The Nazi human experimentation was a series of medical experiments on a large number of prisoners conducted in concentration camps during World War II and the Holocaust. The most common populations for experimentations were the Romani Gypsies, Soviet POWs, the disabled, homosexuals, twins and Jews.
The Nazi physicians and their assistants forced prisoners to participate in barbaric experiments. The experiments are considered medical torture and resulted in trauma, disfigurement, permanent disability, and death.
At Auschwitz and other camps under the direction of Eduard Wirths and Aribert Heim, inmates were subjected to horrific treatments allegedly designed to help German military personnel in combat situations, develop new weapons, and aid in the recovery of military personnel who had been injured. Carl Vaernet conducted experiments in attempts to ‘cure’ homosexuality.
Among the litany of horrific experiments were the experiments on twins designed to show the genetic similarities of twins, performed on nearly 1,500 sets of twins. Only 200 people survived these studies. Other studies included bone, muscle, and nerve transplantation experiments, experiments on the effects of head injury, freezing and hypothermia experiments, malaria treatment experiments, mustard gas experiments, experiments of making seawater drinkable, sterilization and fertility experiments, and experiments on the effects of high altitudes on humans.
After the war, these torturous crimes were tried at what is known as the Doctors’ Trial. The Nazi doctors argued that their experiments were of military necessity. This defense was wholeheartedly rejected by the Tribunal. There was no way to apply this defense to the twin experiments conducted by Josef Mengele which had no connection to military necessity at all.
Twins Yehudit and Lea, some of Mengele’s test subjects. they and their mother survived the war. 1930s. PinterestEduard, Elisabeth, and Alexander Hornemann. The boys, victims of tuberculosis medical experiments at Neuengamme concentration camp, were murdered shortly before liberation. Elisabeth died of typhus in Auschwitz. Guenther SchwarbergSeven-year-old Jacqueline Morgenstern, later a victim of tuberculosis medical experiments at the Neuengamme concentration camp. She was murdered just before the liberation of the camp. Paris, France, 1940. Guenther SchwarbergTwins were often subjected to horrendous Nazi experiments to try to understand their unique genetic similarities. Pinterest“Mengele’s Twins”. The Malek family lived in the village of Moisei in Transylvania under Hungarian rule. Josef Malek and his wife Mathilda had six children including two sets of twins. In May 1944 the family was sent to Auschwitz. Following the war, the surviving twins returned to Romania and stayed in a children’s home in Cluj. This photograph was taken in the home and shows the young twins Eliyahu and Yaakov Malek. PinterestNazi physician Carl Clauberg (at left), who performed medical experiments on prisoners in Block 10 of the Auschwitz camp. Poland, between 1941 and 1944. Instytut Pamieci NarodowejJosef Mengele and the medical experiments to investigate the limits of human endurance and existence at extremely high altitudes. The victims were placed in the low-pressure chamber and thereafter the simulated altitude therein was raised. Many victims died as a result of these experiments and others suffered grave injury, torture, and ill-treatment. PinterestA victim of a Nazi medical experiment is immersed in icy water at the Dachau concentration camp. SS doctor Sigmund Rascher oversees the experiment. Germany, 1942. Bildarchiv Preussischer KulturbesitzA cold water immersion experiment at Dachau concentration camp presided over by Professor Ernst Holzlöhner (left) and Dr. Sigmund Rascher (right). The subject is wearing an experimental Luftwaffe garment. HaaretzA Soviet prisoner of war, victim of a tuberculosis medical experiment at Neuengamme concentration camp. Germany, late 1944. Guenther SchwarbergA hand of a prisoner with signs of an experiment made by Dr Emil Kaschub. He used various toxic substances to inject and see what it causes. The aim of his research was to find methods of faking injuries among German soldiers. AuschwitzA photo taken by the members of Soviet medical team documenting criminal experiments performed on prisoners in the camp. Auschwitz
