Horst Schumann (1 May 1906 – 5 May 1983) was an SS-Sturmbannführer (major) and medical doctor who conducted sterilization and castration experiments at Auschwitz and was particularly interested in the mass sterilization of Jews by means of X-rays.
Schumann was born on 1 May 1906 in Halle an der Saale. His father, Paul Schumann, was also a doctor. Schumann entered the Nazi party in 1930 and joined the Sturmabteilung in 1932.[citation needed] In 1933, he received his medical degree after producing a thesis entitled "Frage der Jodresorption und der therapeutischen Wirkung sog. Jodbäder" ("The Question of Iodine Absorption and the Therapeutic Effects of so-called Iodine Baths"). He started his career as an assistant doctor in the Surgical Clinic of the clinic of Halle University.[citation needed]
Nazi doctor
From 1934, Schumann was employed in the Public Health Office in Halle. He was recruited to the air force as a physician in 1939. He joined the Aktion T4 Euthanasia program in early October 1939, after a meeting with Dr. Viktor Brack in Hitler's chancellery.[citation needed] In January 1940, Schumann became head of the Grafeneck euthanasia centre in Württemberg, where mentally ill people were gassed with carbon monoxide in the first gas chamber. In the early summer of 1940, he was ordered to the Sonnenstein Euthanasia Centre. Schumann also belonged to a commission of doctors called "Action 14f13", who transferred weak and sick prisoners from Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Flossenbürg, Gross-Rosen, Mauthausen, Neuengamme and Niederhangen concentration camps to the euthanasia killing centers.[citation needed]
Auschwitz
On 28 July 1941, Schumann arrived in Auschwitz. He worked at Block 30 in the women's hospital, where he set up an X-ray station in 1942. Here men and women were forcibly sterilized by being positioned repeatedly for several minutes between two X-ray machines, the rays aiming at their sexual organs. Most subjects died after great suffering, or were gassed immediately because the radiation burns from which they suffered rendered them unfit for work. Schumann "...chose his test persons himself. They were always young, healthy, good-looking Jewish men, women and girls who looked like old people afterwards.[citation needed] The parts of the body that were treated with the rays experienced severe radiation burns and suppuration (i.e. discharge of pus). Men's testicles and women's ovaries were then surgically removed and sent to Breslau for histopathological examination.[1] Part of Schumann's control tests, to check whether the radiation had worked, was the so-called semen check: a stick covered with a rubber hose was inserted into the rectum of the victim and the glands stimulated until ejaculation occurred so that the ejaculate could be tested for sperm..."[2] Both kinds of samples were sent to the University of Breslau (today Wrocław) for examination.
Remains of the building at Auschwitz II (Birkenau) where Schumann committed his medical atrocities
Schumann selected some of the women in Block 10 in the main camp of Auschwitz. In this Block Jewish women had been imprisoned for human experiments. To control the radiation on women, prisoner doctors (Dr. Maximilian Samuel, Dr. Wladislaw Dering) had to remove an ovary.[3]
Schumann also performed typhus experiments by injecting people with blood from typhus patients and then attempting to cure the newly infected subjects. Schumann left Auschwitz in September 1944 and was appointed to the Sonnenstein Clinic in Saxony which had earlier been converted into a military hospital.[citation needed]
Medical career after the war
While serving as a military doctor on the Western Front, he was captured by the Americans in January 1945. He was released from captivity in October 1945. In April 1946, he began to work as a sports doctor for the city of Gladbeck. An application for a license for a hunting gun led to his identity being exposed in 1951 so the GDR issued an arrest warrant. According to his own statement, Schumann served as a ship's doctor for three years and because he did not have a German passport, he applied for one in Japan in 1954 and received it under his own name. Schumann then fled, first to Egypt and eventually settled in Khartoum in the Sudan as head of a hospital. He was forced to flee from Sudan in 1962 after being recognized by an Auschwitz survivor. Then he went to Ghana, where he received the protection of the head of state, Kwame Nkrumah, until the dictator was overthrown.[4]
Imprisonment and death
In 1966, Schumann was extradited from Ghana to West Germany where the trial against him was opened in Frankfurt on 23 September 1970. Charged with killing 30,000 Jews, Schumann admitted to killing as many as 80,000 Jews, saying "I have no numbers".[4][5] However, Schumann was released from prison on 29 July 1972 due to his heart condition and generally deteriorating health. He died on 5 May 1983, 11 years after he had been released. As Robert Jay Lifton has observed "...Schumann has great importance for us because of what he did – intense involvement in both direct medical killing and unusually brutal Auschwitz experiments – and what he was – an ordinary, but highly Nazified man and doctor..."[6]
Footnotes
^"Horst Schumann". Auschwitz-Birkenau: Memorial and Museum. 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Robert Jay Lifton, (1986) The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide. New York: Basic Books.
