Nazi medicine: inhuman experiments on humans
Fascist Germany, in addition to beginning the Second World War, is also notorious for its concentration camps, as well as for the horrors that took place there. The horror of the Nazi camp system consisted not only in terror and arbitrariness, but also in those enormous in scale experiments on the people that were carried out there. Scientific studies were organized on a grand scale, and their goals were so diverse that it would take a long time to at least name them.
In the German concentration camps on living "human material" was tested scientific hypotheses and development of a variety of biomedical technologies. Wartime dictated its priorities, so doctors were primarily interested in the practical application of scientific theories. So, for example, the possibility of maintaining the health of people in conditions of excessive loads, blood transfusions with different Rhesus factors was investigated, new drugs were tested.
These monstrous experiments include pressure tests, hypothermia experiments, the development of a vaccine against typhoid, experiments with malaria, gas, seawater, poisons, sulfonamide, sterilization experiments, and many others.
Experiments with hypothermia were performed in the 1941 year. They were led by Dr. Rasher under the direct control of Himmler. The experiments were conducted in two stages. At the first stage, they found out what temperature and how long a person can withstand, and the second stage was to determine how to restore the human body after frostbite. To carry out such experiments, prisoners were taken out in the winter without clothes for the whole night or placed in ice water. Experiments on hypothermia were carried out exclusively on men in order to simulate the conditions in which the German soldiers were on the Eastern Front, since the Nazis were poorly prepared for the winter period of time. For example, in one of the first experiments, prisoners were lowered into a container with water, the temperature of which ranged from 2 to 12 degrees, in pilot suits. At the same time they put on life jackets that kept them afloat. As a result of the experiment, Rasher found that attempts to bring a person who has fallen into icy water back to life are almost zero if the cerebellum was supercooled. This led to the development of a special vest with a head restraint that covered the back of the head and did not allow the back of the head to sink into the water.
The same Dr. Rascher, in 1942, began to conduct experiments on prisoners using pressure changes. Thus, the doctors tried to establish how much air pressure a person can withstand, and for how long. For the experiment, a special pressure chamber was used in which pressure was regulated. At the same time, there were 25 people in it. The purpose of these experiments was to help pilots and parachutists at high altitude. According to one of the doctor’s reports, the experiment was conducted on an 37-year-old Jew who was in good physical shape. Half an hour after the start of the experiment, he died.
The experiment involved 200 prisoners, of which 80 died, the rest were simply killed.
The Nazis also conducted large-scale preparations for the use of bacteriological weapons. The emphasis was mainly on rapid disease, plague, anthrax, typhoid, that is, such diseases that in a short time could cause massive infections and death of the enemy.
In the Third Reich there were large stocks of typhus bacteria. In the case of their mass use, it was necessary to develop a vaccine to disinfect the Germans. On behalf of the government, Dr. Paul began developing a vaccine against typhus. The first to experience the effects of vaccines were the prisoners of Buchenwald. In the 1942 year, there were infected with gypsy with 26 typhus, which were vaccinated before. As a result, 6 people died from the progression of the disease. This result did not satisfy the management, since the death rate was high. Therefore, research was continued in the 1943 year. And the next year, the improved vaccine was tested again in humans. But this time, prisoners of the Nazweiler camp became victims of vaccination. Conducted experiments Dr. Chretien. For the experiment was selected 80 Gypsies. They were infected with typhus in two ways: using injections and airborne droplets. Of the total number of test subjects, only 6 people were infected, but even such a small number did not receive any medical assistance. In 1944, all 80 people who were involved in the experiment either died from the disease or were shot by the camp overseers.
In addition, in the same Buchenwald, and other brutal experiments were conducted on prisoners. So, in 1943-1944 there were experiments with incendiary mixtures. Their goal was to solve the problems associated with the bombings, when soldiers were burned with phosphorus. Basically, Russian prisoners were used for these experiments.
It also conducted experiments with the genitals in order to identify the causes of homosexuality. They involved not only homosexuals, but also men of traditional orientation. One of the experiments was genital transplantation.
Also in Buchenwald, experiments were conducted on the infection of captive yellow fever, diphtheria, smallpox, and also used toxic substances. For example, to study the effect of poisons on the human body, they were added to prisoners' food. As a result, some of the victims died, and some were immediately shot for an autopsy. In 1944, all participants in this experiment were shot using poison bullets.
