Professor Handloser has testified under oath (Handloser 29, Handloser Ex. 4) and witness Hartleben confirmed the same in his statements that, as has already been pointed out above, nothing was changed as far as the field of research of the branches of the armed forces and of the Waffen SS was concerned. The aim of centralizing the widely separated institutions was wrecked, except in those cases which were solely conditioned by the war after 1 September 1944, particularly also owing to the fact which was brought out in the testimony that in the meantime other offices had taken over the management of the research work in the various fields (1) Reich Research Council, (2) Office for Science and Research, and (3) Society for Military Research.
In conclusion and by way of precaution, I also wish to mention the following for the consideration of the Tribunal in connection with the problem of the commanding authority of Handloser as Chief of the Armed Forces Medical Services:
Supposing for a moment that Professor Handloser had had the power of command, there is nothing that speaks more convincingly for his exoneration than the fact that the prosecution has not produced one single document (no order, no regulation, no letter) from which could be deduced that he had made use of his commanding authority in the sense of ordering the performance of an illegal experiment.
In view of the length of time for which he had held the position as Chief of the Armed Forces Medical Services from August 1942 until May 1944, this fact is of decisive importance.
EXTRACT FROM THE CLOSING BRIEF FOR DEFENDANT
GENZKEN
Position and activities
The witness Juettner states the following about his position and his activities (Genzken 15, Genzken Ex. 16): “Dr. Genzken’s position as Chief of the Medical Office of the Waffen SS was the position of a superior officer of the medical units of the Waffen SS. He was exclusively responsible for their training, the formation of new units and their equipment. He had to find substitutes for casualties in the fighting units.”
The Waffen SS itself was newly created in the summer of 1940. At that time it was composed of approximately 580,000 men. (Tr. p. 3792 ff.) In addition to that there were about 320,000 casualties, so that there was a total strength of approximately 900,000 men. The official medical care of the whole Waffen SS was in the hands of the defendant Dr. Genzken. At the beginning, the medical personnel of the Waffen SS was about 800 men and at the end approximately 30,000 men. At the beginning, two hospitals were available to the Waffen SS and at the end of the war, sixty. Six hygiene institutes grew out of a single one in Berlin, etc.