There is some evidence to the effect that the comp inmates used as subjects in the first series submitted to being used as experimental subjects after being told that the experiments were harmless and that additional food would be given to volunteers. But these victims were not informed that they would be artificially infected with a highly virulent virus nor that they might die as a result. Certainly no one would seriously suggest that under the circumstances these men gave their legal consent to act as subjects. One does not ordinarily consent to be the special subject of a murder, and if one did, such consent would not absolve his slayer.
Later, when news of what was happening in Block 46 became generally known in the comp it was no longer possible to delude the inmates into offering themselves as victims. Thereupon, the shabby pretense of seeking volunteers was dropped and the experimental subjects were taken arbitrarily from a list of inmates prepared by the camp administration.
Other experiments were also carried out in Block 46 of Buchenwald to test typhoid, para-typhoid A and B, and yellow fever.
As in the typhus experiments, non-consenting human subjects were used, including not only German criminal prisoners but also Poles, Russians and Frenchmen, both civilians and prisoners of war.
In all the typhus experiments death resulted to many experimental subjects. As to each of these experiments the evidence is overwhelming that they were carried out by Ding under the orders or authority of the defendant Mrugowsky.
POISON EXPERIMENTS:
On 11 September 1944 Mrugowsky, Ding, and a certain Dr. Wildmann, carried out an experiment with aconditin nitrate projectiles in the Sachenshausen Concentration Camp. Details of the experiment are fully explained by a "Top Secret" report of the sordid affair in a letter written by the defendant Mrugowsky to the Criminological Institute, Berlin. The letter follows:
"Subject: Experiments with Aconitin nitrate Projectiles To the Criminological Institute attn: Dr. WILDMANN Berlin "In the presence of SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. DING, Dr. WILDMANN and the undersigned, experimentS with Aconitin 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 crystalized 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 femolaries of one of the subjects was injured. A light 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 3/4 of a later, and consequently was on no account fatal.
"The symptoms of the condemned three showed a surprising similarity. At first no peculiarities appeared. After 20-25 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 change. 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 63 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, then 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 33 mg. of Aconitin 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.
MRUGOWSKY, SS-Lecturer Oberfuehrer and Office Chief."
The defendant attempts to meet this charge with the defense that the subjects used in this experiment were persons who had been condemned to death and that he, Mrugowsky, had been appointed as their legal executioner.
One need but read the letter introduced in evidence to arrive at the conclusion that the defense has no validity, This was not a legal execution carried out in conference with the laws and rules of war, but a criminal medical experiment wherein wounds were inflicted on prisoners with the sole end in view of determining the effectiveness of poisoned bullets as a means of taking life. The hapless victims of this dastardly torture were Russian prisoners of war, entitled to the protection afforded by the laws of civilized nations. As has been said, in substance, in this judgment: While under certain specific conditions the rules of land warfare may recognize the validity of an execution by shooting, it will not under any circumstances countenance the infliction of death by maiming or torture.
SULFANILAMIDE EXPERIMENTS:
That Mrugowsky rendered assistance to Gebhardt in the sulfanilamide experiments at Ravensbruck is plainly shown by the record. Mrugowsky put his laboratory and co-workers at Gebhardt's disposal. He furnished the cultures for the infections. It was on the suggestion of Mrugowsky's office that wood shavings and ground glass were placed in the wounds of the subjects so that battle-field wounds would be more closely simulated.
GAS OEDEMA EXPERIMENTS:
Toward the end of 1942 a conference was held in the Military Medical Academy, Berlin, to discuss the effects of gas oedema serum on wounded persons. During the conference several cases were reported in which wounded soldiers who had received gas oedema serum injections in large quantities suddenly died without apparent reason. Mrugowsky, who participated in the conference, expressed the possibility that perhaps the deaths had been due to the phenol content of the serum. As a step toward solving the problem Mrugowsky ordered Dr. Ding Schuler, his subordinate, to take part in a euthanasia killing with phenol and to report on the results in detail.
In pursuance of the order given Dr. Ding and the defendant Hoven killed some of the concentration camp inmates at Buchenwald with phenol injections and Ding reported his findings to his superior officer, Mrugowsky, as required by the order.
FREEZING, INCENDIARY BOMB, AND EPIDEMIC JAUNDICE EXPERIMENTS:
As to these items the Tribunal is of the view that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the charges.
