. │ 6. Behring Works, Marburg. │24, 25, 26, 27, │11 Feb-22 Feb 43. │ 28, 29, 30, │ │ 31, 32, 33. │ 7. Behring Works, Marburg. │34, 35, 36, 37, │25 Feb-7 Mar 43. │ 38, 39, 40, │ │ 41, 42, 43. │ 8. Army High Command, Krakow. │28, 29, 30, 32, │25 Feb-7 Mar 43. │ 34. │ 9. Robert Koch Institute, │54, 55, 57, 58. │25 Feb-7 Mar 43. Berlin. │ │ 10. Behring Works, Marburg. │54, 55, 56, 57, │6 May-17 May 43. │ 58, 59, 60, │ │ 61. │
Production is being abandoned for the time being because of the military situation.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
3 Feb 43:
Sterility Experiment with an Egg Vaccine
A package was sent to us with a small bottle of 20 cc. typhus vaccine from egg-yolk cultures. Op No. 35 of 15 October 1942. A second injection on 8 December 1942, a third injection on 13 December 1942, of a typhus vaccination for immunization was carried out on Sister Lilli Boehm, born on 3 April 1912, by resident surgeon Dr. von Eysmond. Towards evening a temperature of 104° F. (40° C.). Forty-eight hours after the last vaccination, death in coma in the German clinic in Kovno.
Section protocol: Typhus (No. 2033, University of Kovno, pathological institute, Dr. Starkus).
Investigation: Material vaccinated on
1. 2 percent Schraegagar } 2. Bouillon } 3. 2 percent Glucose Bouillon} 4. Tarrozzi } No growth after 48 hours 5. Blood slide } 6. Klauberg slide }
During animal experiments, guinea pigs and mice were vaccinated intraperitoneally and under the skin of the back. No pathological symptoms at all.
Results: The vaccine not responsible for the death. Vaccination took place during the incubation period.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
8 Feb 43:
Visit of Oberstabsarzt Dr. Eyer from the Institute for Typhus and Virus Research of the Army High Command in Krakow and Oberstabsarzt Dr. Schmidt from the Army Medical Inspectorate.
22 Feb 43:
Examination of Unknown Bacteriological Material
During August 1942 Soviet parachutists were dropped in the Marienburg district; they carried in their baggage amphiole material, which was turned over by the RSHA (Dept. IV A/2 Book No. 2152/439 on 25 Feb 1943). They were dysentery bacteriophaga which could be clearly diagnosed by animal and culture experiments; this can be used for therapeutic purposes in cases of diarrhea.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
28 Feb 43: 6 Mar 43:
Unit of SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding ordered to Paris to procure laboratory material for the Division for Typhus and Virus Research, and the Institute of Hygiene.
23 Mar 43:
Conference between SS Sturmbannfuehrer Barnewald, SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding and SS Hauptscharfuehrer Schlesinger of department W 5, W V H A concerning the breeding of rabbits, guinea pigs, and mice as experimental animals for the experimental department.
25 Jan 43: 28 Feb 43:
Typhus Vaccine, Research Series VI
To determine the immunization effect, the following were actively vaccinated for immunization:
20 persons with vaccine “Zuerich” from the hygiene institute of the University of Zuerich (lungs of mice), and
20 persons with vaccine “Riga” from the serum institute of the University of Riga (Professor Darsin, from vitelline membrane cultures).
31 Mar 43:
Artificial infection with egg Rickettsia (Rickettsia-Prowazeki) of the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin.
11 Apr 43:
The infection of 31 March 1943 has not resulted in any sickness so far.
28 Apr 43:
Experimental series abandoned.
DR. DING S Sturmbannfuehrer
7 Mar 43:
Examination of the water and inspection of the concentration camp Vught, near Hertogenbosch.
8 Mar 43: 10 Mar 43:
Inspection of billets in Apeldoorn-Arnhem and vicinity. Advising chief surgeon of the commander of the Netherlands re a diphtheria epidemic in Apeldoorn.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
24 Mar 43: 20 Apr 43:
Carrying out of a large scale experiment on 45 persons by the process of the hygiene institute of the Waffen SS by SS Standartenfuehrer Lecturer Dr. Mrugowsky.
Vaccinations were made on 8 different days within 4 weeks against smallpox, typhoid, paratyphus A and B, cholera, typhus, and diphtheria.
Compatibility was generally good. Exact records and report were delivered on 27 April 1943 to department chief of office XVI.
It led partly to a strong decrease in working capacity, loss of strength, increase of temperature, and swelling of the lymph glands. Typhoid and smallpox were not vaccinated on the same side of the body, otherwise great swelling of the lymph glands takes places.
The diphtheria adsorbat vaccine led to about 20 cases of strong formation of abcesses. Where still in the camp, the persons were again vaccinated for smallpox within ¼ year.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
31 Mar 43:
Therapeutic Experiments “Acridine Granulate” and “Rutenol”
For the therapeutic experiments “Acridine Granulate” (A. Gr) and Rutenol (R), 40 persons were infected with egg Rickettsia.
11 Apr 43:
After observation lasting several weeks, no sickness started. Report to SS Standartenfuehrer Lecturer Dr. Mrugowsky and President Professor Gildemeister. The strain “Matelska” of the Robert Koch Institute, which was highly virulent until a year ago, apparently is no longer pathogenic to humans. A new means of artificial infection must therefore be found, which will lead to typhus with certainty.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
11 Apr 43:
Preliminary Experiment C:
To determine a sure means of infection, experiments with fresh blood from persons stricken with typhus were made. Infection took place as follows:
3 persons—2 cc. each of fresh blood intravenously.
2 persons—2 cc. each of fresh blood intramuscularly.
2 persons—2 cc. each of fresh blood subcutaneously.
2 persons—after scarification.
2 persons—with a vaccinating scalpel cutaneously.
Those infected intravenously contracted typical, serious typhus and died from failure of the circulatory system. The other experimental subjects complained only of minor discomfort, without becoming hospital cases.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
13 Apr 43:
Preliminary Experiment D:
The following were infected:
6 persons with 2 cc. each of fresh blood intravenously.
6 persons with 2 cc. each of fresh blood intramuscularly.
6 persons with 2 cc. each of fresh blood subcutaneously.
6 persons by scarification.
6 persons by means of vaccinating scalpel cutaneously.
The 6 intravenously infected persons again contracted very serious typhus; 5 died.
Of the 6 infected intramuscularly, one person contracted medium typhus. The others had no serious complications, and were not hospital cases.
The surest means of infection to produce typhus in humans is, therefore, the intravenous injection of 2 cc. fresh typhus-infected blood.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
13 and 14 Apr 43:
Unit of SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding ordered to I. G. Farbenindustrie A. G., Hoechst. Conference with Professor Lautenschlaeger, Dr. Weber, and Dr. Fussgaenger concerning the experimental series “Acridine Granulate and Rutenol” in the concentration camp Buchenwald.
Visit to Geheimrat Otto and Professor Prigge in the Institute for Experimental Therapeutics in Frankfurt/Main.
24 Apr 43:
Therapeutic Experiments Acridine Granulate (A-GR2) and Rutenol (R-2)
To carry out the therapeutic experiments Acridine Granulate and Rutenol, 30 persons (15 each) and 9 persons for control were infected by intravenous injection of 2 cc. each of fresh typhus-infected blood. All experimental persons contracted very bad typhus.
1 Jun 43:
Charts and case history completed.
The experimental series was concluded.
21 deaths (8 with Acridine Granulate, 9 with Rutenol, 5 control).
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
27 Apr 43: 1 May 43:
Unit of SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding ordered to Paris to procure laboratory material for the Division for Typhus and Virus Research and the Hygiene Institute.
10 Jun 43:
Typhoid-Therapeutic Experiment “Otrhomin”
At the suggestion of the Robert Koch Institute, Berlin (Professor Dr. Lockemann) the effect of a new therapeuticum of the Rhoda series—Otrhomin is to be tested on humans. For this purpose, 20 persons of the series “Otrhomin” and 20 persons for control (10 immunized, 10 not immunized) were infected on 10 June 1943 and on 18 June 1943 with 2 cc. each of typhoid bacteria in a physical salt solution, given in potato salad. Of the 40 persons, 7 became slightly sick, 23 more seriously. Furthermore, there were 6 ambulatory cases. Four persons did not show any symptoms.
28 Jul 43:
Charts and case history of the series “Otrhomin” completed and sent to Berlin.
5 Aug 43:
Charts and case history of the control series completed and sent to Berlin.
10 Aug 43:
Delivery of the records to Reich Senior Medical Counsellor Christiansen in the Reich Ministry of the Interior. The experimental series was concluded.
1 death (control not immunized).
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
28 May 43: 18 Jun 43:
Typhus Vaccine, Experimental Series VII
Carrying out of typhus vaccination for immunization with the following vaccine:
1. 20 persons with vaccine “Asid”.
2. 20 persons with vaccine “Asid Adsorbat” of the Anhaltinischen Serumwerke G. m. b. H., Berlin 7.
3. 20 persons with vaccine “Weigl” of the Institute for Typhus and Virus Research of the Army High Command, Army (OKH) Krakow (Eyer).
27 Aug 43:
Infection of—
20 persons in the series “Asid”.
20 persons in the series “Asid Adsorbat”.
20 persons in the series “Weigl”.
10 persons for control by intravenous injection of ¼ cc. each of fresh typhus-infected blood, strain Bu II, Passage I.
All experimental persons got very serious typhus.
7 Sep 43:
Chart and case history completed. The experimental series was concluded—
53 deaths (18 with “Asid”, 18 with “Asid Adsorbat”, 9 with “Weigl”, 8 control).
9 Sep 43:
Charts and case histories delivered to Berlin.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
8 Nov 43: 17 Jan 44:
High Immunization Experiment with Fraenkel Vaccines
According to an immunization plan of the Fraenkel high immunization for humans, the compatibility of Fraenkel-Formol-Toxoid (Formol-Toxin of bacterium perfringens) of humans was tested.
At first 15 experimental subjects were vaccinated 3 times at intervals of 14 days with 1 cc. Fraenkel-A1. F. T. (Fraenkel-Toxoid absorbed in aluminum hydroxide).
After an interval of 14 days, vaccinations with Fraenkel-Formol-Toxoid (Formol-Toxin of bacterium perfringens) as follows:
20 Dec 43 1 cc. subcutaneously left upper arm. 26 Dec 43 2 cc. subcutaneously right upper arm. 31 Dec 43 4 cc. subcutaneously left upper arm. 3 Jan 44 6 cc. subcutaneously right upper arm. 6 Jan 44 9 cc. subcutaneously right and left chest. 10 Jan 44 12 cc. subcutaneously both upper arms. 14 Jan 44 15 cc. subcutaneously right and left chest.
17 Jan 44:
Observation of vaccination reactions completed and sent away.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
19 Nov 43: 25 Nov 43:
Phosphorus-Rubber Incendiary Bomb Experiment
To test the preparation “R 17” on fresh phosphorus burns and to test “Echinacine” ointment and “Echinacine extern” for the later treatment of wounds from phosphorus burns (all from the Dr. Madaus Works in Dresden-Radebeul), burning tests were carried out on five experimental subjects on the above-mentioned dates with phosphorus, matter taken from an English incendiary bomb found near Leipzig.
5 Jan 44:
Records delivered to the Reich medical officer of the SS with the request to forward it to the Dr. Madaus Works.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
30-31 Dec 43:
Special Experiment on 4 Persons in the Koch-Hoven Case
By order of SS Gruppenfuehrer Nebe, the experiment was carried out in the presence of Dr. Morgen and Dr. Wehner.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
21 Dec 43: 16 Jan 44:
Control of Blood Plasma
By order of the Military Academy of Medicine, Berlin, 18 capsules of blood plasma were tested on 18 experimental persons for their compatibility on humans.
17 Jan 44:
Test records sent away.
25 Jan 44: 19 Feb 44:
Control of Blood Plasma
By order of the Military Academy of Medicine, Berlin, 30 more capsules of blood plasma were tested on 30 experimental persons for their compatibility on humans.
22 Feb 44:
Test papers sent to Reich medical officer of SS by courier.
DR. DING SS Sturmbannfuehrer
22 Jan 44: 31 Jan 44:
Vaccine Preliminary Experimental Series “Weimar”
To test compatibility and the immunization effect, five persons were immunized by three vaccinations with typhus vaccine “Weimar” (producer: Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS, Division for Typhus and Virus Research). On 22 Jan 44, 0.5 cc., on 27 Jan 44, 1.0 cc., on 31 Jan 44, 1.0 cc. were injected subcutaneously in the left or right upper arm.
For comparison, 5 persons were immunized on the above-mentioned dates with 0.5 cc., 0.5 cc., and 1 cc. of typhus egg-culture vaccine “Asid” (Anhaltinische Serumwerke, Berlin) and 5 persons were immunized with typhus vaccine “Giroud” (produced by the Pasteur Institute, Paris, from rabbit lungs), 1 cc. each.
25 Feb 44:
Twenty persons (15 immunized and 5 for control) were infected by subcutaneous injection of 1/20 cc. fresh typhus-infected blood.
Donor: G * * * Nr 713, 36 years old (6th day of sickness)
Strain Bu IV/Passage 13.
All those infected fell sick with slight to serious typhus.
5 Apr 44:
Chart and case history completed.
25 Apr 44:
The experimental series was concluded—
5 deaths (1 Asid, 1 Weimar, 3 Control).
DR. DING
8 Mar 44: 18 Mar 44:
Typhus Vaccine, Experimental Series VIII
Suggested by Colonel M. C. of the Air Corps, Oberstarzt Professor Rose the vaccine “Kopenhagen” (Ipsen-Murine vaccine), produced from mouse liver by the National Serum Institute in Copenhagen, was tested for its compatibility on humans.
20 persons were vaccinated for immunization by intramuscular injection into the Musculus Glutaeus Max. on the following dates: 8 Mar 44, 0.5 cc.; 13 Mar 44, 0.5 cc.; 18 Mar 44, 1.0 cc.
10 persons were contemplated for control and comparison.
4 of the 30 persons were eliminated before the start of the artificial injection, because of intermittent sickness.
16 Apr 44:
The remaining experimental persons were infected on 16 Apr 44 by subcutaneous injection of 1/20 cc. typhus sick fresh blood. Donor: W * * * No. 763, 27 years old (6th day of sickness)
Strain Bu VII/Passage 1.
The following fell sick:
a. 17 persons immunized; 9 medium, 8 seriously.
b. 9 control persons; 2 medium, 7 seriously.
2 Jun 44:
The experimental series was concluded.
13 Jun 44:
Chart and case history completed and sent to Berlin.
6 deaths (3 Kopenhagen, 3 Control).
DR. DING
26 May 44: 12 Jun 44:
Taking of Blood to Produce Typhus Convalescent Serum (FFRS)
To produce FFRS, 6,500 cc. blood were taken from 15 typhus convalescents between the 14th and 21st day after the fever had subsided, and sent by courier to the SS Main Operational Headquarters, office group D, office XVI (blood conservation) attn: SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Dr. Ellenbeck, in Berlin-Lichterfelde.
DING
22 May 44: 16 Jun 44:
Control of Blood Plasma
By order of the Military Academy for Medicine, Berlin, 44 capsules of blood plasma were tested on 44 experimental persons for their compatibility on humans.
19 Jun 44:
Test protocol sent to the senior hygienist of the Reich Medical Office of the SS and Police, Berlin.
DING
17 Jul 44: 27 Jul 44:
Typhus Vaccine, Experimental Series IX
The typhus vaccine “Weimar”, produced by the Division for Typhus and Virus Research of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS, Weimar-Buchenwald, was tested according to orders for its efficacy on humans.
This vaccine was produced from rabbit lungs according to the process Durand-Giroud. It contains virus (Rickettsia-Prowazeki) of self-isolating types deadened and suspended in 2/00 Formol.
20 persons were immunized on the following dates with 1 cc. each: 17, 22, 27 July 1944.
The vaccinations were made subcutaneously on the right or left upper arm.
For comparison 20 persons were immunized at the same time with “Weigl” vaccine, produced from lice by the Army High Command in Krakow according to regulations.
Furthermore, 20 persons were provided for control purposes.
6 Sep 44:
The 60 experimental persons were infected by subcutaneous injection of 1/10 cc. fresh typhus-infected blood each into the right upper arm.
All persons fell sick as follows:
a. “Weimar”—9 slightly, 7 slightly to medium, 4 medium.
b. “Weigl”—6 slightly to medium, 8 medium, 6 seriously.
c. Control—1 medium, 19 seriously.
17 Oct 44:
The experimental series was concluded.
4 Nov 44:
Chart and case history completed.
24 deaths (5 “Weigl”, 19 Control).
DR. SCHULER
13 Oct 44: 31 Oct 44:
Taking of Blood to Produce Typhus Convalescent Serum (FFRS)
To produce FFRS, 20.8 liters of blood were taken from 44 typhus convalescents between the 14th and 21st day after the fever had subsided, and sent by courier to the SS Main Operational Headquarters, office group D, office XVI (blood conservation)—SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ellenbeck, Berlin-Lichterfelde.
SCHULER
26 Oct 44:
Special experiment on 6 persons according to instructions of SS Oberfuehrer Lecturer Dr. Mrugowsky and RKPA (report on this orally).
SCHULER
13 Nov 44:
Therapeutic Experiment with Typhus Vaccine
By order of the senior hygienist of the Waffen SS of 12 August 44, it is to be determined whether the course of typhus can be tempered by the intravenous or intramuscular injection of typhus vaccine.
For the experimental series 20 persons were considered, of these, 10 for intravenous injection (Series A), 10 for intramuscular injection (Series B) and, in addition, 5 persons for control.
On 13 Nov 44, the 25 experimental persons were infected by subcutaneous injection of 1/10 cc. each fresh typhus-infected blood. All persons fell sick as follows: Series A—10 serious; Series B—1 medium 9 serious; Control—5 serious.
22 Dec 44:
The experimental series was concluded.
2 Jan 45:
Chart and case history completed.
19 deaths (9 Series A, 6 Series B, 4 Control).
DR. SCHULER
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-257 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 283
EXTRACT FROM THE AFFIDAVIT OF DR. ERWIN SCHULER, 20 JULY 1945, CONCERNING TYPHUS EXPERIMENTS
* * * * *
Hoven’s Share in Block 46
In February 1942 the order to conduct typhus experiments came through. I was chosen to carry out these experiments. Since I had my office in Berlin, a deputy had to be appointed for my absence in Buchenwald. Reichsarzt SS Dr. Grawitz, in agreement with the leading doctor of the concentration camps, Lolling, appointed SS 1st Lt. Dr. Hoven as station doctor at Buchenwald. My presence in Buchenwald always lasted only a few days, while the experiments and the typhus epidemic lasted about 10 weeks.
Dr. Hoven had orders to get the prisoners (professional criminals sentenced to death), who had been released for the experiments from the Reich Security Office and the chief of the concentration camps, for vaccination or infection after an examination of their physical fitness.
As deputy, he often ordered Dr. Plaza to take over the guard of Block 46. Dr. Plaza, in addition, continued to work independently under Kapo Dietzsch.
For experiments that did not result in death, such as the effectiveness of yellow fever vaccine, 200 to 300 volunteers stood in readiness. This I know from rosters that Dietzsch showed me once. Such experiments did not only take place in the block but also, in a certain case, in the camp itself. For that experiment about 80 Dutchmen were taken; they did not have to work and they were given extra rations. For that they had to have their temperature taken three times daily and every two days they had to give 10 cc. blood for a blood count.
Hoven worked as my deputy until my permanent entrance into Buchenwald in August 1943. In September he was arrested.
In the year 1942 he had to work a lot by himself, since I contracted typhus and after that was sent to a rest home. Immediately after that I was detailed to the Pasteur Institute in Paris. During this time the sick reports bore the signature of Hoven or Plaza.
[Signed] DR. SCHULER
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-571 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 285
1943 WORK REPORT FOR DEPARTMENT FOR TYPHUS AND VIRUS RESEARCH
Weimar-Buchenwald, January 1944.
Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS Department for Typhus and Virus Research
Work Report for the Year 1943
I. Division for Typhus and Virus Research, Clinical Section
1 December 42 to 20 Experiment with typhus vaccines “EM” of the Behring February 43 Works, carried out on 20 experimental subjects. 10 January to 20 Experiment with typhus therapeutics, Acridine and February Methylene Blue, carried out on 47 experimental subjects. 10 January to 17 May Tests with yellow fever vaccines, carried out on 435 experimental subjects. 25 January to 28 Experiment with typhus vaccines “Riga” and April “Zuerich,” carried out on 40 experimental subjects. 24 March to 20 April Performance of a large-scale experiment according to the scheme of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS, carried out by SS Standartenfuehrer Lecturer Dr. Mrugowsky, with smallpox, typhoid, paratyphus A and B, cholera, typhus, and diphtheria, on 45 experimental subjects. 31 March to 11 April Experiment with typhus therapeutics Acridine Granulate and Rutenol, carried out on 40 persons. 11 April to 24 May Preliminary experiments with fresh blood infected with typhus for the purpose of investigating an infallible method of infection, carried out on 41 persons. 11 April—not yet Infections with typhus so far applied to 47 persons. terminated 24 April to 1 June Experiment with typhus therapeutics Acridine Granulate (2) and Rutenol (2) carried out on 40 experimental subjects. 28 May to 9 Experiment with typhus vaccines “Asid,” September “Asid-Adsorbat,” and “Weigl” carried out on 70 persons. 10 June to 8 August Experiment with typhoid therapeutics “Otrhomin,” carried out on 40 experimental subjects. 8 November—not yet Gangrene—high immunization experiment, carried out terminated on 15 experimental subjects. 19 November—not yet Experiments with burns by means of phosphorus rubber terminated incendiary bombs carried out on 5 persons. 21 November—not yet Control of blood conservation. terminated 23 December to 31 Special experiment carried out on 4 persons. December
II. Division for Typhus and Virus Research, Production of Vaccines
10 August Termination of the exterior alterations on the prisoners’ Block 50 in Buchenwald concentration camp. 16 August Opening of the Division for Typhus and Virus Research. Transfer of the head of the department, SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding to Buchenwald. Beginning of the preliminary work for production. 20 September First infection of 3 guinea pigs with typhus-infected blood, strain Bu I. Up to the end of the year 8 successful infections from this strain and positive adaptation of the strain to mice (with only 2 infections due to lack of these experimental animals), as well as to the lungs of rabbits through mice with the brains of guinea pigs as starting material. 24 September Isolation of the strain Bu II on 3 guinea pigs with typhus-infected blood. After successful adaptation at the end of the year 8th infection. Performance of 4 infections of mice. Great quantities of standard type Rickettsia. Furthermore successful adaptation of the strain Bu II to the lungs of rabbits through mice. 9 October Due to lack of mice experiment to adapt the mixed strains Bu I and Bu II directly from infected brains of guinea pigs to the lungs of rabbits. At the end of the year this strain is contained fully virulent in the 6th infection of rabbits. Since the 5th infection, particularly, great quantities of Rickettsia on the lungs of rabbits. The results of the direct adaptation experiments are being checked by pathogenic and skin virulence tests. 12 October Reported to the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS that the experiments for the breeding of Rickettsia strains on the lungs of rabbits were successful and production was only handicapped by the lack of the refrigerator and of the Calabeius meat-triturator model. 22 October Isolation and transfer to guinea pigs of the strain Bu IV of subjects infected with typhus after strain Bu III had died during the first infection. In this case the lack of mice was once more especially noticeable. First half of Outbreak of an epidemic among 375 recently supplied November mice to which 289 animals succumbed within a few days. As the remaining mice were not healthy either, they were killed. 11 November Vaccination of rabbits with infected lungs of mice. Later on, performance of two more infections of rabbits. Experiments are a complete success; large quantities of Rickettsia with well-developed bacilli-shaped elements on the lungs of the rabbits. 30 November Successful direct adaptation of the strain Bu IV from the brains of infected guinea pigs to the lungs of rabbits. After performance of another infection of rabbits, mixing of the strain with the strain Bu I and Bu II. All infections continue to be successfully carried out. 4 December Experiment, by making use of the night frosts and by using the handshake technique without refrigerator and without Calabeius, to produce the first sample of vaccine. For this purpose, lungs of rabbits of the 5th or 6th infection series of the mixed strain Bu I and Bu II, which are rich in Rickettsia, were used. 14 December Centrifugation of the suspension produced on 4 December. 15 December Starting of the refrigerator which had arrived in the meantime. Result of the examination of the sediment of the vaccine produced on 4 December: after 2 hours of centrifugation great quantities of Rickettsia (bacilli-shaped, point-shaped, dumbell-shaped). The sterility control proved the suspension free from bacteria. 17 December 4 guinea pigs were given intraperitoneal injections of 1 cc. of vaccine each, in order to check whether the vaccines produced on 4 December agreed with them. The guinea pigs did not show any alterations of voracity nor of temperature and were still alive at the end of the year. 24 December Vaccination of a series of 10 guinea pigs, with our own vaccine and Giroud vaccine, in order to infect them later on with typhus-infected blood. 29 December The reactions for skin virulence according to Giroud show a virulence of the suspension at a dilution of 1:2.000 to 1:4.000.
For the performance of the breeding experiments 56 mice, 134 guinea pigs, and 112 rabbits were used up to the present date.
In the serological department 1226 proteus OX 19 agglutinations, 3 Gruber-Widal tests, and 4 Takata-Ara reactions were performed for the SS infirmary and Buchenwald concentration camp and its branch camps.
For our own requirements up to this date, about 1,500 cubic cm. of typhoid-paratyphus B deposits have been produced, in order to reduce the power of resistance of the experimental animals.
III. Inspections of the Division for Typhus and Virus Research
8 February Inspection of the clinical section by Oberstabsarzt Dr. Eyer of the Institute for Typhus and Virus Research of the Army High Command, Krakow and by Oberstabsarzt Dr. Schmidt of the Army Medical Inspectorate. 24 August Inspection of the department by the Director of the Central Building Section of the Waffen SS and Police, SS Obersturmfuehrer Huehnefeld, and discussion of necessary improvements. 26 August Inspection by the Higher SS and Police leader in Kassel, SS Obergruppenfuehrer and General of the Waffen SS, the Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and by the commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp. 3 September Inspection by the head of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS, SS Standartenfuehrer Lecturer Dr. Mrugowsky. 29 September Inspection by the Chief of Office D III in the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office (WVHA), SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Dr. Lolling and Professor Dr. Schenk.
IV. Official Trips by the Head of the Division for Typhus and Virus Research
28 February to 6 SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding ordered to Paris March for the purchase of laboratory equipment for the Division for Typhus and Virus Research Weimar-Buchenwald, and for the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS. 27 April to 1 May Once more on detached service to Paris for the same purpose. 25 June to 15 August Ordered sick leave at Sellin on Ruegen. 27 August Conferences with the Zeiss firm at Jena, with the Landesgewerbearzt and in the University Library. 4 September Inspection in the village of “X” with the Head of the Hygiene Institute, SS Standartenfuehrer Lecturer Dr. Mrugowsky, with the Standortarzt of the Waffen SS Weimar-Buchenwald, and with the adjutant of the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp. 8 September Another inspection in the village of “X”. 16September Purchase of laboratory requisites at Jena, conference with the Zeiss firm concerning the alteration of 2 microscopes. 23 September Purchase of laboratory requisites at Erfurt. 29 September to 4 Conference in Berlin with the Head of the Hygiene October Institute of the Waffen SS, SS Standartenfuehrer Lecturer Dr. Mrugowsky. 13 October Inspection at “Dora” and “Laura” with the commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp. 21 October Inspection of the branch commands Leipzig Wernigerode, Schoenebeck, and “Dora” with the camp commandant. 25 October to 15 On detached service with the German Hygiene November Institute for the Eastern Territories in Riga, and subsequently conference with the Madaus firm in Dresden at the instance of SS Obergruppenfuehrer and General of the Waffen SS von Woyrsch.
SS Sturmbannfuehrer.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-121 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 293
LETTER FROM HAAGEN TO HIRT, 15 NOVEMBER 1943, CONCERNING PRISONERS TO BE USED AS EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS FOR TESTS WITH TYPHUS VACCINE
15 November 1943 Secret
To: Professor Dr. Hirt Anatomical Institute of the Reich University Strasbourg
On 13-11-43, an inspection was made of the prisoners that were furnished to me in order to determine their suitability for the tests which have been planned for the typhus vaccines. Of the 100 prisoners that have been selected in their former camp, 18 died during transport. Only 12 prisoners are in such a condition that they can be used for these experiments, provided their strength can first be restored. This should take about 2-3 months. The remaining prisoners are in such a condition that they cannot be used at all for these purposes.
I might point out that the experiments are for the purpose of testing a new vaccine. Such experiments only lead to fruitful results when they are carried out with normally nourished subjects whose physical powers are comparable to those of the soldiers. Therefore, experiments with the present group of prisoners cannot yield usable results, particularly since a large part of them are apparently afflicted with maladies which make them unsuitable for these experiments. A long period of rest and of good nourishment would not alter this fact.
I request, therefore, that you send me 100 prisoners, between 20-40 years of age, who are healthy and who are so constituted physically that they furnish comparable material.
Heil Hitler! STABSARZT PROF. DR. E. HAAGEN
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-122 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 298
LETTER DICTATED BY ROSE, ADDRESSED TO HAAGEN, 13 DECEMBER 1943, CONCERNING EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS FOR VACCINE EXPERIMENTS
Professor Rose, Chief Surgeon.
O. U., 13 December 1943.
Stabsarzt Professor Haagen Institute of Hygiene of the Reich University Strasbourg, Alsace, Adolf Kussmaulstrasse 3
Dear Herr Haagen,
Many thanks for your letter of 8 December. I regard it as unnecessary to make a renewed special request to the SS Main Office in addition to the request you have already made. I request that, in procuring persons for vaccination in your experiment, you requisition a corresponding number of persons for vaccination with the Copenhagen vaccine. This has the advantage, as also appeared in the Buchenwald experiments, that the testing of various vaccines simultaneously gives a clearer idea of their value than the testing of one vaccine alone.
With best wishes, Heil Hitler! Yours (Dictated by Prof. Rose and signed after his departure) By order [Signed] SCHWARZE Private, 1st Class (Med. Corps)
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-123 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 303
LETTER FROM HAAGEN TO HIRT, 9 MARCH 1944, CONCERNING EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED WITH TYPHUS VACCINE AND REQUESTING EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS
9 May 1944
Main Office SS through Professor Dr. Hirt Anatomical Institute of the Reich University Strasbourg
I enclose herewith a carbon copy of a paper on our experiments with a dry typhus vaccine. The paper was sent to the Chief of the Luftwaffe Medical Service as a manuscript, with the request for permission to publish it. It constitutes a report concerning further experiments with a typhus vaccine which has not been made sterile by chemical agents or by heating. As may be seen from the results, it has been possible to produce a vaccine which provides not only an antitoxic immunity but also a definite anti-infection immunity which is of particularly practical significance. However, it is clearly pointed out that vaccination is followed by a rather long fever reaction and, therefore, its introduction cannot yet be recommended. Further tests are now in progress to alter the vaccine so that, without losing its antigenic property, it will produce so weak a reaction that no general indisposition will result. These tests will be made by reducing the dose or by storing the vaccine for a longer interval.
To carry out this research, experimental subjects will again be needed. I, therefore, again request that subjects be furnished to me for this purpose. In order to obtain results which are accurate and which can be statistically evaluated, I ask that 200 persons be furnished to me for inoculation. I may point out that they must be in a physical condition similar to that of members of the armed forces.
It is highly desirable that I again be permitted to carry out these experiments at camp Natzweiler.
PROFESSOR DR. E. HAAGEN
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-139 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 317
LETTER FROM DR. GRUNSKE TO HAAGEN, 7 MARCH 1944, CONCERNING REPORTS ON YELLOW FEVER VIRUS EXPERIMENTS REQUESTED BY A JAPANESE MEDICAL OFFICER
High Command of the Navy Flottenarzt Dr. Grunske
Berlin, 7 March 1944 Landgrafenstr. 12 Tel: 24 9591 Ext 241
To: Professor Dr. Haagen Strasbourg Hygiene Institute of the University
Dear Professor:
In connection with my letter of 26 February and your long distance telephone call of 6 March, I must advise you that the Japanese Oberstabsarzt has in the meantime contacted Oberstarzt Professor Dr. Rose of the Luftwaffe Medical Service, and that the latter has promised to secure for him from Strasbourg all the accounts concerning the yellow fever virus experiments which are important to him. Therefore, Oberstartz Dr. Rose will give you further details. I therefore ask that the matter be considered closed between us.
With fraternal esteem and Heil Hitler! Respectfully yours [Signed] DR. GRUNSKE Flottenarzt
TRANSLATION OF ROSE DOCUMENT 16 ROSE DEFENSE EXHIBIT 12
EXTRACTS FROM THE AFFIDAVIT OF PROFESSOR OTTO LENZ, DIRECTOR OF THE ROBERT KOCH INSTITUTE IN BERLIN
* * * * *
Professor Rose was not the “typhus expert” of the Robert Koch Institute, nor did he work on typhus there. But he was the Chief of the Department of Tropical Medicine, and was in this capacity, with the exception of one field of research, (that of the transmission of dysentery and typhoid bacilli by insects) exclusively concerned with tropical diseases and parasites (insects).
The typhus expert of the institute was rather Professor Haagen, the Chief of the Virus Division. After his departure, following his appointment to the Chair of Hygiene at Strasbourg University, Professor Gildemeister, the then President of the Institute, continued the research on typhus.
Thus, various physicians, among them Dr. Ding, received instruction on typhus from Professor Haagen in the Virus Division, but not from Professor Rose.
Owing to the destruction by air raids of many of the files of the Robert Koch Institute, I can no longer ascertain whether Professor Rose was associated with the decisions taken on typhus experiments.
Several of the men who were at that time departmental chiefs, however, assured me unanimously, that this had not been the case.
* * * * *
Finally, nothing is known of Professor Rose’s having had the opportunity to become aware of Geheimrat Lockemann’s chemo-therapeutical experiments (chemo-therapy of abdominal typhoid with otrhomin). The only research on abdominal typhoid carried on in Rose’s department consisted of the experiments on the role of the house fly in the transmission of dysentery caused by bacteria and of abdominal typhoid.
* * * * *
TRANSLATION OF ROSE DOCUMENT 46 ROSE DEFENSE EXHIBIT 20
EXTRACT FROM A CERTIFIED STATEMENT, 4 MARCH 1947, OF J. OERSKOV, M. D., DIRECTOR OF THE STATE SERUM INSTITUTE IN COPENHAGEN
* * * * *
In answer to questions asked us about the visit of Professor Rose, I can say the following:
to 1. Did Professor Rose, when he visited the Institute at the end of September 1943, request the Copenhagen Institute to take up the production of the typhus vaccine from R. pr. in order to help overcome the great shortage of typhus vaccine? Yes.
to 2. Was this request refused by Director Oerskov for valid reasons? Yes.
to 3. Was R. then taken to visit Dr. Ipsen’s section?
I do not remember this, but it is apparent from Dr. Ipsen’s experimental records that Professor Rose actually was in Dr. Ipsen’s laboratory on 24 September and probably discussed these problems with him. Unfortunately, Dr. Ipsen is at present in America on a study trip and will not return before June or July. It is, however, apparent from our records that if Profesor Rose ever received samples of our vaccine it could only have been a small quantity, and neither I nor Dr. Ipsen’s colleagues have ever heard anything of the possible effects of our vaccine.
Through the Danish Red Cross we sent our vaccine to Danish as well as to Norwegian prisoners of war camps, so that the vaccine was given only to Danish or Norwegian colleagues. We heard from Danish colleagues that the effect of these vaccinations was good.
I can add that I am grateful to Professor Rose because he probably helped to prevent our Institute’s being compelled to take over the production of typhus vaccine. It is entirely unpredictable what calamities might have arisen if we had been forced to take up the production of this vaccine.
[Signed] J. OERSKOV Director of the State Serum Institute Not. K. J. No. 1974/47 EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF PROSECUTION WITNESS EUGEN KOGON[63]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
* * * * *
MR. MCHANEY: Now, will you please explain to the Tribunal in your own words exactly how these typhus experiments were carried out.
WITNESS KOGON: After 40 to 60 people, sometimes up to 120, had been detailed for a series of experiments, one-third of them were separated, and the other two-thirds were either vaccinated with a protective treatment, or it was otherwise administered to them, if it was a chemical therapeutical treatment. Those people who were protected against typhus remained in Block 46 for several weeks until their infection with Rickettsias Prowazeki, the typhus agent. The first selection, that is to say, the first third, was also infected together with them. They served as so-called control persons, with the help of whom it was possible to ascertain whether the infection took and what course the disease took in their cases, so that this course could be compared with that of those who had been vaccinated and then infected. The infection was performed in various ways. Either typhus was transferred through fresh blood injected intravenously or intramuscularly. At the beginning, too, by scratching the skin, or by making a small incision in the arm. In the initial stages, two cubic centimeters of fresh blood infected with typhus were used for the infection, unless the infection concerned was one with an infectious solution. Two cubic centimeters of fresh blood containing typhus were then usually injected into the veins. Later on that dosage was reduced to 1/20 of 1 cubic centimeter because the large quantity of 2 cubic centimeters would penetrate any security achieved by the vaccination. Even 1/20 of a cubic centimeter of fresh blood containing typhus was usually enough to produce a very high degree of typhus if injected into the veins. In the course of years the typhus cultures used at Buchenwald had been cultivated from man to man and had increased their strength, their virulence to a considerable degree, so that the very smallest quantity was sufficient. I suggested to Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding in 1944 that in order to increase the scientific value he should reduce the quantity of these injections to the extreme minimum so that the so-called threshold value could be ascertained—in other words, so that the artificial infection should be as similar to normal infection by lice as possible. He turned this suggestion down because he believed that then no convincing proof could be achieved of the real strength of the protective treatment used. A third category of the experimental persons was used to maintain the typhus cultures. Those were the so-called passage persons, amounting to three to five persons per month. They were merely infected for the purpose of ensuring a constant supply of fresh blood containing typhus. Very nearly all those persons died. I do not think I am exaggerating if I say that 95 percent of these cases were fatal.
Q. Witness, do you mean to say that they deliberately infected three to five persons a month with typhus just to have the viruses alive and available in blood?
A. Just for that particular purpose.
Q. Can you tell the Tribunal approximately how many of those persons died who were infected just to keep the viruses alive?
A. From the so-called passage persons, as I have already said, between three to five were used per month, that is, when I was working for Dr. Ding-Schuler—every month until the end of the Buchenwald concentration camp. That is to say, from April 1943 until March 1945. As far as the previous period is concerned, I only know that passage persons had been used, but I do not know the figures.
Q. Now, Witness, were experimental persons also infected with lice?
A. As far as I know, only one single experiment took place in Buchenwald where an original infection with typhus was performed with lice. The infected lice were brought from the OKH Institute in Krakow by a courier and were taken to Block 46. There they were kept in small cages which were applied to the thighs of the experimental persons, and a number of persons, I do not know how many, were infected. Some of our comrades let a few lice escape in a room of Block 46, but they kept them under control and reported to the Kapo that infected lice had escaped from the cages. Kapo [inmate trusty] Arthur Dietzsch immediately reported this to the camp physician, Dr. Hoven, who was deputizing at that time for Dr. Ding-Schuler. Dr. Hoven, following Dietzsch’s advice, then ordered the destruction of these infected lice. A second delivery from Krakow was also burned because it was not desired that experiments should be performed which entailed such danger for the camp.
* * * * *
Q. Can you tell the Tribunal whether these experimental subjects suffered to any appreciable extent during the course of these typhus experiments?
A. There we must draw a strict dividing line between the general mental condition of such experimental persons and the physical condition caused by this disease. Every man in the camp knew that Block 46 was a dreadful place. Only a very few people in the camp had an exact idea of what was going on in Block 46. A dreadful horror seized anyone who was brought into any kind of connection with this block. If people were selected and taken to Block 46 through the sick bay, then they knew that the affair was a fatal one. The untold horror which was attached to this block made things even worse. Apart from this, it was generally known in the camp that Kapo Arthur Dietzsch exercised iron discipline in Block 46. There the cat-o’-nine-tails really ruled supreme. Everyone, therefore, who went to Block 46 as an experimental person did not only have to expect death, and under certain circumstances a very long drawn out and frightful death, but also torture and the complete removal of the last remnants of personal freedom. In this mental condition these experimental persons waited in the sick bays for an unknown period of time. They waited for the day or for the night when something would be done to them; they did not know what it would be, but they guessed that it would be some frightful form of death. If they were vaccinated, then sometimes the most horrible scenes took place, because the patients were afraid the injections were lethal. Kapo Arthur Dietzsch had to restore order with iron discipline. After a certain period, when the actual illness had set in after the infection, ordinary symptoms of typhus would appear, which, as is well known, is one of the most serious illnesses. The infection, as I have already described to you, became so powerful during the last two and a half years that the typhus almost always appeared in its most horrible form. There were cases of raving madness, delirium, people would refuse to eat, and a large percentage of them would die. Those who experienced the disease in a milder form, perhaps because their constitutions were stronger or because the vaccine was effective, were forced continuously to observe the death struggles of the others. And all this took place in an atmosphere hardly possible to imagine. Just what happened to those people who survived the typhus was something which they did not know during the period of convalescence. Would they remain in Block 46 to be used for other purposes? Would they be used as assistants? Would they be feared as surviving witnesses of the experiments on human beings and therefore killed? All this was something which they did not know and which aggravated the conditions of these experiments.
EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT ROSE[64]
CROSS-EXAMINATION
* * * * *
MR. MCHANEY: When did you first learn that Haagen was conducting experiments on concentration camp inmates?
DEFENDANT ROSE: That Haagen was performing experiments on concentration camp inmates? I don’t believe that even today, but I knew that he carried out vaccinations in concentration camps. I cannot remember when I first learned of it—probably in 1943.
Q. Well, you remember the letter in December 1943?
A. I certainly must have known it by then because there I refer to it.
Q. Well, did you know about this sordid occasion when Haagen had 18 men who had been assigned to him die on transport?
A. I never learned anything about that at the time. I found it out from the files. I never knew that prisoners were especially taken to these concentration camps in order to be vaccinated.
Q. What would you have done if you had known about it? Wouldn’t that have given you an indication that maybe things were not so nice in the concentration camp, or maybe proper care wasn’t being taken of the inmates in these experiments?
A. If I had learned anything about it I probably would have reacted exactly as Haagen did. The documents he wrote to the SS office prove that one cannot conduct any experiments of any consequence on such unfortunate people. The record is in the documents here. If I had learned about it, I would probably have reacted in exactly the same way, perhaps more violently.
Q. Well, I should have hoped so.
A. I beg your pardon. I didn’t understand you.
Q. I should have hoped you would have reacted somewhat more violently than Haagen apparently did.
A. That is possible. Our temperaments are different.
Q. You recall Fraeulein Eyer testified that Haagen sent reports every three months to the Medical Inspector of the Luftwaffe. Do you agree to that testimony?
A. I heard the testimony. Yesterday in my direct examination I commented on it. If Haagen had reported every three months I certainly wouldn’t have forgotten it. I had many things on my mind during the war, but such an exemplary condition of reporting would certainly have impressed itself on my memory. It is quite out of the question that the Medical Inspectorate received a report from Haagen every 3 months. I said yesterday that I consider Fraeulein Eyer’s testimony quite credible, because in view of the number of offices with which Haagen was in connection, and from which he received reports, there were so many reports and accounts necessary that it is a marvel that Fraeulein Eyer didn’t say she had to write a report every month. I explained with the aid of the documents what obligation to report is apparent from the documents alone. You probably haven’t had an opportunity to read the record yet, but as soon as the record is ready you will be able to see that. I don’t think there is any purpose in holding up the proceedings with that any further.
Q. And you are quite clear that Haagen never suggested to you that he was going to carry out infection experiments with typhus after vaccination?
A. That is not known to me.
Q. Let’s have a look at Document NO-1059. This will be marked as Prosecution Exhibit 490 for identification. Now, will you please read this letter in a loud and resonant voice?
A. Perhaps I may see the photostat.
Q. Will you read the letter aloud, please?
A. (Reading)
“29 November 1943—Registered “To Oberstarzt Professor Dr. Rose “Inspectorate of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe “Saalow (Post Office Zossen-Land) “Dear Herr Rose:
“Enclosed I am sending you the report about our experiments with dehydrated typhus vaccine which I promised you several days ago. As I intend to publish the findings, I have already written the report in manuscript form. After it has been reviewed, I would like it to be submitted to the competent authorities for their approval of its publication in the ‘Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie’ [Central Periodical for Bacteriology].
