Doctors' Trial

The Doctors' Trial (or, officially, The United States of America vs. Karl Brandt, et. al.) was the first of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S. military courts, not before the International Military Tribunal, but took place in the same rooms. The twelve U.S. trials are collectively known as the "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials" or, more formally, as the "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" (NMT). The 23 defendants were all medical doctors and were accused of having been involved in the horrors of Nazi human experimentation. The judges in this case, heard before Military Tribunal I, were Walter B. Beals (presiding judge) from Washington, Harold L. Sebring from Florida, and Johnson T. Crawford from Oklahoma, and Victor T. Swearingen, a former special assistant to the Attorney General of the United States, as an alternate judge. The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was Telford Taylor, the chief prosecutor in this case was James M. McHaney. The indictment was filed on October 25, 1946; the trial lasted form December 9 that year until August 20, 1947. Of the 23 defendants, five were acquitted, and seven received death sentences, the remaining received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to lifetime imprisonment.

Indictment

The accused faced four charges:
  1. Conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity as described in counts 2 and 3;
  2. War crimes: performing medical experiments without the subjects' consent on prisoners of war and civilians of occupied countries, as well as participation in the mass-murder of concentration camp inmates.
  3. Crimes against humanity: committing crimes described under count 2 also on German nationals.
  4. Membership in a criminal organization, the SS.
The SS had been declared a criminal organization previously by the IMT. All defendants pleaded "not guilty". The tribunal largely dropped count 1, stating that the charge was beyond its jurisdiction.

