NMT01-T637
Volume I · Page 637
Department: Chemistry
DIRECT EXAMINATION
Mr. McHaney: Do you know anything about experiments with poison, in the Buchenwald concentration camp?
Witness Kogon: I know of two such cases. The one case was about the turn of the year 1943-44 or in the late fall of 1943, and the second case was probably in the summer of 1944. In each case Russian prisoners of war were used for these experiments. In the first case various preparations of the so-called alkaloid series were put into noodle soup and administered to 90 of these prisoners of war who were in Block 46. They, of course, had no idea what was going on. Two of these prisoners became so sick that they vomited, one was unconscious, the fourth showed no symptoms of all. Thereupon, all four were strangled in the crematorium. They were dissected and the contents of their stomachs and other effects were determined. The experiment was ordered by the SS court, by the SS investigating judge, Sturmbannfuehrer Dr. Morgen. It was carried out in the presence of Dr. Ding, Dr. Morgen, Dr. Wehner, SS Hauptsturmfuehrer and SS judges, and one of the three camp leaders, I do not know whether it was SS Sturmbannfuehrer Schubert or SS leader Florstedt. The second experiments —
Q. Witness, before continuing with the second experiment, I wonder if you could tell the Tribunal the reason why this poison experiment which you have just mentioned was carried out?
A. In the summer of 1943 the SS court in Berlin was trying the former commander of Buchenwald and later commander of the Lublin concentration camp in Poland, SS Standartenfuehrer Koch. The trial was reaching its climax. The investigation had led to vary serious charges against Koch. Here I must mention that SS Obergruppenfuehrer Prince Waldeck, then head of the SS main district [Oberabschnitt] Fulda-Werra, was personally opposing Koch, and it was merely this personal antagonism of the two men which had brought
________________
* Complete testimony is recorded in mimeographed transcript, 6, 7, 8 Jan 1947, pp. 1150-1300. See also testimony of defendant Mrugowsky, sec. VIII G, vol. II.