It has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant Mrugowsky was a principal in, accessory to, ordered, abetted, took a consenting part in and was knowingly connected with plans and enterprises involving medical experiments on non-German nationals, without their consent, in the course of which experiments murders, brutalities, cruelties, tortures, atrocities and other in humane acts were committed, To the extent that these crimes were not war crimes they were crimes against Humanity.
COUNT FOUR: Under Count four the indictment the defendant is charged with being a member of an organization declared criminal by the International Military Tribunal, namely, the SS.
The evidence proves that Mrugowsky joined the NSDAP in 1930 and voluntarily became a member of the Waffen-SS in 1931. He remained in these organizations throughout the war. As a member of the Waffen-SS he was personally implicated in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as discussed in this judgment.
CONCLUSION Military Tribunal I finds and adjudges that the defendant Joachim Mrugowsky, is guilty, under Counts Two, Three, and Four of the Indictment.
POPPENDICK The defendant Poppendick is charged under Counts Two and Three of the Indictment with personal responsibility for, and participation in, High Altitude, Freezing, Malaria, Sulfanilamide, Seawater, Epidemic Jaundice, Sterilization, Typhus, and Poison, experiments.
He is charged under Count Four with being a member of an organization declared criminal by the Judgment of the International Military Tribunal.
The charges with reference to High Altitude and Poison Experiments have been abandoned by the Prosecution and hence will not be considered further.
Poppendick studied medicine at several German universities from 1921 to 1926, and passed his state examination in December of the latter year. He joined the NSDPJ? on 1 March 1932 and the SS on 1 July following. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the SS and to the rank of Senior Colonel in the Waffen-SS. He was also a member of a Nazi SS Physicians Association. In August 1935 he was appointed as a physician in the Main Race and Settlement Office in Berlin, and became Chief physician of that office in 1941.
He held the latter appointment until the Fall of 1944.
From 1 September 1939 until sometime in 1941 Poppendick was on active duty in the army as a surgeon. During the latter year he resumed his duties with the Race and Settlement Office in Berlin. Between 1939 and 1943 he performed some duties as a member of the staff of the Reich Physician SS and Police, Dr. Grawitz, taking care of special assignments.
In the fall of 1943 Poppendick was made Chief of the Personal Office of Grawitz, which position he retained until the end of the War.
FRIZZING EXPERIMENTS:
The evidence is that Poppendick gained knowledge of the freezing experiments conducted by Rascher at Dachau, as the result of a conference held between Rascher, Gawitz, and Poppendick on 13 January 1943, for the purpose of discussing certain phases of the research. The evidence does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Poppendick was criminally connected with these experiments, HALARIA EXPERIMENTS:
The Prosecution contends that Poppendick is criminally responsible for the malaria experiments conducted by Dr. Schilling at Dachau. Dr. Ploetner was engaged in the malaria experiments as a subordinate of Schilling. Sievers' Diary, which is in evidence, contains a notation that on 23 May 1944 Grawitz, Poppendick, Ploetner and Sievers, held a conference, which had probably been arranged by Poppendick three days previously by telephone. The subject of the conference is not disclosed by the diary entry, but it appears else where in the diary that on 31 Hay 1944 Grawitz sanctioned Ploetner's collaboration with Schilling.
Poppendick testified as a witness in his own behalf that he had heard that Schilling was carrying on special investigations at Dachau concerning immunity from malaria. He stated further that his knowledge of the nature of the investigations went no further. The record does not contradict his testimony.
The Tribunal finds that the evidence does not disclose beyond a reasonable doubt that Poppendick was criminally connected with the malaria experiments.
SULFANILAMIDE EXPERIMENTS:
Poppendick attended the Third Meeting of Consulting Surgeons at the Military Medical Academy, Berlin, and heard lectures by Gebhardt a and Fischerconcerning the sulfanilamide experiments, which have been discussed elsewhere in this Judgment. Under date of 7 September 1942 he signed a certificate to a true copy of a report concerning sulfanilamide experiments which had been conducted at Ravensbruck, made by Gebhardt to Grawitz. Grawitz forwarded the report, or a certified copy thereof, to Himmler.
We are of the opinion that Poppendick had knowledge of the original nature of the experiments conducted by Gebhardt and Fischer at Ravensbruck, but the defendant's criminal connection with any such experiments has not been proved by the evidence.
SEAWATER EXPERIMENTS:
The evidence does not disclose beyond a reasonable doubt that Poppendick was criminally implicated in these experiments.
EPIDEMIC JAUNDICE EXPERIMENTS:
The evidence does not disclose beyond a reasonable doubt that Poppendick wasocriminally implicated in these experiments.
