Heinrich Himmler on 7 July 1942 ordered experimentation on women at Auschwitz concentration camp, which would later be extended to males. The purpose of the experiments was to find ways to sterilize Jews.

Extermination of Jews was something Himmler and many, including Hitler, fully supported. As head of the Schutzstaffel(SS) as well as the assistant chief of the Gestapo, he controlled all the secret police and paramilitary forces in Germany. This power gave Himmler the power to carry out Hitler’s Final Solution and the reason why he called for a conference about conducting such experiments. Attending the conference were SS General Richard Glueks (hospital chief), SS Major-General Karl Gebhardt, and Professor Karl Clauberg (a leading German gynecologist) and members of the Concentration Camp Protectorate.

It was decided that the experiments on sterilization would be done in a way women would not know what was being done to them. The experiments would reveal the best methods of sterilizing Jewish women and how to sterilize men as well using X-rays. Hitler approved but it was kept top secret. A prior plan to euthanize disabled people, those suffering from incurable diseases, or confined due to mental disorders had resulted in a public outcry they did not want repeated. One of the main reasons for sterilization was to use it in places where concentration camps could not be built. It was expanded to others they deemed inferior (Slavs, Roma, homosexuals etc.) Using medical treatments to hide their true objective of killing Jews would be revealed after the war.

Sources

• “Himmler Decides to Begin Medical Experiments on Auschwitz Prisoners | July 7, 1942 |.” HISTORY. Last modified May 28, 2025. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-7/himmler-decides-to-begin-medical-experiments-on-auschwitz-prisoners.
• “Nazi Medical Experiments.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-medical-experiments.
• “The Holocaust: Nazi Medical Experiments.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nazi-medical-experiments.
• Berger, Robert L. “Nazi Science — the Dachau Hypothermia Experiments.” The New England Journal of Medicine VOL. 322, no. 2 (May 17, 1990): 1435–1440. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199005173222006.

Videos

World History. “Nazi Angel of Death & His Horrific Medical Experiments on Auschwitz Prisoners – Josef Mengele.” Video. YouTube, April 25, 2023. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWw5LMwM8x8.

On 7 July 1942, Heinrich Himmler orders that experimentation on women at the Auschwitz concentration camp begin and also to investigate extending this to males. How and why did this happen? Let’s find out.

Himmler, as head of the Schutzstaffel (SS), believed in exterminating all European Jews. As head of the SS and the assistant chief of the Gestapo, he controlled all the police forces in Germany. This allowed him the power to carry out Hitler’s Final Solution and why he was the one who called for a conference that would devise how these experiments would be conducted. The conference attendees included SS General Richard Glueks (hospital chief), SS Major-General Karl Gebhardt, and Professor Karl Clauberg (a leading German gynecologist) and members of the Concentration Camp Protectorate.

The conference decided that medical experimentations would take place but also done in a way that the women would not know what was being done to them. The experiments would be to devise methods of sterilizing Jewish women using massive doses of radiation and uterine injections. It was also decided to examine if X rays could be used to castrate men and use it on male Jewish prisoners. Adolf Hitler agreed to this, but it was kept top secret as they were concerned many would object (it had happened before when they tried exterminating disabled and those in hospitals with severe mental conditions). This program would further the Nazi’s aims to rid the world of Jews outside of their extermination camps. They knew that in time they would get control of countries where setting up extermination camps would not be practical, so developing means to sterilize Jewish men and women (and others they didn’t like as well) would allow them to continue eliminating Jews but under the guise of using medicine to eliminate them.

Sources

HISTORY.com Editors, “Himmler Decides to Begin Medical Experiments on Auschwitz Prisoners | July 7, 1942 | HISTORY,” HISTORY, last modified May 28, 2025, accessed July 7, 2025, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-7/himmler-decides-to-begin-medical-experiments-on-auschwitz-prisoners.

Robert L. Berger, “Nazi Science — the Dachau Hypothermia Experiments,” New England Journal of Medicine 322, no. 20 (May 17, 1990): 1435–1440, https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm199005173222006.

“Nazi Medical Experiments,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, accessed July 7, 2025, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-medical-experiments.

“Nazi Medical Experiments,” Jewish Virtual Library, accessed July 7, 2025, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nazi-medical-experiments.

On 7 July 1942, Heinrich Himmler orders that experimentation on women at the Auschwitz concentration camp begin and also to investigate extending this to males. How and why did this happen? Let’s find out.

Himmler, as head of the Schutzstaffel (SS), believed in exterminating all European Jews. As head of the SS and the assistant chief of the Gestapo, he controlled all the police forces in Germany. This allowed him the power to carry out Hitler’s Final Solution and why he was the one who called for a conference that would devise how these experiments would be conducted. The conference attendees included SS General Richard Glueks (hospital chief), SS Major-General Karl Gebhardt, and Professor Karl Clauberg (a leading German gynecologist) and members of the Concentration Camp Protectorate.

The conference decided that medical experimentations would take place but also done in a way that the women would not know what was being done to them. The experiments would be to devise methods of sterilizing Jewish women using massive doses of radiation and uterine injections. It was also decided to examine if X rays could be used to castrate men and use it on male Jewish prisoners. Adolf Hitler agreed to this, but it was kept top secret as they were concerned many would object (it had happened before when they tried exterminating disabled and those in hospitals with severe mental conditions). This program would further the Nazi’s aims to rid the world of Jews outside of their extermination camps. They knew that in time they would get control of countries where setting up extermination camps would not be practical, so developing means to sterilize Jewish men and women (and others they didn’t like as well) would allow them to continue eliminating Jews but under the guise of using medicine to eliminate them.

Sources:

Himmler decides to begin medical experiments on Auschwitz prisoners.
History.com
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/himmler-decides-to-begin-medical-experiments-on-auschwitz-prisoners
Original Published Date: November 16, 2009
Last Accessed on: July 8, 2024

Nazi Medical Experiments
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-medical-experiments
Last Accessed on July 8, 2024

The Holocaust: Nazi Medical Experiments
JewishVirtualLibrary.org
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/nazi-medical-experiments
Last Accessed on July 8, 2024