Phillips Nuremberg Trials Collection: Trial 1 - Medical Case

Twenty of the 23 defendants were medical doctors (Brack, Rudolf Brandt, and Sievers being Nazi officials) and all were accused of having been involved in Nazi human experimentation. Josef Mengele, one of the leading Nazi doctors, had evaded capture.

Counts: 1) Conspiracy; 2) War Crimes; 3) Crimes Against Humanity; and 4) Membership in the SS

Count 1 - Common Design or Conspiracy: the first count of the indictment charges that the defendants, acting pursuant to a common design, unlawfully, willfully and knowingly did conspire and agree together to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity as defined in Control Council Law No. 10. [Upon motion of the defendants the tribunal ruled "this Tribunal has no jurisdiction to try any defendant upon a charge of conspiracy considered as a separate substantive offense." Transcript, p. 11364. "[I]nsofar as Count I charges the commission of the alleged crime of conspiracy as a separate substantive offense, distinct from any war crime or crime against humanity, the Tribunal will disregard that charge." Transcript, p. 11365.

Counts 2 & 3 - War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity: The second and third counts of the indictment charge the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The counts are identical in content, except for the fact that in count two the acts which are made the basis for the charges are alleged to have been committed on "civilians and members of the armed forces then at war with the German Reich in the exercise of belligerent control", whereas in count three the criminal acts are alleged to have been committed against "German civilians and nationals of other countries." With this distinction observed, both counts will be treated as one and discussed together. Transcript, p. 11365. [The court includes a lengthy description of the various medical experiments. Transcript, pp. 11365-11372.]

Count 4 - Membership in Criminal Organization: The fourth count of the indictment alleges that [various defendants] are guilty of membership in an organization declared to be criminal by the International Military Tribunal, in that each of these named defendants was a member of Die Schutzstaffein Der National Socialistischen Deutschen Arbeiterpartei (commonly known as the SS).

Original Indictment

• Indictment
• Opening Statement
• Closing Argument
• Judgment
• Sentence

Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals Under Control Council Law No. 10

The 15-volume series, also known as “The Green Series,” focuses on the 12 trials of almost 200 defendants. This publication by the United States Government Printing Office is the official abridged record of the individual indictments and judgments, as well as the administrative materials that were common to all the trials.

• Volume 1, "The Medical Case"
• Volume 2, "The Medical Case"

Style of the case: United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al.

Indictment filed: 25 October, 1946

Trial dates: 9 December 1946 - 14 July 1947

NMT 1 Judges: Walter Beals (Washington) (presiding judge); Johnson Crawford (Oklahoma); Harold Sebring (Florida); Victor Swearingen (Michigan) (alternate judge) 

Chief Prosecutor: James M. McHaney

Judgment: 19 August 1947

Sentencing: 20 August 1947