Nuremberg Trials Project

Transcripts and documents from some of the Nuremberg trials are now available online care of Harvard Law School Library as part of the Nuremberg Trials Project.  Specifically, the Nuremberg Military Tribunals-

• Medical Case (USA v. Karl Brandt et al. 1946-47)  
• Milch Case (USA v. Erhard Milch 1946-47)  
• Pohl Case (USA v. Oswald Pohl et al. 1947)

Medical Case:

"Summary

The Medical Case, U.S.A. vs. Karl Brandt, et al. (also known as the Doctors' Trial), was prosecuted in 1946-47 against twenty-three doctors and administrators accused of organizing and participating in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the form of medical experiments and medical procedures inflicted on prisoners and civilians.

Karl Brandt, the lead defendant, was the senior medical official of the German government during World War II; other defendants included senior doctors and administrators in the armed forces and SS. They were indicted on four counts: 1. conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity; 2. war crimes (i.e., crimes against persons protected by the laws of war, such as prisoners of war); 3. crimes against humanity (including persons not protected by the laws of war); and 4. membership in a criminal organization (the SS).

The specific crimes charged included more than twelve series of medical experiments concerning the effects of and treatments for high altitude conditions, freezing, malaria, poison gas, sulfanilamide, bone, muscle, and nerve regeneration, bone transplantation, saltwater consumption, epidemic jaundice, sterilization, typhus, poisons, and incendiary bombs.

These experiments were conducted on concentration camp inmates. Other crimes involved the killing of Jews for anatomical research, the killing of tubercular Poles, and the euthanasia of sick and disabled civilians in Germany and occupied territories. The defendants were charged with ordering, supervising, or coordinating criminal activities, as well as participating in them directly. The fourth count concerned membership in the SS (Schuttzstaffeln) of the Nazi regime.

Karl Brandt and six other defendants were convicted, sentenced to death, and executed; nine defendants were convicted and sentenced to terms in prison; and seven defendants were acquitted. ..."

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