“One hundred persons from a local concentration camp were put at my disposal for immunization and subsequent infection. Unfortunately, these people were in such a poor physical condition that eighteen of them already died during transport; the remainder were likewise in such bad physical shape that they could not be used for inoculation purposes. In the meantime I have requested 100 additional persons from the SS Main Office, who should, however, be in a normal physical and nutritional condition, so that the experiments can be carried out on material which at least approaches the physical condition of our soldiers.
“For the time being, we will concentrate on an epidemic culture in the form of a virus, which we have received from Giroud in the meantime. This seems to be a very good culture.
“With best regards, “Heil Hitler! “Yours—
“Enclosure: one report.” And no signature.
This is the matter which I discussed yesterday. Haagen’s plan to test the inoculation reactions to his live and virulent dry vaccine by prevaccination with dead vaccine to weaken the reaction. That is the same matter.
Q. I thought you said about two minutes ago that you didn’t know of the incident where eighteen of the inmates put at Haagen’s disposal had died during transport.
A. Yes, that’s true. That’s what I said. I had forgotten about it. I thought that I had learned it for the first time from the records. If I had remembered it, I would, of course, not have exposed myself by denying it. But now I see this letter. It is obviously a carbon copy. I must assume that on 29 November 1943 the mail was still fairly normal, and that I received the letter, since a report is mentioned which I was to deal with. It was apparently one of Haagen’s papers on his dry vaccine, on which my knowledge is based and on account of which I can give any information here at all as to Haagen’s experiments. This knowledge of mine goes back to these papers of his which he wanted to publish.
Q. It would appear that in spite of your fiery temperament your reaction was even less significant than Haagen’s himself, wouldn’t it?
A. Since I was not concerned in the matter, as it was something between Haagen and the concentration camp, there was no reaction in this case. If somebody else tells me that he has had direct contact with abuses, then there is no occasion for me to interfere, since that is settled between the persons concerned. I had nothing to do with the concentration camps. I did not have to carry out any inoculations there.
Q. And you insist that the words, “one hundred persons from a local concentration camp were put at my disposal for immunization and subsequent infection” really don’t mean subsequent infection at all, but a subsequent immunization?
A. With the live and virulent dry vaccine, yes.
Q. Well, that is certainly an inarticulate way of saying that, isn’t it?
A. This is correspondence between experts, and they know what it’s about.
Q. You state yourself that you are still not sure exactly what Haagen did, although you were down there in the middle of 1943 and got him back on the pay roll of the Luftwaffe, and you knew he was staying at the laboratory and you knew he was going to work on typhus vaccines, but you now sit here and say you don’t know exactly what he was doing.
A. Yes. That is true. I have given considerable information here about Haagen’s work, and I have gone to considerable pains to get it all together; but of course I can’t give you complete information, simply because all these experiments were not under our direction and supervision.
Q. Herr Professor, the first time the question of subsequent infection came up was in a letter dated 1944, and you spent the best part of a day rationalizing “subsequent infection” as meaning something entirely different—that it was simply a subsequent vaccination, after the man had already been vaccinated by the dead vaccine. Now, if you were told on 29 November 1943 that he was going to carry out immunization and subsequent infection experiments, you certainly would have known as a matter of fact what he was doing, and you would not need to speculate on this stand as you did yesterday. These words are entirely susceptible to the meaning that they mean exactly what they say.
A. At this stage of his experiments Haagen did not yet have a fully developed vaccine. He was working exclusively on the problem of weakening the reaction to this live virulent vaccine. That was the problem he was dealing with at the end of 1943 and the beginning of 1944. He was looking for various methods of achieving this aim.
Q. What does he mean in the last paragraph when he says, “For the time being, we will concentrate on an epidemic culture in the form of a virus, which we have received from Giroud in the meantime”?
A. That means that up to that time he had worked with a murine strain, and that now for the development of the dry vaccine he wanted in addition to use a strain of Rickettsia-Prowazeki.
Q. Well, I now want to point out to you again that I am having considerable difficulty in construing the word “infection” to mean vaccination.
A. Yes. I admit that many of these documents are written in a confusing way, but I believe that I can remember the whole matter adequately enough to know what the problem is. The vaccine was not developed enough to be used in vaccination without reaction and then to determine the effect. There were strong fever reactions, and the problem was how to avoid this fever reaction.
Q. Well, why call that infection?
A. That is a similar condition biologically. An injection of a live, a virulent vaccine, from the biological point of view, is an infection. This expression is used often enough, but it is an infection which one can absolutely control.
Q. And after receipt of this letter, you then wrote him on the 13th of December—and this is Document NO-122, Exhibit 298—you sent him the Copenhagen vaccine, didn’t you, and asked him to test it in his experiments on his concentration camp inmates, didn’t you, just as they did in Buchenwald, as you put it?
A. I beg your pardon?
Q. You sent him the Copenhagen vaccine after receiving this letter of 29 November, and asked him to test that in his experiments on concentration camp inmates.
A. When this discussion of the Copenhagen vaccine took place, Haagen was specially interested in it, because it was a murine vaccine; and since he could not yet control fever reaction with murine vaccine—he only succeeded in doing that at the beginning of 1944 by storing the vaccine for a considerable time—he was no longer interested in this Copenhagen vaccine. But at the end of 1943, when he still had the same difficulties as Blanc with the reactions with the live murine vaccine, he was considerably interested in the Copenhagen vaccine. For it was the only vaccine from murine virus available in Europe at the time.
Q. You sent it to him, told him to test it just like they did in a series of experiments in Buchenwald, didn’t you?
A. I don’t remember that.
Q. Well, you remember mentioning Buchenwald to Haagen in your letter of 13 December 1943?
A. Oh, that’s what you mean. Yes, I pointed it out as a parallel, because several vaccines were tested in Buchenwald for their effect against infection, and Haagen in Strasbourg wanted to test various vaccine for their reaction effect.
Q. You sent that Copenhagen vaccine to Buchenwald also to be tested?
A. No.
* * * * *
Q. Herr Professor, did Mrugowsky ever request you to give him vaccines for use in typhus experiments?
A. No.
Q. Did you ever discuss the question as to whether the louse could be infected by a vaccinated typhus patient with the defendant Mrugowsky?
A. That could be possible. This question played an important role for a time in the discussion about the vaccines and their effectiveness. We had some old Polish observations available to the effect that if vaccinated persons received typhus in spite of the vaccination, no further illnesses could be transferred by such persons. It is possible throughout, since this question was of considerable importance that something like that could well have been discussed by Mrugowsky and myself. We talked a lot about that question.
Q. Did you ever negotiate with Mrugowsky concerning vaccines to be tested in Buchenwald?
A. No.
Q. Let’s look at Document NO-1754.
(Document submitted to the witness.)
MR. MCHANEY: I will ask that document NO-1754 be marked as Prosecution Exhibit 491 for identification.
Q. (Continuing) Herr Professor, will you read this document aloud?
A. “Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS; Journal No. 795/42
“Berlin W 15, Knesebeckstrasse 43/44; 16 May 1942
“To Oberfeldarzt Professor Dr. Rose; Berlin N. W., Foehrerstrasse 2
“Robert Koch Institute “Dear Professor:
“The Reich Physician SS and Police has consented to the execution of experiments to test typhus vaccines. May I therefore ask you to let me have the vaccines?
“The other question which you raised, as to whether the louse can be infected by a typhus patient vaccinated for protection, will also be dealt with. In principle, this has also been approved. There are, however, still some difficulties at the moment about the practical execution, since we have at present no facilities for breeding lice.
“Your suggestion to use Olzscha has been passed on to the personnel department of the SS Medical Office. It will be given consideration in due course.
“With kind regards, and
“Heil Hitler! “Yours “Dr. MRUGOWSKY, SS Obersturmbannfuehrer.”
There is a footnote to this letter, and I quote:
“According to telephone inquiry, Dr. Mrugowsky asks to be called by telephone after Professor Dr. Rose’s return. Dr. Mrugowsky will not be in Berlin in June. His deputy, Dr. Ding, is informed. 20 May 1942.”
This letter shows that Dr. Mrugowsky once informed me that the Reich Physician SS and Police had consented to the testing of typhus vaccines. He then asks me to send him these vaccines. I cannot recall what vaccines he is speaking of.
Then the question is discussed about lice being infected by typhus patients vaccinated for protection.
I admitted that a possibility exists, and I said that this question was at one time discussed with me.
The final paragraph says that one of my assistants had been drafted into the Waffen SS and that I endeavored to have him used in the hygiene service.
Q. Herr Professor, let’s go to the footnote first. What are the initials “B. L.” at the end of that footnote for? Isn’t that Frau Block?
A. Yes, that would be Frau Block, yes.
Q. And Frau Block has been in touch with Dr. Mrugowsky. She notes that Dr. Ding, who I suppose you will admit is Dr. Ding, has been informed. In view of this note we can pretty well disregard the testimony of your witness Frau Block before this Tribunal, can’t we? She testified that you had not corresponded with Mrugowsky, didn’t she?
A. She said that she could not recollect any correspondence with Mrugowsky, but you will see from my documents which you have before you, that this correspondence in effect was so small that it is quite understandable if she does not remember it in detail. It is a result of my express order that you have these documents available. I ordered that in my institute at Pfaffenrode no documents should be destroyed under any circumstances. There is a written document available to show that I gave such an order.
Q. Herr Professor, this letter is in response to one which you wrote to Mrugowsky, isn’t it?
A. That’s possible.
Q. And in the letter that you wrote to Mrugowsky you asked him to have the Bucharest vaccine tested in Buchenwald, didn’t you?
A. I told you before in great detail that I could not remember this matter about the Bucharest vaccine. If you have a letter before you about this matter, it would, of course, give me a possibility to refresh my memory.
Q. I should think this letter would refresh your memory, Herr Professor, particularly in view of the Ding diary, which has an entry shortly following the date on this letter where Ding carries out his experiments with the Bucharest vaccine among others, and says in the diary that the vaccine was obtained from you; and Mrugowsky in this letter asked you to send him the vaccines which you have mentioned in your previous letter. There’s really no doubt about it, is there, Professor?
A. This possibly becomes apparent.
Q. And was this person Olzscha mentioned in the letter? Was he to assist in Buchenwald?
A. He was to be used in the hygiene service. Since he particularly dealt with entomological questions, I asked that he should work on these questions there.
Q. You got a report from Ding, too, on these experiments testing the Bucharest vaccine, didn’t you, Professor?
A. I cannot remember that, and I already told you once that had I received any such report, I would have drawn the conclusions from it; and since I did not do that, I think it is improbable that I received such a report.
Q. In view of this letter, Doctor, do you want to go back and change your testimony about the Copenhagen vaccine? Didn’t you also suggest those experiments, and didn’t you also supply the Copenhagen vaccine for the experiments in Buchenwald?
A. No. I have no intention of doing that.
Q. Well, in that event I will ask that Document NO-1186 be passed up to you, and this will be marked as Prosecution Exhibit 492 for identification. Will you read this letter aloud please?
A. “Oberstarzt Professor Rose
“O. U., 2 December 1943
“To Standartenfuehrer Dr. Mrugowsky, “Head of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS “Berlin-Zehlendorf 6 “Spanische Allee 10 “Dear Herr Mrugowsky:
“At present I have at my disposal a number of samples of a new murine virus typhus vaccine which was prepared from mice livers and proved in animal experiments to be quantitatively a thousand times more effective than the vaccine prepared from mice lungs. In order to decide whether this first-rate murine vaccine should be used for protective vaccination of human beings against lice typhus, it would be desirable to know if this vaccine showed in yours and Ding’s experimental arrangement at Buchenwald an effect similar to that of the classic virus vaccines. Would you be able to have such an experimental series carried out? Unfortunately, I could not reach you over the phone. Considering the slowness of postal communications I would be grateful for an answer by telephone. My numbers, all of which go through the same switchboard, are: Berlin 278313; Rapid Exchange Berlin 90, Zossen 559; Luftwaffe Exchange 72, there you ask for RLM, L In 14.
“With best regards
“Heil Hitler! “Yours “Rose”
The signature which you see on this photostatic copy is, in effect, my signature. This letter shows that I also informed Mrugowsky about the Copenhagen vaccine, which I did not remember up to this point.
Q. And you asked him to test the vaccine in Buchenwald didn’t you?
A. The question of whether this vaccine can be tested in Buchenwald is dealt with here.
Q. Do you see the name “Ding” written at the bottom of the letter?
A. Yes, it is at the bottom of the page.
Q. And it appears that the testimony of Kogon was very precise, wasn’t it, because Ding got a copy of this letter, didn’t he?
A. Yes. Ding’s utterances do not only refer to my memorandum but also to the correspondence between Mrugowsky and myself. Apparently it was then transferred to the Reichsarzt SS.
Q. Is the date on this letter 2 December 1943 or 12 February 1943—and I direct your attention to the receipt stamp on the letter which is 21 February 1944?
A. The difference between the two dates can be explained by the fact that a considerable time had elapsed between the sending of my letter and when this letter finally reached Ding. During this time the competent agency dealt with the matter of the approval and execution of the experiments on human beings.
Q. So you maintain that 2 December 1943 is the correct date on the letter?
A. Certainly. That is certainly the correct date.
Q. On the basis of the two letters which I have exhibited to you, you will concede that the Ding diary was precisely accurate in what it said, won’t you?
A. No, one can’t conclude that just like that. The order to carry out experiments in Buchenwald could not be issued by me in any way.
Q. That’s very clear—
A. That vaccines were requested from me seems to be evident from one letter. I didn’t remember it and I still don’t remember it now, but on the basis of this letter one has to consider that fact proved. Then it also becomes evident that in this case I drew the attention of Herr Mrugowsky to this vaccine, and that I mentioned a discussion dealing with human experiments regarding these vaccines.
* * * * *
Q. Professor, 6 persons died in this experiment with the Copenhagen vaccine, didn’t they?
A. Yes. These were 6 persons who were furnished by the Reich Criminal Police Office through the regular channels after they were chosen by the competent agencies.
EXTRACT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY[65]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
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DR. FLEMING: Will you please draw the necessary conclusions from what we have discovered about Ding’s diary?
DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY: The various erroneous entries in this document and the facts which the handwriting experts have discovered prove that this document is not a diary in which entries were made from time to time. Rather there are long periods of time that are missing, sometimes periods of more than one year before the entries were made. Pages 1 to 3, I believe, were all written at the same time, and also the subsequent pages. The document has 27 pages, which were written down on only a few occasions. That is testified to by the handwriting expert. This explains the various discrepancies between the entries and the actual facts; for instance, calling the Robert Koch Institute a Reich Institute, when it wasn’t, etc. The testimony of a prosecution witness, Balachowsky, corroborates this affidavit.
Q. This affidavit is Document NO-484, Prosecution Exhibit 291. Balachowsky said, under number 29: “The file notes which were copied into the diary shortly before the collapse, give the precise number of the pages and the number of the experiments.” Now please continue.
A. In these words Balachowsky corroborates the fact that this diary, namely, this diary of Block 46, was drawn up shortly before the collapse, apparently on several days, consequently the difference in the typewriters used. Now, as to why he did this I can only conjecture—I do not know. That there was some reason for making the entries in this form would appear to be obvious.
Q. For the explanation of why Ding wrote this diary on Block 46 let me remind you of Kogon’s testimony, namely, that after 1943 Ding was sure that the war would be lost.
A. Yes. That is true. During his testimony Kogon often stated that from the beginning of 1943 on, Ding made efforts to cover himself. He also said that from that moment on, the oral assignments that he received were not sufficient, but that he must insist on receiving written orders. All the more remarkable is it then that the so-called diary, this NO-265, says only very infrequently who initiated the various lines of experimentation. And, if I recall correctly, he does not once say who ordered them.
Q. Then do the contents of this diary meet the normal requirements of a scientist’s diary?
A. The diary of a scientist has the purpose of setting down the precise course of the work undertaken. Consequently, all efforts regarding the initiation and course of experiments should be set down. That is a perfectly comprehensible custom in all institutes because subsequently the evaluation of the experiments is based on entries in the scientific institute’s diary. In this Document NO-265, however, which is allegedly such a diary of Block 46, there is not one entry regarding the actual course of the experiments; not even the results of the experiments are set down there. That is really the least that you could ask of such a diary. Dr. Kogon thought that the number of fatalities which are set down with clear precision were a result, to be sure, an unhappy result, of these experiments. That these events are found lamentable can hardly be disputed, but it is a false point of view if one orients oneself on the basis of this result toward something, the purpose of which was entirely different. The real experimental result can be seen in the following: as a consequence of the protective vaccination, what happens during a subsequent case of infection is that firstly, the period of incubation is prolonged, namely, that period of time which lapses between the actual infection and the first appearance of the disease. Secondly, the period of fever is shortened, whereas usually the period of fever in typhus is 17 days. This protective vaccination reduces it to 12, 10, and even 6 days, depending on the strength of the protective vaccine. At the same time, the height of the temperature is reduced. In other words, the symptoms that are associated with fever, which effect the blood circulation and the heart, as well as those which effect the central nervous system, are less pronounced or altogether absent after the protective vaccine. There are various other small clinical indications which a doctor readily recognizes as a result of the protective vaccine, and it must be said that as the result of less serious clinical manifestations, the number of fatalities from typhus is smaller. That is not a direct but an indirect consequence of vaccination. Therefore, when Ding asserts in this block diary of Block 46 that the most important result of the experiments was the number of fatalities, then every doctor will recognize this as such an erroneous and distorted statement that even if it is made by a doctor so reliable as Ding, it is completely unworthy of credence.
Q. I now show you Mrugowsky 9 and I put it in as Mrugowsky Exhibit 23. It is a photostat of a paper by Dr. Ding on the protective action of various vaccines on human beings and the course of typhus after immunization. I do not wish to read the document but simply desire to bring it to the attention of the Tribunal. Would you care to make any statement about the inadequate way in which this diary was worked on? Would you like to say that perhaps Ding was not in a position to carry on such work?
A. This paper is 13 pages long. First, there is the manner of the patient’s tolerance for the vaccine, then the individual points which I just mentioned as the consequences of the protective vaccination are gone into. Tables are presented which give statistics in these matters. There are eight sketches giving graphs showing the results; and at the very bottom on the next to the last page, in the next to the last paragraph, there are three lines which say that the fatalities in the cases of those vaccinated were fewer in number than among those not vaccinated. That is all mentioned in the summary—there is a final summary. This is also an indication that he was perfectly capable of carrying on scientific work. I should like to point out that at the top of this paper it is mentioned that this work was done in my institute in Berlin. I say that as an indication that I laid no stress on keeping these matters secret in any way or that it was my point of view that these experimental results which had been achieved on the most expensive of all material, namely, human beings, should be carried through to conclusion and that results should be made available to all who are interested.
Q. The prosecution also charges you with the fact that Ding infected persons in Buchenwald who had not previously received the protective vaccination. Would you like to make a statement on that subject?
A. The following cases come into question here on the basis of Ding’s diary entries. First of all, there are the so-called “preliminary experiments”. In Document NO-265, four such preparatory experiments are mentioned on nonvaccinated persons. These were done in order to ascertain what method was possible in order to artificially infect human beings with typhus. I always found that the lay person who had never concerned himself with these matters assumes it to be a matter of course that it is always possible to infect a human being with a disease. That, however, is by no means the case. Even in the case of such a toxic material as the typhus germ, successful infection can only occur if it is not directed directly into the blood stream. Unless another way is chosen, it is usually impossible to bring about infection with such a disease. Consequently, when such experiments are to be carried out on human beings—and this is a point of view which I express without any reference to my own person—then such preliminary experiments cannot be dispensed with. The second case is the so-called “controlled cases”.
Q. Did you know anything of these preliminary experiments?
A. No. I found out about them only through the diary.
Q. Ding says in his diary under the 20th of February 1942: “Case histories and curves on the preliminary experiments were sent to Berlin.” Did you receive this report?
A. No. Nor do I believe Ding sent it to me, because he was not subordinate to me in these experiments and it seems, therefore, more probable to me that he sent them to Grawitz. I, at any rate, did not see them.
Q. How can this be reconciled with your letter of 5 May 1942 to Conti and others which I put into evidence this morning as Mrugowsky 10, Mrugowsky Exhibit 20?
A. This letter corroborates what I have just testified to, because the report on this series of experiments was sent to Grawitz, and I received Ding’s report to Grawitz from Grawitz himself with the order to rewrite it in a suitable form, since Grawitz did not wish outside persons to be able to see, without any further trouble to themselves, that these were really experiments on human beings with artificial infection. He knew that, to some extent, I could master the style which he used in his official communications, whereas he did not know whether Ding could or not. Consequently, he commissioned me to take Ding’s original report and to cast it in a suitable form for the purpose of making communications to the manufacturing firm. This I did, and the result is this document dated 5 May 1942.
Q. Your letterhead here is “Reich Physician SS and Police, Chief Hygienist”. In other words, this is one of the cases in which Grawitz made use of you when you still belonged to the medical staff of the Waffen SS?
A. Yes.
Q. Why didn’t Grawitz rephrase the letter himself?
A. There may have been two reasons for that. Firstly, Grawitz was not a hygienist but an internist and since the letter was being sent to specialists, namely, to those people who manufactured the vaccines, he wanted to be sure that the letter contained everything they needed to know and, on the other hand, no more than they needed to know; secondly, this is quite in line with his customary manner of working, namely, to let his collaborators write letters which dealt with their particular sphere of work, and for this reason, he commissioned me to indite this letter.
Q. On this occasion did you not once again express objections to Grawitz regarding experiments on human beings?
A. That I did not do because this series of experiments had been concluded and because I knew that they had been carried out on Himmler’s specific orders. This was the first series of experiments which had ever been carried out and it was the reason for my very violent show-down with Grawitz at that time. I assumed that this job was now completed and I had no reason to raise further objections.
Q. Were the vaccines of the Behring Works in an experimental stage when Dr. Ding used them in his experiments?
A. No; these vaccines had already been tested in the plant as to a person’s tolerance for them. All such preparations of the Behring Works were worked on in their own laboratories before they were sent out into the world.
Q. I submit to the Tribunal Mrugowsky 44, and I put it in as Mrugowsky Exhibit 24. This is an affidavit by Dr. Demnitz, the manager of the Behring Works, regarding the way in which the vaccines of the Behring Works were developed and how they were tested in the institute itself. On the fourth page, it reads:
“Naturally, the Behring Works also carried out tests to establish whether the vaccines agreed with human beings for (a) it was necessary to vaccinate those people working in the typhus laboratories in order to protect them against typhus; (b) it was necessary to protect those people who attended the experimental animals; and (c) the undersigned himself was vaccinated against typhus on several occasions with vaccines of the Behring Works. These vaccinations had to be repeated from time to time. This concerned both German and Russian assistants. About 20 to 25 persons were employed in our typhus department.”
