NMT01-T670
Volume I · Page 670
[para...] graphs of paragraph 6 of the indictment which particularized 12 specific types of experimentation. On this charge the defendants Handloser, Blome, and Poppendick were acquitted and only the defendant Sievers was convicted.
The prosecution's summation of the evidence on the polygal experiments is contained in its closing brief against the defendant Blome. An extract from this brief is set forth below on pages 670 to 672. A corresponding summation of the evidence by the defense on these experiments has been selected from the closing brief for the defendant Blome. It appears below on pages 672 to 675. This argumentation is followed by selections from the evidence on pages 675 to 683.
In order to test the effectiveness of a blood coagulant "polygal," Rascher carried out experiments in which inmates of the Dachau concentration camp were shot. Rascher's uncle, in his affidavit, describes the murderous experiments which were carried out by his nephew. In August 1943, he visited Rascher in Dachau and, while Rascher was away from his office, he saw a report which he describes as follows:
"It refers to a report about the shooting (execution) of four people for the purpose of experimenting with the hemostatic preparation 'Polygal 10.' As far as I remember they were a Russian Commissar and a cretin, I do not remember who the other two were. The Russian was shot in the right shoulder from above by an SS man who stood on a chair. The bullet emerged near the spleen. It was described how the Russian twitched convulsively, then sat down on a chair and died after about 20 minutes. In the dissection protocol the rupture of the pulmonary vessels and the aorta was described. It was further described that the ruptures were tamponed by hard blood clots. That could have been the only explanation for the comparatively long span of life after the shot." (NO-1424, Pros. Ex. 462.)This evidence is corroborated by the testimony of the witness Stoehr (Tr. p. 587) and the affidavit of Pohl (NO-065, Pros. Ex. 221). Even the defendant Gebhardt admitted, during his testimony, that he knew that Rascher had carried out blood coagulation experiments on concentration camp inmates who had been shot for the purpose. (Tr. pp. 4240-1. )
The evidence proves that Blome collaborated with Rascher in the polygal research. This collaboration began at least as early as the