STERILIZATION EXPERIMENTS:
Poppendick was Chief Physician of the Main Race and Settlement Office. The Judgment of the International Military Tribunal found that this office was "active in carrying out schemes for Germanization of occupied territories according to the racial principles of the Nazi Party and were involved in the deportation of Jews and other foreign nationals." See the Trial of the Major Ear Criminals, Vol.l,p.270.
Court. 1.
Testifying before this Tribunal, Poppendick stated that the Nazi racial policy was two-fold in aspect; one policy being positive, the other, negative, in character. The positive policy included many matters, one being the encouragement of Germany families to produce more children. The negative policy concerned the sterilization and extermination of non-Aryans, as well as other measures to reduce the non-Aryan population. According to Poppendick's testimony he was not concerned with the execution of the negative, but only with positive measures.
By letter dated 29 May 1941 Grawitz wrote to Himmler concerning a conference held on 27 May 1941 at which Dr. Clauberg was present and discussed his "new method of sterilization of inferior women without an operation."
Pappendick by letter dated 4 June 1941, which referred to a previous telephone conversation with Grawitz, wrote Roduolf Brandt stating that he was enclosing "the list of physicians who are prepared to perform the treatment of sterility" as requested by Himmler. The list referred to is evidently the same as was contained in a letter from Grawitz to Himmler, dated 30 May 1941, which stated: "In the following, I submit a list of specialists in charge of the treatment of sterility in women according to the method of Professor Clauberg."
It is shown by the evidence that Clauberg later carried out sterilization experiments on Jewesses at Auschwitz. Similar experiments were carried out in other concentration camps by SS doctors who were subordinate to Grawitz. It is evident that Poppendick knew of these . sterilization experiments, although it is not shown that he was criminally connected with them.
TYPHUS EXPERIMENTS:
It is not clear from the evidence that Poppendick was criminally connected with, or had knowledge of, the nature of the typhus experiments at Buchenwald, or the type of subjects upon which they were conducted.
INCENDIARY BOMB EXPERIMENTS:
There is some evidence in the record the effect that after incendiary bomb experiments were completed at Buchenwald, reports of the experiments were forwarded to Poppendick and Mrugowsky. It is evident that through the reports Poppendick gained knowledge of the nature of the experiments, but the record fails to show criminal responsibility of the defendant in connection therewith.
PHLEGMONE EXPERIMENTS:
The evidence clearly proves Poppendick's knowledge of these experiments, but it fails to show the defendant's criminal connection there with.
POLYGAL EXPERIMENTS:
The record does not show Poppendick's knowledge of or connection with these experiments.
HERMONE EXPERIMENTS:
The prosecution contends that the evidence shows Poppendick's criminal responsibility in connection with a series of experiments conducted at Buchenwald by Dr. Varnet, a Danish physician who claimed to have discovered a method of curing homosexuality by transplantation of an artificial gland.
Under date 15 July 1944 Poppendick wrote to Dr. Ding at the concentration comp Buchenwald, as follows:
"By request of the Reichsfuehrer SS the Danish doctor SS Sturmbannfuehere Dr. Varnet has been given opportunity to continue his hormone research with the SS, particularly the development of his artificial gland. The Reichfuehrer SS anticipates certain results from the treatment of homo sexuals with Varnet's artificial gland.
The technical preparations have come to such a point that experiments on human beings can be started within a reasonable space of time.
"An SS Standartenfuehrer Dr. Lolling informed me, the concentration camp Weimar-Buchenwald has been directed to make available 5 prisoners for SS Sturmbannfuehrer Varnet's experiments. These prisoners will be made available to SS Sturmbannfuehrer Varnet by the camp physician at any tine.
"SS Sturmbannfuehrer Varnet intends to go to Buchenwald shortly in order to make certain necessary preliminary tests on these prisoners. In case there will be special laboratory tests, you are requested to assist Varnet within the scope of your possibilities.
"Particulars on Varnet's research were sent today to the camp physician of the Weimar-Buchenwald for his information."
There is evidence that during the summer of 1944 Dr. Varnet conducted the experiments referred to in Poppendick's letter. However, the nationality of the prisoners used for the experiments is not shown, nor has it been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the experiments were harmful or caused death, or injury to the experimental subjects.
be have given careful consideration to the evidence concerning the charges made by the Prosecution against the defendant Poppendick. Certainly the evidence raises a strong suspicion that he was involved in the experiments. He at least had notice of them and of their consequences. He knew also that they were being carried on by the SS of which he was and remained a member.
