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Nazis Medical Experiments During World War II

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One of the most horrible features of this time period was the Nazis' medical experiments on prisoners in concentration camps. The atrocities performed by the Nazi dictatorship during World War Two have left a lasting impression on history. Due to their eugenics and racial ideologies, the Nazis subjected people they judged "unworthy of life" to cruel and horrific experiments, such as forced sterilization and twin research. These experiments constituted a grave violation of medical ethics and human rights due to the absence of informed permission and the contempt for the humanity of its test participants. Although these studies added to our understanding of science, the price was much too high, and they continue to serve as a warning about the …show more content…

The Nazis' pursuit of the "ideal" Aryan race and belief in racial supremacy were fundamentally based on medical experiments. The testing of the antibiotic sulfonamide, which is used to treat infections, is one of the most well-known instances of Nazi medical experimentation. These tests involved giving sulfonamide to convicts who had been exposed to various microorganisms in order to gauge the drug's efficacy. Due to the tests' impact on the emergence of bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics, some inmates perished (Bettina et al., 2018). The hallmark of Nazi medical experimentation was the lack of inmates' informed permission. Many of the detainees who were subjected to tests were not fully aware of what was happening to them and were frequently forced to take part. Additionally, captives were not seen as human beings by the Nazis, but rather as a tool to an objective. As a result, inmates were frequently exposed to gruesome surgical treatments without consideration for their bodily or mental well-being, such as amputations and organ removal (Bettina et al., 2018). Besides the horrors committed against prisoners, the Nazis did enhance medical knowledge via their studies. For instance, investigations on sulfonamides were effective in demonstrating the medication's …show more content…

Without the subjects' knowledge or agreement, these tests were conducted with utter disregard for their welfare. The protection of human life and dignity cannot be compromised in the name of scientific progress. They serve as a sobering reminder of the value of sustaining moral standards in all scientific study and the ethical ramifications of these experiments, which are still being argued today. The legacy of the Nazi medical experiments serves as a sobering reminder of the atrocities that may be perpetrated in the name of a belief system and the repercussions of disrespecting human

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Therapeutic Testing Throughout the Holocaust: Experimentation on the Jews during the Holocaust Over six million Jews were slaughtered throughout the Holocaust. Most died because of merciless situations and the notorious gas chambers. However, a documented seven thousand were also exterminated through medical experimentation. The medical trials can be classified into three main categories: endurance and salvage, medical management, and racial experiments.

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The oppression began with health policies aimed towards the removal of “unfit” persons. Over time, the Nazi strategies intensified; beginning at forced sterilization, and then transitioning into mass murder. Forced sterilization was a government policy that coerced the Disabled into surgical treatments in an attempt to cure them. The most extreme method of manslaughter, known as the “Euthanasia Program”, was a trial run for the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (“Euthanasia Program”). The word “Euthanasia” is translated into “good death”, but to the Nazis, it was a term that implied the systematic mass murders of thousands.

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They were subject to insufficiencies of food, equipment, medicine and clothing, whilst working long hours. There was little or no time for rest or breaks” (Forced Labour Camps). This quote shows details that describe the inadequate conditions that existed in the Nazi forced labor camps. The author notes that inmates were seen as temporary and could be replaced with others, indicating that the Nazis did not

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Medical Experimentation on Humans Medical Experimentation on humans is Extremely controversial for some people. Many people believe that Medical experimentation is extremely unethical. Unit 731 was an Extreme Experiment,” Around 14,000 victims, referred to as ‘logs’ by their captors and including at least eight Allied prisoners of war, were murdered in unit 731 between 1936 to 1945 ” (Hill).There was no exact number of how many people died when Unit 731 happened.

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Only a small fraction of those imprisoned in Nazi camps survived. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 1)”. The prisoners were tortured in ways beyond imagination. A special few prisoners would be selected by Nazi doctors, who would then perform dangerous medical experiments on them. The Nazi’s would also beat the Jews and do many treacherous things to them.

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The Gypsies had to go through the horrific and frightening process of testing for the purity of their “kind”. The Nazis constructed research to prove that

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The prisoners experience starvation, succumb to disease, and are abused by the guards. The Nazi doctors regularly perform selections where they

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Hence, three experiments will only be mentioned in this essay. The experiments were mainly done to help in making combat strategies against the Nazis’ enemy and for treating affected soldiers. First and foremost, freezing experiments were made upon Jews and Romas in German concentration camps. Heinz Reimer a prisoner of a concentration camp was subjected to freezing water. This was done to identify how the body tries to cope up in decreasing (cold) temperatures.

