NOVA Online | Holocaust on Trial | Should They Be Used? (2)

Nazi doctors conducted dozens of medical and other experiments on concentration-camp inmates, who often died as a direct result of the studies.

Results of Death-Camp Experiments: Should They Be Used?

During World War II, Nazi doctors and scientists performed a series of medical and other experiments on concentration-camp inmates. They undertook these studies without consent of the patients, who were often left maimed or dead at the end of the ordeal. If you're unfamiliar with the death-camp experiments, take a moment to read about them.

Few today would disagree about denouncing the Nazi experimenters as barbaric and their experiments as little more than sadistic torture executed under the guise of science. As such, many feel that findings from those studies should never be published or used. However, some of the research resulted in data that potentially could save lives today. Nazi hypothermia studies, for instance, have been cited in the medical literature for decades, and recently several scientists have sought to use the data in their own work.

You will be asked the following question eight times: "Based on what you now know, do you think doctors and scientists should be able to use data from Nazi death-camp experiments?" Each time, you must answer Yes or No to that question, and each time you will get a different counterargument meant to challenge your decision. Before answering the question for the eighth and final time, you may elect to read all 14 counterarguments—seven for and seven against using the data—before making your final decision. At that point, you may choose Yes, No, or Undecided.

You will find sources for each numbered reference found in this feature in a list at the bottom of the page in question; "hot" names in that list link to a general bibliography of books and articles consulted for this feature. Please note that many quotes in this feature are years if not decades old, and affiliations and other facts about quoted individuals may have changed.
Based on what you now know, do you think doctors and scientists should be able to use data from Nazi death-camp experiments?

Based on what you now know, do you think doctors and scientists should be able to use data from Nazi death-camp experiments?