Hermann Becker-Freyseng (18 July 1910 – 27 August 1961) was a German

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and consultant for

aviation medicine Aviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a preventive or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or astronauts. The specialty strives to treat or prevent conditions to which aircr ...

with the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

during the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

era. He was recognised as a leading specialist in aviation medicine.

Louis Leo Snyder Louis Leo Snyder (4 July 1907 – 25 November 1993) was an American scholar, who witnessed first hand the Nazism, Nazi Nuremberg Rally, mass rallies held from 1923 on in Germany; and wrote about them from New York in his ''Hitlerism: The Iron Fist ...

, ''Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'', Ware: Wordsworth, 1998, p. 69 Becker-Freyseng was one of those convicted at the

Doctors' Trial The Doctors' Trial (officially ''United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al.'') was the first of 12 trials for war crimes of high-ranking German officials and industrialists that the United States authorities held in their occupation zone ...

Early research

Becker-Freyseng graduated as a physician from the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

in 1935 although his first notable research involvement did not come along until three years later when he worked with Hans-Georg Clamman on experiments on the effects of pure oxygen.

Work with the Nazis

Becker-Freyseng was initially recruited by

Hubertus Strughold Hubertus Strughold (June 15, 1898 – September 25, 1986) was a German-born physiologist and prominent medical researcher. Beginning in 1935 he served as chief of aeromedical research for Hermann Göring's Ministry of Aviation, holding this posi ...

to take part in the

Nazi human experimentation Nazi human experimentation was a series of human experimentation, medical experiments on large numbers of prisoners, including children, by Nazi Germany in its Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps in the early to mid 1940s, during Wo ...

programme that he oversaw. Becker-Freyseng's particular area of experimentation was low-pressure-chamber research, in which he worked alongside Ulrich Luft, Otto Gauer and Erich Opitz. The Department for Aviation Medicine was established in 1936 with Becker-Freyseng initially just attached before he was promoted to co-ordinator. Unlike some of his colleagues in military medical research, he was a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. He also held the rank of captain in the Medical Service. The various experiments undertaken either by Becker-Freyseng or under his supervision during the course of his work resulted in a number of fatalities. In particular, the high altitude experiments performed on inmates of

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

by Becker-Freyseng, Siegfried Ruff and Hans-Wolfgang Romberg claimed a number of lives. One of the most well-known was that detailed in a paper published by him and Konrad Schäfer entitled "Thirst and Thirst Quenching in Emergency Situations at Sea". For the experiments, the academics had personally asked

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

for 40 healthy camp inmates who were then forced to drink

salt water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

or in some cases had it injected into their veins. Half the subjects were then given a drug called berkatit whilst all were subjected to an invasive

liver biopsy Liver biopsy is the biopsy (removal of a small sample of tissue) from the liver. It is a medical test that is done to aid diagnosis of liver disease, to assess the severity of known liver disease, and to monitor the progress of treatment. Medica ...

without

anaesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

. All subjects died, including those given the berkatit, which proved toxic.

Trial and work with the USA

Indicted at the Doctors' Trial, he was found guilty of charges 2 and 3 ( war crimes and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

). He was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. However, in 1946, Becker-Freyseng's name was amongst a list of twenty drawn up by

Harry George Armstrong Harry George Armstrong (February 17, 1899 – February 5, 1983) was a major general in the United States Air Force, a physician, and an airman. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of aviation medicine. The "Armstrong limit", the alti ...

who were to be brought to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to assist in the development of American

space medicine Space medicine is the practice of medicine on astronauts in outer space whereas astronautical hygiene is the application of science and technology to the prevention or control of exposure to the hazards that may cause astronaut ill health. Both ...

. Along with

Kurt Blome Kurt Blome (31 January 1894 – 10 October 1969) was a high-ranking Nazi scientist before and during World War II. He was the Deputy Reich Health Leader (Reichsgesundheitsführer) and Plenipotentiary for Cancer Research in the Reich Research Co ...

, Siegfried Ruff and Konrad Schäfer, he was taken to the US and put to work on projects related to the

space race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

. Given responsibility for collecting and publishing the research undertaken by him and his colleagues, the resulting book, ''German Aviation Medicine: World War II'', appeared just after Becker-Freyseng began his prison sentence. In 1951, Becker-Freyseng's sentence was commuted to 10 years, and he was released from prison in 1952. Becker-Freyseng was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

in 1960 and died from the condition the following year.

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was concer ...

: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945''. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 35

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker-Freyseng, Hermann 1910 births 1961 deaths People from Ludwigshafen People from the Palatinate (region) Physicians in the Nazi Party Physicians from North Rhine-Westphalia Humboldt University of Berlin alumni People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals German people convicted of crimes against humanity Neurological disease deaths in Germany Deaths from multiple sclerosis German people convicted of war crimes