Germans had a desire to learn all and to achieve that goal quickly. So a superb opportunity was made available when the concentration camps were created, infinite test subjects.  Treated as if animals the subjects were put through mind-breaking and brutal experiments.  Cruel doctors, like Dr. Josef Mengele of Auschwitz, who murdered children just to observe after death effects (Altman, Linda Jacobs).  Some doctors were less cruel, such as Dr. Beiglboeck of Dachau, performed experiments on living subjects (Altman, Linda Jacobs).  Experiments on living subjects included freezing subjects until near death, poisoning them with various chemical and drugs, and breaking bones so they could learn to set them (Francisco, Lopez-Munoz).  At the end of the war, the Germans destroyed a massive portion of the collected data so it could not be used against them (Francisco, Lopez-Munoz).  However, most were still put on trial by the USA (Altman, Linda Jacobs).  The doctors of Nazi Germany performed these horrible experiments to try to better humanity, to make the best use of the subject, and to help their troops.

The Doctors

     Nazi doctors of World War II performed horrific experiments on innocent people involved in the Holocaust.  Dr. Josef Mengele of Auschwitz was one of these experimenting doctors(Altman, Linda Jacobs). A worker at Auschwitz declared, "Dr . Josef Mengele of Auschwitz once murdered fourteen children in a single night so he could perform autopsies, or after death examinations, on their bodies" (Altman 62). As the leading doctor, Dr. Mengele had a near limitless amount of subjects to test on. Another doctor, at the prison camp Dachau, Dr. Wilhelm Beiglboeck did not murder subjects to perform autopsies, but used them while living(Altman, Linda Jacobs).  Beiglboeck was trying to make seawater drinkable using various chemicals(Altman, Linda Jacobs).  Using forty gypsies as his test subjects, he gave them only seawater treated with the chemicals to drink(Altman, Linda Jacobs).                                                                      Operation room for doctors

The Experiments

     Brutal and horrible experiments were performed on people retained in concentration camps. The mentally ill, for example, were used as guinea pigs for the testing of physcopharmacological drugs(Francisco, Lopez-Munoz).  Drugs that would normally only be used on lab rats, were used on these subjects.  Poisons of war, tabun, sarin, and soman were also test on human subjects before being used in battle(Francisco, Lopez-Munoz). The Jewish suffered a much more terrible kind of torment.  Doctors would break

their bones so they could learn to set them to heal(Altman, Linda Jacobs).  Subjects were also infected with various diseases,(ex. malaria, tuberculosis) so the effects of the disease could be studied.  To learn about hypothermia and the human body, Nazi doctors would take the patient and submerge them in extremely cold water for hours(Altman, Linda Jacobs).  Dr. Wilhelm Beiglboeck's experiments come to mind when thinking of an experiment on live subjects and over a longer period of time.  "In another cruel experiment, Dr. Wilhelm Beiglboeck of Dachau, tested chemicals to determine whether they could make seawater safe for drinking," stated a reliable source (Altman 64).                                                                               Children test subjects

The Results

     After the war was over, the doctors of concentration camps were brought to justice by the USA(Altman, Linda Jacobs).  Survivors of the deadly experiments would testify against the doctors in court. At Dr. Wilhelm Beiglboeck's trial Karl Hoellenrainer summarized his cruel experiment, "At first we got potatoes, milk and then we got these cookies and... rusks [sweetened biscuits]. That lasted about week. Then we got nothing at all... Then the doctor said, 'Now you have to drink seawater on an empty stomach'... We drank two or three times a day... After a few days the people became raving mad; they foamed at the mouth"(Karl Hoellenrainer 64).  Dr. Wilhelm was convicted of performing acts against humanity and served fifteen years in jail(Altman, Linda Jacobs).  Dr. Josef Mengele was bit more of a coward.  Rather than face his trial he fled to South America in 1949(Altman, Linda Jacobs).  He lived the days there until 1979, when he did in a drowning incident(Altman, Linda Jacobs).  While valuable research may have been able to come from these experiments, most that was collected was destroyed(Francisco, Lopez-Munoz).

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Dr. Beiglboeck at his trial

References

Altman, Linda Jacobs. Crimes and Criminals of the Holocaust. N.p.: Enslow Publishers Inc, 2004. Print. 8

THe Deadly Experiment. Youtube. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/‌watch?v=HsmVdamAnOQ&feature=related>. 4

Francisco, Lopez-Munoz. “The role of psychopharmacology in the medical abuses of the Third Reich: From euthanasia programmes to human experimentation.” EBSCOhost. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://web.ebscohost.com/‌ehost/‌detail?vid=4&hid=17&sid=955ae3f7-4f7f-48ac-befb-fa56cfaf90a7%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=35326252>. 1

Harrison, Joey. Jenni’s foot x-ray. N.d. www.flickr.com. Yahoo, 8 May 2007. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/‌photos/‌joeyharrison/‌490809949/>. 7

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“Nazi medical experiment.” www.ushmm.org. Copyright © United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C., 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.ushmm.org/‌wlc/‌en/‌article.php?ModuleId=10005168>. 2

Otisarchives3. SC210134. N.d. www.flickr.com. Yahoo, 6 Feb. 2008. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/‌photos/‌22719239@N04/‌2246462044/>. 5

Sydneyw19. Medical Experiments on Children . N.d. www.flickr.com. Yahoo, 13 Apr. 2007. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/‌photos/‌7549570@N06/‌457716562/>. 6

Epstein, Hedwig Wachenheimer.  Portrait of Wilhelm Beiglboeck as a defendant in the Medical Case Trial at Nuremberg. [Photograph #07330]. 5 Nov. 1946. resources.ushmm.org. United Stated Holocaust Memorial Museum , n.d. Web. 13 May 2010. <http://resources.ushmm.org/‌inquery/‌uia_doc.php/‌query/‌44?uf=uia_EpukNX>. 9