Editing Nazi Medical Experimentation (section)

===High altitude experiments===
{{further|Hubertus Strughold}}
[[File:Pressurization experiment at Dachau.jpg|thumb|A victim loses consciousness during a depressurization experiment at [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] by Luftwaffe doctor [[Sigmund Rascher]], 1942.]]
In early 1942, prisoners at Dachau concentration camp were used by [[Sigmund Rascher]] in experiments to aid German pilots who had to [[ejection seat|eject]] at high altitudes. A [[pressure vessel|low-pressure chamber]] containing these prisoners was used to simulate conditions at altitudes of up to {{convert|68000|ft|m}}. It was rumored that Rascher performed [[vivisection]]s on the brains of victims who survived the initial experiment.<ref name=Cockburn>{{cite book |last=Cockburn |first=Alexander |title=Whiteout:The CIA, Drugs, and the Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5qIj_h_PtkC&q=%22sigmund+rascher%22+brain&pg=PA149  |year=1998 |publisher=Verso |isbn=978-1-85984-139-6 }}</ref> Of the 200 subjects, 80 died outright, and the others were murdered.<ref name="NOVA"/> In a letter from 5 April 1942 between Rascher and Heinrich Himmler, Rascher explains the results of a low-pressure experiment that was performed on people at Dachau Concentration camp in which the victim was suffocated while Rascher and another unnamed doctor took note of his reactions. The person was described as 37 years old and in good health before being murdered. Rascher described the victim's actions as he began to lose oxygen and timed the changes in behavior. The 37-year-old began to wiggle his head at four minutes; a minute later Rascher observed that he was suffering from cramps before falling unconscious. He describes how the victim then lay unconscious, breathing only three times per minute, until he stopped breathing 30 minutes after being deprived of oxygen. The victim then turned blue and began foaming at the mouth. An autopsy followed an hour later.<ref>"Documents Regarding Nazi Medical Experiments". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2017-04-14</ref>

In a letter from Himmler to Rascher on 13 April 1942, Himmler ordered Rascher to continue the high altitude experiments and to continue experimenting on prisoners condemned to death and to "determine whether these men could be recalled to life". If a victim could be successfully resuscitated, Himmler ordered that he be pardoned to "concentration camp for life".<ref>[http://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/documents/37-letter-to-sigmund-rascher?q=medical+experiement#p.1 "Nuremberg - Document Viewer - Letter to Sigmund Rascher concerning the high altitude experiments"]. ''nuremberg.law.harvard.edu''. Retrieved 2017-04-14.</ref>