20 Dec. 45
MAJOR FARR: The letter on the preceding page, dated 31
August 1942, is also from General Field Marshal Milch, and is addressed
to the Reichsführer SS. It reads as follows:
"Dear Mr. Himmler:
"I thank you very much for your letter of the 25th of August. I
have read with great interest the reports of Dr. Rascher and Dr.
Romberg. I am informed about the current experiments. I shall ask the
two gentlemen to give a lecture, combined with the showing of motion
pictures, to my men in the near future.
"Hoping that it will be possible for me to see you at the
occasion of my next visit to headquarters, I remain with best regards
and Heil Hitler! Yours, E. Milch."
Having finished his high-altitude experiments, Dr. Rascher proceeded to
experiment with methods of rewarming persons who. had been subjected to
extreme cold. I refer to our Document 1618-PS, which is an intermediate
report on intense chilling experiments which had been started in Dachau
on 15 August 1942. That report, signed by Dr. Rascher, I offer in
evidence as Exhibit Number USA-464. I shall read only a few sentences
from the report, beginning with the first paragraph:
"Experimental procedure.
"The experimental subjects (VP) were placed in the water,
dressed in complete flying uniform, winter or summer combination, and
with an aviator's helmet. A life-jacket made of rubber or kapok was to
prevent submerging. The experiments. were carried out at water
temperatures varying from 2.5º to 12º (centigrade). In one
experimental series the neck (brain stem) and the back of the head
protruded above the water, while in another series of experiments the
neck (brain stem) and the back of the head were submerged in the
water. "Electrical measurement gave low temperature readings of
26.4º in the stomach and 26.5º (centigrade) in the rectum.
Fatalities occurred only when the brain stem and the back of the head
were also chilled. Autopsies of such fatal cases always revealed large
amounts of free blood, up to a half liter, in the cranial cavity. The
heart invariably showed extreme dilation of the right chamber. As soon
as the temperature in these experiments reached 28º, the
experimental subjects (VP) were bound to die despite all attempts at
resuscitation."
I skip now
to the last paragraph of the report. I quote:
"During attempts to save severely
chilled persons, it was evident that rapid rewarming was in all cases
preferable to a slow rewarming because, after removal from the cold