Nazi Experiments Essay

Nazi Experiments “One particularly grotesque experiment involved sewing together two Roma twins to create conjoined twins.” This is a harrowing example of the abuse and torture endured by Holocaust victims. The winter of 1933, a mass genocide started to erupt, which ended in the deaths of millions of Jews, plus millions of other marginalized groups. During this period, thousands of physicians and doctors–including the infamous Josef Mengele, who gained the nickname of “Angel of Death,”-- conducted grueling experiments on prisoners of the extermination camps. The Nazi experiments conducted during Nazi Germany are one of the worst cases recorded of genocide because of the types of experiments orchestrated, the result, and the reasons why they

“At Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen, doctors conducted serological tests on the Roma people, which included children, to study how different "races" contracted or responded to communicable diseases.” (Pierpaoli) This is an example of a portion of what the Nazi ideology included. The Nazi’s performing these experiments held scientifically inaccurate beliefs. They stemmed from negative eugenics, which refers to the theory that it was possible to breed a “perfect generation.” However, they chose to do this by wiping out those who possessed genes deemed unworthy. “His mission was to discover how to increase the birthrate of an Aryan master race.” (I Survived the Holocaust Twin Experiment.) This shows the intentions of the physicians and doctors that were operating on the prisoners. By experimenting on the prisoners with an array of brutal techniques, like injecting them with unknown chemicals, they were able to find the traits considered more “desirable.” In the experiments, they attempted to change physical traits in the ethnic groups that were confined in the camps to make them look like their idea of the “Aryan master race.” For example, trying to lighten and change their eye colors. From this information, since the Nazi’s believed in a superior race,doubtlessly they also believed in there being inferior races. “Twin studies had helped scientists like Mengele’s mentor justify what they saw as necessary discrimination against people with “undesirable” genetic characteristics—Jews, Roma people, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities and others.” (Blakemore) So deeply ingrained in the heads of the Nazi doctors was that these crimes against humanity were acceptable. Further, they even believed that they were doing good for society, by executing those that they discriminated against.` (insert more of an explanation