In 1933, Adolf Hitler created a massive event that caused many innocent lives to be destroyed, this event is known as the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, the Nazis tortured the Jews in any ways they could. Medical experiment was one of the mistreatment that the Jews received, it led to many deaths of innocent people. The medical experiment was operated by many physicians and they experimented on daily basis. Doctors are usually known as the healers, but the Nazis doctors violated the trust of the profession. Some doctors who participated in the experiment were able to escape their consequences and live a normal life, unlike the victims of the experiment. Dr.Mengele who was one of the physicians operated one of the deadly experiment which took the lives of this 2 innocent twins. The twins had no chance to live a normal life as the other kids. The Nazis doctor took an advantage of their profession and mistreated the Jews during the Holocaust.
Doctors are usually known as the healer or the curer. However, the Nazis doctor abused the profession “doctor” due to their cruelty towards the Jews during the Holocaust. Instead of healing others like a normal doctors, they took many innocent lives and their chances to live a normal life. “Doctors have always been thought of as the saviors of mankind, the healers, and caretakers of our utter existence. Even ancient civilizations revered the medicine men as having special power to protect life. The trust of a physician is sacred….The Nazi doctors violated the trust placed in them by humanity. The most painful truth is for the most part the doctors escaped their crimes against Humanity and lived a life, unlike their victims.”(Medical experiments of the Holocaust and Nazis Medicine). The Nazis doctor did not follow the responsibility of being a doctor which is to care for other and heal. Instead they violated the trust by making people go through such a terrifying experiment. However, some doctors were able to live a normal life after their crime against the inhumanity, when the victims are still haunted up until today.
One of the physicians during the Holocaust was named Dr.Mengele, he played a role in many experiments, but he was mostly known for his experiment on the twins. Dr.Mengele was a doctor who studied at Munich university and was well known for his knowledge, yet he puts his knowledge in the wrong use by participating in experiments during the Holocaust. He was known for his experiment on the twins. The twins were thought to be a perfect match for the experiment because Dr.Mengele took interest in their organs. They were photographed almost everyday for any changes in their body functions. “After this three weeks of tortuous medical examinations they were taken to the dissection laboratory. Using two doctors, each twin was simultaneously given an injection in the heart, taking their lives. They were dissected and their organs were sent to the Institute of Biological Racial and Evolutionary Research Berlin.” (The medical experiments of the Holocaust). The research states that the lives of the twins were taken right after the examination. From this quote, an inference can be made which is that the experiment was very deadly and cruel. During this terrifying experiment, the twins had no choice but to follow Dr.Mengele. Their lives were taken at such a young age, and they were not able to enjoy life like their peers around the world. The problem is that the twins were not the only children victims who got their lives taken away. Many medical experiment led to death of many weak children. However, those who survived had a ability to share their experience through many researches and articles.
Many people during the experiment did not survive due to its cruelty by the doctors. Although the experiments were gruesome, there were few people who survived and shared their painful stories during the Holocaust. “‘Each day I was submerged in hot water. Whenever I tried to put my head out of the water in order to breathe I was forced back into the water by Dr. Josef Mengele’s stick. He was enjoying himself. This lasted for 10 minutes. I was immediately afterwards put into cold water and the same procedure was repeated. There were five [people] including myself undergoing the same process. After these daily sessions we were taken to barrack No. 8 – Auschwitz, which was destined [for] those who were to die, to see for how long we were going to survive.’”(Personal Statements From Victims of Nazi Medical Experiments). The survivors of the experiment still remembers the time they got tortured brutally. The victim of this experiment was obviously terrified and mentions that Dr.Mengele was enjoying himself while the experiment took place. He was not the only one who violated the trust of being a doctor. Other victims, who were abused by other physicians are still terrified due to their memories from the Holocaust. The memories were able to spread through the world and showed how terrifying experience people had to go through.
