History of Sorts

On 7 July 1942, Heinrich Himmler, in cooperation with three others, including a physician, inaugurated experimenting on women in Auschwitz and investigated extending this experimentation on men.

Himmler convened a conference in Berlin to discuss the prospects for using concentration camp prisoners as objects of medical experiments. The other attendees were the head of the Concentration Camp Inspectorate, SS General Richard Glueks (hospital chief), SS Major-General Gebhardt and Professor Karl Clauberg (one of Germany’s leading gynaecologists). The conference outcome showed the major program of medical experimentation on Jewish women at Auschwitz was allowed. The experiments performed secretively ensured prisoners would not be aware of what was happening.

The aim was to obtain a fast, cheap method of sterilization “not only to defeat the Jewish enemy,” the SS Reich Leader wrote, “but also to exterminate him.” The sterilization campaign used experimental drugs and X-ray radiation to sterilize several thousand women and several hundred men.

The experimentation would take the form of sterilization via massive doses of radiation or uterine injections. Also decided was a consult with an X-ray specialist about the prospects of using X-rays to castrate men and demonstrating this on male Jewish prisoners. Adolf Hitler endorsed this plan on the condition that it remained top secret.

Below are testimonies by two women. They are only known as Ms A and Ms B to protect their identity and more importantly, dignity.

Ms A
“The experiment was done to me in Auschwitz, Block 10. The experiment was done on my uterus. I was given shots in my uterus and as a result of that, I was fainting from severe pain for a year and a half. [Years later,] Professor Hirsh from the hospital in Tzrifin examined me and said that my uterus became as a uterus of a 4-year-old child and that my ovaries shrank.”

Ms B
“I was put into Barrack No. 10 in Auschwitz in April of 1944. After a month or so of being placed in Barrack No. 10, I as well as the other female prisoners no longer produced monthly menses and experiences terrible effects of a rash. First, pus-filled blisters appeared then turned into sores. In some cases, this rash occurred on both my arms and my chest. In the morning and the night, we were lined up approximately for two hours for a ‘roll call.’ During this time Dr Mengele came once or twice a week and he pulled out the weak and the sick from the line and they never have been seen again. It was necessary to make sure that the entire body was covered so Dr Mengele would not see even one sore, or our life would be over. Dr Gisella Perl assisted Dr Mengele during the day. However, at night Dr Perl came into the barrack and administered an ointment with glue-like consistency to every sore, in order to heal this horrific rash. Dr Perl came periodically to Barrack No. 10 and also went to other barracks to administer this ointment. The rash needed several weeks to clear up; however, it would often return a few days later. In Auschwitz, there was a belief among the female prisoners that the soup we were given to eat was drugged and the drug was the reason why we suffered from this horrific rash. Without Dr Perl’s medical knowledge and willingness to risk her life by helping us, it would be impossible to know what would have happened to me and many other female prisoners. I lived in Sighet, the same town as Dr Gisella Perl until I was 16 when I was sent away to the ghetto. I remember what a wonderful reputation she had, and how well-known she was in our area. My mother was her patient, and my grandmother went to her husband, Dr Krauss, who was an internist. When we were both in Auschwitz, I remember she was the doctor of the Jews there.”

Sources

Personal Statements From Victims of Nazi Medical Experiments

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/himmler-decides-to-begin-medical-experiments-on-auschwitz-prisoners

https://jewishcurrents.org/july-7-nazi-medical-experimentation-begins