20 Dec. 45
with particular efficiency because I
personally assumed the responsibility for supplying asocial
individuals and criminals, who only deserve to die, from concentration
camps for these experiments."
I shall omit the next four paragraphs, in which Himmler reflects upon
the difficulties of conducting such experiments because Christian
medical circles were opposed, and pass on to the last paragraph on the
first page of the translation. That is the seventh paragraph of the
letter:
"I beg you to release Dr. Rascher,
medical Officer in the Reserve, from the Air Force and to transfer him
to me to the Waffen-SS. I would then assume the sole responsibility
for having these experiments made in this field and would put the
experiences, of which we in the SS need only a part for the frost
injuries in the East, entirely at the disposal of the Air Force.
However, in this connection I suggest that with the liaison between
you and Wolff a non-Christian physician should be charged, who should
be at the same time honorable as a scientist and not prone to
intellectual theft and who could be informed of the results. This
physician should also have good contacts with the administrative
authorities, so that the results could really attract attention.
"I believe that this solution to transfer Dr. Rascher to the SS,
so that he could carry out the experiments under my responsibility and
under my orders, is the best way. The experiments should not be
stopped; we owe that to our men. If Dr. Rascher remained with the Air
Force, there would certainly be much annoyance because then I would
have to bring a series of unpleasant details to you because of the
arrogance and presumption which Professor Holzlöhner who is under
my command, has displayed in his post at Dachau by making remarks
about me to SS Colonel Sievers. In order to save both of us this
trouble, I suggest again that Dr. Rascher should be transferred to the
Waffen-SS as quickly as possible...."
THE PRESIDENT: Is that letter from Himmler?
MAJOR FARR: Yes, Sir.
Now Rascher's experiments were by no means the only experiments in
which the SS were interested. Without attempting even to outline the
whole extent of the experimental program, I shall give just one further
illustration of this type of SS activity. I refer to our Document L-103,
which is a report prepared by the chief hygienist in the Office of the
Reich Surgeon of the SS and Police, dated 12 September 1944. I offer it
as Exhibit Number USA-467. (Parenthetically I might note that the office
of the Reich