We can all agree that the things the Nazis did during World War II were horrible. The Holocaust was probably the crime for which they’re most infamous. But wretched and inhumane things happened in the concentration camps that most people don’t know about. Inmates were used as subjects in numerous experiments that were excruciatingly painful and usually resulted in death.
Experiments on prisoners at Ravensbruck concentration camp tested the efficacy of sulfonamides (aka sulfa drugs). Subjects were deliberately wounded on the outer side of their calves. Physicians then rubbed a mixture of bacteria into the open wounds before sewing them shut. Glass splinters were also introduced into the wounds to mimic the situation in battles.
However, this method proved to be too mild in comparison to conditions on the front lines. To simulate gunshot wounds, blood vessels were tied up on both sides to stop circulation. The subjects were then given sulfa drugs. Despite the advances these experiments made in the scientific and pharmaceutical fields, those inmates suffered horrible pain which resulted in permanent injury or even death.
