. NMT02-T0215
Volume II · Page 215
In addition to the first experiment it was agreed that a second experiment should be conducted. The notes of the meeting which deal with the second experimental series read as follows:
"Persons nourished with sea water and Berkatit, and as diet also the emergency sea rations.On 7 June 1944 Schroeder wrote to Himmler through Crawitz asking for concentration camp inmates to be used as subjects in the sea-water experiments, which letter reads in part as follows:
"Duration of experiments — 12 days.
"Since in the opinion of the Chief of the Medical Service, permanent injuries to health, that is, the death of the experimental subjects, has to be expected, as experimental subjects such persons should be used as will be put at the disposal by the Reichsfuehrer SS."
"Highly Respected Reich Minister:Various other parties took part in correspondence upon this application, one of the writers suggesting that Jews or persons held in quarantine be used as experimental subjects. Another correspondent nominated asocial gypsy half-breeds as candidates for
"Earlier already you made it possible for the Luftwaffe to settle urgent medical matters through experiments on human beings. Today again, I stand before a decision which, after numerous experiments on animals as well as human experiments on voluntary experimental subjects, demands a final solution. The Luftwaffe has simultaneously developed two methods for making sea water potable. The one method, developed by a medical officer, removes the salt from the sea water and transforms it into real drinking water; the second method, suggested by an engineer, leaves the salt content unchanged, and only removes the unpleasant taste from the sea water. The latter method in contrast to the first, requires no critical raw material. From the medical point of view this method must be viewed critically, as the administration of concentrated salt solutions can produce severe symptoms of poisoning.
"As the experiments on human beings could thus far only be carried out for a period of four days, and as practical demands require a remedy for those who are in distress at sea up to 12 days, appropriate experiments are necessary.
"Required are 40 healthy test subjects, who must be available for 4 whole weeks. As it is known from previous experiments that necessary laboratories exist in the concentration camp Dachau, this camp would be very suitable * * *"
