“I should like to make two additional remarks. One of them is, please for God’s sake leave our present financial needs out of all these considerations. This is a problem which concerns the entire future of our people, indeed, one may say without being over-emotional about it, the entire future of humanity. One should approach this problem neither from the point of view of our present scientific opinion nor from the point of view of the still more ephemeral economic crises. If by sterilization we can prevent the occurrence of mental disease then we should certainly do it, not in order to save money for the government but because every case of mental disease means infinite suffering to the patient and to his relatives. But to introduce economic points of view is not only inappropriate but outright dangerous because the logical consequence of the thought that for financial reasons all these human beings, who could be dispensed with for the moment, should be exterminated, is a quite monstrous logical conclusion; we would then have to put to death not only the mentally sick and the psychopathic personalities but all the crippled including the disabled veterans, all old maids who do not work, all widows whose children have completed their education, and all those who live on their income or draw pensions. That would certainly save a lot of money but the probability is that we will not do it.
“The second point of advice is to use utmost restraint, at least until the political atmosphere here in this country shall have improved, and scientific theories concerning heredity and race can no longer be abused for political purposes. Because, if the discussion about sterilization today is carried into the arena of political contest, then pretty soon we will no longer hear about the mentally sick but, instead, about Aryans and non-Aryans, about the blonde Germanic race and about inferior people with round skulls. That anything useful could come from that is certainly improbable; but science in general and genealogy and eugenics in particular would suffer an injury which could not easily be repaired again.”
I said at the outset of this statement that the Third Reich died of its own poison. This case is a striking demonstration not only of the tremendous degradation of German medical ethics which Nazi doctrine brought about, but of the undermining of the medical art and thwarting of the techniques which the defendants sought to employ. The Nazis have, to a certain extent, succeeded in convincing the peoples of the world that the Nazi system, although ruthless, was absolutely efficient; that although savage, it was completely scientific; that although entirely devoid of humanity, it was highly systematic—that “it got things done.” The evidence which this Tribunal will hear will explode this myth. The Nazi methods of investigation were inefficient and unscientific, and their techniques of research were unsystematic.
These experiments revealed nothing which civilized medicine can use. It was, indeed, ascertained that phenol or gasoline injected intravenously will kill a man inexpensively and within 60 seconds. This and a few other “advances” are all in the field of thanatology. There is no doubt that a number of these new methods may be useful to criminals everywhere and there is no doubt that they may be useful to a criminal state. Certain advance in destructive methodology we cannot deny, and indeed from Himmler’s standpoint this may well have been the principal objective.
Apart from these deadly fruits, the experiments were not only criminal but a scientific failure. It is indeed as if a just deity had shrouded the solutions which they attempted to reach with murderous means. The moral shortcomings of the defendants and the precipitous ease with which they decided to commit murder in quest of “scientific results”, dulled also that scientific hesitancy, that thorough thinking-through, that responsible weighing of every single step which alone can insure scientifically valid results. Even if they had merely been forced to pay as little as two dollars for human experimental subjects, such as American investigators may have to pay for a cat, they might have thought twice before wasting unnecessary numbers, and thought of simpler and better ways to solve their problems. The fact that these investigators had free and unrestricted access to human beings to be experimented upon misled them to the dangerous and fallacious conclusion that the results would thus be better and more quickly obtainable than if they had gone through the labor of preparation, thinking, and meticulous preinvestigation.
A particularly striking example is the sea-water experiment. I believe that three of the accused—Schaefer, Becker-Freyseng, and Beiglboeck—will today admit that this problem could have been solved simply and definitively within the space of one afternoon. On 20 May 1944 when these accused convened to discuss the problem, a thinking chemist could have solved it right in the presence of the assembly within the space of a few hours by the use of nothing more gruesome than a piece of jelly, a semi-permeable membrane and a salt solution, and the German Armed Forces would have had the answer on 21 May 1944. But what happened instead? The vast armies of the disenfranchised slaves were at the beck and call of this sinister assembly; and instead of thinking, they simply relied on their power over human beings rendered rightless by a criminal state and government. What time, effort, and staff did it take to get that machinery in motion! Letters had to be written, physicians, of whom dire shortage existed in the German Armed Forces whose soldiers went poorly attended, had to be taken out of hospital positions and dispatched hundreds of miles away to obtain the answer which should have been known in a few hours, but which thus did not become available to the German Armed Forces until after the completion of the gruesome show, and until 42 people had been subjected to the tortures of the damned, the very tortures which Greek mythology had reserved for Tantalus.