And Number 6: “The animal experiments according to Otto proved: (a) the harmlessness and (b) the effectiveness or insufficient effectiveness.”
It stated previously, “the question of whether the animals showed a positive reaction is incomprehensible.” It stated also that animal experiments were carried out in the Behring Works. I submit this document to prove these were not vaccines which had not been previously tested, but were vaccines which had gone through the necessary preliminary and effective testing. Do you remember Kogon’s testimony that volunteers were used in the first two series of experiments? This testimony is on page 1,162 of the English transcript and on page 1,197 of the German transcript. If we base our assumptions on Ding’s diary, what two series of experiments must these have been for which volunteers were used?
A. If we base our statements on Ding’s diary we can only consider that these two series were, first of all, the preliminary series A which began on 5 January, and the first series of vaccine experiments with 145 persons regarding which the letter of 5 May 1942 that was previously read concerns itself. (Mrugowsky 10, Mrugowsky Ex. 20.) This series began on the next day, namely, on 6 January 1942. Any other experiments took place at a later date. Thus, when Kogon says that two series of experiments were carried out with volunteers, it can only be these two series of experiments.
Q. The experiments with which the letter of 5 May concerned itself were carried out on volunteers?
A. Apparently they were.
Q. Can you remember the communication of 11 April 1943 to the effect that the Mateska serum could no longer be used for experiments?
A. No, I don’t remember that and I consider it out of the question that I ever received any such communication. In all bacteriology, particularly in virology, there have been efforts for centuries to breed live germs which are no longer pathogenic (which do not infect human beings), in order to use these live germs for the manufacture of vaccine, namely vaccines with live attenuated strains, because these are a complete protection against the disease.
Q. In other words, you want to say that if you had received this communication, you would have seen to it that further experiments were carried out with this serum which was no longer so virulent?
A. I should not like to put it quite that way, but I should certainly have contacted the person whose institute had developed this strain, that was the Robert Koch Institute, Professor Gildemeister. However, I never spoke to him about this matter, and I should like to believe that he found nothing out about this matter because Gildemeister was one of our best virus researchers and was very familiar with the value such a really unique occurrence would have had.
Q. Did you see reports on the C and D series of experiments concerning the discovery of a safe method of infection, which were said to have taken place on the 11th and 13th of April?
A. No, I only found out about them here while looking through this document and I also saw that Ding does not assert that he sent a report on this to Berlin.
Q. On what further typhus experiment series did you then see reports?
A. In the diary of Block 46, Document NO-265, Ding says that only in the case of a few experimental series did he send reports to Berlin, namely the new experimental series, series I, II, VII, and VIII. I saw the report on series I, having received it from Grawitz, and as I said before, I rephrased it in another form, and it constitutes the document here submitted. Series II was carried out with the vaccine of Durand-Giroud of the Parisian Institute. That was the vaccine we intended to produce in our own institute. I really cannot recall ever having seen this report, but it is possible that I was informed of it by Grawitz, because I remember that Grawitz one day told me that he was convinced of the effectiveness of this vaccine and had no further objection to my suggestion that we manufacture the vaccine according to that process. The immunization in the course of this series was carried on by Ding between 19 August and 4 September 1942. From 10 September to 9 October he was in Paris with Professor Giroud to learn his method, and when he returned, he infected persons and sent the charts to Berlin on 20 November. It was probably then, toward the end of 1942, that Grawitz spoke to me about this matter.
Q. Ding was ordered to report to Giroud in Paris in the autumn of 1942, although, as you have stated, it was already decided at the end of 1941 to manufacture your own vaccines according to Giroud’s process. Now how do you explain this delay?
A. In the infections carried out in series I on 3 March 1942, Ding infected himself and fell seriously ill of typhus, despite his protective vaccination. Subsequently, he went on leave to recover, and when his health was somewhat restored, the business of going to Paris was discussed, which was only possible in the autumn.
Q. There were 4 specific fatalities in the control cases. Now you say that Grawitz probably discussed this matter with you. Did you do nothing about the fact that there had been fatalities?
A. When Grawitz spoke to me about this matter, [I] could do nothing because the series of experiments had already been concluded. But I do remember pretty clearly the situation in his office there. I remember that I brought up the matter of these 4 fatalities and told him that that would probably be the last series that he instigated. He answered that Himmler had ordered these experiments and that I had specifically objected to being included in the matter, and consequently no longer had any right to interfere in his business.
Q. The report on the typhus experimental series VII was concluded on 7 September 1943, and when finished a report was sent to Berlin on 9 September, according to Ding’s diary. Did you see this report?
A. No.
Q. But according to Ding’s work report, on the third of September, at a time when this series was completed but the report not yet written, you were in Buchenwald, according to this diary, visiting Ding. Did you talk about this matter then?
A. This entry is apparently correct. This was the period in which Block 50 was being prepared for the production of the vaccines. Ding writes in one of his documents that on the 10th of August this block was occupied and that work in producing the vaccine was begun. Kogon corroborated that in his testimony. Then 3 weeks after the beginning of this work, I went to Buchenwald to look over the laboratory and to see how his work was getting along. Kogon also described at some length how I inspected the institute, how I went into every room. It was a rather extensive inspection. I asked many questions, had many conversations with the inmates there; he further testified that I was with Ding in his room for only a very brief period of time, and that is also correct. In other words, at that time he did not submit any material to me.
Q. Did you know anything else about this experimental series VII?
A. This series was carried out with a vaccine similar to the Behring vaccine, manufactured by a different firm. I knew nothing of this experimental series.
Q. I submit to the Tribunal as the next document, Mrugowsky 12, and I put it in evidence as Mrugowsky Exhibit 25. This is an affidavit by Dr. Karl Ludwig Wolters of Hamburg, from the Asid Works. After the customary introduction the statement reads:
“The above person requested the notary to draw up an affidavit and declared and deposed the following under oath and after having been duly informed of the meaning of an affidavit:
“1. The production of typhus vaccines based on the egg culture process began as early as 1941. Later on, the prescribed process according to Gildemeister and Haagen was introduced.
“2. Experiments on animals for the purpose of testing the manufactured vaccines were taken up simultaneously with the beginning of the production and were carried out continuously. The results of the animal experiments were not always clear. The vaccine tolerance was tested by protective vaccinations of employees; all employees connected with the typhus department or who came in contact with employees working therein, were vaccinated. In addition, all other employees had the privilege of receiving protective vaccination against typhus on demand and without charge. In the course of time, about one thousand employees were vaccinated against typhus.”
To figures 3 and 4 I simply draw the attention of the Tribunal. Figure 5 reads:
“5. As far as I know, there was no correspondence between the firm of Asid, Serum Institute G.m.b.H., Dessau, on the one hand, and the former Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS, or the Institute for Typhus and Virus Research at Buchenwald, or its chief, Dr. Ding, or the Grawitz Agency, on the other hand.
“6. I made the acquaintance of Dr. Ding during a trip from Berlin to Krakow.
“7. I could not say how the test of the typhus vaccines in question materialized. In any case, as far as I know, I never discussed that question with Professor Mrugowsky, nor did I forward the vaccines to him for testing. It is quite possible that the vaccines reached Dr. Ding through Professor Gildemeister of the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, who received them in his capacity as expert consultant of the Ministry of the Interior for the fight against epidemics.
“8. During a discussion with Professor Mrugowsky in the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS in Berlin, I only talked about general questions of hygiene concerning the occupied eastern territories, and I asked for assistance in the work of developing the serum institute at Kiev. At the same time, the organization of delousing by the Asid Serum Institute Koenigsberg was discussed. There also may have been discussion of general questions in connection with active immunization, especially against scarlet fever, diphtheria, and tetanus.”
Then there is the usual conclusion and signature.
It can be seen from this that the vaccines for this series did not go via you from Ding; is that true?
A. Yes.
Q. According to Dr. Ding’s work report, which is Document NO-571, Prosecution Exhibit 285, you were present with him on the 3d of September in Buchenwald. Did you visit Block 46?
A. Yes. Ding invited me to take a look at Block 46. I went over there with him; and I remember quite well that I was led to the lower floor of a stone building, where there were a number of room-like partitions.
In the first room there were a few men playing cards; Ding told me that these were typhus convalescents who had survived typhus and who were to be released. I talked to them and found that their state of health was good and that the usual after-effects of typhus were no longer in existence. There were about five or six persons.
In the second room I saw about three patients lying in bed. I examined them and spoke to them. They had been transferred to Buchenwald a short time before from other camps. I think one of them was ill even when he arrived and the others had fallen ill shortly after their arrival in Buchenwald, and then were transferred to the typhus station. We are here concerned with people who fell ill spontaneously. According to Ding’s entry, there was no series of experiments carried on at that time.
Q. When visiting Buchenwald, didn’t you talk to Dr. Ding about his various series of typhus experiments?
A. No. At that time he had concluded the experimental series number VII with Asid vaccines as I can see from this document. This was a series which had a number of fatalities as its result. It is in line with Ding’s character that he did not speak to me about such a series of experiments, since he knew what my basic attitude towards this question was.
Q. Didn’t you discuss the typhus experiments with Ding on the occasion of your visit?
A. No. We didn’t discuss that matter. Our conversation merely dealt with the work carried on in Block 50 for the production of vaccine, which was really the purpose of my visit. I think we discussed a number of other hygienic questions concerning the vicinity of Buchenwald. I knew that there was a lack of water there from my previous activity; and I am sure that this was a subject which was discussed. I spent the evening with Ding in his flat where I met Dr. Hoven, the camp physician of Buchenwald, and his wife. Mrs. Ding was there, too. It is a matter of course that we didn’t discuss any technical questions in that circle. We certainly did not speak about any experiments on human beings.
In this connection I may perhaps say that this was the only time that I saw Hoven, who was allegedly Ding’s representative. This was ten days before Hoven had to end his activity as a camp physician in Buchenwald.
Q. Were you of the opinion that the typhus experimental series had been concluded?
A. Yes. I held that opinion, since it becomes evident from the documents here that the experimental series of that time had not led to any disease. The reason was that the strain coming from the Robert Koch Institute was not pathogenic. Ding did not say that he sent any reports to Berlin about it; and I, therefore, did not know anything about the way he worked in Buchenwald as far as it did not concern Block 50. I was of the opinion that after the second series of experiments, which was concluded at the end of 1942, no further experiments were planned.
Q. Well, if you believed that the typhus experiments had been concluded, the main activity of Dr. Ding would also have had to come to a conclusion?
A. No. That is not the case. Seen from my point of view, he was a bacteriologist; and I was anxiously awaiting the end of this special mission by Grawitz when Ding would again be fully at my disposal. At that time, in 1943, he had to carry out the preparations for vaccine production at Buchenwald. Therefore, the building work had to be supervised. Block 50 was a bacteriological institute furnished in a very modern style with a number of special pieces of equipment. Animals had to be obtained and accommodation made ready for them. There was not only one kind of animal but four different kinds. It was necessary to obtain fodder for them. Then a number of other organizational activities were necessary, which made Ding’s stay in Buchenwald absolutely necessary.
Q. Ding maintains that he sent a report about the series number VIII of the typhus experiments. Did you see that in Berlin? It was to have been sent on the 13th of June 1944.
A. Well, I heard about this series of experiments only by looking at the document here. I hadn’t seen or heard of it before.
Q. In the last entry of his diary, Ding says: “By order of the Chief Hygienist of the Waffen SS, dated the 12th of August 1944, it was to be established whether the course of a typhus illness can be mitigated by a typhus vaccine through intravenous or intramuscular injections.” Did you ever issue such an order?
A. No. I repeatedly pointed out that on the basis of the entire organizational set-up of the Medical Institute of the Waffen SS, neither as the Chief of the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS, nor as the consulting hygienist of the Reich Physician SS and Police, could I order any experiments to be carried out on inmates because I had just as little influence on the medical service of the concentration camp as any other member of the Waffen SS. The matter with which we dealt was completely different. In the Crimea, in one of the hospitals in the East, I saw that the internist there was treating typhoid illnesses with injections of dead typhoid vaccines; and this procedure resulted in fever in many of the cases. At that time I remembered that literature dating back to the last World War, when a number of papers were written on the very same subject, showed that there were similar methods in the treatment of typhus and typhoid entailing the injection of vaccines.
During the course of these years when I had to deal closely with, typhus, I had developed a very definite opinion about the origin and development of typhus. I was, therefore, of the opinion that in the case of this illness, which clinically is very close to para-typhus, it would be quite feasible to make an experiment with that kind of treatment. The clinical symptoms of typhus and typhoid and stomach typhus are very similar. If a cure can be achieved with one method, it is to be assumed that all other types of illnesses of that nature could also be treated with success using that method. After my return, therefore, I established contact with a number of internes belonging to the hospitals which I knew, and wrote them that I had gathered, like experiences. I quoted passages from literature on that subject, and I said that our new experiences were the same as our old. I made the suggestion that the same method be used in the case of typhus by injecting with a protective typhus vaccine. One might consider that at that time we had just as little means of combating the severe disease as we have today. We, therefore, were medically justified in searching for new methods of treatment.
Q. Were these to be a series of experiments in the sense in which Ding carried them out?
A. That is completely out of the question. There was no reason to do that at all. In order to perform such an experiment, one could make tests on a typhus inflicted person using this method, and the worst that could happen would be that it would not help; but it certainly would not be necessary to make a certain series of experiments, and I certainly never gave any such order.
Q. Did you write to Ding in that sense?
A. At that time I informed my assistants about this therapy in the case of contagious diseases, and I am sure that it was a matter of course that, as epidemic specialists, we had to be informed about such a possibility, and in this manner we also received knowledge of it.
Q. You were saying that there would not have been justification for the experimental theory?
A. No.
Q. Well, did you or did you not order such a series of experiments from Dr. Ding?
A. Never, at no time.
Q. Are you of the opinion that Ding started these experiments on his own initiative?
A. That is possible. At any rate he did not receive orders from me, and I don’t know where else he could have received an order.
* * * * *
EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENSE WITNESS DR. EUGEN HAAGEN[66]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
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DR. TIPP: Now, Professor, we are coming to the last and perhaps the most decisive count of the indictment—namely, the typhus experiments, as the prosecution calls them. Professor Schroeder and Professor Becker-Freyseng are charged with responsibility for such typhus experiments. There are two groups of them, according to the prosecution. On the one hand, those performed in Buchenwald concentration camp by Dr. Ding-Schuler and to a lesser extent by the defendant Dr. Hoven. The second group is alleged typhus experiments that you carried out in the Natzweiler concentration camp. Before we turn to the individual experiments, Professor, please tell the Tribunal what the hazards of typhus were during the war, especially in the years 1943, 1944, and 1945 when this problem became acute? Describe it only to the extent necessary in order to make your work understandable.
WITNESS HAAGEN: I shall try to be brief, but in order to understand this whole problem, one must be given some general information. Typhus is a very serious infectious disease which, in international medical circles, is included among the diseases which are of general danger, and it is consequently subject to international control. In cases of such hazardous and dangerous diseases, every state felt the moral obligation to do everything to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic because it is very difficult to combat and to eliminate the epidemic once it has broken out. This point of view was embraced, of course, not only by the government officials, but also by the responsible and interested scientists and physicians; because we all, of course, knew how prodigious the danger of typhus is, not only for the waging of the war but also for the civilian population of the entire world. Typhus is not only a war epidemic, but it has taken root in the country. It is also a peacetime epidemic which is enormously difficult to combat.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Counsel, the Tribunal is quite aware that typhus is a very dangerous disease, that it is a great menace to humans, and that it was a menace to Germany during the last war, a great danger. I don’t think it is necessary to elaborate that again. We have heard it from several witnesses. It’s not denied.
DR. TIPP: Witness, you heard the Tribunal’s wish. In the opinion of the Tribunal, the typhus danger for Germany has already been sufficiently proved. Please go on to the subject itself now. Perhaps you could speak of the usual preventive measures which are used against typhus, particularly vaccines.
WITNESS HAAGEN: There are, in general, two procedures to prevent typhus. One is what I might call the mechanical procedure, and the other the biological procedure. In the mechanical procedure we are concerned with combating the lice—I shall not go into that—but in the biological procedure we are interested in a protective vaccine. There are various vaccines available. Now, to get down to the crux of the matter, I must say that the typhus vaccines which are made from dead typhus virus do not provide absolute protection against the disease. They may lead to a milder form of the disease, but the infection itself is not prevented. Dead typhus vaccine, in other words, has no absolute anti-infectious effect, which, however, is the main point of any vaccine.
We developed a live vaccine, not on the basis of our own experiences and research, but we made use of the experiences of others. I should like to mention primarily the work of the French typhus research scientists, Blanc, Baltasar, and assistants Legrer and Lecolle. When vaccinating, a vaccine must be used which gives anti-infectious protection, and in general, in the case of virus diseases, successful vaccination is also achieved only with live virus. Let me mention the examples of smallpox, influenza, and yellow fever. In all these cases the vaccines are made from a live virus, but it is true that this virus is mutated, that is, it is no longer pathogenic to human beings. Its pathogenic characteristics have been suppressed and have disappeared, but the virus retains its anti-infectious efficacy. This change is accomplished in two ways, either by passing the virus through an animal—this is frequently done—and sometimes effects mutation in the virus and sometimes weakens the virus. I need not go into that; it would take up too much time.
Q. If I understand you correctly, Witness, your aim as a scientist was to develop a vaccine from live virus; in other words from a nonpathogenic virus which could not cause the disease, but which, nevertheless, had the antigenic effect, namely the effect of protecting the vaccinated person against contracting the disease later by infection. Is that so?
A. Yes. That is correct.
Q. Now, Witness, nobody is reproaching you for having produced vaccines, but it is said that you tested the effectiveness of your vaccines in a concentration camp. The prosecution called these virulent and you say they were nonpathogenic. At any rate, that is the way I understood the reproach of the prosecution; but first before you go into this, Witness, will you please tell the Court how it happened that you came into contact with the concentration camp Natzweiler in this matter?
A. The development of typhus throughout the war was such that typhus no longer became purely a war epidemic, but because of the many refugee camps, PW transports, and military transports, typhus was brought into Germany itself. In the overcrowded camps, especially with lack of sanitary installations, there was considerable danger from typhus, particularly where people assembled who came from the East. I have only to say that in the Auschwitz camp, for example (but also in many other prisoner camps in the east), there had already been extensive epidemics. Typhus pressed further and further into Germany. Every closed community such as a camp is, in itself, a great source of danger of typhus, not only the danger of an epidemic within the camp, but also an epidemic that spreads to the surrounding civilian population. Most of the concentration camp inmates worked outside the camp in factories and they came into contact with the civilian population, so you can easily see the danger of contagion. Now, in brief, the camp commandant and the camp doctor in the course of the spring of 1943 asked me whether they could have my assistance in combating this danger.
Q. Witness, a preparatory question first. Did you have any connection with the SS, with the concentration camp, as such?
A. I had no connection with the SS or with the concentration camps, or with any office in charge of them.
Q. Why did the camp commandant and the camp physician of the Natzweiler concentration camp turn specifically to you?
A. As director of the Hygiene Institute I had a rather large sphere of activity in Alsace, and, of course, it was known in the concentration camps, too, that my offices were in Strasbourg. For this reason the camp turned to me for help in many matters, including the obtaining of vaccines and help in the disinfection of the camp, and so forth, matters which perhaps we shall deal with later.
Q. You say then that the camp turned to you because you were the hygienist in the Alsatian district around Strasbourg?
A. That is correct.
Q. You said also that the camp commandant or doctor asked for your assistance?
A. Yes, that was an obvious thing for him to do, because I was right there in Strasbourg.
Q. You said further that it was roughly in the spring of 1943 that these requests for assistance were made to you; was there an epidemic in the camp already at that time, or why did they think they needed your help?
A. At that time there was no epidemic in the camp, but the general epidemiological situation was such that an outbreak of typhus was expected at any moment, especially since transports were continually coming from the East. These transports were infected with lice and contained people who were already infected with typhus, and other camps in the neighborhood had already had their first cases of typhus.
Q. Professor, what means did you have available to help these camp physicians? Please limit yourself, first of all your vaccines?
A. I have already said that there are various vaccines available made from dead virus, and also those made from live and attenuated virus. It was very difficult to procure virus at that time. The superior officers simply could not make the effective vaccines available, and in order to carry out any plans, all sorts of decrees and orders existed in Germany for the planning of systematic vaccination should the danger of typhus arise.
Q. Now, Witness, you have described your work in the field of vaccine production, namely, that of producing a live pathogenic virus; did you begin this developing and working on your own initiative, or did some other agency refer the problem to you?
A. Live typhus virus was being manufactured in foreign countries at that time in great quantities, particularly in France where they had had a great deal of experience with such live virus. I have already mentioned Blanc, Baltasar, Lecolle, and Legrer. During the war, protective vaccines were also made with such live virus in North Africa. There had already been millions of such vaccinations and, of course, this permitted experience to be gathered. The fact is that the French, who saw this great danger, also saw the necessity of such large-scale vaccines, and they had also had a few fatalities. As I said, we had to use a virus strain for these vaccinations which, it is true, was alive and still pathogenic to animals. In other words, a virulent virus, the pathogenic effect of which on human beings was suppressed to a large extent; and that is the essence of all live vaccine manufacture, and it must occupy the central position in our considerations here. You bring about such mutation only by passing the virus through animals. Every specialist knows that when the virus is passed through animals it is attenuated there more than by being cultured or bred, for instance, in chicken yolks or by being preserved in a vacuum, or at very low temperatures and only somewhat attenuated in strain.
Q. Witness, you still haven’t answered my question fully, that is, whether you carried out this work on your own initiative or on the basis of an order, directive, or assignment which came to you from elsewhere?
A. In developing this live typhus vaccine—
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Witness, you can answer that question in a very few words. Just answer the question propounded to you by your counsel.
A. This was a research assignment, as I just said, there was no military or other directive.
DR. TIPP: Witness, you have already described this morning how research assignments were distributed, and you told us that, in general, the assignment was made on the application of a scientist for such an assignment; now what was the case here, did you work on this problem first and then receive an assignment or was there already an assignment in existence and did you then begin to work?
