The Tribunal shall, at a later point in the trial, hear a great deal about the experiments conducted at the institute in Buchenwald both before and after this reorganization within the SS that I have just discussed.
The Defendant Gebhardt has given us an affidavit, which is Document No. NO-671 and which I offer as Prosecution Exhibit 25. This is on Page 44 of the English Document Book.
"I, Dr. Karl Gebhardt, being duly sworn, depose and state:
"1. I was born on 23 November 1897 at Haag, Germany. I attended school in Haag, Hunich, Rosenheim, and Landshut, and in 1916 I joined the German Army. I took part in the fighting on the Western Front. From 1917 to 1919 I was a prisoner of war in England. In 1920 I was a member of the Munich Student Company during the fighting under the leadership of the then Minister of the Interior Noske in the skirmishes in the Kuhr Territory.
"2. In 1919 I continued my medical studies at the University of Munich. During 1922 I interned at the City Hospital in Landshut and at the Pathological Institute at Munich, and became an assistant resident physician without pay there in the fall of 1922.
"3. On 9 November 1925 I took part in the Nazi putsch in Munich as a member of the Free Corps "Bund Oberland." In 1924 I became an assistant at the Munich University Surgical Clinic under Geheimrat Saurrbruch until 1926, there under Geheimrat Lexer until 1953. In 1932 I became instructor in surgery at Munich University.
"4. I joined the Nazi Party on 1 May 1935, my number being 1,723,317. I joined tho General-SS on 20 April 1935, my number being 265,894. I ultimately rose to the rank of SS Gruppenfuhrer in the General-SS and to the rank of General-Leutnant or Major General in the Reserve of tho Waffen-SS.
"5. In 1933 I was assigned to the hospital at Hohenlychen as Chief Physician. I remained in this position until the end of the war. At the same time I was consulting physician to the Reich Sport Leadership and Chief of the Medical Institute of the Reich Academy for Physical Exercise in Berlin. In 1935 I became honorary University Professor and in 1937 regular Professor at the University of Berlin. During 1935 and the summer of 1936 I was Physician-in-Chief at the Olympic Games. In 1938 I became a physician at Hitler's headquarters. I was also personal physician to Himmler and his family.
"6. In 1940 I became surgical advisor to the WaffenSS and visited the front line divisions. Since 1935 I had been surgical advisor to the Organization Todt, at first for the Reich Autobahns and since 1940 for the West Wall work. Since 1940 I was also in charge of the convaloscent home Kulmbach of the Organization Todt.
"7. In August 1940..."
I think that is an incorrect translation. I think it should read August 1943.
..."I created and took ever the position of Chief Clinical Officer of the Reichsarzt SS and Polizei. I held this position until the end of the war. Dr. Grawitz was my superior. From February 1943 until the spring of 1944 I was personal physician to Albert Speer. I treated him at Hohenlychen and then accompanied him to Italy. With the invasion in 1944 I also became Hoeresgruppenarzt of the Army Group Oberrhein and in 1945 of the Army Group Weichsoil, my services being required at the front, in the defense areas, ant at home. On 23 April 1945 I became President of the German Red Cross.
(signed) Karl Gebhardt."
The name of Gebhardt is shown on the Chart of the Organization following August, 1945, where he held the position of Chief surgeon in the office of Grawitz, it is shown in one of the boxes at the left of Grawitz' name on the chart. Thus we have in the dock the worthy successor of Grawitz as the President of the German Red Cross, Grawitz, the Reichs Physician of the SS, who took his own life in the last days of the war.
Gebhardt was, without question, one of the closest medical advisors to Himmler and, as he states in Paragraph 5 of his affidavit, he was Himmler's personal physician. It can be said, I think, that Gebhardt's position vis-a-vis Himmler was about the same as Karl Brandt vis-a-vis Hitler. Gebhardt was, as he stated, also personal physician to Albert Speer, a defendant before the I.M.T. Gebhardt worked for many years as the Chief Surgeon at the Hospital at Hohenlychen. During the particular time during which we are here interested, he was assisted by the Defendants Fischer and Oberhouser, who, together, performed the experiments on Polish women in the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in connection with the sulfanilamide experiments and this Tribunal will be accorded the opportunity of observing in person the pitiful results of these criminal operations performed by Gebhardt and his partner in-crime.