In short, this conspiracy was a ghastly failure as well as a hideous crime. The creeping paralysis of Nazi superstition spread through the German medical profession and, just as it destroyed character and morals, it dulled the mind.
Guilt for the oppressions and crimes of the Third Reich is widespread, but it is the guilt of the leaders that is deepest and most culpable. Who could German medicine look to to keep the profession true to its traditions and protect it from the ravaging inroads of Nazi pseudo-science? This was the supreme responsibility of the leaders of German medicine—men like Rostock and Rose and Schroeder and Handloser. That is why their guilt is greater than that of any of the other defendants in the dock. They are the men who utterly failed their country and their profession, who showed neither courage nor wisdom nor the vestiges of moral character. It is their failure, together with the failure of the leaders of Germany in other walks of life, that debauched Germany and led to her defeat. It is because of them and others like them that we all live in a stricken world.
[7] Tr. pp. 12-74.
[8] This chart is contained in Section VI, Organization of the German Medical Service, NO-645, Pros. Ex. 3, p. 91.
[9] Trial of the Major War Criminals, vol. I, p. 269, Nuremberg, 1947.
[10] Ibid., p. 271.
[11] Trial of the Major War Criminals, vol I, p. 247, Nuremberg, 1947.
[12] Ibid., p. 301.
Mr. McHaney: May it please the Tribunal:
Before any evidence is presented, it is my purpose to show the process whereby documents have been procured and processed in order to be presented in evidence by the United States. I shall also describe and illustrate the plan of presenting documents to be followed by the prosecution in this case.
When the United States Army entered German territory it had specialized military personnel whose duties were to capture and preserve enemy documents, records, and archives.
Such documents were assembled in temporary document centers. Later each Army established fixed document centers in the United States Zone of Occupation where their documents were assembled and the slow process of indexing and cataloging was begun. Certain of these document centers in the United States Zone of Occupation have since been closed and the documents assembled there sent to other document centers.
When the International Military Tribunal was set up, field teams under the direction of Major William H. Coogan were organized and sent out to the various document centers. Great masses of German documents and records were screened and examined. Those selected were sent to Nuernberg to be processed. These original documents were then given trial identification numbers in one of five series designated by the letters: “PS”, “L”, “R”, “C”, and “EC”, indicating the means of acquisition of the documents. Within each series, documents were listed numerically.
The prosecution in this case shall have occasion to introduce in evidence documents processed under the direction of Major Coogan. Some of these documents were introduced in evidence before the IMT and some were not. As to those which were, this Tribunal is required by Article XX of Ordinance No. 7 to take judicial notice thereof. However, in order to simplify the procedure, we will introduce photostatic copies of documents used in Case No. 1 before the IMT to which will be attached a certificate by Mr. Fred Niebergall, the Chief of our Document Control Branch, certifying that such document was introduced in evidence before the IMT and that the photostat is a true and correct copy thereof. Such documents have been and will be made available to defendants just as in the case of any other document.
As to those documents processed under the direction of Major Coogan which were not used in the case before the IMT, they are authenticated by the affidavit of Major Coogan dated 19 November 1945. This affidavit served as the basis of authentication of substantially all documents used by the Office of Chief of Counsel before the IMT. It was introduced in that trial as USA Exhibit 1. Since we will use certain documents processed for the IMT trial, I would now like to introduce as Prosecution Exhibit 1 the Coogan affidavit,[14] in order to authenticate such documents. This affidavit explains the manner in and means by which captured German documents were processed for use in war crimes trials. I shall not burden the court with reading it as it is substantially the same as the affidavit of Mr. Niebergall to which I shall come in a moment.
I have thus far explained the manner of authenticating documents to be used in this case which were processed under the direction of Major Coogan. I now come to the authentication of documents processed not for the IMT trial, but for subsequent trials such as this one. These documents are authenticated by the affidavit of Mr. Niebergall which I offer in evidence as Prosecution Exhibit 2. Since this affidavit explains the procedure of processing documents by the Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, I shall read it in full:
“I, Fred Niebergall, AGO, D-150636, of the Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, do hereby certify as follows:
1. I was appointed Chief of the Document Control Branch, Evidence Division, Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes (hereinafter referred to as ‘OCC’) on 2 October 1946.