A. All this work was done entirely on my own initiative. I also saw to it that I got the necessary research assignment so that I could have the necessary funds for the work from the Reich Research Council, and then from the Medical Chief of the Luftwaffe. That is where I obtained my assignment.
MR. HARDY: Your Honor, before we adjourn may I inquire from counsel how long the examination will continue, and how long other defense counsels will take in their examination of the witness Haagen?
DR. TIPP: I have already said I will need roughly a day and a half. We have already eliminated some of the questions; I don’t know if I can finish this afternoon, but I shall not need so much time tomorrow morning. I cannot tell you how much time my other colleagues will need.
MR. HARDY: Do I understand Dr. Tipp is going to take the rest of the day, in spite of the fact that we sit until 5 o’clock?
DR. TIPP: I shall use all of today. Yes.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Does any other defense counsel desire to examine this witness while he is on the stand?
DR. TIPP: Dr. Nelte just tells me that he will need a quarter of an hour, and my colleague Krauss for Rostock, fifteen minutes.
DR. FRITZ: Mr. President, I cannot say definitely now how long I shall need because I do not know how many of the questions I intend to put to the witness will be made unnecessary by Dr. Tipp’s examination.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: The Tribunal is only asking for an estimate.
DR. FRITZ: One hour.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Counsel, during the noon recess will you instruct your witness to answer your questions directly and simply without expostulating on matters about which, while scientific and important, the Tribunal has already been advised. Kindly instruct him and explain to him how to answer these questions.
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DR. TIPP: Professor, before the recess you said that you began your work in the field of typhus on your own initiative, and that in the course of this work you obtained research assignments from the Medical Inspector of the Luftwaffe as well as the Reich Research Counsel; now I ask you, in your applications made before the various assignments were issued, were any details given about the work which you planned to carry out or the work which you had already carried out?
WITNESS HAAGEN: No details were given, of course, merely the problem as such was dealt with.
Q. You have already described to the Tribunal your work on this problem; it was to find a vaccine produced from live virus, a virus no longer pathogenic to human beings which, however, contained the qualities of the virus.
A. Yes. That is true. Our work was limited to the development of a live vaccine, and this work was based on the great experiences of foreign scientists, especially the French scientist Blanc; the technical side was always carried out in animal experiments.
Q. Now, Witness, did you succeed in finding a vaccine of the type described?
A. Yes. We did succeed in developing such a vaccine from a so-called murine typhus virus strain, that is, from rat typhus. The weakening was brought about through animal experiments, through cultivation in chicken eggs, and thirdly through a conservation process.
Q. Was this vaccine then tested for its effectiveness and if so, how?
A. Yes. The vaccine was tested for its effectiveness. First, of course, by animal experiments for its immunizing qualities. After this quality had been proved, the first vaccinations were undertaken in order to test the effectiveness and the tolerance on human beings. This was done on volunteers.
Q. Where did you get these volunteers, Professor?
A. First of all I served myself, then the members of my institute and a number of students from the university.
Q. Now, will you please tell us the purpose of these experiments?
A. When one has produced a new vaccine one must test not only its effectiveness, but also its tolerability. This can only be done on human beings; animal experiments are not sufficient. At a certain stage it always becomes necessary to test it on human beings.
Q. In these vaccinations on members of the institute and students, you tested the tolerability of the vaccine; the immunizing effect of the vaccine, if I understood you correctly, could not be proved by these experiments?
A. Yes. The immunizing effect can also be determined. One merely needs to make the Weil-Felix reaction, which has been mentioned in this trial. That is, to ascertain whether the blood serum already contains protective bodies against the typhus germ. This test (I mention this because mistakes have been made here) is used not only to diagnose the disease, but also, since it is a definite immunity reaction, to find the protective bodies after vaccination.
Q. We will come back to that later, Witness. Now when did you achieve your aim, when did you have a vaccine of the type described, and when did you develop it far enough to be used?
A. In the spring of 1943.
Q. And when was this vaccine first actually used on a large scale, or when was it first used at all?
A. The first vaccinations were carried out in May 1943 in the Schirmeck internment camp, which belonged to the Natzweiler concentration camp. The vaccinations were performed on persons in special danger.
Q. This morning, Witness, you mentioned the request of a camp doctor of the Natzweiler concentration camp, and Schirmeck was no doubt under him; may I ask whether these Schirmeck vaccinations go back to the request of the camp physician?
A. I do not quite understand your question.
Q. Please tell me whether the vaccinations performed in Schirmeck originated with the request of the camp physician?
A. Yes. Schirmeck and Natzweiler belong together. My vaccinations there were in connection with all the work of the camp.
Q. Then you used this vaccine for the first time in May 1943 in Schirmeck. How many persons did you vaccinate?
A. Twenty-eight persons were vaccinated altogether.
Q. Did you have any influence on the selection of these persons; that is, did you select these persons, or who selected them?
A. I did not have any direct influence on the selection of these persons, only to the extent that I told the camp administrator and the camp doctor that we could only vaccinate people who were in a more or less good state of health, since if this were not the case it would not correspond to our German vaccination laws. To that extent I did have some influence.
The selection was made according to the point of view that persons were selected who were in special danger of typhus, persons who were in the so-called “east block” of the camp. New transports were always coming from the East, lice infected, for the most part, so that one could count on a considerable typhus danger. In this part of the camp the danger was greater than in those parts of the camp, housing Germans and Alsatians who did not come from the East.
Q. You said, Witness, the persons were selected from the group of prisoners in special danger of contracting typhus. You just mentioned the east block. Can you tell us what nationality these persons were?
A. As far as I can remember they were of various nationalities. There were quite a number of them who spoke German and one could converse with them easily.
Q. Now, Witness, I should like to ask you to describe how these vaccinations were carried out. Perhaps a preliminary question first. Why did you vaccinate only 28 persons? Why did you not vaccinate all the inmates of the camp there?
A. At first I could only produce the vaccine in very small quantities. My laboratory facilities were very limited. If I had wanted to vaccinate a whole camp I would have had to have a production workshop. That is why we only vaccinated a small number of people.
Q. Now, Professor, please describe how the vaccinations were performed.
A. Vaccinations were performed on 28 persons altogether, in several groups. The first vaccination was of eight persons. They were given one injection of 0.5 cc. of the vaccine into the breast muscle in the customary manner. The second group consisted of 20 persons, divided into two subgroups of ten each. The first group—let’s call this group A—was also given 0.5 cc. of the vaccine intramuscularly. Subgroup B, the last ten persons, were first given a vaccination of 0.5 cc. of a dead typhus vaccine produced in the Robert Koch Institute. Then, eight days later, there was a second vaccination with a live vaccine, again 0.5 cc. intramuscularly. I should like to say that the first vaccination with the dead vaccine, which I have just mentioned, was performed for two reasons: First of all, in order to be able to see whether this preliminary examination produced more protective bodies; and, in the second place, to see whether this preliminary examination with dead vaccine might reduce the reactions of the living vaccine.
At the same time, I carried out protective vaccinations on persons outside the camp, on volunteers. They were again performed in such a way that there were three injections this time: the first, 0.25 cc., the second, 0.25 cc., and the third injection 0.5 cc. of the live vaccine.
Q. The Court will be especially interested, Witness, in the reactions of the persons after this vaccination. Can you tell us that?
A. In the first group of eight persons who were given 0.5 cc. of the living vaccine only once, three had a reaction consisting of a short fever of over 39 degrees. The rest of the persons, however, had no reaction.
In the second group, among the ten persons in group A, there were no noticeable reactions. In the other group there were very negligible symptoms, in some cases only a headache and depression. Typical symptoms of typhus, brain symptoms or vessel symptoms, and other symptoms, did not appear in any case.
The same was true of the third group. Here again there was no reaction. I must say in this connection that I used a vaccine produced from dead typhus virus. I must point that out because later, in Natzweiler, I used the classic epidemic or louse typhus virus vaccine.
Q. Professor, after the vaccination did you watch the well-being of the persons vaccinated?
A. Yes, of course. After the vaccination I was frequently in the camp. I looked at the persons who had been vaccinated and was shown their temperature charts. After four weeks a final blood sample was taken to perform the Weil-Felix reaction in order to see what degree of immunity they had developed.
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Q. * * * Were there any deaths in the course of these vaccinations at Schirmeck?
A. No. There were no deaths from the vaccinations at Schirmeck.
Q. Witness, your testimony is in contradiction to the testimony of a prosecution witness whom we heard here. This was George Hirtz, who testified here on the 8th of January. His testimony is on page 1310 of the German and page 1293 of the English record. Hirtz said that at Schirmeck you injected 20 to 25 persons and during the following days these people developed a high temperature. The temperature is said to have started after 36 to 48 hours, and two of these people died. The witness also said you had vaccinated him, the head of the camp, and the Kapo in the sick bay. Will you explain the differences between your testimony and the testimony of Hirtz?
A. It is true that these three people, the camp head, the Kapo [inmate trusty], and the nurse, that was Hirtz, were vaccinated with the customary vaccine on the basis of an order to the effect that if there was any danger of typhus, the camp personnel had to be vaccinated regularly against this disease. Now, the personnel was in much less danger than the inmates themselves; so in order to help the camp doctor, I supplied the vaccine and vaccinated these three persons, but I reserved the live vaccine for the persons who were in real danger. Those were the reasons why these seeming distinctions were made.
Q. The witness Hirtz also testified that he did not medically examine these 20 people before they were vaccinated. Is that correct?
A. When the prisoners came to the camp they were carefully examined by the camp doctor. This was necessary in the interest of preventing disease in the camp. Therefore, here I merely had to observe whether they were free from external symptoms of disease and to determine how strong they were.
Q. Then if I understand you correctly, you say that the medical examination was performed by the camp doctor, who made them available to you for vaccination?
A. Yes, the camp doctor and the head of the camp, together.
Q. Now, Professor, is the statement of the witness Hirtz correct to the effect that after 36 to 48 hours these persons had a temperature of up to 40° Centigrade, 104° Fahrenheit?
A. I have already said that aside from the first group there was no special reaction. Hirtz himself did not know the first group, he says so himself. In the second group, I have just testified that there were no temperature reactions or any other reaction.
Q. But you said, Witness—oh, that was the first group.
A. Yes. And even here the reactions were quite the usual ones which occur in other vaccinations, too.
Q. But Hirtz also says that after the temperature—seven to eight days, the persons developed some kind of disturbance and they had some impediment in their speech and in three or four cases they stuttered. Do you know anything about that?
A. When I visited these persons I did not observe any such symptoms. None of them complained, and I am sure that if any one found that he had developed such symptoms he would immediately have gone to the doctor. Everyone was interested in getting rid of these symptoms. I did not observe any disturbances or stuttering. If Hirtz had seen them at the time, I am convinced he would have reported them to me. He was the nurse for these persons and was responsible for them; I cannot imagine that he would have served the interests of these prisoners by keeping these things secret.
Q. You say that you did not observe such symptoms nor did Hirtz report them to you. Now, Witness, Hirtz also said that after two days two of these experimental subjects, as he calls them, or vaccinated persons, as you call them, died. Did you observe this, Witness?
A. I have already said that in the smaller experimental group no one died, because I am sure I would have noticed it when I visited these persons who had been vaccinated. I would certainly have ordered an autopsy in the case of such deaths to determine when the person died. Not only would I have ordered or carried out this autopsy, but the camp administration would have ordered it. People might think that these persons perhaps died of typhus. I must say that after a two-day incubation period—that was the period between inoculation and death—no one ever died of typhus. The shortest time for typhus deaths, that is the incubation period plus length of disease, is ten days to fourteen days. And these early deaths are supposed to be cases with a high pathogenic virus originating directly from human beings. For this reason alone it is quite impossible.
Q. Witness, you said that in such cases you would doubtless have had an autopsy performed. You said you heard nothing about the deaths, and that, therefore, there was no autopsy; is that right?
A. Yes. That is correct.
Q. I should like to remind the Tribunal of the testimony of Hirtz. (Tr. p. 1298.) He said that he immediately wrapped the bodies in paper and had them burned in the crematorium at Natzweiler. Not even the prosecution witness was able to say, or perhaps did not want to say, how Professor Haagen reacted to these deaths. Now one more question about this witness Hirtz. Here on the witness stand Hirtz was asked, “Now Witness, you realized that these experiments performed on the 20 to 25 persons were experiments for the determination of typhus in connection with typhus disease?” A. “Yes, I had not the slightest doubt about it. I have fifteen years of practice behind me.” I do not know, Witness, what this testimony means. Perhaps I am not enough of a specialist to judge, but I may assume that you can explain what the content of these statements is.
A. I can only say that I cannot understand Mr. Hirtz’ statement at all. I have no idea what experiments to determine typhus in connection with this disease are supposed to be. First of all, there were no experiments to determine typhus since there was no typhus. And I don’t know any method for performing experiments on human beings to determine typhus. If by experiments, one means the removal of blood in the Weil-Felix reaction, that is something else, but that is not what he is talking about here. As reason for his expert knowledge the witness states that he has been a pharmacist for 15 years. That he has such a long practice behind him and so considers himself an expert in the field of contagious diseases. I can’t quite understand that either. But I think one can expect that from a pharmacist—after all, pharmacists do sell vaccines for public diseases in pharmacies—one would really expect him to know what vaccine reactions are and what a real disease is. And then in the first group where a reaction did appear, he didn’t know that group at all.
Q. You have already said, Witness, something about Mr. Hirtz’ testimony that the prisoner Atloff told him about what Mr. Hirtz described was the second experiment. It seems to me that supports your statement that Mr. Hirtz knew nothing about the first group, that is the eight persons. Can you tell us anything else, Professor, to explain the contradiction between your testimony and that of Mr. Hirtz?
A. Hirtz speaks only of one injection, not of two. The vaccinated persons whom he took care of all had two injections at intervals of several days. If he had really been interested in the vaccination, he must have known that two injections were performed. That is one point. Then he says that the needles were not changed. He seems to have overlooked something there again; that for every injection a new injection needle was used which was brought from Strasbourg already sterilized, and that the technical assistant changed them. Anybody who knows anything about scientific work knows that in such important work, one does not use the same needle for several persons, quite aside from the fact that this would not be in accordance with one of the most elementary demands of asepsis. Here again he probably didn’t observe very carefully.
Q. Now, Professor, we are interested in the question of whether in the camp of Schirmeck, you wanted to produce typhus through artificial injection of pathogenic virus. Did you perform such experiments at Schirmeck?
A. No. No such experiments were performed. I don’t know what the purpose would have been.
Q. Then if I may sum up, Professor, you were introducing a vaccine into practice after it had already been tested in animal experiments, in self-experiments, and in experiments on volunteers. But experiments such as I have just described were not performed at Schirmeck, is that correct?
A. Yes. That is correct. We were merely introducing a vaccine which was already being used on a large scale in other countries. Perhaps I may add that at first I intended to perform further vaccinations in the Schirmeck camp in order to protect this camp as far as possible, but that in the course of the next month, I realized that the Natzweiler camp was entirely different in its whole structure and that there was much greater danger of typhus in this camp. Therefore, I shifted my interest from Schirmeck to Natzweiler.
Q. Now before we go on to the work at Natzweiler, Witness, I should like to clarify the following point with you. Mr. Hirtz testified here that the prisoners used for vaccination were not volunteers; but you say, Professor, that your point of view is that experimental subjects should be volunteers. Can you please clearly answer this question and explain the points of view which are important in your opinion in vaccinations particularly?
A. The prisoners whom we vaccinated were not volunteers. I would like to say the following on that point: As I have already said, I share with most scientists the point of view that the prerequisite for any experiment is the self-experiment. This was not merely a theory in my case. Everyone who knows my work or saw my work knows that I performed a number of self-experiments and contracted a number of infections. I need not go into that now, but of course I tested all vaccines on myself. If we dispensed with the element of voluntariness in this present case, I must state that according to our rules and laws in Germany, vaccinations are ordered wherever there is danger of an epidemic. This situation existed in Schirmeck and Natzweiler. There was a decree for this camp from the SS-WVHA, and decrees were sent out by the chief doctor of concentration camps. Our vaccinations were performed within these legal regulations. In the records of trial, I find again and again the point of view that I had taken poor, helpless prisoners and treated them with murderous germs. But if one knows my work well, one can see that, on the contrary, I was combating these diseases. There can be no question of any criminal experiments here. I want to object very definitely to being called a criminal when I was merely fighting diseases.
Q. Well, Professor, you say that in this case you dispensed with volunteers because it was not an experiment, but rather a vaccination, and because it is your point of view that for vaccinations it is legally permissible to make them compulsory—that you were merely carrying out a legal measure under international law?
A. Yes. This was a vaccination with a vaccine which was already being used elsewhere in the world within the framework of general vaccinations carried out on the basis of the existing regulations.
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Q. When did you begin your work in Natzweiler proper?
A. It was my intention to begin vaccination in the Natzweiler camp in the summer of 1943, but then unexpected difficulties arose which I must go into—I think they are of significance for this trial. Professor Hirt, whose name I believe has been mentioned here repeatedly, the director of the Anatomical Institute in Strasbourg, was a member of the SS and a research worker of the Ahnenerbe. As an SS officer he had discovered through the camp that I wanted to perform vaccinations there. He then intervened because he thought that if persons outside the SS or the WVHA wanted to work in the camp in some form or other we had to have approval for this, quite aside from the fact that I had been asked to perform these vaccinations, etc. Professor Hirt told the camp doctor and myself that he was ready to get this approval and asked me to make a request to this effect to the Institute for Military Scientific Research. I had no connection with the SS or any suborganization of the SS, nor did I know the inner organization of the SS. The application was made in the summer of 1943. I cannot remember the wording of the application exactly, but Hirt sent it on to the agency in question. I only know that the application said that I had asked for permission to vaccinate a certain number of camp inmates. One had to make a limitation because I could only produce the vaccine in small quantities since the technical conditions did not yet exist at the institute for large-scale production. In this letter to Hirt, I pointed out that there was no danger in vaccination with the new vaccine, but that we had to expect a more or less strong reaction, especially a temperature reaction in accordance with the variances in the individuals. I also pointed out that the people to be vaccinated had to be in good physical condition, so that they should be in more or less the same physical condition as our soldiers. I said this in order to conform with the general vaccination regulations. After some time I received an announcement from the Institute for Military Scientific Research to the effect that my request would be granted.
Q. Professor, will you please look at Document NO-120, which is Prosecution Exhibit 297. It is a letter from the Reich Leader SS, Personal Staff, Institute for Military Scientific Research, dated 30 September 1943. It is signed by Sievers, and it is addressed to the Director of the Institute for Hygiene of the Reich University, Strasbourg. Herr Sievers writes:
“I confirm receipt of your request of 16 August 1943. I shall be glad to help you and have accordingly contacted the proper source to have the desired personnel placed at your disposal.”
Is this the letter you meant, Witness, when you said that you were given approval in principle to carry out these vaccinations?
A. Yes, this letter created the basic prerequisities for performing the vaccinations. If we disregard the fact that for epidemiological reasons the vaccinations were justified and even necessary, this letter, I believe, gives us a justification to perform them.
Q. Now, were you able to carry out the vaccinations?
A. No. It wasn’t as simple as that unfortunately—I say “unfortunately” because precious time was lost and I was interested in protecting the camp as soon as possible, at least insofar as there was no longer any danger of typhus. I informed the camp doctor of the contents of this letter and asked to be allowed to commence the vaccinations. A considerable time passed, however, and not until November did I receive notice that we could begin with the vaccinations. The whole affair had not been helped by Hirt’s intervention, therefore, but had even been delayed. Then when I received the first hundred prisoners, I looked at them and found that they were in no condition at all to be vaccinated. They were in very poor shape. I must say that they were prisoners who came from Auschwitz on the transport; I think eighteen of the people had already died. One really had no right to perform a vaccination on such a group. I did not do so and refused for medical reasons.
Q. And what did you do then, Witness?
A. I informed Hirt of this. I wrote to him frankly that these people were out of the question for vaccination and I asked for men in good physical condition.
Q. Professor, will you please look at Document NO-121, Prosecution Exhibit 293? It is a letter from you to Professor Hirt, dated 15 [13] November 1943. Did you mean this letter when you say that you wrote to Hirt? I shall read briefly:
“On the 13th of November 1943, an inspection was made of the prisoners who were furnished to me by the SS-WVHA, in order to determine their suitability for the tests which have been planned for typhus vaccines.”
Is this the letter?
A. Yes. This is the letter of 13 November 1943. I may point out in this letter that I asked for a hundred prisoners in good physical condition. Only in this way could I expect results which could be used for purposes of comparison.
Q. Professor, I have something to put to you from this document which is perhaps a contradiction—or which may be interpreted as a contradiction—of your testimony. You say that you wanted to vaccinate these people and the first sentence of the document seems to indicate that. You write, “their suitability for the typhus vaccinations.” Further down, however, in the document you speak of testing a new vaccine. Again, further down, “material which can be compared.” One might conclude that these are not vaccinations but experiments. Is this not in contradiction of your testimony?
A. No. That is not in contradiction of my statements. It is apparently necessary for me to supplement my statements by saying the following: as I said, in the Natzweiler camp I wanted to vaccinate a fairly large number of prisoners. The vaccine was ready as far as the laboratory was concerned; it had been tested in animal experiments; it had been tested in self-experiments, and on a small group of volunteers. I, therefore, knew that it no longer involved any danger for the persons vaccinated and that the use of this living vaccine did not bring about any manifest disease. But when a new vaccine is used for the first time in practice it is to a certain degree an experiment, since the tolerance still has to be determined and that can only be determined on a large number of people. The dose still has to be determined and the result of the vaccination still has to be checked on a large number of people. So I admit it is no doubt true that the use of a new vaccine for the first time in practice on a large number of people could still be considered an experiment. I should like to add that in the first large-scale application the titer values and blood were examined. Of course, temperature was taken and all other observations were carefully made in order to get a definite final impression of the effectiveness and tolerance of the vaccine. We had to do this; it was our duty. It was a big responsibility to introduce a new vaccine like this, even if one had already gained experience in a small experiment on oneself and volunteers. But in this trial the word, “experiment,” has been grossly misused. In this sense our vaccinations were not “experiments”, they were tests and not experiments with any uncertain goal or purpose. One can hardly speak of criminal experiments here. And in every medical journal in the world, on almost every page, we find experiments at the sick bed, and I don’t think anyone has any objection to this word. And as far as human experiments are concerned, I should like to refer to advertisements which show the public attitude of an American firm—in picture magazines which I have seen myself. Antiseptics such as Listerine, where they speak of human beings on whom tests have been made, who were used as guinea pigs. For this reason alone I think the word; “experiment”, is used in different senses.
