1947-08-19, #9: Doctors' Trial Verdict — Dr. Earl Genzken

Judgment: Earl Genzken — GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS

AFTERNOON SESSION (The hearing reconvened at 1330 hours.)

THE MARSHAL: Persons in the court room will please find their seats.

The Tribunal is again in session.

THE PRESIDENT: In reading the judgment of the morning session, due to an error in preparing the master copy, a paragraph was omitted from page 36, being the last page of the discussion of the defendant, Handloser — I should have said it was omitted from page 71, instead of page 36. We will now read the paragraph there, following the words: "To the extent that the crimes committed by or under his authority were not war crimes, they were crimes against humanity." I shall now read the paragraph:

The evidence conclusively shows that the German word 'fleck fieber', as translated in the indictment as 'spotted fever', is more correctly translated by 'typhus'. This is admitted, and in this judgment, in accord with the evidence, we use the word 'typhus' instead of 'spotted fever'.

We shall now proceed with the reading of the judgment in connection with the defendant, Genzken.

THE CASE OF THE DEFENDANT EARL GENZKEN

The defendant Genzken is charged under Counts Two and Three of the Indictment with special responsibility for, and participation in, Sulfanilamide, Spotted Fever, Poison, and Incendiary Bomb experiments.

The Prosecution has abandoned the two latter charges and, hence, they will not be considered further. The defendant is also charged under Count Four of the Indictment with membership, after 1 September 1939, in an organization declared criminal by the Judgment of the International Military Tribunal — namely, the SS.

Genzken was commissioned in the Medical Service of the German Navy in 1912 and served through the first World War in that capacity. From 1919 to 1934, he engaged in the private practice of medicine. He joined the NSDAP in 1926, and in October 1934 he was again commissioned as a reserve officer of the Naval Medical Department. On 1 March 1936 he was transferred to the Medical Department of the SS, with the rank of Major, and assigned to the Medical Department of a branch of the SS which in the summer of 1940 became the Waffen-SS. He served as Chief Surgeon of the SS Hospital in Berlin and was Director of the department charged with supplying medical equipment and with the supervision of medical personnel in concentration camps. He was also Medical Supervisor to Eicke, the head of all the concentration camps, which were within Genzken's jurisdiction insofar as medical matters were concerned. In May 1940 Genzken was appointed Chief of the Medical Office of the Waffen-SS with the rank of Senior Colonel, Grawitz being his medical superior. He retained this position until the close of the War. In 1942 he was designated as Chief of the Medical Service of the Waffen-SS, Division D of the SS Operational Headquarters. On 30 January 1943 he was appointed Gruppenfuehrer [General] and Generalleutnant in the Waffen-SS.

SULFANILAMIDE EXPERIMENTS:

The Sulfanilamide experiments referred to in the Indictment were conducted by the defendants Gebhardt, Fischer and Oberheuser at Ravensbruck Concentration Camp between 20 July 1942 and August 1943.

During this period of time, four of the medical branches of the Waffen-SS were under Genzken, including Office XVI, Hygiene, of which the defendant Mrugowsky was chief.

It is submitted by the Prosecution that the evidence proves Mrugowsky to have given support and assistance to these experiments, and that, consequently, Genzken becomes criminally liable because of the position of command he held over Mrugowsky. It is also urged that because Genzken attended the meeting in Berlin at which Gebhardt and Fischer gave their lecture on the experiments, that this likewise shows criminal connection.

That Mrugowsky rendered assistance to Gebhardt in the Sulfanilamide experiments at Ravensbruck is clearly proven. Mrugowsky put his laboratory and co-workers at Gebhardt's disposal. He furnished the bacterial cultures for the infections. He conferred with Gebhardt about the medical problems involved. It was on the suggestion of Mrugowsky's office that wood shavings and ground glass were placed in artificially inflicted wounds made on the subjects so that battlefield wounds would be more closely simulated. It also appears that Blumenreuter, who was the Chief of Office XV under Genzken's direction, may have furthered the experiments by furnishing surgical instruments and medicines to Gebhardt.

The Tribunal finds that Genzken was not present at the Berlin meeting.

Although Mrugowsky and Blumenreuter may have aided Gebhardt in his experiments, the Prosecution has failed to show that it was done with Genzken's direction or knowledge.

