Would you define your position to that statement?
Defendant Mrugowsky: I do not know how Schreiber could have expressed that opinion, nor do I know whether he is in possession of full knowledge of the results of this work. I never discussed this question with him and I therefore cannot examine it. This much is clear, however, that Schreiber is speaking of a later period of time, for the vaccines that were no longer produced were not produced because the experiments of Ding had proved their inferiority. The epidemiological examination of the various vaccines during the war only originates from a later period, in particular the years 1943 and 1944. The exploitation of these experiences only originates from the last years of the war and it is, therefore, my opinion that this testimony of Schreiber is incorrect.
Q. I am interrupting you and I shall have Handloser Exhibit 14 shown to you. We are here concerned with an excerpt of a scientific thesis by Geheimrat Otto. Do you know Geheimrat Otto?
A. Yes, I know Geheimrat Otto. He is probably the best typhus expert not only in Germany but in Europe, who has dealt with typhus all his life.
Q. From this excerpt you will see that Geheimrat Otto says, still in 1943:
“While the efficacy of lice vaccines has already been tested on a large scale in Poland, Ethiopia, and China, and the vaccine has proved its value, it is still necessary to gather large-scale practical experiences with lung and vitelline membrane vaccines. In animal experiments they have proved of equal value with the former.”
Would you say something on that?
A. Professor Otto says here that even in the year 1943 the vitelline membrane vaccine and the vaccines from lungs of animals were not sufficiently known. That confirms what I have just testified and that is in answer to Dr. Schreiber’s statement.
Q. The witness Bernhard Schmidt, who was interrogated here, stated that human experiments were superfluous for the purpose of testing vaccines and that the value of the individual typhus vaccines could have been ascertained in an epidemiological way. What is your opinion in that connection?
A. This is my opinion also. It is my opinion that these tests could have been carried out in an epidemiological manner. I represented that point of view before Grawitz and Himmler from the very beginning.