Q. One term has not yet been cleared in this document, the last words, “comparable material.” Can you please explain what that means? What did you mean by “comparable material”?
A. That means that the investigations indicated had already been made and that the results were to be compared with one another, so that one could have really useful results. The individual values of every immunologist vary considerably according to the constitution and general physical condition. That was one of the reasons why I was very careful to obtain only those persons in good physical condition for vaccination, since persons in a poor condition react quite differently. Besides, I must point out that according to the general vaccination regulations, vaccinations of any type can only be performed on healthy people, and I wanted to observe this rule strictly.
* * * * *
DR. TIPP: Now, Witness, I turn to the next document, NO-122, Prosecution Exhibit 298. It is a letter from Rose to you dated 13 December 1943. In this letter the frequently mentioned Copenhagen vaccine is again mentioned. Herr Rose writes here that the testing of many vaccines simultaneously gives a clearer picture of better or worse results of a method than the testing of one vaccine alone. Furthermore, there is mention of the experiments in Buchenwald. Let me ask you first of all, Professor, when you received this letter in December 1943, what did you know about these Buchenwald experiments?
WITNESS HAAGEN: I only heard the details about these Buchenwald experiments from the documents in this trial. Moreover, Dr. Ding’s report at the consulting conference in 1943 must be mentioned. I heard of Professor Rose’s protest against these human experiments at that time.
Q. You had no connection then with these Ding experiments?
A. I never worked with Ding and knew of his work only from the report at this consulting conference.
Q. The prosecution has deduced regarding these Buchenwald experiments that the efficacy of the vaccine was tested by subsequent infection with pathogenic virus. Will you please say what you have to about that?
A. This attitude on the part of the prosecution ignores the fact, as I said several times, that I never had a strain of virus which is pathogenic to human beings, consequently, I could not carry out an infection such as the prosecution seems to assume. I never thought of carrying out such subsequent infection with a virus pathogenic to human beings, because I was working as a scientist with my own material, and wasn’t testing mixture for other vaccines at all.
As I have already said, on the occasion of Aherinesliev, I vaccinated some of the inmates there, with an attenuated virus in order to minimize the reactions to the vaccine. I thought that in the next vaccination I would carry out these primary vaccinations with dead vaccine and I wanted to use such a vaccine that used a dead virus. In the meantime, between Schirmeck vaccines and the new vaccinations in Natzweiler, I had carried my work to the point where I no longer needed a dead vaccine. But the previous history was this: Professor Rose, by sending me this Copenhagen vaccine, thought he was supporting and helping me. And he suggested that I include this dead vaccine in my series of vaccines. Let me say regarding this Copenhagen vaccine that it was a liver vaccine which is said to be much more effective than the other dead vaccines, particularly more so than the lung vaccine; and from it, in dead form, a better protection could be expected. Now, it was my point of view that if we distributed it over 100 persons again and did not get other persons, there would not be enough vaccinations to be of value for comparisons. So, I didn’t see any reason for introducing the Copenhagen vaccine. I told this to Professor Rose and Professor Rose answered in the form we have seen in the letter which constitutes this document. This would have given some basis for comparison between the two vaccines. However, I didn’t use it because I was no longer interested in it since, in the meantime, we had succeeded somewhat in attenuating our own virus so that we could do without it. I heard no more from Professor Rose about this vaccine and never received the Copenhagen vaccine.
Q. Then you say, Professor, that this was a dead vaccine, namely the Copenhagen vaccine, and there was also your own dead vaccine which was to be used for a preliminary vaccination to reduce the reaction to the live vaccine. However, this plan although originally intended, was never carried out?
A. Yes. That is so.
Q. Now, Professor, we were talking about your letter to Professor Hirt of 15 [13] November 1943, in which you ask him to make other prisoners available. Was this request met later and were you able to carry out vaccinations in Natzweiler later with your new vaccine?
A. Yes. I received the persons I had requested, and in December of 1943 and January of 1944 we were able to carry out these vaccinations. I performed them in two groups of 40 persons each with my live attenuated virus which is no longer pathogenic to human beings, and this I want to state explicitly.
Q. Professor, please describe these vaccinations briefly to the Tribunal.
A. First, a group of 40 persons was vaccinated. The first vaccination was done with one cc. intramuscularly. One was a vaccine made of murine typhus virus vaccine. In no case did local reactions of temperature or other symptoms occur. The second vaccination took place a week later. This was again one cc. of vaccine introduced intramuscularly. This was no longer pathogenic to human beings. To complete the story I have to say that between the Schirmeck vaccinations in May and these vaccinations, I had turned to the production of a louse typhus vaccine; this vaccine contained live virus. Before it was used in Natzweiler as a vaccine, we tested it on ourselves, that is, with some collaborators, to ascertain the tolerability and effects. We were roughly ten persons, members of the institute and also students. Only then did we use the vaccine on the prisoners in Natzweiler. Four weeks after the last vaccination there were the usual serological examinations. The Weil-Felix reaction was used. The average titer value, let me say, was better than in the vaccinations with the rat virus. It was, namely 2,000. I need not go into these details. The general reactions were normal reactions to inoculation, temperature, and headaches; but there were no manifestations of actual typhus as a result of inoculations.
Q. You are speaking of a first group, so I assume there must have been a second group. How did you carry out the vaccination of the second group?
A. It occurred to me that instead of injecting the vaccine, the vaccination could be performed by scarifying the skin in the same way as you scrape the skin to make a smallpox vaccination. Therefore, as with the first group, with the same living virus vaccine, I vaccinated 40 additional persons with scarification of the skin. Let me point out that the experiments on myself and on my assistants were carried out in the same way, with scarification of the skin. The reactions were comparatively mild, corresponding roughly to the reactions to vascular typhus vaccine, so that we had no misgivings about undertaking this kind of vaccination.
Q. You described the reactions of yourself and the volunteers as very slight. Now, the reactions of the prisoners were stronger, were they not?
A. Yes. They were stronger again. And this we can only explain by believing that the general state of health among the prisoners was lower than among my associates; but there was no such thing as a natural manifestation of typhus or any fatalities.
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Q. But, Professor, to this statement I shall have to put to you something which was said before this Tribunal and which is quite different from what you have just said. I am referring to the testimony of the witness, Edith Schmidt. On 9 January 1947 (Tr. p. 1371), she said that you had carried out vaccination experiments on 100 to 150 persons in Natzweiler, and out of these experiments roughly 50 are said to have died from the control group. Fraeulein Schmidt stated that she knew this from notes which your technical assistant, Miss Crodel, had made about the typhus experiments at Natzweiler. Can you please tell the Tribunal to which notes Fraeulein Schmidt was referring—in other words, how do you explain her testimony?
A. It is utterly impossible for Fraeulein Schmidt to have seen records of notes of my vaccinations in Natzweiler in which fatalities occurred because as I have already said no one died following the vaccinations. These notes of Fraeulein Crodel’s which Fraeulein Schmidt saw do not refer to the vaccinations. That can be seen from the numbers mentioned, by Fraeulein Schmidt, because I only vaccinated 80 persons at Natzweiler, not 150 to 200 as the witness stated. The witness apparently took this number and the concept of a control group from later writings, which are to be discussed hereafter; but I can imagine to which note she could have been referring.
Q. Please continue, Witness.
A. The witness states correctly when these notes were made, because she says the sun was shining on the pages. That must have been in the spring or summer of 1944. This corresponds with the time when the typhus epidemic was raging in the camp. Thus I assume that Fraeulein Schmidt really did see genuine notes of some sort.
Q. Then, Witness, you are saying that these were notes which were made in the course of an epidemic that took place in Natzweiler, can you tell us when this epidemic broke out?
A. So far as I can state from memory, the epidemic broke out in February or March of 1944. Gradually the number of cases became very large, and in the summer the very considerable figure of roughly 1,200 was reached.
Q. Let me point out in this connection that this epidemic is confirmed by two prosecution witnesses: Grandjean on 6 January (Tr. p. 1099) and the witness Holl on 3 January 1947 (Tr. p. 1058). Both witnesses stated that in the spring of 1944 and also in the summer following, there was a severe typhus epidemic in Natzweiler. The witness Grandjean gave the number as 1,200 to 1,400 cases, as I remember, thus this would agree with what you have just said, Witness. Now, the most important question in this connection is, did the outbreak of this epidemic have any connection with your vaccinations—what I mean is, were your vaccinations the cause of this epidemic?
A. No. There was no connection between the epidemic and our vaccinations. Our vaccinations had already been concluded in January 1944, and the first typhus cases occurred in February or March, and they were brought into the camp from outside, either by transports or from other camps. Let me repeat that the sick people were taken from outside camps to Schirmeck where they were treated in a special department, because there was no way of isolating them in the outside camps.
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CROSS-EXAMINATION
MR. MCHANEY: Let’s pass on to the notebook. Now, what does the notebook show? What is this notebook?
WITNESS HAAGEN: That is a control book in which the experiments with the typhus vaccine on the animals were recorded.
Q. Does that notebook concern your typhus experiments?
A. As far as I can see now, it looks as if that was the current laboratory work which we were carrying out. That is what it looks like, but I’d have to see all of it first.
Q. Now, Professor, you must be able to tell the Tribunal who wrote this book.
A. The technical assistant kept it, and from the handwriting, it looks as if she made these entries; but I can’t interpret every record after such a long time. I have to study it first. We did not only have vaccinations, but also scientific work.
Q. But to the best of your memory, you can state that this notebook was written by Fraeulein Crodel, and it concerns the experiments carried out by you?
A. The laboratory work, as far as I can see at the moment. I would like to make that restriction.
MR. MCHANEY: The prosecution asks that Document NO-3852 be marked as Prosecution Exhibit 521 for identification.
Now, Professor, we have covered the chart of the test on the two mice. Let’s go to the notebook itself. And in order to follow my questions, I will ask you to observe the pencil numbers which I have written on this photostatic copy down at the bottom right-hand corner of each page. Do you find that?
A. Yes.
Q. Will you turn to page 3?
If the Tribunal, please, it will be necessary to renumber the pages appearing on your translations. This applies equally to the defense counsel. When the translation was made, they took some pages off the reverse side of the photostatic copy, and because of the two pages appearing for one photostatic copy, they had to be renumbered. Page 5 on the translations should be marked page 3.
Do you find the entry for 30 April 1943, Professor?
A. 30 April ’43, yes.
Q. And that says, “S, plus, plus, 9, Sch.” That is Schirmeck, isn’t it, Professor? “Sch.”?
A. No. That means ninth passage. It is supposed to be “pas.”, ninth passage.
Q. It says “Sch.”, what does “Sch.” mean?
A. It doesn’t look like “Sch.” to me.
Q. What does it look like to you?
A. In German, I think it looks like a “p”, a German “p”.
Q. And you think it should read what?
A. First, I said it is probably “passage—ninth passage”.
Q. All right. Let’s go down to the entry, the next one for 14 May. In parenthesis “two weeks,” does that mean the vaccine had been stored for two weeks?
A. Where is that? I can’t find it.
Q. 14 May, immediately—
A. It probably means that it was stored for two weeks, yes.
Q. And then you go on, and it reads, “1 plus two point two for six mice, point five, I. P. All injected again, six point six immune, only two out of four of the controlled died,” right?
A. Yes. That is right.
Q. Then, the next is 26 May, “four weeks, three dash six,” what does “three dash six” mean, Professor?
A. “Four weeks, three to six,” only I can’t tell you at the moment. I’d have to reconstruct what the assistant wrote.
Q. Well, passing that for the moment. It continues to read, “point 5 per person and six mice point five I. P., five dead after ten, fourteen days. The rest after four weeks.” What does “the rest” refer to, the one mouse? Does that refer to those unidentified persons?
A. No. That refers to the mice. It was simply a mouse experiment. It says “five dead.” We should have all the information on the mice. This is only an extract.
Q. But this is May 1943, when you were vaccinating people in Schirmeck, and this entry says “three dash six, point five per persons”. Now you are not suggesting to the Tribunal that the “persons” are referring to the mice? It continues to say—
A. But when it says “six mice” with “point five”, that was the serum, I suppose, because we were also testing the immunizing effect on mice. I can’t interpret it differently at the moment. “Four weeks”, that means the vaccine had been stored for four weeks. “Point five per persons” were vaccinated. That might mean that it was a comparison experiment, that the effectiveness was to be tested on mice. At the moment I can’t give any exact interpretation. I’d have to study the document very carefully.
Q. What does this “per person” refer to? Talking about human beings, aren’t they?
A. Yes. It is very possible that that was the vaccine which we had injected into the persons in Schirmeck in May of ’43; and then in parallel experiments, we tested it on mice. It was still pathogenic to mice. It was the murine typhus virus.
Q. But not pathogenic to human beings. It killed the mice, but you were sure it wouldn’t kill any human beings, is that right?
A. Yes. The vaccination showed that.
Q. Let’s see what it showed. Let’s look at the entry for 6 July, and you will recall that this is right about the time that our witness, Hirtz, was testifying. On 6 July, “drawings of blood, Schirmeck, 10 persons, 3 had fever, Weil-Felix,” and then under number 1 to 8, indicating persons 1 to 8, you give the serum titer count, and then comes a little phrase, “the other two were not here anymore.” Professor, what about these other two persons out of the ten? You remember that the witness Hirtz testified that he personally sewed two bodies up in a paper bag, which were delivered to the crematorium after you had injected your vaccine. Doesn’t this, “the other two are not here anymore”, rather substantiate what the witness Hirtz testified to?
A. No. I wouldn’t say that. In my direct examination, I said that on checking these vaccinated persons, no one was missing. Whether later perhaps—these serological examinations were in May, two months before—whether some of the prisoners went in the meantime, I don’t know. If anyone had died there would have been an entry somewhere in the record, I should think.
Q. Doesn’t that entry say, “the two weren’t here anymore”? Where were these serological examinations in May? I don’t see that in your records. Does it show any serological examinations in May?
A. In the institute. And this is a later check on the immunity through the Weil-Felix experiments.
Q. We will proceed, Professor. Now you testified you did not conduct any vaccinations after May 1943 in Schirmeck, and I must have given you an opportunity at least five times to make that perfectly clear. And even on the last document I put to you, you still insist you did not make any. The next entry reads, “4 October 1943, six months, inoculated 20 persons in Schirmeck, tube plus 2 cc. distilled water, 0.5 per person”.
Do you want to change your testimony now, Professor?
A. First I have to read it carefully. There is a figure here, “six months”. I have to interpret that “20 persons inoculated in Schirmeck”. Those are probably the 20 people we vaccinated in May, whom the witness here mentioned. “Two cc. distilled water, then 0.5 cc. per person.” I do not know even today that we carried out vaccinations in Schirmeck in the fall of 1943. Then there is an entry on the 27th of January, 1944, “nine months”.
Q. That is right. That gives you the length of time you had this vaccine stored, does it not, Professor? On 4 October 1943 you had it stored six months? You inoculated 20 persons in Schirmeck on 4 October, did you not, as you stated in your letter to Rose on the same date: “the inoculations are now progressing,” or words to that effect? You remember you said to Rose in a letter of 4 October 1943, which I put to you, that was just a plan that you would do that. This entry indicates you did do it, does it not, Professor?
A. I must stress what I said before. Afterwards it suddenly says “January 1943”. That is a time much farther back.
Q. Yes, it is further back. It is obviously a mistake, Professor, as you well know. Sometimes people running from December over into January make a mistake and put the last year, you know, and that is obviously what happened in this case because he could not write a contemporaneous entry for January 1943 and then have it appear up above that entry, entries for October, July, and May and April 1943, could he, Professor? You will agree with me that the date should read 27 January 1944, when the vaccine had been stored nine months dating from 30 April 1943, is that not right, Professor?
A. I cannot remember that we vaccinated anybody in Schirmeck later; I am very sorry.
Q. You remember that you did not vaccinate anybody after May, Professor?
A. Yes. That is right.
Q. On 27 January 1944, which is the next entry, “nine months, mixed with the same amount as 21 May distilled water plus tube, 20 persons 10 cc. each”. Those were in Schirmeck, too, were they not, Professor?
A. It says 1 cc., 1 point 0 cc. It does not say anything about Schirmeck. I cannot say. I must assure you once more that I actually know nothing about these vaccinations. I am very sorry.
Q. Let us proceed to page 4, Professor. It is apparently another series on Schirmeck. Do you find the entry on page 4? Your Honors should change page 6 to page 4.
PRESIDING JUDGE BEALS: Our pages are numbered 1 and 2. You are referring to the numbers on the original document?
MR. MCHANEY: Yes, your Honor, page 6 on our translation. Page 6 of the original, should be changed to read page 4 of the original.
Now, Professor, do you find an entry on page 4 before you, of 10 October, “five months, inoculated ten persons in Schirmeck”? Do you find that, Professor?
WITNESS HAAGEN: Yes.
Q. That indicates you inoculated some after 4 October 1943, vaccinations which you mentioned in your letter to Rose, and which are confirmed by this notebook.
And then, under the entry for 10 October, you find 27 January 1944. Does it appear 1944 on the original?
A. 27 January 1944, yes.
Q. Eight months?
A. Eight months, yes.
Q. You speak of inoculating 20 persons there, do you not, Professor? Can you tell the Tribunal that those were done in Schirmeck?
A. I do not know that vaccinations were performed in Schirmeck at this time. We were only vaccinating in Natzweiler at this time, and I did not hear that such vaccinations were carried out. I am sorry.
Q. All right.
A. I am trying to interpret the document.
Q. Professor, let us go on to page 5. Do you find page 5, Professor?
A. Yes.
Q. This mentions another series of inoculations in Schirmeck, “13 July 1943, approximately seven weeks, Schirmeck, 0.5 cc. per person and six mice before the inoculation”.
Let us drop down lower on the page. Do you find the entry for 14 October?
Professor, do you find that?
A. Yes.
Q. “Ten persons inoculated for the third time with 1 cc.” Professor, I thought you told us that you did not carry out multiple vaccinations with your murine vaccine in Schirmeck.
A. I have already testified that the only vaccinations in Schirmeck were in May 1943. I do not know from where this record came. In the fall of 1943 we were only working in Natzweiler. I am sorry, I cannot give any explanation.
Q. This entry, though, Professor, indicates an inoculation for the third time on a series of ten persons. That was your “Infektions-Versuche,” was it not, Professor?
A. No. I know nothing about it; I am sorry.
Q. But your series of three vaccinations was what you referred to as the “Infektions-Versuche,” was it not, Professor?
A. But these were vaccinations which were carried out in Natzweiler, Mr. Prosecutor.
Q. The book says they were carried out in Schirmeck, and about four days before, on the 4th of October 1943, you wrote to Rose and said, “We have to carry out infection experiments.” Professor, is it possible that you really meant by “infection experiments” something other than your three-times vaccination which you had concluded on 14 October 1943?
A. Let me see exactly what it says here, page 5, “10 October-14 October, ten persons, three times point five,” it says again. It only says it is a vaccination, if this document is right.
Q. Does the document say, “Vaccinated ten persons, inoculated for the third time”? Is that what it said?
A. Yes. It says so. In May at Schirmeck in the control group we vaccinated three times. That is not impossible; but what I notice on this document, if you want to connect it with the Ipsen vaccine, is that it does not say anything about the Ipsen vaccine; I have not found that yet, but it does say Gildemeister.
Q. I have not mentioned anything about Ipsen vaccine. Let us proceed, Professor, so that we get through before the noon recess. Remember, you testified you had not carried out any vaccinations in Natzweiler after January 1944. Professor, will you turn to page 7 of this little notebook on your experiments, and while this is not the only entry which shows that you carried out vaccination experiments in Natzweiler after January 1944, I think it will be sufficient for our purposes. Do you have page 7? Will you find the entry?
A. Yes. I have page 7.
Q. Will you find the entry for 25 May 1944?
A. Yes.
Q. Does that read, “Together with S inoculated, used up five tubes of MI in Natzweiler; two ampules distilled water, three to four cubic centimeters per ampule vaccine, 0.5 cc. The inoculation took place during the incubation period, a transport also containing sick people, 13 became sick in the period from 29 May to 9 June; of those, two died.”
Then it continues to give the titer value of some of the others. Professor, don’t you have to change your testimony about vaccination in Natzweiler?
A. No. I cannot change it. I know nothing about this.
Q. Professor, let us look at words “together with S”. What do you understand “together with S” to mean? It is 25 May 1944?
A. I have no idea what “S” means.
Q. You testified that the defendant Schroeder visited you and you fixed the date, 25 May 1944. Is there any possibility that that “S” could mean Schroeder?
A. No. That is quite impossible. Impossible. Professor Schroeder never carried out any experiments with me nor did any work in my laboratory. He was not with me in Schirmeck or Natzweiler.
Q. He was not with you in Natzweiler?
A. No.
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-----
[57] United States vs. Oswald Pohl, et al. See Vol. V.
[58] Not introduced in evidence.
[59] Final plea is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 17 July 1947, pp. 11049-11074.
[60] United States vs. Friedrich Flick, et al. See Vol. VI.
[61] United States vs. Oswald Pohl, et al. See Vol. V.
[62] Passage is the passing of a disease carrier through a human being or through an animal.
[63] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 6, 7, 8, 9 Jan. 1947, pp. 1151-1883.
[64] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 April 1947, pp. 6081-6484.
[65] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 26, 27, 28, 31 March 1947, pp. 5000-5244.
[66] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 17, 18, 19, 20 June 1947, pp. 9409-9713.
10. EXPERIMENTS WITH POISON
a. Introduction
The defendants Genzken, Gebhardt, Mrugowsky, and Poppendick were charged with special responsibility for and participation in criminal conduct involving experiments with poison (par. 6 (K) of the indictment). Only the defendant Mrugowsky was convicted on this charge.
