Serge Janouin-Benanti
If These Are Men…
The Doctors of Struthof
“If these are men, I am the worst kind of filth!” Professor of medicine August Hirt’s introspection, provoked by the fear of soon being captured by French troops, only lasted a few moments. His Gypsy test subjects couldn’t have been men, you don’t do that to men…
If Jews were men, nobody would forgive him for the creation of his precious collection of skulls. He’d had to proceed with urgency, Himmler had confided to him that soon there wouldn’t be a single living Jew left in Europe! He had responded as a scientist, he had selected the subjects that were the most representative of the race, according to Mein Kampf, had measured them from every angle, photographed them, before gassing them to reduce them to skeletons…
Serge Janouin-Benanti takes us to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Alsace. He not only reveals to us the experiments of August Hirt, but also those of two other distinguished professors from the School of Medicine in Strasbourg: the virologist and nominee for the Nobel Prize, Eugen Haagen, as well as the hospital director, Otto Bickenbach.
This harrowing tale will leave you speechless. You will be immersed in the abominable inner workings of racist rationale as events unfold. An unforgettable book.
