Human medical experiments as a war crime

Discussions on the Holocaust and 20th Century War Crimes. Note that Holocaust denial is not allowed. Hosted by David Thompson.
David Thompson
Forum Staff
Posts: 23722
Joined: 20 Jul 2002, 20:52
Location: USA

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#16

Post by David Thompson » 06 Oct 2010, 04:41

murx -- You asked:
To be war crimes they not only must have been committed during a time of war, but by the definition of that time be related to warfare. Sterilisations of Germans with genetic defects, which was according to the law of that time as well as euthanasia, which was legal in some countries then and actually is legalized again in some, cannot be listed at all as "war crime'. That doesn't say it cannoit bne discussed if those were no times. Which legal aspect makes you think in most of them to be "war crimes"?
The indictment in the "Medical case" alleges, and the tribunal found it to be true, that a number of the victims of these experiments were "civilians and members of the armed forces of nations then at war with the German Reich and who were in the custody of the German Reich in exercise of belligerent control." See NMT proceedings vol. 1, p. 11, and vol. 2, pp. 174-181.
THE PROOF AS TO WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Judged by any standard of proof the record clearly shows the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity substantially as alleged in counts two and three of the indictment. Beginning with the outbreak of World War II criminal medical experiments on non-German nationals, both prisoners of war and civilians, including Jews and "asocial" persons, were carried out on a large scale in Germany and the occupied countries. These experiments were not the isolated and casual acts of individual doctors and scientists working solely on their own responsibility, but were the product of coordinated policy-making and planning at high governmental, military, and Nazi Party levels, conducted as an integral part of the total war effort. They were ordered, sanctioned, permitted, or approved by persons in positions of authority who under all principles of law were under the duty to know about these things and to take steps to terminate or prevent them. (Judgment, at NMT proceedings, vol. 2, at p. 181)

User avatar
Josef_xia
Member
Posts: 15
Joined: 10 Oct 2010, 09:21
Location: Ningbo

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#17

Post by Josef_xia » 12 Oct 2010, 05:25

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/-ZZdNEbfQnI/
video of Japanese unit 731 in English, notorious and widely-knowen by bio and germ warfare testing with living people (the civilian and pows). Maybe my remenbrance is wrong, the leaders of this unit escaped from the trial after war because the Ally wants to share the archives?
there were also other units doing similar things while 731 was the most famous one.
see some pictures here:http://www.360doc.com/content/09/0428/0 ... 6341.shtml


PFLB
Member
Posts: 454
Joined: 05 Apr 2010, 11:21

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#18

Post by PFLB » 12 Oct 2010, 09:34

Some of them were tried by the USSR at Khabarovsk but then released in an amnesty in the mid 1950's. As to the reason for this, it has been speculated that they either provided the USSR with the fruits of their research, or that it was a ploy to mend relations with Japan. The US never prosecuted anyone from these units - as you said, this was in order to gain their cooperation. Although the USSR apparently provided some of this evidence to Joseph Keenan, the allegations were not pursued before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. The Dutch member, Justice Roling, would later say that one of the class A war criminals would have been certain to have been executed had these matters been put before the IMTFE, although he didn't say which one.

David Thompson
Forum Staff
Posts: 23722
Joined: 20 Jul 2002, 20:52
Location: USA

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#19

Post by David Thompson » 23 Nov 2010, 17:19

A post from murx, containing a lengthy list of examples of human experiments dating back over two thousand years, but without any analysis as to relevance or the legal issues raised in this thread, was deleted as off-topic by this moderator - DT. The list was compiled by Vera Hassner Sharav of the "Alliance for Human Research Protection, a national human rights organization that exposes unethical research practices which undermine the dignity, rights, and safety of human subjects," for purposes of present-day political lobbying.

murx
Member
Posts: 646
Joined: 23 May 2010, 21:44

History and analysis

#20

Post by murx » 24 Nov 2010, 13:05

For the analysis how something like that could develop, the surrounding contemporary social, ethical and moral standards play a certain role. This should not lead to an accusation of those, who have in a certain way created the "scientific" fundament of those actions, nore should it be an excuse for the others who. From looking into the past it is easy to condemn somebody. In one's presence some situations probably look different. International support and the wave of "eugenic" societies all over the world surely didn't contribute to the conclusion by the nazi doctors to have commited crimes. We see it different today but really should look at all factors to analyse them.
Last edited by murx on 24 Nov 2010, 20:24, edited 1 time in total.

michael mills
Member
Posts: 8999
Joined: 11 Mar 2002, 13:42
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#21

Post by michael mills » 25 Nov 2010, 01:33

The second major category of experiments, which violated medical ethics by both their means and their ends, included experiments that tried to prove the Nazis' racist ideas through biology. Those experiments seeking biological proof of the Nazis' racist beliefs included tests on dwarfs and twins, and the study of Jewish skeletons. Those experiments seeking to advance the destruction of the Jews included mass sterilization, meant as an alternative to immediate extermination.
The differentiation of this category of experiments from the first one ( experiments that have an acceptable purpose but are criminal due to the way in which they are performed) is open to question, in that there were no identifiable experiments that did try to prove "Nazi racist ideas".