2. I have served in the U. S. Army for more than 5 years, being discharged as a 1st Lieutenant, Infantry, on 29 October 1946. I am now a Reserve officer with the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the Army of the United States of America. Based upon my experience as a United States Army officer, I am familiar with the operation of the United States Army in connection with seizing and processing captured enemy documents. I served as Chief of Translations for OCC from 29 July 1945 until December 1945, when I was appointed liaison officer between Defense Counsel and Translation Division of OCC as assistant to the executive officer of the Translation Division. In my capacity as Chief of the Document Control Branch, Evidence Division, OCC, I am familiar with the processing, filing, translation, and photostating of documentary evidence for the United States Chief of Counsel.
3. As the Army overran German occupied territory and then Germany itself, certain specialized personnel seized enemy documents, records and archives. Such documents were assembled in temporary centers. Later fixed document centers were established in Germany and Austria where these documents were assembled and the slow process of indexing and cataloging was begun. Certain of these document centers have since been closed and the documents assembled there sent to other document centers.
4. In preparing for the trial before the International Military Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as ‘IMT’) a great number of original documents, photostats, and microfilms were collected at Nuernberg, Germany. Major Coogan’s affidavit of 19 November 1945 describes the procedures followed. Upon my appointment as Chief of the Document Control Branch, Evidence Division, OCC, I received custody, in the course of official business, of all these documents except the ones which were introduced into evidence in the IMT trial and are now in the IMT Document Room in Nuernberg. Same have been screened, processed, and registered in accordance with Major Coogan’s affidavit. The unregistered documents remaining have been screened, processed, and registered for use in trials before Military Tribunals substantially in the same way as described below.
5. In preparing for trials subsequent to the IMT trial personnel thoroughly conversant with the German language were given the task of searching for and selecting captured enemy documents which disclosed information relating to the prosecution of Axis war criminals. Lawyers and research analysts were placed on duty at various document centers and also dispatched on individual missions to obtain original documents or certified photostats thereof. The documents were screened by German speaking analysts to determine whether or not they might be valuable as evidence. Photostatic copies were then made of the original documents and the original documents returned to the files in the document centers. These photostatic copies were certified by the analysts to be true and correct copies of the original documents. German-speaking analysts either at the document center or in Nuernberg, then prepared a summary of the document with appropriate references to personalities involved, index headings, information as to the source of the document, and the importance of the documents to a particular division of OCC.
6. Next, the original document or certified photostatic copy was forwarded to the Document Control Branch, Evidence Division, OCC. Upon receipt of these documents, they were duly recorded and indexed and given identification numbers in one of six series designated by the letters ‘NO,’ ‘NI,’ ‘NM,’ ‘NOKW,’ ‘NG,’ and ‘NP,’ indicating the particular Division of OCC which might be most interested in the individual documents. Within each series documents were listed numerically.
7. In the case of the receipt of original documents, photostatic copies were made. Upon return from the photostat room, the original documents were placed in envelopes in fireproof safes in the document room. In the case of the receipt of certified photostatic copies of documents, the certified photostatic copies were treated in the same manner as original documents.
8. All original documents or certified photostatic copies treated as originals are now located in safes in the document room, where they will be secured until they are presented by the prosecution to a court during the progress of a trial.
9. Therefore, I certify in my official capacity as hereinabove stated, that all documentary evidence relied upon by OCC is in the same condition as when captured by military forces under the command of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces; that they have been translated by competent qualified translators; that all photostatic copies are true and correct copies of the originals, and that they have been correctly filed, numbered, and processed as above outlined.
[Signed] Fred Niebergall.”
The Niebergall affidavit is in substance the same as the Coogan affidavit which was accepted by the International Military Tribunal as sufficient authentication of documents used in Case No. 1. However, in addition to these affidavits, the prosecution in this case will attach to each document submitted in evidence, other than self-proving documents such as affidavits signed by the defendants, a certificate signed by an employee of the Evidence Division of the Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, reading, for example, as follows:
“I, Donald Spencer, of the Evidence Division of the Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, hereby certify that the attached document, consisting of one photostated page and entitled, ‘Letter from John Doe to Richard Rod, dated 19 June 1943,’ is the original of a document which was delivered to me in my above capacity, in the usual course of official business, as a true copy of a document found in German archives, records, and files captured by military forces under the command of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces.
“To the best of my knowledge, information, and belief, the original document is at the Berlin Document Center.”
