Karl Brandt

Karl Brandt
Brandt as a defendant at the Doctors' trial
Born(1904-01-08)8 January 1904
Died2 June 1948(1948-06-02) (aged 44)
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
NationalityGerman
OccupationPersonal physician of German dictator Adolf Hitler
EmployerAdolf Hitler
Known forReich Commissioner for Health and Emergency Services
TitleSS-Gruppenführer in the Allgemeine SS /
SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Waffen-SS
Political partyNazi Party
Criminal statusExecuted
Spouse
(m. 1934)
ChildrenKarl Adolf Brandt
MotiveNazism
Conviction(s)War crimes
Crimes against humanity
Membership in a criminal organization
TrialDoctors' trial
Criminal penaltyDeath

Karl Brandt (8 January 1904 – 2 June 1948) was a German physician and Schutzstaffel (SS) officer in Nazi Germany. Trained in surgery, Brandt joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and became Adolf Hitler's escort doctor in August 1934.[1] A member of Hitler's inner circle at the Berghof, he was selected by Philipp Bouhler, the head of Hitler's Chancellery, to administer the Aktion T4 euthanasia program. Brandt was later appointed the Reich Commissioner of Health and Emergency Services (Bevollmächtigter für das Sanitäts- und Gesundheitswesen). Accused of involvement in human experimentation and other war crimes, Brandt was indicted in late 1946 and faced trial before a U.S. military tribunal along with 22 others in the Doctor's Trial. He was convicted, sentenced to death, and hanged on 2 June 1948.[2]

  1. ^ Ben-Amos, Batsheva. "Karl Brandt: The Nazi Doctor. Medicine and Power in the Third Reich (review)". Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  2. ^ Hamilton 1984, p. 138.