But this Tribunal, however, cannot convict-Upon mere suspicion; evidence beyond a reasonable doubt is necessary.
The evidence is insufficient to sustain guilt under Counts Two and Three of the Indictment.
MEMBERSHIP IN A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION:
The defendant Poppendick is charged with membership in an organization declare criminal by the Judgment of the International Military Tribunal, namely; the SS. Poppendick joined the SS in July 1952. He remained in the SS voluntarily throughout the war, with actual knowledge of the fact that that organization was being used for the commission of acts now declared criminal by Control Council Law No, 10. He must, therefore, be found guilty under Count Pour of the Indictment.
With reference to the nature of punishment which should be imposed under such circumstances the International military Tribunal has made the following recommendation:
"1. That so far as possible throughout the four zones of occupation in Germany the classifications; sanctions; and penalties be standardized. Uniformity of treatment so far ac practical should be a basic principle. This does not of course, mean that discretion in sentencing should not be vested in the court; but the discretion should be within fixed limits appropriate to the crime.
"2. Law No. 10 ... leaves punishment entirely in the discretion of the trial court even to the extent of inflicting the death penalty.
"The Denazification law of 5 March 1946; however; passed for Bavaria; Greater Hesse; end Wurttemberg-Gadem; provides definite sentences for punishment in each type of offense. TLie Tribunal recommends that in no case should punishment imposed under Law No. 10 upon any members of an organization or group declared by the Tribunal to be criminal exceed the punishment fixed by the DeNazification Law.
No person should be punished under both laws."
See Trial of the Major War Criminals Vol.
1, p. 257.
In weighing the punishment, if any, which should be meted out to the defendant for his guilt by reason of the charge contained in Count Four of the Indictment, this Tribunal will give such consideration to the recommendations of the International Military Tribunal as may under the premises seem meet and proper.
C 0 N C L U S I 0 N Military Tribunal I finds the defendant Helmut Poppendick not guilty under Counts Two and Three of the Indictment; and finds and adjudges the defendant Helmut Poppendick guilty as charged in the Fourth Count of the Indictment.
Judge Sebring will continue reading the judgment.
JUDGE SEBRING:
SIEVERS The defendant Sievers is charged under Counts Two and Three of the Indictment with special responsibility for, and participation in, High Altitude, Freezing, Malaria, Lost Gas, Seawater, Epidemic Jaundice, and spotted Fever experiments; and with extermination of Jews to complete a skeleton collection.
Under Count Four of the Indictment he is charged with being a member of an organization declared criminal by the Judgment of the International Military Tribunal; namely, the SS.
The Prosecution has abandoned the charge of participation in the Epidemic Jaundice experiments, and hence, this charge will not be considered further.
Sievers is one of the three defendants who are not physicians. He joined the NSDAP in 1923 and renewed his membership in the Nazi Party in 1933.
He joined the SS at the end of 1935 on the suggestion of Himmler. In this organization he attained the rank of a Standartenfuehrer (Colonel).
From 1 July 1335 until the war ended Sievers was a member of Himmler's personal staff and Reich Business Manager of the Ahnenerbe Society, according to a statute of 1 January 1939, the purpose of the Ahnenerbe was to support scientific research concerning the culture and heritage of the Nordic race. The Board of Directors was composed of Himmler, as president. Dr. quest, as Curator, and Sievers, as the Business manager. Sievers was responsible for the business organization and administration and the budget of the Ahnenerbe. The place of business was Berlin. Sievers supported and participated in the medical experiments which are the subject of the indictment, primarily through the Institute of military Scientific Research which was established by order of Himmler, dated 7 July 1942 and was administratively attacked to the Ahnenerbe.
On 1 January 1942 Himmler ordered the establishment of an entomological institute; in March 1942 the institute Dr. Rascher in Dachau; and in the first month of the year 1942, the institute Dr. Hirt at Strassbourg. These subsequently became part of the Institute for military Scientific Research.
Sievers was, for all practical purposes, the acting head of the Ahnenerbe. In this capacity he was subordinated to Himmler and regularly reported to him on the affairs of this Society. The top secret correspondence of Himmler concerning the Ahnenerbe was sent to Sievers. The charter of the Ahnenerbe defines Sievers' duties as follows:
"The Reich business manager handles the easiness affairs of the community, he is in charge of the easiness organization and administration. He is responsible for one drawing up of the budget and for the administration of the treasury."
