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Hitler’s Directives

I’ve touched on several of Hitler’s directives, or decrees in past blogs. I thought I would outline some of the more infamous decrees he made over the twelve years of the Third Reich. You can be assured that the stories of the people these decrees targeted did not end well.

Hitler came to power in 1933 and immediately began issuing his directives and proclamations. They initially went after Jews, Untermensch, and political enemies of the Nazis. From there he moved on to the physically and mentally disabled. As the war progressed, Hitler began to circumvent the Geneva Convention and its rules on how POWs and captured military/combat personnel were to be treated.

Official directive on Hitler’s personal stationary (and signed by the Führer) directing Bouhler and Brandt to establish the euthanasia program known as “Aktion T4.” Photo by Marcel (March 2008). PD-Official Decree (German). Wikimedia Commons.
Official directive on Hitler’s personal stationary (and signed by the Führer) directing Bouhler and Brandt to establish the euthanasia program known as “Aktion T4.” Photo by Marcel (March 2008). PD-Official Decree (German). Wikimedia Commons.

In the end, several of these decrees were used by the International Military Tribunal during the Nuremberg Trials as evidence to convict former senior Nazi officials of one or more of the four counts: conspiracy for the accomplishment of crimes against peace, waging wars of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Many of Hitler’s decrees aimed at military combatants were used to convict the former Nazis leaders and their underlings of the third count⏤war crimes. Most of the convictions came with the death penalty. Read More Hitler’s Directives

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Extermination Camp Doctors

During the historical examination of the Holocaust, the concentration camps, and the Nazi war crimes, much of the focus seems to be on the Nazis rather than their victims either individually or collectively (with the exception of six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust). Perhaps this is done deliberately. The more we know about how the Nazis rose to power, the policies they enacted to stay in power, and above all, the crimes they committed might help us to understand how this could happen again. Most importantly, it will ensure we don’t forget and hopefully, stay vigilant for modern-day political abuses of power and similar policies that slowly erode democracy and individual freedoms (e.g., anti-Semitism, racism, calls for denouncements, elimination of the free press, arrests and imprisonment for anti-government positions, etc.).

One group of Nazis that has been well documented are the concentration camp doctors. These men and women are the Schutzstaffel, or SS doctors who performed medical experiments on camp inmates, participated in the sorting process, and committed crimes against humanity. They included Karl Brandt (1904−1948; executed), Herta Oberhauser (1911−1978; 20 years-released in 1952), Josef Mengele (1911−1979, drowned), Karl Gebhardt (1897−1948; executed), and Viktor Brack (1904−1948; executed), to name just a few.

SS-Gruppenführer Karl Gebhardt, doctor at KZ Ravensbrück and KZ Auschwitz-Birkenau. Gebhardt was found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed. Photo by Kurt Alber (c. 1944). Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S73523/CC-BY-SA 3.0. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.
SS-Gruppenführer Karl Gebhardt, doctor at KZ Ravensbrück and KZ Auschwitz-Birkenau. Gebhardt was found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed. Photo by Kurt Alber (c. 1944). Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S73523/CC-BY-SA 3.0. PD-CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.
Nuremberg defendant, Dr. Herta Oberheuser, stands to receive her sentence at the Doctors’ Trial. Photo by anonymous (20 August 1947). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo #41017. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Nuremberg defendant, Dr. Herta Oberheuser, stands to receive her sentence at the Doctors’ Trial. Photo by anonymous (20 August 1947). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo #41017. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Dr. Karl Brandt, defendant in the Nuremberg trial known as the “Doctors’ Trial.” Brandt was found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed. Photo by anonymus (c. 1946-47). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. PD-Author release. Wikimedia Commons.
Dr. Karl Brandt, defendant in the Nuremberg trial known as the “Doctors’ Trial.” Brandt was found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed. Photo by anonymus (c. 1946-47). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. PD-Author release. Wikimedia Commons.

Today, we are going to examine a different group of concentration camp doctors: the doctors who were prisoners. Read More Extermination Camp Doctors