Nazism: Doctors of Death Quiz | German

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The most notorious doctor of death at Auschwitz was undoubtedly Dr. Josef Mengele. He stood at the infamous Auschwitz arch, cane in one hand and cigarette in the other. With the blink of an eye he chose who lived and who died. He had an obsession relating to a particular group of people. Which?

Answer: Twins

Dr. Josef Mengele was born on March 16, 1911 in the Bavarian city of G�nzburg.
He studied medicine and anthropology at the University of Munich and the University of Frankfurt respectively. He went on to write his dissertations on the topics of the,'the racial differences in the structure of the lower jaw,' and the, 'familial research on cleft lip, palate and jaw'. This already indicated his interest in eugenics, which would set him up well to become a physician within the SS (Schutzstaffel).
His interest in twins from a medical perspective was definitely unique. During entrance selection Mengele was always on the lookout for twins. He took them to his laboratory which was right next to one of the crematoria in the death camp. Here, he performed inhuman medical experiments, which had very little value or worth compared to the suffering and pain that they caused. His experiments included injecting chloroform directly into the heart which caused rapid death. Also, he injected coloured dyes into people's eyes in an attempt to change the colour of the iris.

2. Prisoners incarcerated in Auschwitz had many nicknames for Josef Mengele. Which of the following is one of them?

Answer: Angel of Death

He was given this nickname as he held so much power over the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and that by a flick of a wrist one direction or the other a life could be spared or, more commonly, ended. Mengele took part in many experiments related to gypsies. One of his main objectives was to try to prove that noma, a condition related to malnourishment, was prevalent in those who were amongst the 'racially inferior'.

3. Dr. Josef Mengele was promoted to the position of chief medical officer of the main infirmary at Birkenau. However, he did not get promoted to the top position within Auschwitz. Who held this position?

Answer: Eduard Wirths

From 1942 to 1945, Eduard Wirths held the position of chief medical officer in Auschwitz. During his tenure at the camp he was even praised by the SS-Kommandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoess. He said,"During my 10 years of service in concentration camp affairs, I have never encountered a better one."

For those interested - Hans M�nch, Viktor Brack and Heinrich Berning were all other prominent Nazi physicians.

4. Dr. Herta Oberheuser was amongst the few female doctors that worked in a concentration camp. She was interested in children and used them as material for her horrifying experiments. What was one of her "signature" experiments?

Answer: Recreating battle injuries

Dr. Oberheuser seemed to enjoy recreating injuries that would normally be sustained on the battlefield. She deliberately inflicted wounds, without any anaesthetic of course, and rubbed shards of glass and shavings of sawdust into the wounds. This was extremely painful, but, the "merciful" Oberheuser put the children out of their misery and injected them with substances such as evipan (an anaesthetic), but this was accompanied by oil - they would generally die within the hour.

She served in the all female concentration camp in Ravensbrueck, north of Berlin.

5. In the Nuremberg medical trials, how long was the sentence handed down to Dr. Herta Oberheuser?

Answer: 20 years

For her attrocities she received a twenty year sentence. This was passed in 1947. (The medical trials continued until August of that year). After spending five years in prison (a mere 25 percent of her sentence) she was released in April of 1952 for "good behaviour". Unbelievably, she started up her own practice in Stocksee in Schleswig-Holstein in North Germany.

Her license to practise medicine was revoked six years later when a former inmate of Ravensbr�ck recognized her and complained.

6. Dr. Carl Clauberg was a respected German doctor, born near Solingen in 1898. Before becoming a physician in Auschwitz what aspect of medicine did he excel in?

Answer: Gynaecology

He was a respected gynaecologist before he made the dramatic transformation from healer to murderer. He joined the Nazi party in 1933 and was promoted to the position of professor of gynaecology at the University of Koenigsberg (now Kalingrad, Russia). Clauberg became a doctor at Auschwitz death camp in 1942.

7. The stories of what Clauberg put death camp inmates through are horrifying. He spent time in a Soviet prison after the Nuremberg medical trials but was subsequently returned to Germany. He was to stand trial once again for his attrocities. However, he died before receiving justice. What was the cause of death?

Answer: Heart attack

This occured in his prison cell in 1957. Clauberg will forever hold infamy as being a doctor who wanted to sterilize people - quickly and cheaply. He did this through intense X-rays which left many with unbearable burns around their groin and pubic areas. Due to these burns he decided, in his "professional" judgment, that they were to be deemed unfit for work.

They would later be gassed. He also used to remove inmates' ovaries and testes to be examined.

8. Dr. Karl Brandt was a highly regarded medical figure amongst members of the Nazi party. He was promoted to the position of Reich Commissioner for _______ and Health.

Answer: Sanitation

As part of this brief he was involved in the euthanasia programme. This programme was the main way in which to get rid of the ill and infirm, the physically and mentally handicapped. The reason for this is that they were no "use" to the war, money spent supporting the ill was needed for the war effort.

9. Karl Brandt was one of a few people to hold the position of personal physician to the Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler and he was a major co-ordinater of the euthanasia scheme. In the Nuremberg medical trials he was sentenced to death. Where was he executed?

Answer: Landsberg

Karl Brandt was sentenced to death during the course of the Nuremberg medical trials. June 2, 1948 the death sentence was carried out in Landsberg prison, interestingly, the prison that Hitler spent some time in after his failed Beerhall Putsch in 1924.

10. Dr. Johann Kremer was originally a professor in the university of M�nster. By 1942 he was working in Auschwitz. He was just as cruel and murderous as any other doctor working in any concentration camp around Europe. His main method of murder involved an intra-venous injection of which substance?

Answer: Phenol

Dr. Johann Kremer would generally inject his patients with phenol. Chemically, it is used in weedkillers and was also used by Joseph Lister (English surgeon) as an early form of anaesthetic. Another name for this substance is carbolic acid. Kremer would inject a concentrated form of phenol into his patients and this would cause huge internal damage. It resulted in a quick death. Later, phenol was injected directly into the heart - the effects instant.

These Nazi doctors had one aim - death and suffering. I hope you found this quiz interesting. Thanks for playing!

Source: Author jonnowales

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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Nazism: Doctors of Death Trivia Quiz

Their dubious experiments on humans have shocked the world ever since the horrific details became known. Here is a quiz on some of those physicians who were based in concentration camps around Europe.

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