Sievers was responsible for the entire administrative problems of the secretary's office, bookkeeping and treasury. Besides that he also had to manage the Ahnenerbe-Publishlng House. In June 1943 Professor Dr. Mentzel, who among other things was Chief of the Business Managing advisory Council of the Reich Research Council, appointed Sievers as his deputy. By this act Sievers did not become a member of the Reich Research Council but held only an honorary position.
In a letter to the defendant Rudolf Brandt, dated 28 January 1945 Sievers defines his position as Reich Business Manager of the Ahnenerbe as follows:
"My duty merely consists in smoothing the way for the research men and seeing that the tasks ordered by the Reichsfuehrer-SS are carried out in the quickest possible way. On one thing I certainly can form an opinion; that is, one who is doing the quickest job."
Sievers received orders directly from Himmler on matters of research assignments for the Ahnenerabe and he reported directly to Himmler on such experiments. Sievers devoted his efforts to obtaining the funds, materials and equipment needed by the research workers. The materials obtained by Sievers included concentration camp to be used as experimental subjects. When the experiments were under way, Sievers made certain that they were being performed in a satisfactory manner. In this connection, Sievers necessarily exercised his own independent judgment and had to familiarize himself with the details of such assignments.
HIGH ALTITUDE EXPERIMENTS:
The details of these experiments are discussed in other portions of this Judgment. Sievers' activities in the high altitude experiments are revealed clearly by the evidence.
Rascher in a letter to Himmler dated 5 April 1942 states as follows:
"SS-0bersturmbannfuehrer Sievers took a whole day off to watch some of the interesting standard experiments and may have given you a brief report... I am very much indebted to Obersturmbannfuehrer Sievers as he has shown a very active interest in my work in every respect."
Sievers admitted that he reported to Himmler about his visit to Dachau. On the basis of the reports of Sievers and Rascher, Himmler authorized Rascher to continue the high altitude experiments in Dachau; in the course of which the evidence shows that 180 to 200 inmates were experimented upon; that 70 to 80 of them died. Rascher became associated with the ahnenerbe in March 1942 and during the entire time covered by the period bf the high altitude experiments Rascher was attached to the Ahnenerbe and performed the high altitude experiments with its assistance, On 20 July 1942, when the final report on high altitude experiments was submitted to Himmler; Rascher's name appeared on the letterhead of the Ahnenerbe Institute for Military Scientific Research as shown by the cover letter; and the inclosed report bore the statement that the experiments had been carried out.
in con conjunction with the Reserch and Instruction Association "Das Ahnenerbe". Sievers had actual knowledge of the criminal aspects of the Rascher experiments. He was notified that Dachau inmates were to be used. He himself inspector the experiments. He himself inspected the experiments. Sievers admitted that Racher told him that several died as a result of the high altitude experiments.
Under these facts Sievers is specially chargeable with- the criminal aspects of these experiments.
FREEZING EXPERIMENTS:
Before the high altitude experiments had actually been completed freezing experiments were ordered to be performed at Dachau. They were conducted from August 1943 to the early part of 1943 by Rolzloehner, Finke, and Rascher, all of whom w re officers in the Radical Services of the Luftwaffe. Details of the freezing experiments have bean given elsewhere in this Judgment.
In May 1943 Rascher was transferred to the Waffen-SS and then proceeded alone o conduct freezing experiments in Dachau until May 1945. Rascher advised the defendant Rudolf Brandt that Roles and Russians had been used as subjects.
The witness Neff testified that the defendant Sievers visited the experimental station quite frequently during the freezing experiments. He testified further that in September 1942 he received orders to take the hearts and lungs of 5 experimental subjects killed in the experiments to Professor Hirt in Strasbourg for further scientific study; that the travel warrant for the trip was made out by Sievers; and that the Ahnenerbe Society paid the expenses for the transfer of the bodies. One of the 3 experimental subjects killed was a Dutch citizen.
Neff's testimony is corroborated in large part by the affidavits of the defendants Rudolf Brandt and Becker-Freyseng, by the testimony of the witnesses Lutz, Michalewsky, and Vieweg, and by the documentary evidence in the record.
In the Siever's Diary, there are numerous instances of Sievers' activities in the aid of Rascher. On 1 February 1943 Sievers noted efforts in obtaining apparatus, implements, and chemicals for Rascher's experiments. On the 6th and 21st of January 1944 Sievers noted the problem of location. rascher reported to Sievers periodically concerning the status and details of the freezing experiments.