So much for the authentication of documents to be presented in this trial. I turn now briefly to the distribution of documents which we will use. The prosecution made available to the Defendants’ Information Center approximately a week ago three photostatic copies of the great bulk of the documents which will be used in our case-in-chief. These documents are of course in German. In addition, the prosecution has prepared document books in both German and English which contain, for the most part, mimeographed copies of the documents, arranged substantially in the order in which they will be presented in this court. Each document book contains an index giving the document number, description, and page number. A space is also provided for writing in the index number.
Twelve official copies of the German document books will be filed in the Defendants’ Information Center at least 24 hours prior to the time that particular material will be introduced in court. In addition, defense counsel will receive seven so-called unofficial German document books, which will contain mimeographed copies prepared primarily for the German Press. Six official copies of the German document books will be presented to the Tribunal—one for each of the Justices on the bench and one for the Secretary General. Two of such document books will contain photostatic copies in order that the Tribunal may from time to time refer to the original. Document books will also be made available to the German interpreters and court reporters.
The English document books will contain certified translations of the documents in the German document books. The documents will be numbered and indexed identically in both the English and German versions. The Defendants’ Information Center will receive four copies of the English document books at the same time the corresponding German document book is delivered. A representative group of the defense attorneys have agreed that four of the English document books are sufficient to meet their needs.
The Tribunal will receive six English document books and sufficient copies will also be made available to the interpreters and court reporters. Copies of all documents introduced in evidence will thereafter be made available to the press.
The prosecution will sometimes have occasion to use documents which have just been discovered and are not in document books. In such cases we will try to have copies in the Defendants’ Information Center a reasonable time in advance of their use in court. Now, I must point out to your Honors, and I do so without any embarrassment, that there will surely be some instances during the course of this trial when the prosecution fails to comply with one or the other of the court’s rulings in view of the fact that few of our personnel here were able to obtain experience and training in the technicalities in the course of Case No. 1 before the International Military Tribunal, but be that as it may, we shall constantly endeavor to present our case as fairly, as clearly, and as expeditiously as is humanly possible.
The prosecution, when presenting a document in Court, will physically hand the original, or the certified photostatic copy serving as the original, to the clerk of the Tribunal, and give the document a prosecution exhibit number.
In the IMT trial, the usual practice, to which there were many exceptions, was that only those documents or portions of documents which had been read aloud in Court were considered to be in evidence and part of the record. Now this was due to the fact that the IMT trial was conducted in four languages and only through that method were translations in all four languages ordinarily available. However, the IMT ruled several times, for example on 17 December 1945, that documents which had been translated into all four languages and made available to defense counsel in the Defendants’ Information Center were admissible in evidence without being read in full.
The prosecution believed that, under the circumstances of this trial, which will be conducted in German and English only, and with all the prosecution’s documents translated into German, it will be both expeditious and fair to dispense with the reading in full of all documents or portions of documents. The prosecution will read some documents in full, particularly in the early stages of the trial, but will endeavor to expedite matters by summarizing documents when possible, or otherwise calling the attention of the Tribunal to such passages therein as are deemed important and relevant.
With respect to the order of trial, the prosecution intends to follow, to a large degree, the order in which the various experiments are set forth in the indictment. There will be some exceptions to that; for instance, we will present the sea-water experiments, the proof of sea-water experiments following the malaria experiments, which will be third in order, and in time we will move to the proof of reading the Lost gas experiments because of the overlapping of the testimony of certain witnesses. Insofar as possible, we will endeavor to present all of the evidence relating to a particular experiment at the same time. This will be impossible, of course, where the testimony of a witness overlaps several experiments.
[13] Tr. pp. 75-83.
[14] Trial of the Major War Criminals, vol. II, pp. 157-160, Nuremberg, 1947.
The opening statement of the prosecution (pp. 27-74) deals rather extensively with the organization of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht, the Medical Service of the SS, and the Civilian Health Service. The Ahnenerbe Society and the Institute for Military Scientific Research, which was set up within the Ahnenerbe, are also mentioned.