I will now read the affidavit of Fritz Fischer which is Document No. NO-559 and will be Prosecution Exhibit 26.
"I, Dr. Fritz Ernst Albert Fisher, being duly sworn, depose and state:
I was born October 5, 1912 in Berlin. In 1931 I commenced the study of medicine and attended the universities of Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig and Bonn, I received my doctorate in Hamburg in 1938.
2. I joined the NSDAF in 1939? my number being 4,945,298. I joined the SS on February 1, 1934, my number being 203,578. I rose to the rank of Sturmbannfuechrer in the Waffen-SS. In November 1939 I was inducted into the Waffen-Ss and was assigned to the SS unit of the Hospital at Hohenlychen as a physician. I remained at Hohenlychen until June 30, 1941. Dr. Karl GEBHARDT was my superior.
3. On June 30, 1941 I was transferred to the Bodyguard Adolf Hitler, and on December 20, 1941 was re-transferred to Hohenlychen as Assistant Physician to Dr. Karl GEBHARDT. I remained there until May 10, 1943. I was then transferred to the 10th SS Division as Chief Surgeon of a Medical Company assigned to the 10th Panzer Regiment on the Western Front. In November 1043 I was transferred with the same unit to the Russian Front. In June 1944 I was sent to the Western Front in France, where I was action until August 1944.
4. In August 1944 I was wounded and returned to the Hohenlychen Hospital as a patient. In December 1944 I was transferred to the University of Berlin and was assigned as physician to the Charity Hospital in Berlin. In April 1945 I returned to Hohenlychen as Assistant Physician to Dr. Karl GEBHARDT. I remained at Hohenlychen until the end of the war." (Signed) Dr. Fritz Fischer.
Fischer was in the sulphanilimide experiments at Ravensbruck, the willing tool of his chief, the Defendant and Gebhardt.
Next, we turn to the Defendant Oberheuser. While she was not a member for the SS, she worked within the SS Medical Service. First, as a doctor at the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp and then as assistant to the Defendant Gebhardt in the Hospital at Hohenlychen. Her affidavit is Document No. NO-683, which will be Prosecution Exhibit No. 27.
"I, Herta Oberheuser, being duly sworn, depose and states:
1. I was been on May 15, 1911 in Cologne-on-the-Rhine, Germany. I studied medicine at the Universities of Bonn and Dusseldorf and received my Doctorate in 1937.
2. From 1937 until December 1940 I was employed as an assistant physician at the Medical Clinic in Dusseldorf, and at the Skin Clinic in the same city.
3. I joined the League of German Girls in 1935 and held the rank of Block Leader. In May 1937 I became a member of the Nazi party. I was also a member of the Association of Nazi Physicians.
4. From December 1940 until June 1943 I was a skin specialist and camp physician at the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. My superior until 1942 was Dr. Soontag and thereafter Dr. Schidlausky.
5. From June 1943 until the end of the war I was assistant physician at the hospital in Hohenlychen. My superior was Dr. Karl Gebhardt." (Signed) Herta Oberheuser.
Document No. 589, which will be Prosecution Exhibit no. 28, gives the personal history of the Defendant, Rudolf Brandt:
"I Rudolf Hermann BRANDT, being duly sworn, depose and state:
1. I was born on 2 June 1909 at Frankfurt/Oder, Germany, and studied law at the Universities of Berlin and Jena. I joined the Nazi Party in 1932, my party number being 1,331,536. In October 1933 I became a member of the SS and was assigned the number 129,771. In November 1935. I was commissioned an Unterstrumfuehrer (Second Lieutenant) and ultimately rose to the rank of Standartenfuehrer (Colonel).
2. On 11 December 1933 I became a member of the Staff of the Reichsfuehrer SS Himmler in the capacity of clerk. In 1936 I became Chief of the Personal Staff of the Reichsfuehrer SS. I remained in this position until the end of the war. In 1938 or 1939 I became Himmler's liaison officer to the Ministry of the Interior and particularly to the Office Secretary of the Interior. In 1943 when Himmler became Minister of the Interior, I was appointed Chief of the Ministerial Office in the Reich Ministry of the Interior.
