Were the Ruff-Romberg high-altitude experiments in Dachau dangerous to life? If it is demanded that experiments on humans are carried out as humanely as possible, pain avoided wherever possible, and damage to health eliminated, it is obvious that deaths must be prevented in every way possible. The conscientious research worker will always start from the standpoint that experiments can only then be carried out when, according to human estimation and the experience of science, death can in no way be expected. According to German Law (Article 216 of the German Penal Code) the intentional killing of a person would not be legalized through his agreement, not even at his expressed desire.
To this question the presentation of evidence has shown the following:
1. In the Summary Report Ruff-Romberg-Rascher of 28 July 1942, it is “expressly stated that in the whole series of experiments no death and likewise no permanent oxygen deficiency damage occurred.” (NO-402, Pros. Ex. 66.) In direct contradiction to this appears to be, at least at first glance, the intermediary report which Dr. Rascher alone made on his experiments on 5 April 1942 to the Reich Leader SS Himmler (1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49) and also the following secret report, which likewise Dr. Rascher alone sent to Himmler on 11 May 1942. (NO-220, Pros. Ex. 61.) These two special reports by Dr. Rascher prove that in the experiments described by Rascher alone several deaths occurred.
The explanation of the apparent contradiction is shown clearly by the presentation of evidence: In the experiments authorized by Dr. Ruff and carried out with his approval not a single death occurred. Only the arbitrary experiments which Rascher carried out without the approval of Dr. Ruff and against his will, and which were ordered by Himmler, were deadly.
This can be seen from Rascher’s intermediary report of 5 April 1942. (1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49.) It falls into two parts.
In the first part Dr. Rascher describes the experiments carried out with Dr. Ruff’s approval. He states expressly, “the experiments conducted by myself and Dr. Romberg,” and he confirms that even “in a total of 15 extreme experiments, none of the experimental subjects died. Severe high-altitude sickness with unconsciousness occurred; however, the subject was always fully capable of action when approximately 7 km. was attained in the descent.”
In the second part, Rascher then describes his arbitrary experiments of which Ruff knew nothing, and was permitted to know nothing. This second part of the report is much more extensive and detailed than the first. That can be explained without difficulty because the experiments mentioned in this second part were carried out by Rascher himself; here he could describe the “merit” of the results he apparently gained all by himself. From this second part he obviously also hoped for complete new results for science, which he emphasized in the accompanying letter to Himmler of 5 April 1942, and he was obviously very proud that following his suggestions (as he emphasized) such “interesting standard experiments” were carried out. All this referred exclusively to the arbitrary experiments mentioned in the second part of the report, which Rascher carried out alone without the assistance of Dr. Romberg and without the authorization and previous knowledge of Dr. Ruff. (1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49.)
Rascher himself made this distinction in his report (1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49): He contrasts in the second part of his report the “extremely dangerous experiments” with the “experiments carried out by myself (Rascher) and Romberg,” while he specially asked for an “SS doctor from the camp as witness” for the arbitrary experiments of the second part of his report, as “I carried out these experiments by myself.” But surely Dr. Rascher had his reasons for specially requesting “a camp doctor as a witness” for these experiments (which are described in the second part of his report), but intentionally kept Dr. Romberg away. Dr. Rascher indicates these reasons in his accompanying letter of 5 April 1942, talking about difficulties which the Luftwaffe created for him up to that time, whose removal he hopes for by the intervention of SS Fuehrer Sievers. These difficulties which hindered the research work of Rascher were discussed in various other documents which concerned the use of the low-pressure chamber and its return to Dachau, which the SS tried to arrange but never succeeded.
If Dr. Rascher in his intermediary report (1971-A-PS, Pros. Ex. 49) emphasized that “only continuous experiments are fatal at heights above 10.5 km.”, this plainly confirms, in Dr. Rascher’s own words, what Ruff and Romberg stated from the very beginning, that two kinds of high-altitude experiments were carried out in Dachau with the low-pressure chamber. The one kind, which Dr. Romberg took part in and Dr. Ruff knew about, was carried out completely humanely and without any pain, and nothing happened; and the other kind, which Rascher carried out alone by order of Himmler, without Romberg and without the previous knowledge of Dr. Ruff, to which at one time an SS doctor was even asked to attend as a witness and which caused several fatalities.
This result is confirmed by the second report, which Rascher again alone (without the participation of Dr. Ruff and Dr. Romberg) submitted to Himmler, dated 11 May 1942, as a secret report (NO-220, Pros. Ex. 61). He describes here the experiments which he carried out jointly with Dr. Romberg and again states: “On the average, the experimental subjects were in complete accord of their actions at 12-13 km.; no disturbances of any kind in the general condition occurred in any of these experiments,” and even less, of course, a fatality. Only among the experiments described under figures 6 and 7 of this secret report of Rascher’s did fatalities occur, and that “during a continued high-altitude experiment, for example after half an hour in an altitude of 12 km.” But these experiments (according to figures 6 and 7) were the arbitrary experiments in which Rascher had other aims in mind, which had nothing to do with Ruff’s problem of “saving from high altitudes,” and which were carried out by Rascher alone.