It is plain from the record that the relationship of Sievers and Rascher in the performance of freezing experiments required Sievers to make the preliminary arrangements for the performance of the experiments, to familiarize himself with the progress of the experiments by personal inspection, to furnish necessary equipment and material, including human beings used during the freezing experiments to receive and make progress reports concerning Rascher, and to handle the matter of evaluation and publication of such reports. Basically, such activities constituted a performance of his duties as defined by Sievers in his letter of 28 January 1943 to Rudolf Brandt in which he stated that he smoothed the way for research workers and saw to it that Himmler's orders were carried out.
Under those facts Sievers in chargeable with the criminal activities in these experiments.
MALARIA EXPERIMENTS:
Details of these experiments are given elsewhere in this judgment. These experiments were performed at Dachau by Schilling and Ploetner. The evidence shows that Sievers had knowledge of the nature and purpose of these criminal enterprises and supported them in his official position.
LOST GAS EXPERIMENTS:
These experiments were conducted in the Natzweiler Concentration Camp under the supervision of Professor Hirt of the University of Strasbourg.
The Ahnenerbe Society, and the defendant Sievers supported this research on behalf of the SS. The arrangements for the payment of the research subsides of the ahnenerbe was made by Sievers. The defendant Silvers participated in these experiments by actively collaborating with the defendants Karl Brandt and Rudolf Brandt, and with Hirt and his principal assistant, Dr. Wimmer. The record shows that Sievers was in correspondence with Hirt at least as early as January 1 42, and that he established contact between Himmler and Hirt.
In a letter of 11 September 1942 to Gluecks, Sievers wrote that the necessary conditions existed in Natzweiler "for carrying out our military scientific research work." He requested that Gluecks issue the necessary authorization for Hirt. Wimmer and Misselback to enter Natzweiler, and that provision be made for their board and accommodation. The letter also stated:
"The experiments which arc to be performed on prisoners arc to be carried out in four rooms of an already existing medical barrack. Only slight changes in the construction of buildings are required, in particular the installation of a hood which can be produced with very little material. In accordance with attached plan of the construction management at Natzweiler, I r quest that necessary orders be issued to same to carry out the reconstruction. All the expenses arising out of our activity at Natzweiler will be covered by this office."
In a memorandum on 3 November 1942 to the defendant Rudolf Brandt, Sievers complained about certain difficulties which had arisen in Natzweiler because of the lack of cooperation from the camp officials. He seemed particularly outraged by the fact that the camp officials were asking that the experimental prisoners be paid for. A portion of the memorandum follows:
"Then I think of our military research work conducted at the Concentration Camp Dachau, I must praise and call special attention to the generous and understanding was in which our work was furthered there and to the cooperation were were given. Payments for prisoners was never discussed. It seems as if at Natzweiler they are trying to make as much money as possible out of this matter.
We are not conducting those experiments, as a matter of fact, for the sake of some fixed scientific idea, but to be of practical help to the armed forces and beyond that, to the German people in a possible emergency."
Brandt was requested to give his help in a comradely fashion in setting up the necessary conditions at Natzweiler. The defendant Rudolf Brandt replied to this memorandum on 3 December 1942, and told Sievers that he had had occasion to speck to Pohl concerning these difficulties, and that they would be remedied.
The testimony of the witness Roll was that approximately 220 inmates of Russian, Polish, Czech and German nationality wore experimented upon by Hirt and his collaborators, and that approximately died. None of the experimental subjects volunteered. During the entire period of those experiments Hirt was associated with the Ahnenerbe society.
In early 194 Hirt and hammer summarized their findings from the Lost experiments in a report entitled "Proposed Treatment of poisoning caused by Lost." The report was described as from the Institute for Military Scientific Research, Department H of the Ahnenerbe, located at the Strasbourg Anatomical Institute. Light, medium, and heavy injuries due to Lost gas are mentioned. Sievers received several copies of this reports. On 31 March 1944, after Karl Brandt had received a Fuehrer Decree giving him broad powers in the field of chemical warfare, Sievers informed Brandt about Hirt's work and gave him a copy of the report. This is proved by Siever's letter to Rudolf Brandt on 11 April 1911. Karl Brandt admitted that the wording of the report made it clear that experiments had been conducted on human beings.
Sievers testified that on 25 January 1913 he went to natzweiler concentration camp and consulted with the camp authorities concerning the arrangements to be made for Hirt's lost experiments. These arrange ments included the obtaining of laboratories and experimental subjects Sievers testified that the Lost experiments were harmful.