3. I was a member of the Ahnenerbe Society. Himmler was President of the Ahnenerbe Society. On account of my position, I was liaison officer to the Reich Secretary of the Society, Wolfram Sievers.
4. I was only absent from Himmler's office from 30 March, 1941 to 11 May 1941. During this time I fought with the Artillery Regiment of the Adolf Hitler bodyguard division in the campaign against Greece."
(Signed) Rudolf Brandt.
The position of Rudolf BRANDT is shown on both charts in the same box with Himmler. By virtue of his position, as administrative assistant to Himmler, Rudolf BRANDT played a very significant role in practically all of the crimes with which this case is concerned.
We turn now to the Affidavit of the Defendant JOACHIM MRUGOWSKY, Document No. 723, which will be Prosecution Exhibit 29.
"I, Dr. Joachim Mrugowsky, being duly sworn, depose and state:
1. I was born on 15 August 1905 at Rathenow/Havel, Germany, I finished High School at Rathenow/Havel in 1923. From 1 April 1923 till the end of November 1923, I was a customs employee at Rathenow-Stentsch near Schweibus. From 1 December 1923 to October 1925, I served as an apprentice at the Rahenow Bank Association. In the winter of 1925, I commenced the study of medicine at the University of Halle/Saale and finished with the State examination in 1931. During the time I was student at the University of Halle/Saale, I was head of the Nazi Student Group from November 1930 to June 1931.
2. In 1930 I joined the NSDAP. My party number was 210,049. On 15 November 1931 I joined the SS, my number being 25,811. During 1931 and 1932 I interned at the Kuestrin City Hospital and on 1 January 1933 became an Assistant at the Hygiene Institute of the University of Halle/Saale. From 1933 to 1935 I worked in the SD Sector 18 in Halle.
3. On 1 January 1937 I was promoted to the rank of Major and attached to the Waffen-SS as a medical officer on active duty. On 1 August 1937 I became battalion physician of the 1st battalion of the bodyguard Adolf Hitler in Berlin. In October 1938 I became a member of the Staff of the SS Medical Office of the Waffen SS in Berlin in the capacity of hygienist.
4. At the beginning of 1939 I founded the hygienic-bacteria logical examination circle of the SS in Berlin. The purpose of this institute was to combat epidemics which broke out in the SS garrison troops of the Waffen SS.
From October 1939 to November 1940, I was active with the 2nd Medical Company. of the SS V-Division of the Waffen-SS on the Western Front. In November 1940 I was transferred to Berlin to aid in the combatting of epidemics by the ever growing Waffen-SS. under my direction, the hygienic-bacteriological examination circle was enlarged and renamed the "Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS". I became Chief of the above named institute and remained in that position until the end of hostilities. Dr. Karl Genzken was the Chief of Division D in the SS Operational main office and my institute was attached to Department XVI of Division D. In April 1941 I was promoted to Lt Colonel in the SS and in June 1942 to the rank of Colonel in the SS.
5. On 1 September 1943 the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen-SS, of which I remained chief, was transferred to the Office of the Reichsarzt SS and Police, Dr. Ernst Grawitz. I also became the Chief of Office 111 and was given the title Chief Hygienist. After 1 September 1943 the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS was no longer attached to Department XVI of Division D of the SS operational main office.
6. During the period from 1941 to 1944 I was also Hygiene Consultant to the Ministry for Eastern Affairs and I collaborated in the issuance of several decrees concerning the combatting of disease in the occupied territories in the East. Furthermore, I was a member of the Committee For Drinking Water Supply and Apparatus. In April 1944 I was promoted to Senior Colonel in the SS." (Signed), Joachim Mrugowsky.
The position of Mrugowsky is shown in the chart to the left, or rather in the chart giving the organization prior to August of 1943, under the Defendant Genzken as chief of the Hygien Institute of the Waffen SS. The Institute for Typhus and Virus research at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp was directly subordinate to Mrugowsky throughout the whole period with which we are concerned. The Department for Spotted Fever and Virus research at Buchenwald is shown on the first chart under the name of Mrugowsky.
