Description:

NUREMBERG 'DOCTORS TRIALS' DEFENDANTS AND GUARD'S PASS
The Doctors' Trial (officially U.S. v. Karl Brandt, et al.) was the first of 12 trials for war crimes that the U.S. held in their occupation zone in Nuremberg after war's end. Twenty of the 23 defendants were medical doctors and were accused of having been involved in human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia. Josef Mengele, one of the leading Nazi doctors, had evaded capture. The accused faced 4,000 charges, including: conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity; war crimes, including performing medical experiments on P.O.W.s and civilians, tortures, atrocities, and other inhuman acts; crimes against humanity; and membership in a criminal organization (the SS). During the trial, an American soldier (see below) obtained the signatures of all 23 defendants on a single sheet which he titled: 'Names of all the Dr. on trial at the Palace of Justice'. This excessively rare collection of signatures is written in both pencil and ink, and the signers are listed here with their positions and the sentence imposed (or acquittal) indicated. Included are: HERMANN BECKER-FREYSING Captain, Medical Service of the Air Force, Chief of the Department for Aviation Medicine, 20 years; VIKTOR BRACK Organizer of the euthanasia program Aktion T4 and first proponent of the use of gas to kill prisoners, death; WILHELM BEIGLBOCK Consulting Physician to the Luftwaffe, 15 years; KURT BLOME Deputy Reich Health Leader, acquitted, later sentence by the French to 20 years; KARL BRANDT Personal physician to Adolf Hitler; Gruppenfuhrer in the SS and Generalleutnant in the Waffen SS; Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation, death; RUDOLPH BRANDT Personal Administrative Officer to Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler, death; FRITZ FISCHER Major in the Waffen SS; and Assistant Physician to the defendant Gebhardt, life imprisonment; KARL GEBHARDT Gruppenführer in the SS and Generalleutnant in the Waffen SS; personal physician to Himmler; Chief Surgeon of the Staff of the Reich Physician SS and Police, death; KURT GENZKEN Gruppenführer in the SS and Generalleutnant in the Waffen SS; and Chief of the Medical Department of the Waffen SS, life imprisonment; SIEGFRIED HANDLOSER Medical Inspector of the Army and Chief of the Medical Services of the Armed Forces, life imprisonment; WALDEMAR HOVEN Chief Doctor of the Buchenwald concentration camp, death; JOACHIM MRUGOWSKY Chief Hygienist of the Reich Physician SS and Police and Chief of the Hygienic Institute of the Waffen SS, death; HERTA OBERHEUSER Physician at the Ravensbrück concentration camp; and Assistant Physician to the defendant Gebhardt; 20 years; ADOLF POKORNY Physician, Specialist in Skin and Venereal Diseases, acquitted; HELMUT POPPENDICK Chief of the Personal Staff of the Reich Physician SS and Police, 10 years; HANS WOLFGAND ROMBERG Doctor on the Staff of the Department for Aviation Medicine, acquitted; GERHARD ROSE Chief of the Department for Tropical Medicine, and Professor of the Robert Koch Institute, life imprisonment; PAUL ROSTOCK Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation, acquitted; SIEGFRIED RUFF Director of the Department for Aviation Medicine at the German Experimental Institute for Aviation, acquitted; KONRAD SCHAEFER Doctor on the Staff of the Institute for Aviation Medicine, acquitted; OSKAR SCHROEDER Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, life imprisonment; WOLFRAM SIEVERS Reich Manager of the "Ahnenerbe" Society, Director of the Institute for Military Scientific Research, death; and GEORGE AUGUST WELTZ Chief of the Institute for Aviation Medicine in Munich, acquitted. At the bottom of the document, the G.I. guard, who sent these autographs home, wrote: 'Save this for me mom.' Very good. SOLD WITH: the very rare pass issued to the soldier who collected these signatures, allowing him access to 'Nurnberg Prison' where these defendants were being held. The 4 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. pass was issued to 'T/4 Floyd M. Elwell' of the 3rd Battalion, 26th Infantry and allowed him access to 'Nurnberg Prison'. It is signed by Elwell and a Captain 'Bender', Operation Officer. The reverse of the card bears a control number and an emblem representing the guard unit. A bit soiled and worn, creased, still good condition.

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January 25, 2023 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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