Experiments on identical twins, using one twin as the test subject and the other as a control for comparison purposes, are in fact quite acceptable and are commonly performed, subject to compliance with ethical standards. Before the war, Professor Otmar von Verschuer ran a program of experiments on identical twins that complied with ethical standards, and received financial support from the United states. The experiments carried out at Auschwitz by Verschuer's research assistant Dr Mengele were simply a continuation of the pre-war program; what made them criminal was the fact that they went beyond the boundaries set by ethical standards, actually inflicting harm on the test subjects, to the point of death.

When the sometimes lethal experiments carried out by German scientists on involuntary human subjects are examined objectively, it will be seen that they would have been quite acceptable if carried out on non-human test subjects, which even today are regarded as expendable.

As for the study of Jewish skeletons, it was normal anthropological practice in the 19th and early 20th Centuries to collect skeletal material for the purpose of demonstrating the physical characteristics of different racial groups; there was nothing specifically "Nazi" about that practice. The only criminal element was the actual killing of human beings in order to obtain specimens.

David Thompson
Forum Staff
Posts: 23722
Joined: 20 Jul 2002, 20:52
Location: USA

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#22

Post by David Thompson » 25 Nov 2010, 03:01

Another post from murx which raised no facts about the topic -- Human medical experiments as a war crime -- was deleted by this moderator.

murx -- The subject we're discussing here is not human medical experiments generally, but human medical experiments that are war crimes. Please try to keep that in mind when posting to this thread.

PFLB
Member
Posts: 454
Joined: 05 Apr 2010, 11:21

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#23

Post by PFLB » 25 Nov 2010, 08:53

Mutilating or otherwise disrespecting a corpse has been regarded a war crime for some considerable time. This is discussed in the notes to the trial of Max Schmid, Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals, vol 13. Stripping the flesh from a murdered person's skeleton and then using it for pseudoscience or exposing it to display arguably falls into that category. It is also arguable that the attempt to then destroy the collection so as to conceal the crime constituted a further offence, in so far as it would have rendered an honourable burial of the corpse in a marked grave impossible. Hence, the crime did not stop with the act of killing.

murx
Member
Posts: 646
Joined: 23 May 2010, 21:44

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#24

Post by murx » 13 Jan 2011, 15:29

Interesting paper I found; attached without any comment.
Attachments
DOCTORSµ.pdf
(238.3 KiB) Downloaded 97 times


kiseli
Member
Posts: 273
Joined: 03 Dec 2007, 15:00

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#26

Post by kiseli » 26 Mar 2011, 00:02

I like to point out following;
any experiment on human test subjects performed illegally,without the knowledge, consent , or informed consent of the test subject is crime according to law

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_human_experimentation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_expe ... ted_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Helsinki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_trial

David Thompson
Forum Staff
Posts: 23722
Joined: 20 Jul 2002, 20:52
Location: USA

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#27

Post by David Thompson » 26 Mar 2011, 03:24

kiseli -- You wrote:
any experiment on human test subjects performed illegally,without the knowledge, consent , or informed consent of the test subject is crime according to law
That's interesting, but not very helpful without reference to a particular experiment, and a specific law.

kiseli
Member
Posts: 273
Joined: 03 Dec 2007, 15:00

Re: Human medical experiments as a war crime

#28

Post by kiseli » 26 Mar 2011, 10:44

David Thompson wrote:kiseli -- You wrote:
any experiment on human test subjects performed illegally,without the knowledge, consent , or informed consent of the test subject is crime according to law
That's interesting, but not very helpful without reference to a particular experiment, and a specific law.


The Nuremberg Code (1947)
Permissible Medical Experiments


The great weight of the evidence before us to effect that certain types of medical experiments on human beings, when kept within reasonably well-defined bounds, conform to the ethics of the medical profession generally. The protagonists of the practice of human experimentation justify their views on the basis that such experiments yield results for the good of society that are unprocurable by other methods or means of study. All agree, however, that certain basic principles must be observed in order to satisfy moral, ethical and legal concepts:
The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. This means that the person involved should have legal capacity to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an understanding and enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject there should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all inconveniences and hazards reasonably to be expected; and the effects upon his health or person which may possibly come from his participation in the experiment.

The duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs, or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity.
The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in nature.
The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results justify the performance of the experiment.
The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury.
No experiment should be conducted where there is an a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur; except, perhaps, in those experiments where the experimental physicians also serve as subjects.
The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.
Proper preparations should be made and adequate facilities provided to protect the experimental subject against even remote possibilities of injury, disability or death.
The experiment should be conducted only by scientifically qualified persons. The highest degree of skill and care should be required through all stages of the experiment of those who conduct or engage in the experiment.
During the course of the experiment the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he has reached the physical or mental state where continuation of the experiment seems to him to be impossible.
During the course of the experiment the scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment at any stage, if he has probable cause to believe, in the exercise of the good faith, superior skill and careful judgment required of him, that a continuation of the experiment is likely to result in injury, disability, or death to the experimental subject.