The survivors were able to express their experiences through articles, books, and research. The book “Inhuman Research: Medical experiments in German Concentration camps” was written by Alfred Pasternak, who was just a kid when he went to the concentration camp and went through a horrible experience. In the book, he researched on other survivors along with himself who wanted to testify their experience during the Holocaust. Alfred Pasternak lost many members of his family and he almost lost his lives as well. He also mentions some of the worst experiment that took place during the Holocaust including the twins experiment. Alfred Pasternak became a medical professor in the future. In the preface of the book, Alfred explains why he wanted to write a book on his experience during the Holocaust. “Dr. Josef Mengele, who conducted the selections of the newly arrived prisoners at Auschwitz, immediately waved her to the right side. A few hours later, her frail little body was reduced to a few ounces of ash. Irma Liebman was my grandmother. She was killed in Auschwitz, along with ninety-six other members of my family, according to the marble memorial we erected on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Also killed were every one of my childhood friends, leaving me the only child survivor of our little Hungarian community.” ( Pasternak 11). Alfred lost majority of his family due to the medical experiment by the physicians. The book allows the reader to gain knowledge on how people felt when their loved ones were gone. Alfred had no one as he grew up since his family and friends were not by his side after the Holocaust. Not only Alfred had to go through the horrible experience but he lost his loved ones as well. He was not the only one who suffered from his loss, the Nazis doctors made so many people suffer whether it was through their experiment or harming their loved ones. The medical experiment still ha
Through researches, more survivors were able to express their experience during the Holocaust. “In the camp where I was kept as a child, we did not receive any food for days. We cried out for food. Then the boss of the [camp] came up to us children. He distributed various desserts to us children. After a couple of hours, we realized that something was not in order with the food. I got really sick and suffered from cramps, I threw up, had diarrhea, the chills and fever. Many died as a consequence of this poisoned food.”(Personal Statements From Victims of Nazi Medical Experiments). The medical experiments were not only on adults, the Nazis doctor experiments on children as well. The victims of this experiment was only a child when they had to go through this horrible experience.The Nazis doctors did not provide them any food and starved them and when they gave them food, the food was either poisoned or expired. Starvation and toxic food led people to have diarrhea and other consequences. Another victims shared their experience and stated “I was the only one picked that day personally by Mengele and his assistant. They took me to his [laboratory], where I met other children. They were screaming from pain…. I was used as a guinea pig for medical experiments. I was never ever given painkillers or anesthetics. Every day I suffered excruciating pain.” (Personal Statements From Victims of Nazi Medical Experiments). The experiment that this victim had to participate were very deadly as shown by the screaming. The survivor states that they were treated as the guinea pigs. People being mistreated was normal during the Holocaust, the Nazis did not treat people as if they were not humans. Although, some victims were able to survive and share their experience during the Holocaust, the victims who got involved in major experiments were not able to remain alive.
Life of the many children who were involved in major experiment by physicians did not survive and lost their chance to live a normal life. Dr.Mengele always took an interest in children and examining them for his experiment. The twins caught his attention and his plan for another experiment. This experiment involved genetics and he injected dyes into their eyes to see any changes in their eye color and also attempt to sew the twins together in order to create conjoined twins. “Mengele had become interested in utilizing twins for medical research through Verschuer, famous for experimenting with identical and fraternal twins in order to trace the genetic origins of various diseases. During the 1930s, twin research was seen as an ideal tool in weighing the variant factors of human heredity and environment.Mengele, with his mentor, had performed a number of legitimate research protocols using twins as test subjects throughout the 1930s.” (Josef Mengele). Dr.mengele had many sets of the twins for his experiment but all of them could not remain alive. However, Dr.Mengele did not take the responsibilities of the lives he had destroyed. The twins experiment was well known because it was horrid and cruel. “Mengele did a number of medical experiments of unspeakable horror at Auschwitz, using twins. These twins as young as five years of age were usually murdered after the experiment was over and their bodies dissected.”(The Nazis death camp). All the various experiments Dr.Mengele did on the twins eventually led them to their death. Dr.mengele violated the trust multiple times and did not take the responsibility of all the damages he caused. The twins experiment were not the only examination that was cruel, and deadly. The physicians tortured people with many different experiment and methods.
Examination that took place during the Holocaust were very deadly. The victims were terrified of all the techniques that Nazis had to experiment on them. The research shows many different methods that the Nazis doctors used for examination, and states that although all medical experiments were gruesome, two of those experiments stood out because of its cruelty.“Freezing Hypothermia-The freezing experiments were divided into two parts. First, to establish how long it would take to lower the body temperature to death and second how to best resuscitate the frozen victim.” (Medical experiments of the Holocaust and Nazis medicine). One of the experiment that stood out due to its cruelty was known as the freezing hypothermia where they freeze people until they lose their consciousness and see for how long they will survive. This experiment led to many deaths and the research allows the readers to be aware of the doctor’s behaviors towards the people. Another experiment that took many lives was called the Internal irrigation. “Internal Irrigation-The frozen victim would have water heated to a near blistering temperature forcefully irrigated into the stomach, bladder, and intestines. All victims appeared to have died from the treatment.” (Medical experiments of the Holocaust and Nazis Medicine). Internal irrigation was very deadly and led all the victims who participated, to their death. All of the experiments were very deadly and many people died from it. However, for those who survived are still badly influenced in terms of the memories from the Holocaust. The Nazis doctor caused many lives to be destroyed and those who survived to have huge impact by the Holocaust. The Nazis doctor abused their profession by taking an advantage of them.
The Nazis doctor showed no respect to their professions and they violated the trust of being a doctor. They were mistreating people and torturing them which is not what doctors does. Doctors are usually known as the curer and healer, however the Nazis doctor violated the rule of a doctor by taking many innocent lives. Although, some doctors were able to escape their consequences, the victims will not forget the horrible experience they had to go through.