Defendants

lign="left"|Function colspan="4"|Charges align="left"|Sentence
nbsp;   1 2 3 4  
align="top"|Hermann Becker-Freyseng valign="top"|Stabsarzt in the Luftwaffe (Captain, Medical Service of the Air Force); and Chief of the Department for Aviation Medicine of the Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|  valign="top"|20 years' imprisonment, commuted to 10 years
align="top"|Wilhelm Beiglbck valign="top"|Consulting Physician to the Luftwaffe valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|  valign="top"|15 years' imprisonment, commuted to 10 years
align="top"|Kurt Blome valign="top"|Deputy the Reich Health Leader (Reichsgesundheitsfuehrer); and Plenipotentiary for Cancer Research in the Reich Research Council valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|  valign="top"|acquitted
align="top"|Viktor Brack valign="top"|Oberfhrer (Senior Colonel) in the SS and Sturmbannfhrer (Major) in the Waffen SS; and Chief Administrative Officer in the Chancellery of the Fuehrer of the NSDAP (Oberdienstleiter, Kanzlei des Fuehrers der NSDAP) valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|death
align="top"|Karl Brandt valign="top"|Personal physician to Adolf Hitler; Gruppenfuehrer in the SS and Generalleutnant (Major General) in the Waffen SS; Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation (Reichskommissar fuer Sanitaets- und Gesundheitswesen); and member of the Reich Research Council (Reichsforschungsrat) valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|death
align="top"|Rudolf Brandt valign="top"|Standartenfuehrer (Colonel); in the Allgemeine SS; Personal Administrative Officer to Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler (Persoenlicher Referent von Himmler); and Ministerial Counsellor and Chief of the Ministerial Office in the Reich Ministry of the Interior valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|death
align="top"|Dr. med. Fritz Fischer valign="top"|Sturmbannfuehrer (Major) in the Waffen SS; and Assistant Physician to the defendant Gebhardt at the Hospital at Hohenlychen valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|lifetime imprisonment, commuted to 15 years
align="top"|Karl Gebhardt valign="top"|Gruppenfuehrer in the SS and Generalleutnant (Major General) in the Waffen SS; personal physician to Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler; Chief Surgeon of the Staff of the Reich Physician SS and Police (Oberster Kliniker, Reichsarzt SS und Polizei); and President of the German Red Cross valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|death
align="top"|Karl Genzken valign="top"|Gruppenfuehrer in the SS and Generalleutnant (Major General) in the Waffen SS; and Chief of the Medical Department of the Waffen SS (Chef des Sanitaetsamts der Waffen SS) valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|lifetime imprisonment, commuted to 20 years
align="top"|Siegfried Handloser valign="top"|Generaloberstabsarzt (Lieutenant General, Medical Service); Medical Inspector of the Army (Heeressanitaetsinspekteur); and Chief of the Medical Services of the Armed Forces (Chef des Wehrmachtsanitaetswesens) valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|  valign="top"|lifetime imprisonment, commuted to 20 years
align="top"|Waldemar Hoven valign="top"|Hauptsturmfuehrer (Captain) in the Waffen SS; and Chief Doctor of the Buchenwald concentration camp valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|death
align="top"|Joachim Mrugowsky valign="top"|Oberfuehrer (Senior Colonel) in the Waffen SS; Chief Hygienist of the Reich Physician SS and Police (Oberster Hygieniker, Reichsarzt SS und Polizei); and Chief of the Hygenic Institute of the Waffen SS (Chef des Hygienischen Institutes der Waffen SS) valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|death
align="top"|Herta Oberheuser valign="top"|Physician at the Ravensbrueck Concentration Camp; and Assistant Physician to the defendant Gebhardt at the Hospital at Hohenlychen valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|  valign="top"|20 years' imprisonment, commuted to 10 years
align="top"|Adolf Pokorny valign="top"|Physician, Specialist in Skin and Venereal Diseases valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|  valign="top"|acquitted
align="top"|Helmut Poppendick valign="top"|Oberfuehrer (Senior Colonel) in the SS; and Chief of the Personal Staff of the Reich Physician SS and Police (Chef des Persoenlichen Stabes des Reichsarztes SS und Polizei) valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|10 years imprisonment, commuted to none
align="top"|Hans Wolfgang Romberg valign="top"|Doctor on the Staff of the Department for Aviation Medicine at the German Experimental Institute for Aviation valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|  valign="top"|acquitted
align="top"|Gerhard Rose valign="top"|Generalarzt of the Luftwaffe (Brigadier General, Medical Service of the Air Force); Vice President, Chief of the Department for Tropical Medicine, and Professor of the Robert Koch Institute; and Hygienic Adviser for Tropical Medicine to the Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|  valign="top"|lifetime imprisonment, commuted to 20 years
align="top"|Paul Rostock valign="top"|Chief Surgeon of the Surgical Clinic in Berlin; Surgical Adviser to the Army; and Chief of the Office for Medical Science and Research (Amtschef der Dienststelle Medizinische Wissenschaft und Forschung) under the defendant Karl Brandt, Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|  valign="top"|acquitted
align="top"|Siegfried Ruff valign="top"|Director of the Department for Aviation Medicine at the German Experimental Institute for Aviation (Deutsche Versuchsanstalt fuer Luftfahrt) valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|  valign="top"|acquitted
align="top"|Konrad Schfer valign="top"|Doctor on the Staff of the Institute for Aviation Medicine in Berlin valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|  valign="top"|acquitted
align="top"|Oskar Schrder valign="top"|Generaloberstabsarzt (Lieutenant General Medical Service); Chief of Staff of the Inspectorate of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe (Chef des Stabes, Inspekteur des Luftwaffe-Sanitaetswesens); and Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe (Chef des Sanitaetswesens der Luftwaffe) valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|  valign="top"|lifetime imprisonment, commuted to 15 years
align="top"|Wolfram Sievers valign="top"|Standartenfuehrer (Colonel) in the SS; Reich Manager of the "Ahnenerbe" Society and Director of its Institute for Military Scientific Research (Institut fr Wehrwissenschaftliche Zweckforschung); and Deputy Chairman of the Managing Board of Directors of the Reich Research Council valign="top"|I valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|G valign="top"|death
align="top"|Georg August Weltz valign="top"|Oberfeldarzt in the Luftwaffe (Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Service, of the Air Force); and Chief of the Institute for Aviation Medicine in Munich valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|I valign="top"|  valign="top"|acquitted
I — Indicted   G — Indicted and found guilty Those sentenced to death were hanged on June 2, 1948 in Landsberg prison, Bavaria. Generally, the difference between a prison term and the death sentence was membership in "an organization declared criminal by the judgement of the International Military Tribunal" — namely the SS.

See also

References

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
james gunn (author)
weil restriction
bernie sanders
acadiana
lochner v. new york
gutzon borglum
hypergeometric series
streltsy
demodocus (homer)
montbard
operation warrior sweep
come and go
armory show
recruit
ohio impromptu
eastern screech owl
list of ornithologists
british trust for ornithology
edward grey institute of field ornithology
rational function
krapp's last tape
shooting stars
rough for theatre ii
bird ringing
happy days (play)
western screech owl
john graham, 1st viscount dundee
catastrophe (play)
spectacled cormorant
glenfield, england
hertford
humberstone
techno utopianism
torque wrench
mist trail
river lee
james parrott
sbc park
list of power outages
list of london railway stations
gesang der jnglinge
george baker (actor)
kurt schumacher
sons of the desert