Herta Oberheuser
- Nazi Medical Experiments of German Nazi Doctor in Ravensbrück Concentration Camp

25 March 2022

Category: Nazi Doctors

Herta Oberheuser - Nazi Medical Experiments of German Nazi Doctor in Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. Herta Oberheuser was born on May 15, 1911 in Cologne, then German Empire. She completed her studies in 1936 and received her doctorate 1 year later in 1937 when she also became a member of the Nazi party. Herta Oberheuser worked in Ravensbrück concentration camp and with her colleague Fritz Fischer they became the assistants of Karl Gebhardt, who had been sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp to conduct medical experiments on inmates in treating infections with sulfonamide which was an early antibiotic.

Nuremberg Doctors' trial

After the war, these unethical and inhumane medical experiments were uncovered, and Herta Oberheuser finally faced justice. She was arrested and tried at the Nuremberg Doctors' trial where she was the only woman charged with crimes against humanity. In summer 1947 a tribunal sentenced Herta Oberheuser to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity. Unlike Karl Gebhardt, she avoided death sentence and, at the end, spent only a few years in prison until she was released in 1952. She died in January 1978 at the age of 66. There were no tears shed for Herta Oberheuser.

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