Dr. Ding alias Schiller, who was Chief of the Institute at Buchenwald committed suicide following his capture by the Allied Forces. Fortunately, however, several affidavits were obtained from. Dr. Ding and he has also left us a number of documents, including a diary covering the period from 1941 until 1945, and these documents will provide the Tribunal with a detailed knowledge of the happenings during the typhus experiments at Buchenwald.
Mrugowsky's interests were men broader than typhus research, however, and the Tribunal will find his name connected with other matters, not the least of which were the poison bullet experiments to determine how long it took to kill a man with poison bullets.
As I have previously explained in discussing the defendant Genzken, the Hygienic Institute of the Waffen SS was subordinated in August of 1943 to Grawitz, and this change is shown on the second chart.
We come now to the defendant Poppendick, another SS doctor. His affidavit is Document NO-672, which will be Prosecution Exhibit 30.
"I, Dr. Helmut Poppendick, being duly sworn, depose and state:
"1. I was born on January 6, 1902, at Hude, Germany. From 1921 to 1926, I studied medicine at the Universities of Gettingen, Munich and Berlin. I passed my state examination in December 1926.
"2. I joined the N.S.D.A.P. on March 1, 1932, my number being 998607. I joined the SS on July 1, 1932, my number being 36345. I rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Obersturmbannfuehrer) in the Allgemein SS., and to the rank of Senior Colonel (Oberfuehrer) in the Waffen SS. I was also a member of SS Physicians association (S.S. Arztebund).
"3. During 1933 end 1934, I was Chief Physician (Oberazt) at the Virchow Hospital in Berlin. From the beginning of 1935 until August, 1935, I was a member of the staff of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Academy in Berlin. In August 1935, I accepted an appointment as Physician with the Main Race and Settlement office (Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt) in Berlin. I was appointed Chief Physician (Leitenden Arzt) of the office in 1941, and remained in that position until the end of the war."
This position of Poppendick is shown on both charts under the Race and Settlement Office of the S.S., which is another one of the twelve main SS offices. Now, while Poppendick was directly subordinated to the Chief of that main office, Grawitz had the authority to issue orders concerning medical matters, and this is shown by the broken line running from Grawitz to Poppendick. (Continues reading).
"4. On August 27, 1939, I was called into the Army as a Second Lieutenant (Assistenzarzt) in the Medical Corps, and was promoted to the rank of Oberarzt. I was on active duty with the 18th German Army until 1941, at which time I was sent back to Berlin to resume my duty in the Main Race and Settlement Office (Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt.)
"5. In 1943, I was appointed Chief of the Personal Staff of the Reich Physicians SS and Police (Chef des Persoenlichen Stabes des Reichsarztes SS und Polizci) under Dr. Grawitz. I remained in this position until the end of the war, at the same time retaining my position as Chief Physician (Leitender Arzt) in the Main Race and Settlement Office (Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt) until about autumn 1941." It says '41. I think that must be incorrect. In any event, following 1943 he still retained his position in the Main Race and Settlement Office, although at the same time he was subordinated to Dr. Grawitz and was head of the Personal Staff in that office.
At the time of the reorganization of the S.S. Medical Department in August, 1943, Poppendick took his job as Chief of the Personal Staff of Grawitz, and as such, he held a position which I think is quite comparable to that held by Rudolf Brandt. In other words, Rudolf Brandt was the Chief of the Personal Staff or Personal Adjutant to Himmler, while Poppendick held a comparable position to Dr. Grawitz, and as such, he also, as in the case of Rudolf Brandt, had a unique opportunity to see what was going on during the experimentations on human beings in the concentration camps.
The defendant Sievers was one of the key figures in criminal experimentation, although he is one of the few defendants in the dock who was not a physician. He has given us a very short affidavit which hardly justifies his importance, and this is Document NO-670, and it will be Prosecution Exhibit 31.
"I, Wolfram Sievers, being duly sworn, depose, and state:
"1. I was born at Hildesheim, Germany, on 10 July 1905. I joined the Nazi Party in 1929. At the beginning of 1931 I resigned. I joined again early in 1933. My party number was 144,983. I joined the S.S. in 1935, my number being 275,325. My last rank was Standartenfuehrer".--the equivalent rank being Colonel in the United States Army.
