Brandt, Karl (Hitler's personal physician)

Karl Brandt was born in 1904 in the family of a military officer. After graduating from Dresden in 1922 , he enters the Faculty of Medicine in Jena . Subsequently, he continues his studies in Freiburg and Berlin .

Since January 1932 - member of the NSDAP (ticket number 1 009 617).

Since 1933 - member of the SA .

Since July 29, 1934 - member of the SS (ticket number 260 353).

In 1933, he was engaged in the treatment of Wilhelm Bruckner , an adjutant of Hitler, who got into an accident , which deserves the gratitude of the latter and from June 1934 he became an accompanying physician of the Fuhrer. Werner Haase , and later Hans Karl von Hasselbach, became Brandt's deputy doctor as an accompanying physician to the Fuhrer.

March 17, 1934 marries the swimming champion from Munich Anni Reborn ( German: Anni Rehborn ).

On September 1, 1939, Hitler was appointed, together with Bowler, authorized to carry out the action of euthanasia ("the implementation of gracious death of the terminally ill"), which was called the action of T-4 . It was Brandt who was the first to allow the killing of a disabled child by the name of Knauer, which initiated the “Euthanasia Action”. The main objective of the action was the destruction of mentally ill and sick psychiatric hospitals, children with developmental defects. Special hospitals were selected in which disabled people were killed - mainly by injection, mostly luminal was used. Sometimes they simply starved. During the “action” only about 5,000 children were killed ^[2] . The T-4 action was carried out in Gadamar, Grafeneck Castle, Hartheim Castle, Sonnstein, Bernburg, as well as in Brandenburg.

In 1940, Brandt was included in the SS troops .

Since July 28, 1942 - Commissioner, and from September 5, 1943 - General Commissioner of Health and Medical Services. His functions included coordinating the civilian and military health systems. Part of his duties was the creation of a bed fund for soldiers wounded during hostilities. The release of the bed fund was achieved, in particular, by killing mentally ill and unpromising patients with an overdose of drugs (also known as Brandt’s Action).

Since April 20, 1944 - the doctor-doctor of the Fuhrer.

Since August 25, 1944 - Imperial Commissioner of Health and Medical Services and the Imperial Commissioner for Sanitation and Hygiene.

Before Hitler's death , Brandt was accused of having his wife and children in the US offensive zone and transmitting secret information to the Americans. Hitler ordered the convening of a tribunal that sentenced Brandt to death for treason. However, with the help of Himmler, he managed to avoid the death penalty ^[3] . He was captured by the Allied forces along with the Doenitz government in Flensburg .

He appeared as one of the main defendants in the trial of doctors, which was officially called the " USA against Karl Brandt." The Nuremberg trial of doctors took place from December 9, 1946 to August 20, 1947 . Brandt refused the services of a lawyer and chose to defend himself. He was accused of special responsibility and participation in crimes. Sentenced to death for war crimes , crimes against humanity and participation in criminal organizations. Hanged on June 2, 1948 in Landsberg Prison. His last words were: “It is not a shame to go to this block. This is just political revenge. I served my homeland, like many before me ... ”A noose pulled his neck together, breaking off at a glance.

• Untersturmfuhrer SS (July 29, 1934)
• Obersturmfuhrer SS (January 1, 1935)
• Hauptsturmfuhrer SS (1936)
• Sturmbannfuhrer SS (November 9, 1937)
• Obersturmbannfuhrer SS (1938)
• Standartenfuhrer SS (August 1, 1942)
• Brigadeführer SS (January 30, 1943)
• General of the Medical Service (March 1, 1943)
• Gruppenfuhrer SS (April 20, 1944)

• Zalessky K. A. Who was who in the Third Reich. - M .: Astrel, 2002 .-- S. 88-90. - 942 s. - ISBN 5-27105091-2 .

• Hrono.RU: Karl Brandt
• Biography
• Documents of the Nuremberg Tribunal
• Biography