16. Hubertus Strughold Conducted Sadistic Experiments on Concentration Camp Prisoners
During World War II, Hubertus Strughold participated in medical studies that used inmates from Dachau concentration camp as guinea pigs. Test subjects were subjected to surgeries without anesthetics, immersed in frozen water to examine the effects of hypothermia, and placed in air pressure chambers. After the war, investigators at the Nuremberg War Trials listed Strughold as one of thirteen “persons, firms, or individuals implicated” in the Dachau medical atrocities. However, the US government figured he possessed valuable information and experience, so he never faced charges for his evil deeds.
Instead, Strughold was brought to America, where he held high-ranking medical positions in the US Air Force as head of its School of Aviation Medicine in Texas. He then worked for NASA as head of its Department of Space Medicine. Strughold conducted pioneering work in the physical and psychological effects of manned space flight, and his efforts helped get American astronauts to successfully walk on the Moon. Because of his contributions to the field, Strughold became known as “the Father of Space Medicine”.