"2. On 1 July 1935, I became a number of Himmler's personal staff and General Secretary (Generalsekretar) of the Ahnenerbe. I served in this position until the end of the war. The Ahnenerbe was charged with certain tasks of scientific (geisteswissenschaftlichen) research by order of the Reichsfuehrer SS.
"3. In June 1943 I was appointed Deputy to the Head of the Managing Board of Directors of the Reich Research Council. My superior in this capacity was Dr. Mentzel, Head of the Managing Board of Directors of Reich Research Council." Signed, Sievers.
The Ahnenerbe Society, of which Sievers was the Reich Business Manager, will be frequently mentioned during the course of this trial. It is shown on the lower righthand side of both of the charts now before the Tribunal and his responsibility extended directly to Heinrich Himmler, who, incidentally was President of the Ahnenerbe Society.
I would like to introduce at this point Document NO-303, as Prosecution Exhibit 32 which gives the top eschelon of the Ahnenerbe and a description of its functions. This document shows in a sort of small chart at the top something of the organization of the Ahnenerbe Society. This document is not dated. I suspect that it shows the organization as it existed more or less around 1938. At the top we see the President, the Reichsfuehrer-SS, Heinrich Himmler. Under him as the Trustee is Dr. Walther Wuest, and to the right is the Reich Business Manager, Wolfram Sievers. So far as I know we are not particularly interested in any of the men who are listed as the Reich Business Management. However, the statement in this document as to the task and purposes of the Ahnenerbe, I think, is rather interesting, and it reads as follows:
"The task of the Research and Instruction Group "The Ahnenerbe" is investigation of space, spirit, accomplishments and heritage of the Indogermanic peoples of nordic race, the verification of the results of their research and their transmission to the people." Then it lists down below a number of things which they should do.
The Ahnenerbe Foundation was apparently something in the connection of a separate corporation, so to speak, which in effect collected donations from various people and supported the Ahnenerbe Society with these donations.
Now, it may strike the Tribunal as strange that this organization, which was concerned with the research as to the capacity, spirit, accomplishments, heritage of nordic racial Indogermanism should become involved in criminal experiments on living beings. However, with the advent of war Himmler's interest in glorifying the great German nordic race was to a certain extent, at least, sublimated by the desire to make available for military medical research some of the thousands of non-nordic inmates of concentration camps who, as he put it, in a document which will be submitted to the Court, "deserve only to die". Thus, in July of 1942 Sievers was ordered to establish an institute for the Military Scientific Research within the Ahnenerbe and as proof of that, I now offer Document NO-422, which will be Prosecution Exhibit 33.
This document is dated 7 July 1942 and comes from the Operational Headquarters, sent by the Reichfuehrer SS Himmler. It is headed: "Secret: to the Reichsmanager of the "Ahnenerbe" SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Sievers. I request the "Ahnenerbe" 1. to establish an Institute for Military Scientific Research; 2. to support in every possible way the research carried out by SS Hauptsturmfuehrer Professor Dr. Hirt and to promote all corresponding research and undertakings; 3. to make available the required apparatus, equipment accessories and assistants, or to procure then; 4. to make use of the facilities available in Dacahu; 5. to contact the Chief of the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office 'Wirtschaftsverwaltungshauptant) with regards to the costs which can be norne by the Waffen SS."
And the signature is the initials of Heinrich Himmler. Copy was mailed to the Chief of the Economic and Administrative Main Office which was headed up by SS Obergruppenfuehrer POHL with a request to take note, by the order of Brandt; that is Rudolf Brandt, SS Obersturmbannfuehrer.
(Dr. McHaney continuing) ** previously told the Court that the Economic and Administrative Main Office had control over concentration camps following the early part of 1942, so these orders will constantly be brought to the attention of this Economic and Administrative Main office; and as you see here, they were also to defray the costs of supporting this military scientific institute for research.
As the proof develops, the significance of the reference made in this document to the research of Dr. Hirth will become crystal clear to the Tribunal. He was the distinguished scientist who, among other things, infected living human beings with Mustard gas, who engineered with the assistance of Sievers the selection and execution of 113 Jews for a skeleton collection at the University of Strasbourg.