Klee, Ernst. "Turning the tap on was no big deal", (1990) - The gassing doctors during the Nazi period and afterwards, Dachau Review 2, History of Nazi Concentration Camps, Studies, Reports, Documents, Volume 2. edited by Wolfgang Benz and Barbara Distel, published for the Comite International de Dachau, Brussels. Verlag Dachauer Hefte, Alte Roemerstrasse 75, 8060 Dachau.
Klodzinski, Stanislaw: "Sterilisation und Kastration durch Röntgenstrahlen im Auschwitz-Lager. Verbrechen Horst Schumann" in Internationales Auschwitz-Komitee (Hrsg.) "Unmenschliche Medizin" Anthologie, Bd. 1, Teil 2, Warschau 1969.
Mitscherlich, Alexander/Mielke, Fred: "Medizin ohne Menschlichkeit", Frankfurt a. M. 1978, ISBN3-596-22003-3
Lang, Hans-Joachim: Die Frauen von Block 10. Medizinische Experimente in Auschwitz. Hamburg 2011. ISBN978-3-455-50222-0.
External links
Biography of Dr. Horst Schumann
"Medical Experiments at Auschwitz"
January 07, 2023
horst, schumann, 1906, 1983, sturmbannführer, major, medical, doctor, conducted, sterilization, castration, experiments, auschwitz, particularly, interested, mass, sterilization, jews, means, rays, born, 1906, 1906halle, saale, kingdom, prussiadied5, 1983, 198. Horst Schumann 1 May 1906 5 May 1983 was an SS Sturmbannfuhrer major and medical doctor who conducted sterilization and castration experiments at Auschwitz and was particularly interested in the mass sterilization of Jews by means of X rays Horst SchumannHorst SchumannBorn 1906 05 01 1 May 1906Halle an der Saale Kingdom of PrussiaDied5 May 1983 1983 05 05 aged 77 Frankfurt am Main West GermanyAllegiance Nazi GermanyService wbr branch Luftwaffe SchutzstaffelYears of service1939 1945RankSS Sturmbannfuhrer Major UnitAuschwitz Contents 1 Early life 2 Nazi doctor 3 Auschwitz 4 Medical career after the war 5 Imprisonment and death 6 Footnotes 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksEarly life EditSchumann was born on 1 May 1906 in Halle an der Saale His father Paul Schumann was also a doctor Schumann entered the Nazi party in 1930 and joined the Sturmabteilung in 1932 citation needed In 1933 he received his medical degree after producing a thesis entitled Frage der Jodresorption und der therapeutischen Wirkung sog Jodbader The Question of Iodine Absorption and the Therapeutic Effects of so called Iodine Baths He started his career as an assistant doctor in the Surgical Clinic of the clinic of Halle University citation needed Nazi doctor EditFrom 1934 Schumann was employed in the Public Health Office in Halle He was recruited to the air force as a physician in 1939 He joined the Aktion T4 Euthanasia program in early October 1939 after a meeting with Dr Viktor Brack in Hitler s chancellery citation needed In January 1940 Schumann became head of the Grafeneck euthanasia centre in Wurttemberg where mentally ill people were gassed with carbon monoxide in the first gas chamber In the early summer of 1940 he was ordered to the Sonnenstein Euthanasia Centre Schumann also belonged to a commission of doctors called Action 14f13 who transferred weak and sick prisoners from Auschwitz Buchenwald Dachau Flossenburg Gross Rosen Mauthausen Neuengamme and Niederhangen concentration camps to the euthanasia killing centers citation needed Auschwitz EditOn 28 July 1941 Schumann arrived in Auschwitz He worked at Block 30 in the women s hospital where he set up an X ray station in 1942 Here men and women were forcibly sterilized by being positioned repeatedly for several minutes between two X ray machines the rays aiming at their sexual organs Most subjects died after great suffering or were gassed immediately because the radiation burns from which they suffered rendered them unfit for work Schumann chose his test persons himself They were always young healthy good looking Jewish men women and girls who looked like old people afterwards citation needed The parts of the body that were treated with the rays experienced severe radiation burns and suppuration i e discharge of pus Men s testicles and women s ovaries were then surgically removed and sent to Breslau for histopathological examination 1 Part of Schumann s control tests to check whether the radiation