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Also, the Germans saw, heard, and knew about the mass killings being carried out as the Jews were being taken away and deported, but they all decided to keep quiet and turn a blind eye to the injustice happening around them, none of them stood up for the Jews, they only stole from them. According to “United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,” the author explains “German physicians helped carry out Nazi eugenic racial policies aimed at increasing the births of hereditary healthy "German-blooded" persons and decreasing those of persons viewed as genetically "defective" and a burden on national resources.” This proves that the German Physicians voluntarily assisted the Nazis by carrying out their racial policies aimed at killing the Jews. The Nazi soldiers followed Hitler's instructions involuntarily and they did it for a prize or a reward, while the German physicians did it at their own will. This means that they were not expecting anything in return, and they did it to discriminate against the Jews and begin the

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Although Germany initiated the Holocaust, other countries also believed in a “master race” and the idea of eugenics, brought about by Sir Francis Galton. German eugenicists explored other countries research on eugenics, and combined them with their own ideas, thus creating the Holocaust. Hitler believed that there was a “master race” and exchanged that idea with people in Germany through speeches and propaganda; eventually the “inferior” people were put into concentration camps. In concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, prisoners encountered medical experiments that brought both physical and mental pain, as well as death. Before German eugenicists got the idea to bring about the Holocaust, they explored other countries research.

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In the experiments, there were three different categories. The first category was military and used certain experiments to make the army stronger. The second category was treatments for illnesses and injuries. The last category was medical experiments and Dr. Mengele was one of the worst doctors doing the tests (“Nazi Experiments”ushmm). Most of the disgusting experiments were mostly located in Auschwitz or Birkenau.

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During World War II there were moments throughout history that we see as crucial and have left an impact on the world today. In this writing the past will be revisited to recognize the Holocaust and look through the experiences of the Nazi’s concentration camps. Daily life for the prisoners in the early WWII Nazi concentration camps was often met with tiring and dreadful days. The Nazis would target various groups of people like Jewish people, political enemies, and many other groups of people. These prisoners would be forced to do execrable things like forced labor and torture.

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Dehumanization of Jews in Concentration Camps During the Holocaust of World War II, millions of Jews in concentration camps became the targets of dehumanizing techniques accomplished by Nazis. However, this wasn’t the first occurance of dehumanization done by the Nazis prior to concentration camps; dehumanization of Jews had been building up for quite a while, but continued into concentration camps . Taking away a Jew’s entire identity, treating them similarly to animals, creating an environment where it became a fight for the fittest, all were methods of dehumanization initiated by Nazis. The amount of Jewish people killed in concentration camps can be attributed to these techniques, as denying that Jews were less than human made it easier

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Honoring the Disgraced When thinking about the horrors of the Nazi regime, you shouldn’t overlook the benefits of Nazi medical experimentation on concentration camp victims. Although the tests performed by the Nazis are typically cast in a negative light, the papers detailing their findings are rich in useful information. However, in a misguided attempt to respect the dead, the medical community has ignored the documents that hold within them the ability to change the world for the better. If properly utilized, the data gathered from the Nazi experiments could impact the medical community on unforeseen levels, equipping multiple fields with knowledge that could potentially save many lives in dire circumstances, such as those with hypothermia,

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Mengele was known as this because he painfully injected a serum into the eyeballs of numerous children to examine eye color. Also, he gave twins chloroform injections into their hearts to see if their deaths would occur simultaneously and in the same way. On the other hand, according to “NAZI MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS” in The Holocaust Encyclopedia, there were three main types of experiments, experiments looking at how military soldiers can survive, tests on medications and therapies, and experiments to further the racial and ideological goals of the Nazis, “Experiments centered around three topics: survival of military personnel, testing of drugs and treatments, and the advancement of Nazi racial and ideological goals.” Experiments that looked at how military soldiers can survive, included maximum altitude and freezing experiments. German scientists and physicians tested prisoners to see what the maximum altitude was for crews that needed to parachute from damaged aircraft.

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