I submit at this point for judicial notice by the Tribunal, the findings of the international Military Tribunal with respect to the Ahnenerbe Society. Since this was quoted by General Taylor in his opening address, it is unnecessary for me to repeat it here. I think, Your Honor, that this document probably should not take an exhibit number inasmuch as the Tribunal is required by Article 9 of Ord. No. 7 to make judicial notice, and we are herewith complying with the request with a written copy of it, and it is certified by Colonel John E. Ray, who is the Secretary General of the International Military Tribunal, and who is still in Nurnberg, to be a true and correct excerpt from the official English transcript of the Judgment, and this appeared of pages 16,952 and 53. Your Honor will recall from General Taylor's statement that the Ahnenerbe was connected with extensive experiments involving the use of living human beings, and it also holds that attached to this institute was Dr. **scher about whom we will hear more in a few moments; and that the Ahnenerbe was subsidized by Reichsfuehrer SS who was a trustee of the Foundation.
We turn now to tho personal affidavit of the defendant Brack, which is Document NO-820 and will be Prosecution Exhibit 34.
"I, Victor Hermann Brack, being duly sworn, depose and state:
"1. I was born in Haaren, Germany, on November 9, 1904. In 1923 after my graduation from High School, I studied economic science at the 'Technische Hochschule' -that is, I am sure, technical high school -- "in Munich where I graduated in 1928 with a diploma in Economic Science.
1923-1927 member of artillery unit of the SA Regiment in Munich.
"2. In December 1929, I joined the NSDAP and at the same time the SS. My party number was l73,388 and my SS number 1940. In the summer of 1932, Phillip Bouhler, then Reich Business Manager of the NSDAP appointed me to full time service in the 'Brown House' in Munich. During 1933, I acted as adjutant with the title of Stabseiter to Bouhler, who was Reich Business Manager of the NSDAP in Munich. In 1934 Reichsleiter Bouhler was appointed Chief of the Chancellery of the Fuehrer of the NSDAP in Berlin, and I was transferred with him.
"3. In 1936 I was placed in charge of Office 2 in the Chancery of the Fuehrer in Berlin with the title of Reichsamtsleiter. Office 2 examined complaints which came from all sections of the population and concerned all possible problems. Later, I received the rank of Oberdienstleiter. I also acted as Bouhler's deputy in Amt II. In this capacity my duties were of an administrative nature since I was personnel representative of Bouhler. I made various service trips for him and took care of all of Bouhler's special tasks. These consisted, among other things, of subsequent examinations in the Gaus; these subsequent examinations were independent of the inspections made by Bormann's office. All during this period from December 1929, I was Active in the SS. On 30 June 1934, I received the 'Death Head Ring' SS. On 7 January 1935, I was promoted to Sturmbannfuehrer and on 20 April 1936 to ObersturmbannFuehrer. On 12 September 1937, I was promoted to the rank of standartenfuehrer; and on November 1937, I was transferred to the Staff of the Main Office of the SS. On 11 November 1940, I was promoted to the rank of Oberfuehrer.
"4. By reason of this position and because of my personal contact with Bouhler, obtained far reaching knowledge of the activities in which Bouhler and various other personalities participated. From time to time, I had discussions with Bouhler had other persons concerned with activities which my office was concerned. I read **st amount of correspondence addressed to Bouhler, received orders from him and in numeousinstances I personally handled, on my own initiative, various details of the particular matters involved.
"5. In September 1939, Hitler issued the 'Euthanasia' order to Bouhler and Brandt, charging them with the responsibility of enlarging the authority of different, especially to responsible physicians to the end that certain incurable persons might be accorded a mercy death. I became Bouhler's liaison man to the doctors involved in the 'Euthanasia' program. These included Dr. Linden, Prof. Hayde, and Prof. Nietsche. Also in my capacity, as chief of Department 2 of Bouhler's office was ordered to carry out the administrative details of the 'Euthanasia' program, deputy was Werner Blankenburg who later became my successor." Signed Victor Brack It may be seen from this affidavit that Brack was primarily a Nazi Party functionary in the Chancery of the Fuehrer; and his activities in connection with the Euthanasia and sterilization experiments, that will concern us most here.
His immediate superior, Phillip Bouhler, who, with Karl Brandt, was charged by Hitler with carrying out the Euthanasia program, committed suicide shortly after the end of the war.
