“It was known to me that such experiments had earlier been carried out, although I basically objected to these experiments. This institution had been set up in Germany and was approved by the state and covered by the state. At that moment I was in a position which perhaps corresponds to a lawyer who is, perhaps, a basic opponent of execution or death sentence. On occasion when he is dealing with leading members of the government, or with lawyers during public congresses or meetings, he will do everything in his power to maintain his opinion on the subject and have it put into effect. If, however, he does not succeed, he stays in his profession and in his environment in spite of this. Under circumstances he may perhaps even be forced to pronounce such a death sentence himself, although he is basically an opponent of that set-up.”
The Tribunal finds that the defendant Rose was a principal in, accessory to, ordered, abetted, took a consenting part in, and was connected with plans and enterprises involving medical experiments on non-German nationals without their consent, in the course of which murders, brutalities, cruelties, tortures, atrocities, and other inhuman acts were committed. To the extent that these crimes were not war crimes they were crimes against humanity.
CONCLUSION
Military Tribunal I finds and adjudges the defendant Gerhard Rose guilty under counts two and three of the indictment.
RUFF, ROMBERG, AND WELTZ
The defendants Ruff, Romberg, and Weltz are charged under counts two and three of the indictment with special responsibility for, and participation in, High-Altitude Experiments.
The defendant Weltz is also charged under counts two and three with special responsibility for, and participation in, Freezing Experiments.
To the extent that the evidence in the record relates to the high-altitude experiments, the cases of the three defendants will be considered together.
Defendant Ruff specialized in the field of aviation medicine from the completion of his medical education at Berlin and Bonn in 1932. In January 1934 he was assigned to the German Experimental Institute for Aviation, a civilian agency, in order to establish a department for aviation medicine. Later he became chief of the department.
Defendant Romberg joined the NSDAP in May 1933. From April 1936 until 1938 he interned as an assistant physician at a Berlin hospital. On 1 January 1938 he joined the staff of the German Experimental Institution for Aviation as an associate assistant to the defendant Ruff. He remained as a subordinate to Ruff until the end of the war.