A series of experiments was also conducted at the Dachau concentration camp. So, back in 1942, some prisoners between the ages of 20 and 45 were infected with malaria. A total of 1200 people were infected. Permission to conduct the experiment was obtained by the head Dr. Pletner directly from Himmler. The victims were bitten by anopheles mosquitoes, and, in addition, they were also infused by spore-eaters, who were taken from mosquitoes. Quinine, antipyrine, pyramidone, as well as a special medication called “2516-Bering” were used for treatment. As a result, about 40 people died from malaria, about 400 died from complications after the illness, and another part died from excessive doses of medications.
Here, in Dachau, in 1944, experiments were conducted to turn seawater into drinking water. For the experiments, 90 Gypsies were used, which were completely deprived of food and forced to drink only sea water.
In the Auschwitz concentration camp, no less terrible experiments were conducted. Thus, in particular, during the entire period of the war, sterilization experiments were conducted there, the purpose of which was to identify a fast and efficient method of sterilizing a large number of people without large time and physical costs. During the experiment, thousands of people were sterilized. The procedure was carried out with the help of surgery, X-rays and various drugs. Initially, injections with iodine or silver nitrate were used, but this method had a large number of side effects. Therefore, radiation was more preferable. Scientists have found that a certain amount of X-rays can deprive the human body of producing eggs and sperm. During the experiments, a large number of prisoners received radiation burns.
The experiments with the twins, which Dr. Mengele conducted in the Auschwitz concentration camp, were particularly brutal. Before the war, he dealt with issues of genetics, so the twins were especially "interesting" for him.
Mengele himself sorted the "human material": the most interesting, in his opinion, were sent to experiments, less hardy - to work, and the rest - to the gas chamber.
The experiment involved 1500 twin pairs, of which only 200 survived. Mengele conducted experiments to change the color of the eyes, injecting chemicals, resulting in complete or temporary blindness. In addition, he made an attempt to "create Siamese twins," stitching twins. In addition, he conducted experiments with infection of one of the twins with an infection, after which he performed an autopsy on both in order to compare the affected organs.
When the Soviet troops approached Auschwitz, the doctor managed to escape to Latin America.
Not without experiments and in another German concentration camp - Ravensbrück. The experiments used women who were injected with tetanus bacteria, staphylococcus, gas gangrene. The purpose of the experiments was to determine the effectiveness of sulfa drugs.
The prisoners were cut, where fragments of glass or metal were placed, and then bacteria were planted. After infection, the subjects were carefully monitored by recording changes in temperature and other signs of infection. In addition, transplantology and traumatology experiments were conducted here. Women were deliberately crippled, and in order to make it easier to follow the healing process, they cut out body parts to the bone. Moreover, they often amputated their limbs, which they then drove to a nearby camp and sewed other prisoners.
Not only did the Nazis mock prisoners in concentration camps, they also conducted experiments on "true Aryans". So, recently a large burial was discovered, which was initially mistaken for Scythian remains. However, later managed to establish that in the grave were German soldiers. The discovery horrified the archaeologists: some of the bodies were decapitated, others had their shinbones cut, and still others had holes along the spine. It was also found that during life people were affected by chemicals, and cuts were clearly visible in many skulls. As it turned out later, these were the victims of the experiments of Anenerbe, the secret organization of the Third Reich, which was involved in the creation of the superman.
Since it was immediately obvious that such experiments would be associated with a large number of victims, Himmler took responsibility for all the deaths. He did not consider all these horrors to be murder, since, according to him, the prisoners of the concentration camps are not people.
In the shadow of the Reich: Nazi medicine / Cross and Star / Window to the camp (UK) 1997 year
They say - modern scholars and historians: Charles Roland / Charles Roland; Michael Cater / Michael H. Kater /; Benno Muller-Hill / Prof. Benno Muller-Hill; Susan Hann / Susanne Hann; Jay Katz / Jay Katz; other…
The film tells about the different sides of the development of medicine in the Third Reich. The film uses newsreels of those years and eyewitness accounts of what is happening in those little-known times ...
They say - modern scholars and historians: Charles Roland / Charles Roland; Michael Cater / Michael H. Kater /; Benno Muller-Hill / Prof. Benno Muller-Hill; Susan Hann / Susanne Hann; Jay Katz / Jay Katz; other…
The film tells about the different sides of the development of medicine in the Third Reich. The film uses newsreels of those years and eyewitness accounts of what is happening in those little-known times ...
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