The last of the defendants in the SS group is Hoven. His affidavit is Document NO-591 which will be Prosecution Exhibit 35.
"I, Dr. Waldemar Hoven, being duly sworn, depose and state:
"1. I was born in February 1903 at Freiburg, Germany, and attended school in Breisgau. From 1919 until 1921 I visited in Denmark and Sweden. Late in 1921 I went to the United States of America, where I stayed for three years. In 1924 I return to Germany and worked as my father's secretary at his sanatorium until 1930. In ???? I went to Paris where I worked for two years as secretary to a correspondent of the Hearst Press, Baron de Mayer.
"2. In 1933 I returned to Germany. I completed my high school studies at the age of 32 and commenced the study of medicine. In 1939 I concluded my medical study at the University of Munich as was immediately inducted into the Waffen SS.
"3. I joined the Nazi party in 1937. I do not remember my number. I joined the SS in 1934, my number being 995594. I rose to the rank of Hauptsturmfuehrer (Captain) in the Waffen SS.
"4. In October 1939, after I had completed my training in the Waffen SS, I was ordered to report to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. From the beginning of 1941 until July 1942 I was assistant to the camp doctor at the prison camp at Buchenwald and from July 1942 until September 1943 I was Chief Physician at the prison camp in Buchenwald." Signed: Waldemar Hoven.
Hoven's position is not shown on the chart because he was a concentration camp doctor and obviously it is possible to include any representative number of those We shall hear of his activities primarily in connection with the typhus experiment at Buchenwald and in connection with the Euthanasia Program.
The defendant Pokorny should be considered in connection with the SS although he was not a member of that organization. He was the man who had the brilliant idea of sterilizing, by means of drugs, millions of Russian prisoners of war in order, he put it, that the enemy be not only conquered but destroyed. This proposal was made by Porkorny to Himmler, and the Prosecution will prove that intensive effort were made to accomplish this monstrous plan. The affidavit of Porkorny is Document NO-770 which will be Prosecution Exhibit 36, and it reads as follows:
"I, Dr. Adolf Rudolf Pokorny, being duly sworn, depose and state:
1. I was born 26 July 1895 in Vienna. In 1915 I entered the Austrian Army and rose to the rank of Sanitacts-Lautnent" a Lieutenand in the Medical Service. "In 1916 I commenced the study of medicine at the German University in Prague. I received my doctorate in 1922 and became a member of the staff of the German Skin Hospital in Prague. In 1924, I commenced private practice of medicine in Konotau. I specialized in the treatment of skin and venereal diseases.
2. In 1942 I was inducted into the German Army and assigned to the Reserve Hospital with the rank of Oberarzt. In 1944 I was placed in charge the hospital for venereal disease in Hohenstein*Ernstthal and promoted to the rank of Stabaarzt. I remained until fourteen days before the end of the war and then I was transferred to Lichtenstein in Saxony in the same capacity, where I remained until the end of the war."
This completes the presentation as to the positions of the SS defendant with a few defendants such as Oberhauser and Pokorny who were not members, ?? who were in some way connected with them. Last, but certainly not least, is the Defendant, Blome. His affidavit is Document NO-675 and will be Prosecution Exhibit 37. It reads as follows:
"I, Kurt Blome, being duly sworn, depose and state:
1. I was born on 31 January 1894 in Bielefeld, Germany. In 1912 I was graduated from Dortmund and studied medicine at Goetlingen. In 1914 my studies were interrupted by World War I, but I returned to my medical studies in 1919 and finished them at the Rostock University in 1920. During the war I served in the Medical Corps of the German Army. The highest rank I attained was that of a Lieutenants.
2. From 1920 until 1924 I was an assistant on the medical faculty at Rostock University. From 1924 until 1934 I engaged in the private practice of medicine in Rostock.
3. 1 joined the NSDAP in 1931 and later held a rank of SA Medical Gruppenfuehrer. In 1943 I was awarded the Golden Party Badge.
4. After several years of private practice I was called to Berlin in 1934 by Dr. Gerhard Wagner, Reich Health Leader where I was active as adjutant in the Central Office of the German Red Cross.
In 1935 I began my main task, namely to organize the German Medical Education 1 System.