had worked was the so called semen check a stick covered with a rubber hose was inserted into the rectum of the victim and the glands stimulated until ejaculation occurred so that the ejaculate could be tested for sperm 2 Both kinds of samples were sent to the University of Breslau today Wroclaw for examination Remains of the building at Auschwitz II Birkenau where Schumann committed his medical atrocities Schumann selected some of the women in Block 10 in the main camp of Auschwitz In this Block Jewish women had been imprisoned for human experiments To control the radiation on women prisoner doctors Dr Maximilian Samuel Dr Wladislaw Dering had to remove an ovary 3 Schumann also performed typhus experiments by injecting people with blood from typhus patients and then attempting to cure the newly infected subjects Schumann left Auschwitz in September 1944 and was appointed to the Sonnenstein Clinic in Saxony which had earlier been converted into a military hospital citation needed Medical career after the war EditWhile serving as a military doctor on the Western Front he was captured by the Americans in January 1945 He was released from captivity in October 1945 In April 1946 he began to work as a sports doctor for the city of Gladbeck An application for a license for a hunting gun led to his identity being exposed in 1951 so the GDR issued an arrest warrant According to his own statement Schumann served as a ship s doctor for three years and because he did not have a German passport he applied for one in Japan in 1954 and received it under his own name Schumann then fled first to Egypt and eventually settled in Khartoum in the Sudan as head of a hospital He was forced to flee from Sudan in 1962 after being recognized by an Auschwitz survivor Then he went to Ghana where he received the protection of the head of state Kwame Nkrumah until the dictator was overthrown 4 Imprisonment and death EditIn 1966 Schumann was extradited from Ghana to West Germany where the trial against him was opened in Frankfurt on 23 September 1970 Charged with killing 30 000 Jews Schumann admitted to killing as many as 80 000 Jews saying I have no numbers 4 5 However Schumann was released from prison on 29 July 1972 due to his heart condition and generally deteriorating health He died on 5 May 1983 11 years after he had been released As Robert Jay Lifton has observed Schumann has great importance for us because of what he did intense involvement in both direct medical killing and unusually brutal Auschwitz experiments and what he was an ordinary but highly Nazified man and doctor 6 Footnotes Edit Horst Schumann Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial and Museum 2020 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Klee 53 Lang 132 143 a b Nazi Doctor in Ghana Admits Sterilizing 30 000 Jews Killed 80 000 28 October 1966 Ghana Court Orders Extradition of Auschwitz Doctor to W Germany 30 August 1966 Lipton p 284See also EditThe Holocaust Nazi human experimentation Josef Mengele Carl Clauberg Eduard WirthsReferences EditRobert Jay Lifton 1986 The Nazi Doctors Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide New York Basic Books Klee Ernst Turning the tap on was no big deal 1990 The gassing doctors during the Nazi period and afterwards Dachau Review 2 History of Nazi Concentration Camps Studies Reports Documents Volume 2 edited by Wolfgang Benz and Barbara Distel published for the Comite International de Dachau Brussels Verlag Dachauer Hefte Alte Roemerstrasse 75 8060 Dachau Klodzinski Stanislaw Sterilisation und Kastration durch Rontgenstrahlen im Auschwitz Lager Verbrechen Horst Schumann in Internationales Auschwitz Komitee Hrsg Unmenschliche Medizin Anthologie Bd 1 Teil 2 Warschau 1969 Mitscherlich Alexander Mielke Fred Medizin ohne Menschlichkeit Frankfurt a M 1978 ISBN 3 596 22003 3 Lang Hans Joachim Die Frauen von Block 10 Medizinische Experimente in Auschwitz Hamburg 2011 ISBN 978 3 455 50222 0 External links EditBiography of Dr Horst Schumann Medical Experiments at Auschwitz Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Horst Schumann amp oldid 1116878155, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
