Luftwaffe - War Crimes

War Crimes

Throughout the war civilians or prisoners were used as human guinea pigs in testing Luftwaffe equipment. It is unclear whether these tests were carried out by Luftwaffe personnel or on the orders of OKL. These illegal tests are classified as war crimes and were carried out on the Luftwaffe's behalf.

In 1941, experiments with the intent of discovering means to prevent and treat hypothermia were carried out. Freezing/hypothermia experiments were conducted for the Nazi high command to simulate the conditions the armies suffered on the Eastern Front, as the German forces were ill-prepared for the cold weather they encountered. The principal locales were Dachau and Auschwitz. Dr Sigmund Rascher, an SS doctor based at Dachau, reported directly to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and publicised the results of his freezing experiments at the 1942 medical conference entitled "Medical Problems Arising from Sea and Winter". Approximately 100 people are reported to have died as a result of these experiments.

In early 1942, prisoners at Dachau concentration camp were used by Rascher in experiments to perfect ejection seats at high altitudes. A low-pressure chamber containing these prisoners was used to simulate conditions at altitudes of up to 20,000 m (66,000 ft). It was rumoured that Rascher performed vivisections on the brains of victims who survived the initial experiment. Of the 200 subjects, 80 died outright, and the others were executed.