For more information see Nuremberg Doctor's Trial, BMJ 1996;313(7070):1445-75.

http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/nuremberg/
http://www.brown.edu/Courses/Bio_160/Pr ... GCODE.html

Before Nuremberg code from 1947, Germany had laws about human experiments, and Nazi human experiments are crime according to these laws

"Informed consent in human experimentation before the Nuremberg code."
J. Vollmann and R. Winau
Institute of the History of Medicine, Free University of Berlin.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... 1-0035.pdf

"Reichsrundschreiben 1931: pre-Nuremberg German regulations concerning new therapy and human experimentation"
H M Sass
The Journal of medicine and philosophy. 06/1983; 8(2):99-111.
Early German Regulations On Medical Research In 1900

At the end of the 19th century the Prussian government on December 29, 1900, issued regulations on human experimentation [8]. The directives were published in the official publication of the Prussian Ministry of Religious, Educational and Medical Affairs, a publication similar to the Federal Register in the United States. These directives are the first modern regulations by a state authority. They are specifically and exclusively directed at medical research and point out 'that medical interventions for purposes other than diagnosis, therapy, and immunization are absolutely prohibited, even though all other legal and ethical requirements for performing such interventions are fulfilled if: (1) the person in question is a minor or is not fully competent on other grounds; (2) the person concerned has not declared unequivocally that he consents to the intervention (3) the declaration has not been made on the basis of a proper explanation of the adverse consequences that might result from the intervention' [8; 2:217]. For purposes of diagnosis, therapy and controversial immunization programs other guidelines had been issued before. Given the bureaucratic character of the Prussian state and culture, it would be unthinkable that those ministerial directives would not have been treated with the utmost respect and introduced and obeyed in the most rigid way. The rigidity of the directives is shown by the fact that research on children and noncompetent persons under no circumstances would be allowed and that bending those rules be absolutely prohibited.

While the Prussian directive covered most of the northern part of the German Reich and the majority of the German population, the Reich Health Council (Reichsgesundheitsrat), a central political body advising the Reich government and including representatives of the chambers of physicians, surgeons, and pharmacists, and also Sickness Fund representatives and various representatives of central ministries issued more detailed guidelines on new therapy and an human experimentation in 1931[9]. Forms to be signed by all physicians seeking employment in open or closed health care facilities included these regulations, thus were part of the employment contract. Membership in medical professional organizations was mandatory and health care institutions and professional organization were required to implement those guidelines after they were published by the Reichsminister of the Interior. The 'Final Circular of the Reich Minister of the Interior concerning Guidelines for New Therapy and Human Experimentation', dated February 28, 1931, was binding law throughout the existence of the German Reich. For still unknown reasons, the Reich regulations were not included in the Omnibus Law (Ueberleitungsgesetz) passed by the Bundestag after 1948, which transported hundreds of laws and regulations of the Reich into the Federal Republic's legal structure.

The Nazi experiments on prisoners, children and other vulnerable populations thus violated the Reich regulations on legal grounds and on grounds of professional self-regulation. While the Reich regulations were more detailed than the Prussian instructions, they accepted experimentation with children if minimal risk could be guaranteed, not outlawing those altogether as the Prussian instructions did, but calling them impermissible 'if it endangers the child or minor in the slightest degree'.

The Reich regulations included another paragraph never repeated in subsequent regulations or, guidelines: 'Experimentation with dying persons conflicts with the principles of medical ethics and therefore is impermissible'[9:106]. To my knowledge, no other national or international legal or professional guidelines on medical research has addressed the immorality of experimenting on dying fellow humans, even though there is ample anecdotal evidence that clinical trials, experimental surgery, and even teaching and hands-on medical training do not respect the dignity of the dying. Also, the Reich Regulations expressively address the importance of research ethics to be taught in medical education, an issue not mentioned in recent guidelines or regulations on medical research [9:14].

Elsewhere I have described other groundbreaking features of the 1931 Reich Regulations [9;12]; in general, they were more strict than the Nuremberg Code of 1946, the various editions of the Helsinki-Tokyo Declaration and other regulations [13;15]. They, as the Prussian directive before, make the medical head of the institution personally and professionally unequivocally responsible for the design, implementation, and review of human experimentation [8;9], a remarkable difference to regulations in force today. The approval of a committee or other collective body was not mandated; the Prussian instruction writes: 'interventions of this nature may be performed only by the director of the institution himself or with his special authorization' [8:II.1].
from:
"Ambiguities In Judging Cruel Human Experimentation: Arbitrary American Responses to German and Japanese Experiments "

- - Hans-Martin Sass, M.D.
Zentrum Medizinische Ethik, Ruhr Universitaet
Postfach 102148, D-44780, Bochum, , GERMANY

Post Reply

Return to “Holocaust & 20th Century War Crimes”