Karl Brandt

Following his arrest, he was tried along with 22 others in the trial that was officially titled ‘United States of America v. Karl Brandt et al.’, but is more commonly referred to as the "Doctors' Trial".

He was tried for several counts including crimes against humanity, war crimes, and membership in a criminal organization, among others. Pronounced guilty, he was sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed at Landsberg Prison on June 2, 1948.

Karl Brandt was born on January 8, 1904, in Mulhouse, Alsace-Lorraine. His father was a Prussian Army officer.

An intelligent and hardworking boy, he grew up to become a medical doctor and surgeon in 1928 with specialization in head and spinal injuries.

An ambitious young man, he joined the upcoming Nazi Party in January 1932. A few months later he was summoned by Adolf Hitler to treat one of his adjutants, Wilhelm Bruckner, who was injured in an automobile accident.

Brandt was a skilled doctor and he efficiently administered to Bruckner’s wounds. Hitler was greatly impressed by the physician and asked him to join his group of personal physicians.

In 1933, he joined the Sturmabteilung (SA), the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, and the next year he became a member of the Schutzstaffel (SS), a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers' Party. He was soon successful in winning Hitler’s favor and was appointed to the officer rank Untersturmführer.

In 1933, the Nazi law Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses (Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring) was implemented. Brandt became one of the major medical figures who in the context of the law performed forced abortions on a large number of women deemed genetically disordered, mentally or physically handicapped or racially deficient.

Brandt’s works earned him the appreciation of the Nazi leader and he was made Hitler's "Escort Physician" in 1934. He was also made responsible for the implementation of the Law for the Protection of Hereditary Health that was used to introduce compulsory sterilization.

He was a major figure in the forced abortion program under which abortions were brutally induced upon thousands of pregnant women who were deemed “genetically defective” by the Nazi regime. He was also a driving force behind a program of forced sterilization.

He was the administrator of the Aktion T4 euthanasia program under which Hitler authorized Karl Brandt to carry out involuntary euthanasia of civilians deemed incurable. Over a period of two years, several thousands of men, women, and children were mercilessly killed and several others were subjected to cruel medical experiments.