. NMT02-T0138
Volume II · Page 138
Dr. Gerstenmaier, Meyer-Bockhoff, Philipp Prince of Hesse, and others.
If I, as the defense counsel, consider Karl Brandt's conduct as a whole and see the wounds he has received in the struggle of life, I must acknowledge that he is a man and not a criminal.
For the Tribunal's decision, however, the only conclusive fact is that the defendant Karl Brandt did not disturb the circle of international law, for he committed no war crimes and consequently no crimes against humanity. I, therefore, ask that defendant Karl Brandt be acquitted.
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DEFENDANTS, 19 JULY 1947
There is a word which seems so simple — order; and how colossal are its implications. How immeasurable are the conflicts which hide behind the word obey. Both affected me, obey and order, and both imply responsibility. I am a doctor and on my conscience lies the responsibility of being responsible for men and for life. Quite dispassionately the prosecution has brought the charge of crime and murder and they have raised the question of my guilt. It would have no weight if friends and patients were to shield me and speak well of me, saying I had helped and I had healed. There would be many examples of my actions during danger and my readiness to help. All that is now useless. As far as I am concerned I shall not evade these charges. But the attempt to vindicate myself as a man is my duty towards all who believe in me personally, who trusted in me and who relied upon me as a man as well as a doctor and a superior.
No matter how I was faced with the problem, I have never regarded human experiments as a matter of course, not even when no danger was entailed. But I affirm the necessity for them on grounds of reason. I know that opposition will arise. I know things that disturb the conscience of a medical man, and I know the inner distress that afflicts one when ethics of every form are decided by an order or obedience.
It is immaterial for the experiment whether it is done with or against the will of the person concerned. For the individual the event seems senseless, just as senseless as my actions as a doctor seem when isolated. The sense lies much deeper than that.
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* Tr. pp. 11311-11314.
