Prisoners were forced into deadly tests for the sole purpose of providing research information for the future technology and training of the Nazi military. Instead of using SS soldiers to test these unorthodox trial methods, prisoners were sent out in their stead, as guinea pigs with no voice, no freedom. Experiments were performed on the basis of high altitudes, extreme temperatures, disease, infection, genetics, battle wounds, and fertility. .
Perhaps the most appalling of all experiments were those done with apparently no medical benefit. Such experiments were those with the likes of battle wound tests. The SS doctors would ingest Russian prisoners of war with deadly gases and chemicals, such as mustard gas and cyanide. Some prisoners were shot, stabbed, or exposed to live grenades and mutilated by their shrapnel. Limbs were amputated and major arteries were severed to induce a true battlefield atmosphere. Doctors would then go to work to treat the wounds with experimental methods.
Some prisoners were taken to a compression chamber and equipped with normal flying gear. SS scientists and doctors stood by as the air pressure simulation slowly rose. It got so high at one point that it simulated 13 miles above sea level. All men in the experiment were dead by 13 miles. Studies showed that at 4 miles pilots began to lose some of their thinking abilities. At eight they begin to lose their ability to breathe, and at about 10 miles, oxygen begins to fill their brains. Shortly after experimentation, dead prisoners were taken to laboratories and dissected. Their brains were opened and it was determined there were air bubbles in their brains.
The freezing experiments performed by the SS doctors were just as disturbing as any other experiment. Men were strapped down to stretchers and lowered in large tubs of ice water or stuck outside in negative-degree weather. They were left until their body was at its limit, and then brought back inside.
