EXPANDING THE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION WITH A SET OF SKELETONS

August Hirt conducted “research” aimed at proving the supremacy of Nordic features. Thanks to the permit he obtained from Heinrich Himmler midway through 1943, Hirt sent his anthropologist assistants to Auschwitz. They were Bruno Beger (associate of the Military Scientific and Research Institute of the Ahnenerbe Foundation) and Hans Fleischhacker who were initially given the task of selecting Jewish inmates representing various anatomic features. Initially 115 inmates were chosen: 79 Jews, 2 Poles, 4 Asians – probably soviet prisoners of war – and 30 Jewish women. There were all sent to medical examinations, and finally 87 people (57 men and 30 women) were transferred to Natzweiler-Struthof camp. They were all murdered in a gas chamber immediately on arrival, and their bodies were delivered to August Hirt as the material for the planned skeleton collection. Due to the changing situation on the front, the bodies lay unpreserved for over a year. In September 1944 the hacked bodies were found by the Allied troops in the charnel house of the Institute of Anatomy in Strasbourg.

Portrait of a middle-aged man. Dressed in a suit, a tie and a shirt. Gazing to the left side. Pursed lips. Focused expression.

Source: A-BSMA

August Hirt (1898-1945)

Professor of medical sciences, director of the Institute of Anatomy at the Reich University of Strasbourg, member of NSDAP and Allgemeine SS. He was the mind behind the creation of a collection of skeletons for studying differences between races. After the end of the war, he was hiding in Germany until he committed suicide in June 1945.

Source: A-BSMA

A letter from Wolfram Sievers, General Secretary of the Ahnenerbe Association, to Karl Brandt, Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation concerning 150 skeletons of Jewish inmates from Auschwitz concentration camp.

TRANSLATION:

Berlin, November 2, 1942

General Secretary

The Ancestral Heritage Society

SS-Obersturmbannführer Dr. Brandt Secret!

BERLIN

Dear Colleague Brandt!

As you are aware, the Reichsführer SS has decreed in his time that SS-Hauptsturmführer Prof. Dr. Hirt should obtain everything that he needs for his research. For concrete anthropological research – as I have already informed the Reichführer SS – there is a need for 150 skeletons of Jews, which should be placed at his disposal from Auschwitz.

It is further necessary in this regard that the Main Reich Security Office should fulfill the official order of the Reichsführer SS, which, however, you can also do on the orders of the Reichsführer SS.

With collegial greetings, Heil Hitler!

Your Sievers

1 attachment:

Proposed draft of a letter from the Main Reich Security Office.

(illegible signature)

MEDICAL CRIMES AT KL AUSCHWITZ

EXPANDING THE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION WITH A SET OF SKELETONS