Evidence concerning the positions which the prosecution alleged the defendants held is contained in its document book number one. Selections from this document book are set forth on pages 81-91.
| Pros. | |||
| Doc. No. | Ex. No. | Description of Document | Page |
| NO-080 | 5 | Fuehrer Decree, 28 July 1942, concerning the Medical and Health Services. | 81 |
| NO-081 | 6 | Second Fuehrer Decree, 5 September 1943, concerning the Medical and Health Services. | 83 |
| NO-082 | 7 | Fuehrer Decree, 25 August 1944, concerning the appointment of a Reich Commissioner for Medical and Health Services. | 83 |
| NO-227 | 11 | Fuehrer Decree of 7 August 1944, concerning the reorganization of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht. | 84 |
| NO-303 | 32 | Table of Organization of the “Ahnenerbe” from the files of the Ahnenerbe Society. | 88 |
| NO-422 | 33 | Letter from Himmler to Sievers, 7 July 1942, concerning the establishment of an “Institute for Military Scientific Research” within the Ahnenerbe Society. | 89 |
| NO-894 | 38 | Fuehrer Decree, 9 June 1942, concerning the Reich Research Council. | 90 |
| NO-645 | 3 | Table of organization of the Reich Commissioner for Health and Medical Services, drawn by the defendant Karl Brandt. | 91 |
The utilization of personnel and material in the field of medical and health matters demands a coordinated and planned direction. Therefore, I order the following:
1. For the Wehrmacht I commission the Medical Inspector of the Army, in addition to his present duties, with the coordination of all tasks common to the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht, the Waffen SS, and the organizations and units subordinate or attached to the Wehrmacht, as Chief of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht.
The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht is to represent the Wehrmacht before the civilian authorities in all common medical problems arising in the various branches of the Wehrmacht, the Waffen SS, and organizations and units subordinate or attached to the Wehrmacht, and will protect the interests of the Wehrmacht in all medical measures taken by the civilian authorities.
For the purpose of coordinated treatment of these problems, a medical officer of the Navy and a medical officer of the Luftwaffe will be assigned to work under him, the latter in the capacity of chief of staff. Fundamental problems pertaining to the Medical Service of the Waffen SS will be worked out in agreement with the Medical Inspectorate of the Waffen SS.
2. In the field of the Civilian Health Service, the State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior and Reich Chief for Public Health, Dr. Conti, is responsible for coordinated measures. For this purpose he has at his disposal the competent departments of the highest Reich authorities and their subordinate offices.
3. I empower Prof. Dr. Karl Brandt, subordinate only to me personally and receiving his instructions directly from me, 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.
4. My plenipotentiary for health and medical services is to be kept informed about the fundamental events in the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht and in the Civilian Health Service. He is authorized to intervene in a responsible manner.
Fuehrer Headquarters, 28 July 1942
The Fuehrer
Adolf Hitler
The Chief of the OKW
Keitel
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery
Dr. Lammers
In amplification of my decree concerning the Medical and Health Services of 28 July 1942 (RGBL. I, p. 515) I order:
The Plenipotentiary for the Medical and Health Services, General Commissioner Professor Dr. med. Brandt is charged with centrally coordinating and directing the problems and activities of the entire Medical and Health Services 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 his spheres of action.
Fuehrer Headquarters, 5 September 1943
The Fuehrer
Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery
Dr. Lammers
I hereby appoint the General Commissioner for Medical and Health matters, Professor Dr. Brandt, Reich Commissioner for Sanitation and Health [Reich Commissioner for Medical and Health Services] as well, for the duration of this war. In this capacity his office ranks as highest Reich Authority.
The Reich Commissioner for Medical and Health Services 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.
Fuehrer Headquarters, 25 August 1944
The Fuehrer
Adolf Hitler
The Reich Minister and Chief of the Reich Chancellery
Dr. Lammers
The Head of the Party Chancellery
M. Bormann
The Chief of the OKW
Keitel
Copy
The Fuehrer
and
Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht
Fuehrer Headquarters, 7 August 1944
Chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht [Chief OKW]
Ops. Staff of the Wehrmacht (WFSt)
Org. (I) No. 5008/44g
To obtain a better concentration of powers in the field of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht, I order in extension of my decree of 28 July 1942:
1. The Chief of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht will direct, as far as the special field is concerned, the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht and the organizations and services installed within the framework of the Wehrmacht. He is authorized to issue orders, within the special field of his jurisdiction.
2. I approve the service regulation for the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht issued by the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht. It will replace the one of 28 July 1942, which was in effect up to now.
