Experiments on humans during Nazism

Perturbed people like Dr. Mengele experimented on people during the time of the Third Reich.

The Third Reich took place between 1933 and 1945 in Germany, with the coming to power of the National Socialist German Workers' Party came to power.. Its unquestionable leader, one of the most tragic historical characters of memory: Adolf Hitler.

Experiments with human beings in Nazism

During this historical period, events took place that would mark history, such as the Second World War. World War IIWorld War II, as well as the persecution and extermination persecution and extermination of communists, Jews, homosexuals and gypsies..

One of the most unknown but equally macabre facets of the historical period of Nazi Germany is, without a doubt, the experiments carried out by the regime's doctors on human beings as victims of the Nazi regime.. Comparing the most immoral psychological experiments in history with Dr. Mengele's research, one realizes that the Stanford Prison experiment was practically child's play.

Today's society values physicians as those who specialize in healing people, sparing them pain, and providing for their well-being and health. However, during the Nazi years, physicians played other roles. Many physicians and researchers were involved in experiments carried out in the concentration camps. A total of 15 of the 23 physicians accused of perpetrating these horrific experiments were convicted during the trials in post-Third Reich Germany.

Hypothermia and freezing

The study of freezing in humans was carried out with the aim of simulate the conditions suffered by servicemen on the Eastern Front.. A large part of the army died because of the very low temperatures, or because of pathologies associated with them, such as influenza or pneumonia. The experiment with humans was the scientific basis to better predict the reaction of the bodies to the cold and to be able to use some variables to make the soldiers more resistant to these conditions.

The research was led by Dr. Sigmund Rascher in the camps of Auschwitz, Birkenau and Dachau camps.. In 1942, Rascher presented the results in a lecture. On the one hand, he showed how long it took for a human body to freeze to death, and on the other hand, methods of resuscitation were studied for these cases.

The guinea pigs for these inhumane experiments were young Russians and Jews. Each victim was placed in barrels of freezing water or left completely naked outdoors in freezing temperatures. Their body temperature was measured by a probe placed in the rectum. Most of the young men died when their body temperature dropped below 26 degrees Celsius..

In addition, when they lost consciousness and were on the verge of death, the researchers performed different experiments to try to revive them. These resuscitation attempts caused great suffering to the subjects, who were kept on the verge of collapse for long, interminable minutes. They were placed under ultraviolet lamps that scorched the skin, or they were irrigated with boiling water inside the body, a practice that caused blisters to appear, or they were placed in tubs of water that were progressively heated.

Chemical burns

The Buchenwald camp was also the scene of gruesome investigations. Prisoners, mainly Gypsies, were burned with phosphorus, to study the effects of certain chemical compounds on the human body..

High-pressure tests at high altitudes

Probably one of the most brutal experiments was conducted by Sigmund Rascher, the same physician who was the architect of the hypothermia research described above. HimmlerSS leader, leader of the SSencouraged Rascher to investigate human behavior under extreme conditions. to investigate human behavior under extreme conditions of atmospheric pressure.. He wanted to find out the maximum altitude at which paratroopers and pilots of military aircraft could jump into the void without harm.

Of the more than two hundred subjects who participated in Rascher's tests, seventy died.

When he was brought to court by the Allies after the war, one of the most macabre investigations came to light. A report attested to Rascher's notes, which recounted the case of a 37-year-old Jew who was forced to jump from a height of 12,000 feet. the case of a 37-year-old Jew who was forced to throw himself from a height of 12,000 meters.. After the third jump from that height, he suffered agony and died within minutes.

Genetic experiments

The triumph of the Aryan race was one of the main objectives of the Nazis.. The Aryan race, however, is a pseudo-scientific concept used by Nazi propaganda to establish the basis of a society in which this false ethnic origin would mark the sieve between the human and the inhuman. From the Nazi point of view, the Aryans, popularly described as blond, blue-eyed and athletic, were to stand as the pure race that would dominate the planet. People who did not meet these traits were little more than to be eliminated. The laws regulating marriage were aimed at investigating racial origin and determining its purity.

In the concentration camps, a great deal of research in the field of genetics was carried out in order to perfect the race and understand the nature of genetic defects. The most famous experiments were carried out by Dr. Josef Mengele. Dr. Josef MengeleThe most famous experiments were those carried out by Dr. Josef Mengele, whose victims were gypsies and twin brothers.

The so-called "Angel of Death" chose the subjects to be investigated as soon as they got off the train when they arrived at the AusImagenchwitz camp. AusImagenchwitz campThe so-called "Angel of Death" would choose the subjects to be investigated as soon as they got off the train when they arrived at the AusImagenchwitz camp.

Mengele was intellectually supported by the Kaiser Wilhelm von Anzhofsgen Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Eugenics and Genetics in Dahlem.and sent the reports of his research to Dr. Von Verschuer, who, from the University of Frankfurt, tutored him with his profound knowledge in the field of twin genetics.

With the twin brothers that he used for his studies, Josef Mengele studied them for a few weeks, and when he had submitted them to the pertinent tests, he administered a lethal injection to them, he administered a lethal injection of chloroform directly into their hearts..

Other grisly tests

Other investigations and tests of unusual violence were carried out in the dingy quarters of the concentration camps: torture during interrogations, administration of injections containing viruses to humansforced sterilization and studies for the advancement of surgical techniques.

Without going any further, Dr. Kurt Heissmeyer Dr. Kurt Heissmeyer was the architect of the administration of tuberculosis-infected injections to inmates of the Neungamme concentration camp.. Some of these prisoners were also exposed to phosgene gas in order to conduct research to find an antidote for the poisoning, as phosgene gas had been used as a Biological weapon during World War II.

The prisoners who were the victims of the research were also mutilated in order to try to transplant the limbs on another prisoner, who was also mutilated. The objective was to discover if it was possible to transplant arms or legs, but the methodology used was terribly cruel, and the few prisoners who did not die were mutilated. The experiment did not achieve any conclusive results.

Another macabre idea came from the doctor Hans Eppingerwho was trying to discover a way to make seawater drinkable. He kept several gypsies deprived of food and water, and forced them to drink only seawater. As a result, many of the Gypsies developed severe pathologies, many of the Gypsies developed severe pathologies..

In the concentration camps, poisoning by injection or by eating food was common. Women were also experimented with in vitro insemination, and the idea spread that they had been injected with sperm from different animals to create a monster.

Ethical reflections

These experiments carried out during the Nazi era subsequently gave rise to decisive reflections on the decisive reflections on what human experimentation should be and its ethical limits.. The barbarity of doctors such as Mengele and Heissmeyer is an unfortunate reminder of the senselessness that led tens of thousands of victims to be tortured in the name of a science devoid of any ethics.