The Prosecution, therefore, has failed to sustain the burden with regard to this particular specification.

TYPHUS EXPERIMENTS:

The series of experiments which are the subject of this specification were conducted at Buchenwald Concentration Camp and began in January 1942. SS Hauptsturmfuehrer [Captain] Dr. Ding, who was attached to the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen-SS, was in charge of these experiments — with the defendant Hoven serving as his deputy.

Until 1 September 1943 both Mrugowsky, the Chief of the Hygiene Institute, and Ding were subordinate to Genzken. Until the date last mentioned the chain of military command in the field of hygiene and research was as follows: Himmler — Grawitz Genzken — Mrugowsky — Ding.

Prior to 1939 Ding had been camp physician at Buchenwald, and as such was subordinate to Genzken. During the early months of the war Genzken served as an Army surgeon in the field — Ding being his adjutant. During the fall of 1941, Ding returned to Buchenwald and Genzken to his office at Berlin. During their service in the field Genzken and Ding had become warm personal friends. Ding was attached to the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen-SS and was engaged in Typhus research for the Institute. Genzken testified that Mrugowsky and the Hygiene Institute were in his chain of command prior to 31 August 1943. He further testified that after the date last mentioned has office had nothing to do with Ding save to provide money for Ding's expenses, there being no other budget from which money was available.

Mrugowsky testified that Genzken was his superior officer until 1 September 1943, and knew that the Hygiene Institute was working on the problem of providing an efficient vaccine against Typhus. It is admitted that Ding was carrying out medical experiments on concentration camp inmates in order to determine the effect of various Typhus vaccines.

It is not contended that such experiments were not carried out. In the course of these experiments two buildings or "blocks" were used. The experiments were conducted in Block 46, and when a satisfactory vaccine was decided upon, Block 50 was used for the preparation of vaccines.

During the course of the experiments with vaccines in March 1942 Ding himself contracted Typhus. Genzken testified that he was aware of the fact that concentration camp inmates were subjected to experiments, but stated that he was not advised as to the method of experimentation.

It is clear that the experiments necessary to decide upon a satisfactory vaccine preceded by a considerable period the production of the vaccine. Genzken testified that vaccine production began in December 1943, that the production establishment only moved into Block 50 in the middle of August, and that when production actually began "This establishment had already come under the agency of Grawitz and it was not subordinated any more" to him.

Under date of 9 January 1943 the Ding Diary contains a lengthy entry stating that by Genzken's order the Typhus research station became the "Department of Typhus and Virus Research," that Dr. Ding would be head of this department, and that during his absence defendant Hoven would act in his place.

The entry further stated that Ding was appointed Chief Department Head for special missions in hygiene, etc. The Ding Diary is discussed elsewhere in this Judgment. Considering the demonstrated desire of Ding for his personal aggrandizement, this entry is not entitled to entire credit, as written. It refers to Genzken as "Major General" — which rank he did not receive until a few weeks after 9 January 1943. The entry, however, has some probative value upon the question of Ding's status during the year 1943.

Genzken testified that he "approved" the establishment of Ding's department for vaccine research. He also testified that his department furnished necessary funds from its budget for Ding's investigations.

From the evidence it appears that prior to 1 September 1943, Mrugowsky reported regularly to Genzken, on an average of once per week, either orally or in writing.

Under date 5 May 1942 Mrugowsky signed a written report upon the subject, "Testing Typhus Vaccines." This report went to six different offices; the first copy, to Conti; the second copy, to Grawitz; and the third copy, to Genzken. The report commences:

The tests of four Typhus vaccines made by us on human subjects at the instigation of the Reich Health Leader Dr. Conti had the following results—

It is stated that the Mortality of victims of typhus during an epidemic "was around 30 percent" and that "during the same epidemic four groups of experimental subject were vaccinated with one each" of the four types of vaccine described in the beginning of the report.

The experimental subjects were mostly in their twenties and thirties. Care was taken when selecting them that they did not come from typhus districts and also to ensure an interval of four to six weeks between the protective vaccination and the outbreak of the clinical symptoms of the disease. According to experience this period is imperative to achieve immunity.

The effects of the four vaccines tested were described as follows. The report on the Weigl vaccine states that "nobody died". The report on the Gildemeister and Haagen vaccine also states that no deaths occurred. The report on the Behring normal vaccine states that one person died. The experiment with the Behring-strong vaccine reports one death.