3. The personal union of the Chief of Medical Services of the Wehrmacht and the Chief of the Medical Service of the Army/Army Physician [Heeressanitaetsinspekteur/Heeresarzt] is herewith cancelled as of September 1944.
[Signed] Adolf Hitler
The Chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht
Reference No. 5008/44 secret
Fuehrer Headquarters, 7 August 1944
1. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht will be directly under the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht. He will have the position of an office chief [Amtschef] and the disciplinary power according to paragraph 18 of the Wehrmacht Regulation for Disciplinary Action (WDSTO) and the other powers of a Commanding General.
2. He has authority according to No. 1 of the Fuehrer Decree over the following:
a. The Chief of the Army Medical Service, the Chief of the Navy Medical Service, the Chief of the Medical Service of the Luftwaffe, the Chief of the Medical Service of the Waffen SS, and the medical chiefs of the organizations and services employed within the framework of the Wehrmacht while they are acting in the area of command of the Wehrmacht.
b. All scientific medical institutes, academies, and other medical institutions of the services of the Wehrmacht and of the Waffen SS.
1. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht is the adviser of the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht in all questions concerning the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht and of its health guidance,
2. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht will direct all the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht[16] as far as the special field is concerned, with regard for the military instructions of the Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces and the general rules of the Fuehrer’s Commissioner General for the Medical and Health Departments.
[page 2 of original]
3. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht will inform the Fuehrer’s Commissioner General about basic events in the field of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht.
He will represent the Wehrmacht to the civilian authorities in all mutual medical affairs and he will protect their interests in connection with the health measures of the civilian administrative authorities.
He will represent the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht to the medical services of foreign powers.
4. Other duties of the Chief of the Medical Service of the Wehrmacht will be:
a. In the medical-scientific field:
Uniform measures in the field of health guidance, research and the combating of epidemics, and all medical measures which require a uniform ruling within the Wehrmacht. Evaluation of medical experiences.
Medical matters of the recruiting system, of welfare and maintenance and of prisoners of war.
The presidency of the Scientific Senate of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht.
b. In the organization and training system:
Uniform and planned direction of the allocation of persons and material.
Unification of the tables of organization and the tables of equipment of the medical troops and the equal provision of the forces with medical personnel.[17]
Direction of a uniform development of the medical equipment.[A1]
Unification in the sphere of hospital matters, balanced planning, and allocation of hospitals.
Direction of the distribution of wounded and sick soldiers to the hospital installations of the Wehrmacht.
Direction of the voluntary sick-nursing within the Wehrmacht.
Assimilation of the organization and of the training of the new generation of medical officers. Balancing of the proportion according to the requirements of the services. Supervision of the ideological and political training of the new generation of medical officers during the course of their studies in cooperation with the Reich Student Leader. Training and advanced training of medical officers.
Direction of a uniform training of the medical subaltern personnel.[A2]
c. In the field of matériel:
Centralized procurement and direction of fresh supplies of medical matériel of all kinds for the Wehrmacht.
d. General and fundamental pharmaceutical matters.
1. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht is entitled to request from the services all records necessary for the performance of his assignments.
2. He is entitled to express his view on the appointment of medical officers or medical leaders in the Wehrmacht and also in the units of the Waffen SS which are subordinated to the Wehrmacht—if the position is that of a Generalarzt or a higher position. Before filling these positions, his opinion has to be heard.
3. He is entitled to inspect the medical service, the medical units, the medical troops and installations of the Wehrmacht after having informed the high command of the service concerned or the headquarters of the units concerned. He is entitled to give orders on the spot in the field of medical service, if these are necessary for the removal of emergencies and do not disagree with fundamental orders of the services. He has to inform the high commands of the services concerned about the results of the inspections and about the issued orders.
4. Fundamental changes in the organization of the medical service, in the subordination of medical officers, noncommissioned officers, and enlisted men and of the officials and employees of the medical service require the consent of the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht.
5. Deputy of the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht shall be the senior Medical Inspector or the Medical Chief of one of the services. The Chief of Staff will act as his deputy for routine duties.
6. The Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht issues orders necessary for the performance of his assignments under the name:
“Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht, Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht.”
As far as necessary the services will execute his orders and requests through army channels.
7. For the Chief of the Medical Services of the Wehrmacht the new table of organization of 1 April 1944 is taking effect.
The necessary personnel are to be taken from the services, etc., above all from their medical inspectorates or offices.
[Signed] Keitel