Chemical Weapons Research in Nazi Germany on Soldiers and Concentration Camp Inmates

Dr. Florian Schmaltz
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Chemical Weapons Research in Nazi Germany on Soldiers and Concentration Camp Inmates

In 1944 and 1945 scientists and physicians in Allied military intelligence gathered evidence on criminal human experiments with chemical weapons conducted in Nazi concentration camps (Sachsenhausen, Natzweiler and Neuengamme) during World War II. Some of the experiments were judged during the Nuremberg Medical Trial (Case I) and French military tribunals after the liberation. Based on this evidence and further archival sources this paper will examine the preconditions and experimental settings, the perpetrators involved, and what is known about the purpose and outcome of the human experiments. Furthermore the talk will raise the question if and how the experiments in the concentration camps linked other experiments conducted in Nazi Germany for the Wehrmacht at military research establishments (such as the Heeresgasschutzlaboratorium Spandau or the Militärärztliche Akademie, Heeresversuchsstelle Raubkammer) or by universities?