5. In 1934, in conjunction with in duties as adjutant in the Main Offi of the German Red Cross, I was also appointed business manager of the Reich Physicians Association. I held this position until the end of the war.
6. In 1938 I became President of the Bureau of the Academy for International Medical Education. In 1939 I became deputy to Dr. Leonardo Conti, Reichsgesundheitsfuehrers or Reich Health Leader and successor to Dr. Wagner. I represented Dr. Conti in his capacities as:
a) Leader of the Reichs Physicians Association.
b) Nominally as head of the Main Office for Public Health of the Party.
c) Nominally as leader of the National Socialist Physicians Association.
7. From about 1941 until the end of the war I was a member of the Reich Research Council. In 1943 I was appointed Plenipotentiary for Cancer Research which was allied with the research Commission for Protection against Biologic?? warfare. I held these positions until I was taken prisoner by the Americans (signed) KURT BLOME It is apparent from reading this Affidavit that Blome was an ardent Nazi from an early period.
As no states, one of his main tasks was to organize the German medical educational system. This afforded him the opportunity to inculcate in such young medical students as the Defendant, Hoven, the perverted doctrine that the ill-conceived love of thy neighbor has to disappear, especially in relation to inferior or asocial creatures. Such doctrines were taught at the Fuehrer School of the German, physicians at Altrhese in Mecklenburg which was organized by the Defendant, Blome. Attendance at this school became compulsory and had to be attended for several weeks annually for fiveyear periods. Certainly it is not strange to find a man of such beliefs associated with the extermination of peoples afflicted with tuberculosis and so-called mental illnesses.
It should also be noted that Blome was business manager of the Reichs Physicians Association and that he represented Conti in his capacity as the Fuehrer of this Association.
All physicians in Germany except those on military duty were subordinate to the leader cf the Reichs Physicians Association.
Is it not clear that a man with the influential position of Blome could have done much to prevent the criminal activities of the German physicians and scientists about which this case is concerned. The Prosecution will prove that it was not lack of knowledge of these experiments which explains the inertia of Blome. Indeed, the proof will show that he actively participated in several experiments, not to mention the unspeakable extermination of persons afflicted with tuberculosis. His activities in the field of biological warfare under the cover name "Cancer Research" will also be brought to the attention of the Tribunal.
In closing this port of the presentation, I think it would be appropriate to introduce several documents with respect to the Reich Research Council. Of the defendants in the dock, Karl Brandt, Blome and Sievers were members of the Reich Research Council. Rostick acted as an alternate to Karl Brandt, and you will remember that in the chart showing the organization of the Reichs Commissioner for Health and Medical Services that the Reich Research Council was one of the institutes over which the Defendant, Rostock, had control by virtue of his position as head of Karl Brandt's office for science and research. What kind of an organization was this Reich Research Council? What were its purposes? First, let's look at Document NO-894 which will be Prosecution Exhibit 38. This is the Fuehrer's Decree of 15 June 1942 concerning the Reich Research Council, and is taken from the Reichsgesetzblatt, Part I, 1942, Par. No. 64, the Decree of the Fuehrer on the Reich Research Council of 9 June 1942:
"The necessity to expand all available forces to highest efficiency in the interest of the state requires, not only in peace time but also, and especially, in war time, the concentrated effort of scientific research and it channellization toward the goal to be aspired.
"Therefore, I commission the Reich Marshal Hermann Gooding to establish as an independent entity a Reich Research Council, which is to serve this purpose, to take over its chairmanship himself and to give it a charter.
"Leading men of science above all, are to make research fruitful for warfare by working together in their special fields. The hitherto existing Reich Research Council which was under the Reich Minister for Science and Education is to be absorbed by the new organization.
"The means needed for research purposes, are to be established in the Reich budget as far as they will not be raised from contributions (for research) of circles interest in research.
Fuehrer Headquarters, 9 June 1942."
signed by the Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler, and by the Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery, Dr. Lammers.
In order to amplify somewhat the organization of the Reich Research Council, we have secured an affidavit from one of the non-defendant members of that organization, and I refer to the affidavit of Werner Osenberg which is Document NO-897 and which will be Prosecution Exhibit 39.
"I, Werner Osenberg, being duly sworn, depose and state: -