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The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How Just? How Fair? How Important?

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The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How Just? How Fair? How Important? Running Head: The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How just? How fair? How important? The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How just? How fair? How important? Kathleen Hossler University of Florida 2017 The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How just? How fair? How important? Hossler, K. 2017 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 Statement of Purpose .................................................................................................................................. 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 7 Literature Review ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Policy Implication ..................................................................................................................................... 33 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 35 References .................................................................................................................................................. 37 Appendix A ................................................................................................................................................ 40 Appendix B ................................................................................................................................................ 42 Appendix C ................................................................................................................................................ 43 Appendix D ................................................................................................................................................ 44 Appendix E ................................................................................................................................................ 45 2 The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How just? How fair? How important? Hossler, K. 2017 Abstract The Nuremberg Trials have been a point of contention over the years regarding their justness, fairness, and importance. Subsequent Nuremberg trial, United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al., also known as the Nuremberg Medical Trial or Doctors’ Trial, will provide insight into the procedural shortcomings and overall value of the trial. To measure the trial’s justness, fairness, and importance, this article will look into the tribunal itself (including the medical experiments), retroactive law and victor’s justice, the creation and function of law, natural law theory, Judge Harold L. Sebring’s Personal Papers Regarding the Nuremberg Medical Trial, and the Nuremberg Code. This article will delve into what made the trial unfair through criticisms such as retroactive law and victor’s justice. Then, the overarching need for a trial will be made clear through the natural theory of law as its philosophy demanded a trial and hence, justice. Judge Harold Sebring’s personal notes will also be highlighted as they give a first-hand look into the complexities of the tribunal. While United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al. does have its flaws, the overall importance and underlying justness of the tribunal is determined and substantiated. 3 The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How just? How fair? How important? Hossler, K. 2017 Statement of Purpose A major purpose of this thesis is to review the atrocities of Nazi physicians and administrators under the Nazi regime and analyze how just, how fair, and how important this tribunal was. This paper will cover the trial itself, the criticisms of retroactive law and victor’s justice, the creation and function of law, the theory of natural law, Judge Harold L. Sebring’s Personal Papers Regarding the Nuremberg Medical Trial, and the Nuremberg Code. Reviewing the Nuremberg Medical Trial with all its components will help in understanding the tribunal in order to measure its justness, fairness, and importance. United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al. placed Nazi medical experiments on trial for the whole world to see. Examining the unethical research experiments carried out on human prisoners without their consent will help in recognizing the necessity and significance of the trial. To understand the gravity of the crimes, this paper will look into the indictments that the defendants were charged with as well as the medical experiments the Nazis conducted. Then, a synopsis of the defense strategy will provide legal insight into the fairness of the tribunal through the defendants’ accusations of retroactive law and victor’s justice. Meanwhile, an investigation of the prosecution strategy will help in understanding how the United States pursued justice and why the Nazis had to be put on trial. Through these two adversarial strategies, the strengths and faults of the trial will be recognized and examined. Ultimately, the goal of this introduction is to present an overview of the basics of the trial so that one can adequately measure the tribunal’s justness, fairness, and importance and provide the setting for Judge Harold Sebring’s personal judicial notes. The purpose of the literature review is to delve deeper into the opposition towards retroactive law and victor’s justice through the analysis of law itself and most importantly, Judge 4 The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How just? How fair? How important? Hossler, K. 2017 Harold L. Sebring’s Personal Papers Regarding the Nuremberg Medical Trial. The creation and function of law will be explored to gain a better understanding of how the trial was conducted and how the trial was just. Then, the theory of natural law will provide insight into the United States’ reasoning for a subsequent Nuremberg Trial. Meanwhile, Judge Harold Sebring’s personal judicial notes will be highlighted with the intention of gaining a first-hand look at the tribunal and the thought process behind one of the sitting judges, namely Judge Harold Sebring. This review will then culminate into a measurement of the fairness and justness of United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al. Last, the policy implication through the Nuremberg Code will illustrate the impact that the Nuremberg Medical Trial has left on international law and how the tribunal set precedent for ethics in medical research. Examining United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al. along with the complications of retroactive law and victor’s justice is a major undertaking. Given the enormity of the tribunal, it is imperative to note that the subsequent analysis should not be regarded as a complete review of the literature on this subject. It should also be noted that as an undergraduate student, I do not have any formal training regarding the studies or application of the law. Furthermore, the history of the Holocaust and its implications barely scratch the surface within this study due to the subject’s breadth. A significant limitation of this review is the inability to delve into every facet of the tribunal. For instance, the formation of the trial through treaties and charters together with pre-trial investigations that produced the evidence for a trial to be proposed are not heavily explored due to the necessity of honing in on the highlights of this paper’s argument. Consequently, while all four indictments will be summarized, only two will be prominently featured due to their direct link with the medical experiments and as in Judge Harold Sebring’s case and also with this thesis, time will not allow me to describe these 5 The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How just? How fair? How important? Hossler, K. 2017 experiments at length, with its evidentiary documents and witness statements. Moreover, an in depth psychological analysis of the defendants’ mentalities is not conducted due to the subject’s own complexities in which a thesis of its own could be achieved. While these limitations narrowed the focus of the thesis, this paper nonetheless is an opportunity for future researchers to expand on or take in a new direction. The objective of this thesis is to highlight the significance of United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al. criticisms and all. The retroactive law and victor’s justice defense sheds light on the shortcomings of the tribunal which in turn helps measure its fairness. Then, the theory of natural law and Judge Harold L. Sebring’s Personal Papers Regarding the Nuremberg Medical Trial prove the immense importance of holding a tribunal and bringing the Nazi medical doctors and administrators to justice. After reviewing the tribunal with all of its components, it can be argued that United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al. was not legally fair by procedural standards but it was just and is important due to the tribunal being morally right. Because of the tribunal’s moral component, the need to have a trial outweighed the aspects deemed unfair by the defendants. Overall, this thesis will hopefully shed light on the complexities of the law and inspire future research to keep the history of World War II, the Nuremberg Trials, and the Holocaust alive and relevant. 6 The Nuremberg Medical Trial – How just? How fair? How important? Hossler, K. 2017 Introduction The first “special trial” of a series of US military tribunals in Nuremberg, Germany
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