The prosecution’s summation of the evidence on the experiments with poison is contained in its closing brief against the defendant Mrugowsky. An extract from this brief is set forth below on pages 631 to 632. A corresponding summation of the evidence by the defense on these experiments has been selected from the final plea for the defendant Mrugowsky. It appears below on pages 633 to 634. This argumentation is followed by selections from the evidence on pages 634 to 639.
b. Selection from the Argumentation of the Prosecution
_EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF AGAINST DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY_
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Poison Experiments
Poison experiments were carried out in the Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen concentration camps by order of the defendant Mrugowsky (Tr. pp. 1183-6). The first series of the experiments was carried out in December 1943 in order to determine the fatal dosage of poisons of the alkaloid group. These experiments were requested by the SS judge, Morgen, who investigated the criminal case against Koch, camp commander of Buchenwald, and the defendant Hoven. Hoven was suspected of having killed a witness against Koch and himself by means of poison. Four Russian prisoners of war were experimented upon by Ding. The poison was administered to the experimental subjects in their food without their knowledge. All four survived, but were strangled in a crematorium of the concentration camp in order that autopsies could be performed. (Tr. pp. 1183-6; NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.) Since Ding was subordinated to Mrugowsky, this experiment could not have been performed by Ding without Mrugowsky’s approval.
On 11 September 1944 Mrugowsky and Ding carried out an experiment with aconitine nitrate projectiles in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. The projectiles were filled with crystallized poison and five experimental subjects were shot in the upper part of the left thigh with these projectiles. In two cases, no effect of the poison could be observed. In the other three cases, the suffering of the experimental subjects was terrible. All three died after approximately two hours of agony. The poison bullets used in the experiments were allegedly of Russian origin. (NO-201, Pros. Ex. 290.)
The experimental subjects were Russian prisoners of war. (Tr. p. 1186; see also Kogon’s testimony in Case 4.[67]) Mrugowsky admitted his participation in these experiments. He defended himself on the ground that he was the legally appointed executioner in this case. Assuming the truth of this absurd statement, it cannot be held legal to torture to death prisoners of war even if they had been validly sentenced to death.
On 26 October 1944 still another poison experiment was carried out by Ding in Buchenwald. The entry in the Ding diary for that date states: “Special experiment on 6 persons according to instructions of SS Oberfuehrer Lecturer Dr. Mrugowsky and RKPA. (Report on this orally.)” Kogon testified that Ding told him the Russian prisoners of war used in the experiments died in a short time. They were later dissected and burned. Ding reported to Mrugowsky orally. These experiments were connected with the poison bullet experiments in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. (Tr. pp. 1185-1186.)
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c. Selection from the Argumentation of the Defense
_EXTRACT FROM THE FINAL PLEA FOR DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY_[68]
* * * * *
In respect to the poison experiments, I proved in my written statement that Ding’s assertion that Mrugowsky had ordered him to be present at a euthanasia killing by phenol is not correct. Professor Killian, who according to Ding’s statement, was present when the order was given, said that this statement of Ding’s was incorrect. It showed that the examination of the question of whether the noxious effect of serums containing phenol can be proved by the comparative use of serums with and without phenol, and also a series of experiments with serums containing phenol was never carried out.
The experiments with pervitin were carried out on the initiative of Dr. Morgen and Dr. Wehner, according to the Ding diary. I proved that no harm was caused to the health of the experimental subjects by these experiments. The experiments were performed with pervitin which can be obtained in any chemist’s shop without a prescription and consequently is not a poison. In the experiments it was used together with a narcotic because the authority wanted to determine whether, as a result of this treatment, the effect was increased one way or the other. The only effect was that the experimental subjects fell into a disturbed sleep for up to 20 hours. This pervitin experiment was not ordered by Mrugowsky; he did not participate therein in any way, and the prosecution did not even contend that he knew of it. No responsibility under criminal law may be deduced against him from this experiment.
With regard to the special experiment on 6 persons mentioned in Ding’s diary, it is again solely the witness Kogon who gave details. In my closing brief I pointed out that, in this case too, Kogon gave contradictory testimony in the Pohl trial[69] and the doctors’ trial about the origin of this experiment. Thus his evidence has no probative value. Moreover, Kogon’s description of this experiment, except for the sealing and the burning of the prescription, is only based on Ding’s statements. In respect to this special experiment, there is no evidence whatsoever to show the type of poison used, the manner in which the special experiment was performed, and the aim of the experiment. After the collapse, Ding told the defendant Sievers that towards the end of 1944 in Buchenwald he had filled 80 phials with prussic acid in order to commit suicide, but he unfortunately took none of them with him.
No one can prove whether Ding carried out his “special experiment” with these prussic acid capsules because Ding left no report about the course of the special experiment.
The Ding diary states that the experiment was performed by order of Mrugowsky and the Reich Criminal Police Office. Because the diary has such little probative value, the truth of this contention cannot be proved by this document alone. No other evidence has been submitted to show that Ding poisoned 6 prisoners by order of Mrugowsky. Therefore there is no conclusive evidence to prove that Mrugowsky ordered this experiment or that he even knew about it.
The prosecution further indicted Mrugowsky because of an execution performed at Sachsenhausen in which ten bandits sentenced to death were executed with bullets poisoned with aconitine. I have proved that Mrugowsky attended this execution only as the usual doctor present at an execution. I further demonstrated that the execution took place because, in an attempt on the life of a high-ranking civil servant in the General Government, Russian revolver ammunition had been used in which hollow bullets had been filled with aconitine poison. This use of poisoned Russian bullets, and Henderson’s book which described the preparation for the use of poisoned bullets in the First World War, had increased the concern that poisoned bullets would shortly be used at the front. I proved that poisoned ammunition was used at the execution to determine whether pure aconitine or a poison mixture had been used in the bullets, and how much time would be available in case of need to administer antidotes.
I proved that all executions in the concentration camps were ordered by the Reich Criminal Police Office, and that the presence of a doctor at such executions was prescribed. The execution at Sachsenhausen was ordered by the Reich Criminal Police Office. No charge under criminal law can be deduced against Mrugowsky from his attendance as a doctor at the execution. I have explained this in detail in my closing brief.
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d. Evidence
Prosecution Documents Pros. Ex. Doc. No. No. Description of Document Page NO-201 290 Report from Mrugowsky to the Criminological 635 Institute, 12 September 1944, concerning experiments with aconitine nitrate projectiles.
Testimony
Extract from the testimony of prosecution witness Dr. Eugen Kogon 637
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-201 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 290
REPORT FROM MRUGOWSKY TO THE CRIMINOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, 12 SEPTEMBER 1944, CONCERNING EXPERIMENTS WITH ACONITINE NITRATE PROJECTILES
Reich Physician SS and Police Berlin-Zehlendorf 6, The Chief Hygienist 12 September 1944 Journal No.: Secret 364/44 Dr. Mru./Eb. Spanische Allee 10-12
Top Secret
Subject: Experiments with aconitine nitrate projectiles To the Criminological Institute [Stamp] attn: Dr. Widmann
Berlin Criminological Institute Department: Chemistry received: 13 Sep 1944 Journal No. g 53/44 in charge:
In the presence of SS Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Ding, Dr. Widmann, and the undersigned, experiments with aconitine nitrate projectiles were conducted on 11 September 1944 on 5 persons who had been condemned to death. The projectiles in question were of a 7.65 mm. caliber, filled with crystallized poison. The experimental subjects, in a lying position, were each shot in the upper part of the left thigh. The thighs of two of them were cleanly shot through. Even afterwards, no effect of the poison was to be observed. These two experimental subjects were therefore exempted.
The entrance of the projectile did not show any peculiarities. Evidently the arteria femoralis of one of the subjects were injured. A slight stream of blood issued from the wound. But the bleeding stopped after a short time. The loss of blood was estimated as having been at the most ¾ of a liter, and consequently was on no account fatal.
The symptoms of the condemned three showed a surprising similarity. At first no peculiarities appeared. After 20 to 25 minutes a motor agitation and a slight ptyalism set in, but stopped again. After 40 to 45 minutes a stronger salivation set in. The poisoned persons swallowed repeatedly, but later the flow of saliva became so strong that it could not even be overcome by swallowing. Foamy saliva flowed from their mouths. Then choking and vomiting set in.
After 58 minutes the pulse of two of them could no longer be felt. The third had a pulse rate of 76. After 65 minutes his blood pressure was 90/60. The sounds were extremely low. A reduction of blood pressure was evident.
During the first hour of the experiment the pupils did not show any changes. After 78 minutes the pupils of all three showed a medium dilation together with a retarded light reaction. Simultaneously, maximum respiration with heavy breathing inhalations set in. This subsided after a few minutes. The pupils contracted again and their reaction improved. After 65 minutes the patellar and achilles tendon reflexes of the poisoned subjects were negative. The abdominal reflexes of two of them were also negative. The upper abdominal reflexes of the third were still positive, while the lower were negative. After approximately 90 minutes, one of the subjects again started breathing heavily. This was accompanied by an increasing motor unrest. Then the heavy breathing changed into a flat, accelerated respiration, accompanied by extreme nausea. One of the poisoned persons tried in vain to vomit. To do so he introduced four fingers of his hand up to the knuckles into his throat, but nevertheless could not vomit. His face was flushed.
The other two experimental subjects had already early shown a pale face. The other symptoms were the same. The motor unrest increased so much that the persons flung themselves up, and down, rolled their eyes and made meaningless motions with their hands and arms. Finally the agitation subsided, the pupils dilated to the maximum, and the condemned lay motionless. Masseter spasms and urination were observed in one case. Death occurred 121, 123, and 129 minutes after entry of the projectile.
Summary. The projectiles filled with approximately 38 mg. of aconitine nitrate in solid form had, in spite of only insignificant injuries, a deadly effect after two hours. Poisoning showed 20 to 25 minutes after injury. The main reactions were salivation, alteration of the pupils, negative tendon reflexes, motor unrest, and extreme nausea.
[Signature] MRUGOWSKY SS Lecturer Oberfuehrer and Office Chief.
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Poison Projectile of a Russian 7.65 Caliber Pistol Cartridge
(Perspective view, scale 10:1) [Illustration]
The projectile is cut open and ¼ of the lead core (1 segment) is removed. The lead seal at the bottom of the projectile is not shown in this illustration. The section is clearly visible on the right half of the jacket of the projectile.
Criminological Institute of the Security Police Department: Chemistry Journal No. g 15/44
Russian 7.65 mm. Caliber Pistol Cartridge with Poison Projectile
(Stamp on bottom of cartridge case: Geco) [Illustration]
Criminological Institute of the Security Police Department: Chemistry
EXTRACT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF PROSECUTION WITNESS DR. EUGEN KOGON[70]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
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MR. MCHANEY: Do you know anything about experiments with poisons in the Buchenwald concentration camp?
WITNESS KOGON: I know of two such cases. The one case was about the turn of the year 1943-44 or in the late fall of 1943, and the second case was probably in the summer of 1944. In each case Russian prisoners of war were used for these experiments. In the first case various preparations of the so-called alkaloid series were put into noodle soup and administered to 40 of these prisoners of war who were in Block 46. They, of course, had no idea what was going on. Two of these prisoners became so sick that they vomited, one was unconscious, the fourth showed no symptoms at all. Thereupon, all four were strangled in the crematorium. They were dissected and the contents of their stomachs and other effects were determined. The experiment was ordered by the SS court, by the SS investigating judge, Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Morgen. It was carried out in the presence of Dr. Ding, Dr. Morgen, Dr. Wehner, SS Hauptsturmfuehrer and SS judges, and one of the three camp leaders, I do not know whether it was SS Sturmbannfuehrer Schubert or SS leader Florstedt. The second experiments—
Q. Witness, before continuing with the second experiment, I wonder if you could tell the Tribunal the reason why this poison experiment which you have just mentioned was carried out?
A. In the summer of 1943 the SS court in Berlin was trying the former commander of Buchenwald and later commander of the Lublin concentration camp in Poland, SS Standartenfuehrer Koch. The trial was reaching its climax. The investigation had led to very serious charges against Koch. Here I must mention that SS Obergruppenfuehrer Prince Waldeck, then head of the SS main district [Oberabschnitt] Fulda-Werra, was personally opposing Koch, and it was merely this personal antagonism of the two men which had brought about the trial. A man by the name of Koehler, a Hauptscharfuehrer in Buchenwald, was arrested by Dr. Morgen and kept in custody in the Buchenwald concentration camp. This Hauptscharfuehrer seemed to have testified against Koch. Two or three days later this Hauptscharfuehrer Koehler was found dead in his cell. A few hours before he had been quite healthy. He seemed to have taken strong poison. Dr. Morgen contended that Dr. Hoven, together with the guard, Hauptscharfuehrer Sommer, had killed Koehler. Koehler was dissected in the dissecting room in the presence of a scientist from Jena and two of my comrades. The head of the pathology section was also present. Drugs of the alkaloid series were found in the stomach of the dead man. The amount and the specific type was not known. In order to determine the fatal dosage of poisons of this type, the SS court ordered an experiment on four Russian prisoners of war. This is the experiment which I have just described in Block 46. On 20 September 1943, Dr. Hoven was arrested on Dr. Morgen’s orders and remained in the custody of the SS court until the end of March 1945. I know the date exactly because on that Saturday afternoon Dr. Hoven came to Block 50 on his motorcycle, asked me about Dr. Ding-Schuler, who was not there, and went away again quite depressed. Half an hour later I learned from the hospital, the prisoners’ hospital, that Dr. Hoven expected to be arrested himself.
Q. In other words, Hoven was suspected by Morgen of having done away with the witness against Koch, is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, will you explain to the Tribunal about his second poison experiment?
A. In the summer of 1944—I am not quite sure of the exact date—Dr. Ding, who was already called Schuler, came from Berlin at the time and told me that he had a very unpleasant task to perform. He said it was extremely secret and a few hours later, without my having asked, he told me details about it in his room.
I must point out that at this time there was really nothing at all private or official, that Dr. Schuler would not have told me in order to get my advice. He realized quite clearly that the cause of National Socialism was lost. He was only looking for safety.
He said, “Kogon, can you see any way of getting me out of this affair? I am supposed to test a poison here on Russian prisoners of war. I have to report on it immediately. It is a direct order from Mrugowsky. I don’t know how I can get out of it.”
He gave me the prescription, the chemical formula of this poison, and I was to put this prescription in an envelope and seal it in his presence. In my haste I was not able to read it. It had some code name. I put the prescription in the envelope and only said to him, because we were interrupted, “You know my point of view.” I must add here that in long conversations at night I had tried to explain to him that his only way out was to do as much as possible for the political prisoners, but that in serious cases he must, as a human being, refuse to carry out orders which violated the moral laws.
He laughed when I said that and replied, “I know your religious and moral ideas. You know I don’t believe in anything. This way is out of the question for me; all I can do is comply with the first suggestion and collaborate with the political prisoners.”
In this poison case, he went in great haste and excitement to the camp leader, Sturmbannfuehrer Schubert, whom he had informed beforehand by telephone, and the commander, Oberfuehrer Pister, who also knew about it and they all went—I don’t know whether the camp physician was also present—at any rate, they went to the crematorium, not to Block 46. The Russian prisoners of war, again, four of them, had been taken there into the cellar with the 46 hooks on the walls on which the people were strangled. These four Russians were given this poison. I do not know how it was administered. As Ding-Schuler told me later, they died in a very short time. Then they were dissected and cremated. Dr. Ding did not send a written report on this matter to Berlin. He told me he had to report on it to Mrugowsky orally. Ding was not only excited about this matter, but afterwards he was also very secretive about it. He did not want me to talk about it any more. From indications in his conversation I learned that there was some connection with experiments in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Oranienburg which Mrugowsky had performed in Ding’s presence. Prisoners must have been shot there with poisoned bullets, because Ding said that a Russian prisoner of war had succeeded in getting hold of a knife and attacking Mrugowsky, but that the prisoner had been immediately overpowered.
In any case, Ding did not want to have anything more to do with the matter, even in my presence. A short time later the prescription and the sealed envelope were burned by Ding in my presence. He held it over a candle in my presence and burned it. I could not find out what the contents were.
* * * * *
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[67] United States vs. Oswald Pohl, et al. See Vol. V.
[68] Final plea is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 17 July 1947, pp. 11049-11074.
[69] United States vs. Oswald Pohl, et al. See Vol. V.
[70] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 6, 7, 8 Jan 1947, pp. 1150-1300. See also testimony of defendant Mrugowsky, sec. VIII G, vol. II.
11. INCENDIARY BOMB EXPERIMENTS
a. Introduction
The defendants Genzken, Gebhardt, Mrugowsky, and Poppendick were charged with special responsibility for and participation in criminal conduct involving incendiary bomb experiments (par. 6 (L) of the indictment). The defendants were acquitted on this charge.
The prosecution’s summation of the evidence on the incendiary bomb experiments is contained in its closing brief against the defendant Poppendick. An extract from this brief is set forth below on page 640. A corresponding summation of the evidence by the defense on these experiments has been selected from the closing brief for the defendant Poppendick. It appears below on pages 641 to 643. This argumentation is followed by selections from the evidence on pages 643 to 653.
b. Selection From the Argumentation of the Prosecution
_EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF AGAINST DEFENDANT POPPENDICK_
* * * * *
Incendiary Bomb Experiments
Sturmbannfuehrer Ding-Schuler (hereinafter referred to as Ding) carried out incendiary bomb experiments in the Buchenwald concentration camp between 19 and 25 November 1943. (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287.) In order to ascertain the effectiveness of the drug R 17 and echinacine ointment and liquid for the treatment of phosphorus burns, five experimental persons were deliberately burned with ignited phosphorus which was taken from an incendiary bomb. The resulting burns were very severe, the victims suffered excruciating pain and permanent injury. The drugs to be tested were manufactured at the Dr. Madaus Works in Dresden-Radebeul. (Tr. pp. 1187-90.)
The report on these experiments (NO-579, Pros. Ex. 288) was forwarded by Ding to the defendants Poppendick and Mrugowsky. (Tr. pp. 1158, 1188.) The Research Department “V” (for Vonkennel) in Leipzig was also interested in these experiments. Correspondence by Ding with this department went through Poppendick. (Tr. pp. 1158, 1175, 1247, 1267.) Research Department “V” was a laboratory run by Sturmbannfuehrer Vonkennel, with funds and material furnished by Grawitz. (Poppendick 9, Poppendick Ex. 8; Tr. pp. 5589-5592.) Poppendick was the expert in Grawitz’ office responsible for the work of that laboratory. (Tr. p. 1267.) This testimony of Kogon is corroborated by letters from Vonkennel to Poppendick and Ding to Poppendick concerning typhus experiments. (NO-1182, Pros. Ex. 477; NO-1184, Pros. Ex. 476; NO-1185, Pros. Ex. 478.) The latter was actually typed by Kogon for Ding, as can be seen from the file notation.
* * * * *
c. Selection from the Argumentation of the Defense
_EXTRACTS FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT POPPENDICK_
* * * * *
Experiments with Incendiaries
* * * * *
Evaluation of Evidence
The prosecution questioned the witness Kogon about the dispatch of reports on experiments with incendiaries. He stated:
“The photos were placed opposite each other, mounted in an album, described in detail; the result sent in two copies to Berlin, one to Professor Mrugowsky, the other—here I am not quite sure—to Oberfuehrer Poppendick. I believe that Oberfuehrer Poppendick certainly received one report concerning this matter because Dr. Ding intended to publish a dissertation on this in a medical journal.”
The prosecution then referred in this connection, to the entry in the so-called Ding diary under 5 January 1944 (NO-265, Pros. Ex. 287):
“Records dispatched to the Reich Physician SS with the request that they be forwarded to the Dr. Madaus Works.”
The prosecution now thought they would be able to connect these two pieces of evidence with one another and wants to prove from this that Poppendick received a regular report, with photos, on experiments with incendiaries, and thus learned about criminal experiments with incendiaries in Buchenwald.
The defense first questioned the persons concerned in Leipzig, in the form of affidavits, about the previous history of the experiments with incendiaries—the affidavit of Dr. Koch from the Madaus Works (Mrugowsky 103, Mrugowsky Ex. 97), the affidavit of Kirchert (Poppendick 7, Poppendick Ex. 9), and the affidavit of von Woyrsch (Mrugowsky 115, Mrugowsky Ex. 108), all of these make similar reports on these events. Each one of these three witnesses, viewing this matter from different angles, was able to testify under oath that the correspondence between Dr. Ding and the firm of Madaus did not pass through Poppendick personally, and that the research section of Professor Vonkennel also had nothing to do with the whole matter as far as it took place in Leipzig, but that the connections were somewhat different in many respects from what might be concluded from the statement of Kogon.
For a person like Kogon, it was, of course, difficult to take in the connections as a whole, as he only occasionally received letters which had anything to do with the questions dealt with here. On the basis of letters still available, he can only draw certain retrospective conclusions today. Therefore, in the formulation of his statements, he exercises a certain caution, qualifying in advance things as they happened by remarks such as “I believe,” “certainly,” and so on. (See also testimony, Pohl trial, 22 April 1947;[71] Poppendick 21, Poppendick Ex. 20.) For these reasons the phrase “in this case I am not quite sure,” relating to Poppendick’s knowledge of illustrated reports on incendiaries, can only be taken as an indication of the fact that Kogon did not want Poppendick to be charged, through his sworn testimony, with the knowledge of these reports, with photographs concerning incendiaries. Poppendick has definitely declared that he would certainly have remembered such a report with photographs if he had received it. In this way then, the uncertain statement of Kogon is confronted by the definite statement of the defendant, who could not be accused of any unreliability in the course of his examination. The contention of the defendant is supported by the three above-mentioned affidavits which fully confirm this. Kogon then said, however: “A report, I think * * *”—then again with a certain limitation—“which Oberfuehrer Poppendick certainly received because Dr. Ding intended to publish a dissertation on this in a medical journal.”
Although this last statement was made with somewhat more emphasis, but still not with complete certainty, the following comment can be made on it:
It is certain that Kogon had access to the entire documentary evidence as introduced in this trial before making his statement. Without doubt he saw the manuscript of the Ding publication on typhus (NO-582, Pros. Ex. 286) with the stamp of approval “by order of Poppendick,” even if he did not see it while still in Buchenwald during his stay in the camp. From this he thought he could deduce that Poppendick must be the person responsible—in spite of the words “by order”—for the approval of scientific publications. Kogon knew from his work in Buchenwald that Ding meant to publish a pamphlet on the treatment of burns. He therefore took it for granted that the only way of getting official permission was via Poppendick, whereas actually Poppendick authorized these requests and signed them “by order of” in every case only when given special permission by Grawitz. Neither Kogon nor we know whether such a manuscript was ever actually sent in for publication. Even if it was actually sent in, it is not certain that Poppendick had to grant permission for its publication. If Poppendick actually authorized the publication of such a pamphlet “by order of”—a fact which cannot be proved—there is a 100 percent probability, taking the typhus manuscript (NO-582, Pros. Ex. 286) as an example, that in such a publication the question of artificially inflicting wounds on human bodies would not have been openly mentioned but would have been just as carefully veiled as was done in the manuscript concerning typhus treatment.
