Devil's Doctors: Medical Experiments on Human Subjects in the Concentration Camps

by Christian Bernadac

poche. 1976. Relié. 267 pages.

Genres: Nonfiction, Germany, Holocaust

254 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Cátia Coutinho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with zero expectations and really came out traumatized and with a lot more interest about the experiments made during that time. There were a few that i was familiarized, but other really shocked me and created another perspective in my mind when it comes to science

[Stephanie Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Psychologically speaking, it's interesting what true sadists are capable of. I was afraid of having nightmares after reading this at night. It's a chapter in history that's not often spoken about, and a bit disturbing one. I think the author could've written a lot more about Mengele.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a particularly enjoyable read, but a part of history that should not be forgotten lest it be repeated.

"It's a crime to experiment on human beings"
"Take it easy. They're Poles, they're not human beings"
-pg 210

"A father begged for the death of his deformed, blind and idiot child who lacked one leg and a part of an arm. Hitler...told me to...tell the doctor who was caring for the child that he had the permission to resort to euthanasia"
-pg 228

"The unfortunates, therefore, must die, because they have become unworthy of life... the category of 'unproductive' citizens. Who is there, from this time on, who can have confidence in a doctor?"
-pg 234

"Dozens of trials have familiarized us with the thinking and arguments of the practitioners of medical crimes.
'It was an order.'
'We relieved them.'
'Deliverance by death is a charitable deed.' "
-pg 235

"It is necessary to understand the drama that these men and women lived through. Many of them just cannot stand talking about it at all, particularly the women who were sterilized.
' Excuse me. Yes, I was sterilized. Since then I wake up every night, crying. I beg you, please don't write to me. Leave me with my loss and my suffering, I beg you...' "
- pg 249

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book.

The subject matter is abject and awful, but i think that it is important to put into written, in a manner that honors the sufferers, the atrocities of WWII.

What happens to this people in the concentration camps doesn't have a rational explanation - it was performed by madmen. But maybe by reading it, by neither glorifying it or hiding it lessons can be learned.

[Brenda Natsume · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctors of the Impossible [gore alert!]

Real testimonies from WW2 victims of concentration camps... Just in case you need more reasons to hate nazis or the so called "neo-nazis". It's all the same to me.

[Rui Sancho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book. I'd never before read a documentary quite like this. It's crude, austere and a bit painfull. Read it on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auchwitz, figured it made sense to know more about that.

[Marion Pinch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Difficile très difficile mais important pour ne pas oublié les victimes de cet holocauste.

[Gabriela Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro difícil de ler, coisas difíceis de aceitar. Sem embelezamentos...há coisas que devem ser contadas assim