Furthermore he said, “it (epidemic jaundice) is a harmless disease” (German Tr. p. 2761); “it has no damaging after-effect on the liver.” (German Tr. p. 2763.) Professor Rose has expressed his expert opinion in the following words: “Hepatitis epidemica as such is not considered a dangerous disease by hygienists.” (German Tr. pp. 5433, 5434.) Then he continues that naturally, just as in the case of a nasal cold, so in the case of hepatitis, complications may arise as after-effects, “but no one would consider hepatitis as a dangerous disease for that reason.” (German Tr. p. 6454.) As to the experiments, Professor Rose says:
“In Germany, experiments with hepatitis virus have been carried out by Eppinger, Vogt, Esser, and Lembel and no incidents occurred. All experiments took place without ill effects. This is, of course, very limited experimental material, but material concerning hundreds of cases which permit a more accurate judgment has been published in England and America. Up to date I have knowledge of about 60 experiments on human beings for hepatitis and no single incident has been reported yet.”
The prosecuting counsel furnished no proof in this trial that infection experiments with jaundice organisms on unwilling persons took place at all in the concentration camps. Whereas in the case of the other facts the prosecution produced medical records or a witness to prove that such experiments had been carried out, this was not possible with regard to epidemic jaundice. Proof was limited to the presentation of documents which one must admit might have given any layman, or even a doctor who was not a hygienist or a clinical physician, the impression that the experiments in question must have been dangerous. The letter of Dr. Grawitz dated 1 June 1943 to Himmler (NO-010, Pros. Ex. 187) contains the sentence, “We must expect deaths.”
According to the expert opinions expressed by Rose, Gutzeit, and Hoering this view is incorrect and incomprehensible. The experts exclude in practice all possibility of death. Rose declares (German Tr. p. 6455):
“Grawitz, who had only concerned himself for years with the business of administration, did not have sufficient understanding of the matter,” or “that he was cautious to an exaggerated degree * * *.”
Professor Gutzeit (German Tr. p. 2764) says of Document NO-010, Prosecution Exhibit 187:
“The only way I can explain it to myself is that Grawitz himself was not sufficiently informed about this jaundice, the course of the disease, and its danger. Certainly Grawitz was no specialist on this matter, this jaundice, and has for a considerable time been out of touch with practical medicine.”
Professor Gutzeit gives the mortality figure for jaundice as less than 0.1 percent; finally he declares (German Tr. p. 2762) that severe pain and suffering, such as mentioned in the indictment, do not occur when a patient is injected with jaundice organisms. A layman can also understand that over-injection can only produce at the most the disease itself, the effects of which have already been represented as harmless.
As already stated, the prosecution furnished no concrete assertions that the intended experiments were made in Sachsenhausen. Here we are speaking of the time from June 1942. At this time Stabsarzt Dr. Dohmen was allowed to work in the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen in accordance with permission given by Himmler. Professor Gutzeit worked together with Stabsarzt Dr. Dohmen insofar as he conducted the hepatitis research work from the clinical side, while Dr. Dohmen was occupied with basic bacteriological research, in the Robert Koch Institute where he was stationed at the time in question and worked under Professor Gildemeister. Evidence was given by Professor Rose (German Tr. p. 6468) and Dr. Lentz. (Rose 16, Rose Ex. 12.)
As a result of the mutual exchange of experience which took place, we must assume that Professor Gutzeit was informed about Dohmen’s research work in this field. Gutzeit also testified upon oath what Dohmen had reported to him about his activity in Sachsenhausen. According to this, Dohmen was only able to escape pressure from Himmler and Grawitz to leave him his breeding stocks by apparently acceding to the offer that he should conduct experiments in Sachsenhausen, but in actual fact undertaking experiments only on prisoners of concentration camps which could be carried out without any risk of bodily harm or loss of life.