It is quite obvious, though, and even the prosecution will not dispute this, that Poppendick otherwise played no part whatever in the incendiary bomb experiments, and had no contact with the authorities responsible for them, such as the Madaus Works, Dr. Ding, etc., whereby he might have been informed of what was going on in Buchenwald also in regard to those incendiary bomb experiments.
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d. Evidence
Prosecution Documents Doc. No. Pros. Ex. No. Description of Document Page NO-579 288 Extracts from a report on the findings 644 of 2 January 1944, on a skin ointment—R 17—for phosphorus burns. NO-1080 A, 219 A, E, F Exposures of the witness Maria 901 E, F Kusmierczuk who underwent sulfanilamide and bone experiments while an inmate of the Ravensbrueck concentration camp. (See Selections from the Photographic Evidence of the Prosecution.) NO-1082 A, 214 A, C Exposures of the witness Jadwiga Dzido 903 C who underwent sulfanilamide and bone experiments while an inmate of the Ravensbrueck concentration camp. (See Selections from the Photographic Evidence of the Prosecution.)
Defense Documents
Doc. No. Def. Ex. No. Description of Document Mrugowsky Mrugowsky Ex. Extracts from the affidavit of Udo von 647 115 108 Woyrsch, 3 May 1947, concerning experiments on combating injuries due to phosphorus incendiary bombs.
Testimony
Extract from the testimony of prosecution witness Eugen Kogon 648 Extract from the testimony of defendant Mrugowsky 651
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT NO-579 PROSECUTION EXHIBIT 288
EXTRACTS FROM A REPORT ON THE FINDINGS OF 2 JANUARY 1944, ON A SKIN OINTMENT—R 17—FOR PHOSPHORUS BURNS
EXPERIMENTS ON ANIMALS
* * * * *
EXPERIMENTS ON HUMAN BEINGS
I. Application of the phosphorus-caoutchouc mixture and immediate removal—
1. With R 17.
19 November. The mixture was dropped on a smooth spot of skin on the forearm and immediately thereafter wiped off with a tampon dipped in R 17. R 17 quickly dissolved the phosphorus and the caoutchouc. Subsequent checks showed a complete cessation of phosphorescence. The spot of skin showed an increased temperature until 14 December, as the testers ascertained by placing the backs of their hands against it.
2. With CuSO_{4}.
19 November. The mixture, which had been applied to a smooth spot of skin on the forearm, was removed with a 2 percent solution of copper-sulphate. There appeared a blackish-brownish, strongly viscous mass with a metallic sheen which, when rubbed off, spread over the entire experimentation area. After an initial formation of black smoke (phosphorus fumes) and a strong glow, the phosphorescence, because of the formation of a copper-phosphate coating, ceased almost immediately. It seems to be possible that phosphorus, if it comes in contact with small skin wounds, is assimilated into the body by resorption. This spot of skin likewise showed an increase in temperature until 14 December.
3. With water.
19 November. It was always possible to remove the mixture from the skin by water. However, in this case pronounced phosphorescence lasting several minutes and phosphorus fumes were to be observed.
II. Lighting of the phosphorus-caoutchouc mixture and treatment:
1. With R 17.
a. Immediate ignition.
25 November. The mixture was applied to a skin area of 6 × 3 cm. and immediately ignited. After burning for 20 seconds, it was extinguished with water and then wiped off with R 17. A burn appeared, with a yellowish induration of the skin. Later a thin scab formed. After 3 days, the wound was treated with liquid echinacine. On 11 December the scab fell off; the surface of the wound was dry and rosy red. Epithelium formed very rapidly; on 21 December only 1/5 of the surface remained without epithelium. On 29 December this spot too was almost healed.
25 November. The mixture was applied to a skin area of the same size (6 × 3 cm.) and immediately ignited. It burned for 55 seconds until it went out by itself. The burned spot was wiped off with R 17. There appeared a yellowish-brown burn which exhibited a cavity at the proximal end and a blister at the distal end. An elastic scab formed. On the fourth day the wound was treated with echinacine ointment. Thereupon, on 3 December, the scab began to slough off; on 10 December the wound was dry and closed; on 13 December only the edge of the wound still showed a scab and the main part of the wound was covered with fine granulation. The wound continued to become smaller until 29 December without healing over.
b. Ignition after 30 seconds.
19 November. The mixture was applied to 2 sq. cm. of skin. After 30 seconds it was ignited and after burning for 40 seconds it was wiped off with R 17. A dry burn appeared. During the following days a small oedematous swelling developed. The wound was treated with liquid echinacine. Thereafter, the swelling subsided rapidly, so that on 1 December there remained a clear, dry wound without necrosis. Subsequently to this a broad zone of epithelization formed and by 29 December the wound had healed with the exception of 0.5 sq. cm. still lacking epithelium.
19 November. The mixture was again applied to 2 sq. cm. of skin, ignited after 30 seconds, but treated with R 17 only after burning 60 seconds. Here too a dry burn appeared, however with severe reddening and pain in the surrounding area. The wound formed a necrotic coating. On the third day it was treated with a 10 percent solution of cod-liver-oil ointment. On 19 December it was circumscribed and dry. A slow epithelization began. Later the wounded skin area became similar to the smooth surrounding area. On 29 December the wound had not yet healed over.
c. Application to a piece of cloth covering the skin.
25 November. The phosphorus-caoutchouc mixture, applied to a piece of cloth covering the skin was ignited. Sixty-seven seconds elapsed before it had burned itself out. The piece of cloth, except for a small remainder, was carbonized. After it was wiped off with R 17 there appeared on skin a burn with a central blister which later developed to a thin, elastic scab. After 3 days the wound was treated with echinacine ointment. Until 3 December cleaning of the wound took place; at this date it was dry, rosy red, and closed; a fine granulation covered it. Thereupon rapid epithelization began. On 29 December it was not yet healed over.
2. With CuSO_{4}.
a. Immediate ignition.
25 November. The mixture was applied to a skin area of 6 × 3 cm., and immediately ignited. After burning 20 seconds it was extinguished with water, and then wiped off with copper-sulphate solution. During this operation the entire epidermis separated from the area of the wound. An oedematous swelling of the surrounding area, 12 × 13 cm. in extent and a thick scab formed. Treatment took place with liquid echinacine. On 7 December the necrosis began to slough off, and gradual epithelization took place. On 21 December one-third of the area of the wound was still without epithelium (cf. II/1/a/aa). On 29 December the wound was healed over.
25 November. The mixture was again applied to a skin area of 6 × 3 cm. and immediately ignited. After it had burned itself out in 60 seconds, the burned area was wiped off with copper-sulphate solution. A brownish-grey burn with thickening of the skin appeared. The thickening developed to a strong scab. It was treated with a 10-percent solution of cod-liver oil ointment. The surrounding area remained very red and painful. On 10 December a subcutaneous suppuration appeared at the edge of the wound. Consequently the treatment with cod-liver oil was replaced by liquid echinacine. On 13 December the scab separated from the greater part of the wound, but the surrounding area remained more inflamed than in the corresponding experiment with R 17 (cf. II/1/a/bb). The granulation was coarse and uneven. On 29 December the wound was not yet healed over; epithelization advanced only slowly.
b. Ignition after 30 seconds.
19 November. The phosphorus-caoutchouc mixture was applied to 2 sq. cm. of skin and left there for 30 seconds; then it was ignited and after burning for 60 seconds wiped off with copper-sulphate solution. A brownish-black viscous mass formed; the dry wound discolored to a blackish-grey. Thereupon a thick crust formed and a considerable oedematous swelling of the area surrounding the wound developed. Treatment took place with echinacine ointment. The swelling subsided more slowly than in the treatment with R 17 (cf. II/1/b/aa). On 5 December the wound was without necrosis, with a wide zone of epithelization. On 29 December it had healed over except for 1 sq. cm. lacking in epithelium (cf. II/1/bb/aa).
c. Application to a piece of cloth covering the skin.
25 November. The skin was covered with a piece of cloth 6 × 3 cm. to which the mixture was applied and then ignited. After it had burned itself out in 57 seconds there remained of the piece of cloth only small carbonized remnants. After being wiped off with copper-sulphate solution a yellowish, rather strong thickening of the skin appeared. The wound was treated with a 10-percent solution of cod-liver oil. A few days later little blisters appeared, which then dried up on 5 December. On 9 December, thickened, shred-like necroses began to peel off, and a dark red surface with rough, uneven granulations developed. The epithelization progressed only slowly. On 29 December the wound was not yet healed over.
3. With water.
19 November. The mixture was applied to a 2 sq. cm. of skin and ignited 30 seconds later. After 45 seconds the fire was extinguished with a damp cloth and the burned spot washed off with water. A burn of parchment-like, dry, greenish-brownish appearance appeared. The wound was treated with echinacine ointment. On 3 December it was clean, dry, and without necrosis. On 5 December the epithelization began, which then made rapid strides, so that on 23 December the wound, in contrast to the treatment with a 10-percent solution of cod-liver oil, was considerably smaller. On 29 December it was not yet healed over, but was only half as large as the wound treated with a 10-percent solution of cod-liver oil.
PARTIAL TRANSLATION OF MRUGOWSKY DOCUMENT 115 MRUGOWSKY DEFENSE EXHIBIT 108
EXTRACTS FROM THE AFFIDAVIT OF UDO VON WOYRSCH, 3 MAY 1947, CONCERNING EXPERIMENTS ON COMBATING INJURIES DUE TO PHOSPHORUS INCENDIARY BOMBS
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From 20 April 1940 to 12 February 1947 I was Higher SS and Police Leader in Military District IV and main district leader [Oberabschnittsfuehrer] in Dresden. In this capacity I was responsible for measures counteracting the damage caused by the air war. I knew Dr. Hans Madaus, co-partner of the firm Dr. Madaus & Co., in Dresden. He told me that experiments on the combating of injuries caused by phosphorus incendiary bombs were being carried on in his laboratory with rabbits. On the occasion of an inspection of the whole pharmaceutical lay-out of the firm, I inspected, at his suggestion, in particular numerous hothouses and also the above-mentioned experiments. As far as I remember I inspected the experiments once again at a later date—at that time I called in Dr. Kirchert as medical expert, who was the physician of the Higher SS and Police Leader.
The experiments seemed to me to be so successful that I reported about them to Reich Physician SS and Police Dr. Grawitz; that is, I called his attention to these experiments on the combating of injuries caused by phosphorus incendiary bombs, which in my opinion were particularly successful.
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I do not remember Dr. Ding, who, as I have learned only now, is supposed to have carried on experiments in Buchenwald with the preparation of the Madaus firm. It is possible that when visiting Dresden he paid a brief visit to me with Kirchert. But I do not recall such a visit.
I want to emphasize that the experiments at the Madaus firm made a big impression upon me, because I saw that the rabbits used in those experiments were treated very well. The content of the phosphorus incendiary bombs which was rubbed onto their skins and then wiped off with preparation R 17 did not seem to cause any kind of pain to the animals, because after they were returned to their cage, immediately after the experiments, they immediately ate again and did not show any signs of discomfort.
Professor Dr. Joachim Mrugowsky is personally known to me. He was not mentioned in any way nor did he participate in the matter of incendiary bombs. Since I know him, I would certainly remember if he had participated in any way at all or if his name had been mentioned.
Dr. Helmut Poppendick has also never been mentioned in any way in connection with this matter.
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EXTRACTS FROM THE TESTIMONY OF PROSECUTION WITNESS EUGEN KOGON[72]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
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MR. MCHANEY: Witness, I had just asked you whether or not you know anything about experiments conducted at Buchenwald with the phosphorous content of incendiary bombs.
WITNESS KOGON: * * * As far as I can recall, I was told by Dr. Ding in the spring of 1944 that he had been given orders by Professor Dr. Mrugowsky in collaboration with the firm of Madaus & Co. at Dresden-Radebeul to carry out experiments on human beings with regard to the effect of a drug against the contents of phosphorous-caoutchouc incendiary bombs. I had the impression that the idea for this experiment had come from Dr. Ding and had been given to Dr. Mrugowsky by him, and then he had obtained permission to carry out this experiment. On the part of the firm Madaus, negotiations were led by a certain Dr. Koch. He had a drug which he called R 17 and which was used by the German population after attacks in which incendiary bombs were dropped.
By way of Obersturmbannfuehrer Dr. Koch and the higher police leader of the Dresden sector, the contents of phosphorus incendiary bombs were sent to Buchenwald, and four experimental subjects from Block 46, who had survived other experiments, had this phosphorus liquid applied to their forearms. The whole mass was then ignited and was then treated in various manners. In the case of one experimental subject, water was used in order to wipe off the liquid, and in other cases a damp rag was applied, and in the last case R 17 was applied. Several experiments were carried out on these four subjects.
In one instance the drug R 17 was applied immediately after the mass had been ignited; in another instance, after approximately five minutes, and in yet another case, after thirty minutes. After the mass had burned the arm, serious burns developed which were observed for two weeks afterwards. The experiment was conducted by the Special Section 5 at Leipzig, and photographs were taken of the wounds. Previously experiments on animals had been carried out in Block 40 on rabbits. These experiments were conducted in the same manner, and the various results were also photographed, and the photographs were compared with each other. Then they were put into an album with exact descriptions and the results were sent to Berlin—two copies. One was sent to Professor Mrugowsky, and the other was sent to Oberfuehrer Poppendick, but I am not quite sure about that. I believe that Oberfuehrer Poppendick must surely have received a report on this matter because Dr. Ding intended to write an article about this in a German medical journal.
Q. Now, you have mentioned an album report. Did you see this report?
A. I personally made the report after having it dictated to me by Dr. Ding.
Q. I will ask you if the document which I will now have handed to you, and which is Document NO-579, is the report on these incendiary bomb experiments which you have described.
MR. MCHANEY: I will ask that the original of this document be passed up to the Tribunal.
I didn’t hear any answer to the question.
A. Yes. It is a carbon copy of the report with the original photographs.
MR. MCHANEY: I offer Document NO-579 as Prosecution Exhibit 288, and I will ask that the original be passed up to the Tribunal for inspection. I will ask that the Tribunal turn particularly to page 15 and following of the exhibit itself. Your Honor, I think you would find the pictures more easy to discern in the original document. Page 15 and following are pictures of burns on the arms of human beings. Witness, did you see any of the experimental subjects who were burned with this phosphorus?
WITNESS KOGON: I personally saw all the experimental subjects because this experiment was carried out in the private room of Dr. Ding in Block 50 and in the library of the Hygiene Institute in Block 50. The reason for this was that the experiment in Block 46 among the experimental subjects that were located there, and who were destined for other purposes, would have caused far too much excitement.
Q. Were these burns very severe?
A. As far as I can recall they were very severe in three out of the four cases.
Q. Did the experimental subjects suffer any pain?
A. Kapo Arthur Dietzsch had suggested that the subjects should be given an anesthetic as soon as they came into Block 50, so that violent scenes could be avoided, and in Block 50, which was completely different from Block 46, having persons handcuffed, as was the common practice in Block 46, was to be avoided. It was like that at least in the first experiment, but I only saw the subjects. I did not personally witness the experiments, and I saw the subjects before as well as afterwards. During the first experiment at least, the subjects were given an anesthetic, and after about half an hour they regained consciousness and complained of very severe pains. You could see that they were really suffering very badly. I must confess that I personally, after having looked at the photographs, almost became sick.
Q. Do you know whether the injuries which they received are permanent?
A. In the case of some of the wounds, it is completely impossible that they will ever become completely healed; very deep scars must have remained because the wounds were big and were as deep as two or two and a half centimeters.
Q. Do you know whether any of the experimental subjects died?
A. Four persons were returned to Block 46, and I do not know anything about the future fate which awaited them there. I especially do not know if they were used for further experiments.
Q. Do you know the nationality of the experimental persons used?
A. No. However, all four wore the green triangle to signify that they were habitual criminals, and they were Germans.
Q. And you state that the purpose of these experiments was to test certain chemical preparations of the Madaus Company in treating the burns.
A. Yes.
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EXTRACT FROM THE TESTIMONY OF DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY[73]
DIRECT EXAMINATION
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DR. FLEMMING: Now, I come to the incendiary bomb experiments. Dr. Kogon during his testimony frequently spoke of an experiment by Dr. Ding with a phosphorus-caoutchouc incendiary bomb, and he said that you ordered this experiment.
DEFENDANT MRUGOWSKY: I did not know who ordered this experiment. I found out about it only from the report which was drawn up after the experiment had been terminated. This report has been put in evidence here as a document. From this it can be seen that animal experiments were also carried out. I assume that these were not performed in Block 46, but in Block 50, which was under my supervision. I went with the report to Grawitz and asked him if he knew any more about this matter. I asked him if I was correct in my assumption that some of the experiments took place in Block 50 and if so, to tell Dr. Ding in future to confine himself to his Block 46 in such matters, which was directly under Grawitz. Grawitz answered thereupon that it did not make any difference one way or the other, and I should not be so fussy. I also know that after a few weeks Ding was looking for this report and called me up and asked me if I had it. I no longer had it at that time as I had given it to Grawitz, and it was in his files where it belonged.
Q. Kogon also testified that the experimental subjects had suffered serious pain and had incurred wounds from 2 to 2.5 centimeters deep, which led to the formation of extensive scars. I show you now Document NO-579, Prosecution Exhibit 288 and ask you to comment on this document and Dr. Kogon’s testimony?
(The document is handed to the witness.)
A. The first part of this document deals with the rabbit experiments. In the second part, however, there are pictures of experiments on human beings. These pictures show the place on the arm where the experiment was made. Kogon said that this burning was done in such a way that the mass of phosphorus was burning for quite awhile. The document, however, proves exactly the contrary. The length of time during which the matter was burning was not long, but the period between the time when the mixture was applied and the time it was ignited was long; that is possibly the reason for this misunderstanding. Moreover in the description of the individual cases, it can be seen that already on 29 December, in other words four days after the experiment, the burn was almost healed, or had greatly reduced in size. In one case there was still an open wound of 0.5 centimeter but there is no mention anywhere of any deeper wounds, but only of purely superficial epidermal wounds. There is constant mention of the fact that the wounds healed over nicely and in some cases the wound was completely healed four days after the experiments. Wounds 2½ centimeters deep, or large scars could not have occurred and that testimony of Kogon is false. In this case let me point out that he was not speaking from his own knowledge. During the first discussion of these incendiary bomb experiments, he said he had seen the experimental subjects, and then in the same interrogation he later says this was not the case. In other words, he is reporting what he has heard and not what he knows at first hand.
Q. I am submitting to the Tribunal Mrugowsky 56, and it will be Mrugowsky Exhibit 50. I should like to read from page two:
“Treatment of phosphorus burns with ‘R 17.’
“The dropping of phosphorus incendiary bombs made it necessary to find an adequate method of treatment. As the copper-sulphate solution hitherto in use did not give satisfactory results, the firm of Dr. Madaus in Dresden looked for a different solvent and produced a liquid carbon tetrachloride which was called ‘R 17.’ The efficacy of R 17 had been proved by means of experiments on rabbits carried out by the firm of Dr. Madaus.
“After the completion of these rabbit tests, Dr. Madaus asked the Higher SS and Police Leader von Woyrsch, Dresden, to come and see the tests. As my emergency office was in the building of Gruppenfuehrer von Woyrsch, he asked me to accompany him to the firm of Madaus in my capacity as a doctor and to watch these tests. That was in the autumn of 1943. At the request of Gruppenfuehrer von Woyrsch and the firm of Madaus, I reported to the Reich Physician SS and Police the results achieved by the firm of Madaus in the treatment of phosphorus burns and suggested that the drug R 17 be made known to the air-raid precaution dispensaries. Grawitz promised to have another test made.
“Some time afterward he sent Dr. Ding to Dresden for this purpose in his capacity as health expert, and instructed me to make arrangements for Ding to see the results achieved there, by the firm of Madaus, with R 17. I arranged this. Ding came to Dresden and saw the above-mentioned tests in my presence, on the premises of the Madaus firm. Afterward he declared that, on the orders of the Reich Physician SS in Buchenwald, he would also test the efficacy of the drug on rabbits. He requested the firm of Madaus to put the drug R 17 at his disposal. Immediately after inspecting the firm of Madaus he left Dresden.
“I also know that Dr. Ding asked the office of the Higher SS and Police Leader to procure for him the filling of an English incendiary bomb, which as far as I know was done through the Commissioner of the Police of Leipzig. Dr. Ding had the drug R 17 and the incendiary bomb collected.
“I also know that Ding made a report on his experiments. I know this because Dr. Ding asked my office in Dresden several times, in writing and by telephone, if they had this report, as he could not find it. It was supposed to be a report with photographs. I do not know if the report went through my office, as I was in Dresden only one day a week. At the time when Ding was looking for the report it was not in my office. I assume, therefore, that he sent it direct to the firm of Madaus, as they were interested in the results of his test.
“When, after a considerable time, I still had not heard from the Reich Physician whether the drug R 17 was to be made known to the air-raid precaution dispensaries, I asked the Reich Physician about it at a meeting. He then declared that the drug would not be introduced, as it only possessed phosphorus-dissolving properties, but did not directly contribute to the healing of the burns. However, a drug was in preparation elsewhere that combined both qualities and this would be introduced.”
I submit further the last paragraph of Dr. Morgen’s affidavit. (Mrugowsky 23, Mrugowsky Ex. 26.) Dr. Morgen says here:
“While I was making observations in Block 46 I paid repeated surprise visits in order to inspect the running of the Block. Once, when I paid a surprise visit to Block 46, examinations on the treatment of wounds caused by phosphorus incendiaries were being carried out.
“As I arrived a big strong prisoner came into the room laughing. On each of his two upper arms there were applied on a space about 1 centimeter wide and 5 centimeters long, some parts of the contents of a phosphorus incendiary bomb. These spots on both upper arms were treated with various ointments. During the discussion with Dr. Ding I was informed that the experimental persons volunteered for the experiment. They received the diet for sick persons, a packet of cigarettes, and for one month they did not have to work. In the case of the inmate whose treatment I witnessed by chance, I had the definite impression that he was a volunteer.”
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[71] United States vs. Oswald Pohl, et al. See Vol. V.
[72] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 6, 7, 8 Jan 1947, pp. 1150-1290.
[73] Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 27, 28, 31 March and 2, 3 April 1947, pp. 5000-5244, 5334-5464.
12. PHLEGMON EXPERIMENTS
a. Introduction