By a subsequent Fuehrer decree of 7 August 1944 Handloser was relieved of his duties as Chief Physician of the Army and Army Medical Inspector, but retained his position as Chief of the Wehrmacht Medical Service.
By the decree of 28 July 1942 pursuant to which Handloser became Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht, the defendant Karl Brandt became empowered, subordinate only to, and receiving instructions directly from, Hitler “to carry out special tasks and negotiations to readjust the requirements for doctors, hospitals, medical supplies, etc., between the military and the civilian sectors of the Health and Medical Services.” The decree also directed that Brandt “is to be kept informed about the fundamental events in the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht and in the Civilian Health Service” and “is authorized to intervene in a responsible manner.”
A subsequent decree issued 5 September 1943 extended the powers of the defendant Karl Brandt by providing: “The plenipotentiary for the Medical and Health Services * * * is charged with centrally coordinating and directing the problems and activities of the entire Medical and Health Service according to instructions. In this sense this order applies also to the field of medical science and research, as well as to the organizational institutions concerned with the manufacture and distribution of medical material. The plenipotentiary for the Medical and Health services is authorized to appoint and commission special deputies for this sphere of action.”
By a later decree of 25 August 1944 Karl Brandt was made Reich Commissioner for Sanitation and Health for the duration of the war; the decree providing:
“In this capacity his office ranks as highest Reich Authority” and he is “authorized to issue instructions to the offices and organizations of the State, Party, and Wehrmacht which are concerned with the problems of the medical and health services.”
Thus, by this series of decrees, the defendant Karl Brandt, within this sphere of competence, became the supreme medical authority of the Reich subordinate to no one but Hitler.
Three of the defendants are not physicians.
The first is the defendant Brack who became subordinated to Bouhler at the time the latter was appointed Chief of the Chancellery of the Fuehrer, in 1934, and remained with Bouhler throughout the war.
The second is the defendant Rudolf Brandt who, from the time he joined the staff of Himmler in 1933, served for a twelve-year period in varying capacities. At first Rudolf Brandt was a mere clerk in the staff of the Reichsfuehrer SS but by 1936 had risen to chief of the personal staff of Himmler. In 1938 or 1939 he became Himmler’s liaison officer to the Ministry of the Interior and particularly to the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. When Himmler became Minister of the Interior in 1943 Rudolf Brandt became Chief of the Ministerial Office; when Himmler became President of the Ahnenerbe Society, Rudolf Brandt became liaison officer between Himmler and the Reich Secretary of the Ahnenerbe Society, defendant Wolfram Sievers.
The third is the defendant Sievers, who was a member of Himmler’s personal staff and Reich Business Manager of the Ahnenerbe Society from 1 July 1935 until the end of the war.