The last paragraph of the report states:

In the last two groups the symptoms were considerably stronger than in the first groups.... No difference between the two vaccines of the Behring Works was observed. The attending physicians stated that the general picture of the disease in group four was rather more severe compared with that of the patients of group three.

In a summation, Mrugowsky recommended the use of a vaccine:

produced according to the chicken egg process, which, in its immunization effect, is equal to the vaccine after Weigl. The effectiveness of protection depends on the method used in making the vaccine.

Of course, experiments with vaccines, conducted because of the urgent need for the discovery of a protective vaccine, would lead to scant results unless the subjects vaccinates were subsequently in some way effectively exposed to typhus, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness or non-effectiveness of the vaccination. While Mrugowsky's report, above referred to, makes no reference to an artificial infection, it does state without further explanation that two deaths occurred, and in the last paragraph, quoted above, compares the severity of "the disease" between groups 3 and 4.

On cross-examination Mrugowsky testified that Dr. Ding was to lecture at a meeting of Consulting Surgeons in the spring of 1943 and that the witness informed Genzken concerning "the intended amount of vaccines to be produced by the SS." Mrugowsky testified that he have Genzken this information for three reasons: first, that Genzken had to be advised of the fact that Ding, as a member of the Waffen-SS, was to give a lecture to the surgeons; second, that Genzken should be informed concerning "the effectiveness of a number of vaccines to be used for troops;" third, that Genzken should know when he could expect the first production of vaccines for the SS and the amounts he could count on for each month, Mrugowsky further testified:

The conference with Dr. Genzken was extremely brief. As far as I remember we were standing close to his desk. I told him that the various vaccines which I mentioned to him had a different effect; I told him that the effect varied as to the length of the temperature and a reduction of fatalities; and I told him that after having vaccinated the entire SS we could count on some protective effect for all soldiers.

On that occasion I showed him a few charts which Ding had handed over to me at that time, the same charts, which Ding reproduced in his paper, and I used these charts in order to explain the effectiveness of the vaccines to him.

Q: The mortality figures and the temperature figures could be derived from these charts, couldn't they?

A: Yes, If I remember correctly, on the heading of these charts the information was given what day of the infection was. This entire conference was very brief and it is quite possible that Dr. Genzken — who was only concerned with the most important points which he had to know — it is quite possible that he overlooked that. I had no cause to point it out to him in particular since I was not reporting to him about Ding's series of experiments but was only reporting to him about the protective value of various vaccines which he, as medical chief, had to know. These were two completely different points of view.

The Tribunal is convinced that prior to 1 September 1943, Genzken knew the nature and scope of the activities of his subordinates, Mrugowsky and Ding, in the field of typhus research; yet he did nothing to insure that such research would be conducted within permissible legal limits. He knew that concentration camp inmates were being subjected to cruel medical experiments in the course of which deaths were occurring; yet he took no steps to ascertain the status of the subjects or the circumstances under which they were being sent to the experimental block.

Had he made the slightest inquiry he would have discovered that many of the human subjects used were non-German nationals who had not given their consent to the experiments.

As the Tribunal has already pointed out in this Judgment, "the duty and responsibility for ascertaining the quality of the consent rests upon each individual who initiates, directs, or engages in the experiment. It is a personal duty and responsibility which may not be delegated to another with impunity."

We find that Genzken, in his official capacity, was responsible for, aided and abetted the Typhus experiments, performed on non-German nationals against their consent, in the course of which deaths occurred as a result of the treatment received. To the extent that these experiments did not constitute War Crimes they constituted Crimes against Humanity.

MEMBERSHIP IN CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION:

Under Court Four of the indictment Genzken is charged with being a member of an organization declared criminal by the Judgment of the International Military Tribunal, namely, the SS. The evidence shows that Genzken became a member of the SS on 1 March 1936 and voluntarily remained in that organization until the end of the war. As a high-ranking member of the Medical Service of the Waffen-SS he was criminally implicated in the commission of War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity, as charged under Counts Two and Three of the Indictment.

CONCLUSION

Military Tribunal I finds and adjudges the defendant Earl Genzken guilty under Counts Two, Three, and Four of the Indictment.