Experiments on freezing
Experiments on freezing In 1941, the Luftwaffe conducted experiments to learn how to treat hypothermia. A study forced subjects to endure a tank of ice water for a period of up to three hours. Another study placed prisoners naked in the open for several hours with temperatures below zero. The experimenters calculated ways to reheat the survivors. hypothermia experiments were conducted by the Nazi high command. Daniel Touizer The experiments were conducted in men to simulate the conditions experienced armies on the Eastern Front, when German forces were ill prepared for the cold. These experiments were carried out under the supervision of the commanders of Dachau and Auschwitz. Rascher reported directly to Heinrich Himmler and published the results of his freezing experiments at the medical conference entitled "Medical problems arising from the sea and winter" (1942). The freezing experiments were divided into two parts.First, to establish how long it would lower the body temperature to death and, secondly, how best to resuscitate the frozen victim. The icy vat method proved to be the fastest way to bring down body temperature. The selections were focused on Jews or Russians young and healthy. Usually they were stripped and prepared for the experiment. An insulated probe which measured the drop in body temperature was inserted into the rectum. The probe was held in place by a expandable metal ring which was adjusted to open inside the rectum and hold the probe firmly in place. The victim was placed in a uniform air force, then placed in a tub of cold water and began to freeze. It was learned that most subjects lost consciousness and died when body temperature fell to 25 C.
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