Holocaust Medical Experiments
by: Tyra Aschoff
Nazi doctors conducted many different medical experiments during the Holocaust. Twenty doctors were charged with War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. The Nuremberg trial of the doctors reported evidence of cruel human experiments performed at the Dachau, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Sachsenhausen concentration camps.
Twin Experiments
Doctor Joseph Mengele, known as the "Angel of Death", would exam twins at Auschwitz with a hope to unlock the secret of human reproduction and multiple births. He would take living data of the twins there. After this was complete, he killed the twins by injecting chloroform into their hearts. He made sure that the twins died at the same time. The twins were then dissected and their organs were sent to research centers.
Freezing Experiments
At the Dachau concentration camp experiments were performed to determine the most effective way for treating German pilots who had become severely chilled from ejecting into the ocean or German soldiers who suffered from severe exposure on the Russian front. They would place victims for up to 5 hours at a time in vats of icy water. The victims suffered in pain, foamed out the mouth, and lost consciousness. As this was happening doctors would measure the changes in the patients' heart rate, body temperature, muscle reflexes, and other factors. Once the prisoner's internal body temperature fell to 79.7 degrees Fahrenheit, the doctors would try rewarming them by using hot sleeping bags or scalding baths. 80 to 100 patients died during these cruel experiments.
Poison Experiments
Patients at Buchenwald concentration camp were injected with the poisons phenol and cyanide by researchers for different experiments. Various poisons were tested on the human body by secreting noxious chemicals in prisoners' food or by being shot with poisonous bullets. Victims who did not die were later killed to allow the experimenters to perform autopsies.
Tuberculosis
Dr. Kurt Heissmeyer injected live tubercle bacilli into the lungs of inmates to determine if people had any natural immunities to tuberculosis and to develop a vaccine against the disease. About 200 adults died during this experiment and Heissmeyer had 20 children from Auschwitz hung in an effort to hide the evidence from approaching Allied forces.
Quote
One of the victims from the Holocaust wrote, “I was used as a guinea pig for medical experiments. I was never ever given painkillers or anesthetics. Every day I suffered excruciating pain. I was injected with drugs and chemicals. My body most of the time was connected to tubes which inserted some drugs in to my body. Many days I was tied up for hours. Some days they made cuts in to my body and left the wounds open for them to study. Most of the time there was nothing to eat. Every day my body was numb with pain.”