Rabbit (excerpt).
Author unknown.



Between August of 1942 and August of 1943, a series of medical experiments were done on altogether 74 young Polish girls and women in Ravenbrück. These investigated the use of sulphonamide for burns as well as transplanations. Prof. Dr. Karl Gebhardt was responsible for the operations, assisted by the woman doctor Herta Oberheuser.
Broken glass and other foreign objects were planted in the legs of the Polish women, pieces of muscle and bone were removed and dissected or crushed. Thirteen women did not survive the procedure, six others were shot by the SS afterwards. Efforts were made by the fellow prisoners to protect the other "rabbits," as they were called, by procuring a false identity for them, by attempting to have them accomodated in transports to satellite camps and, shortly before liberation, by hiding them. In this way, the evidence of these crimes would be saved. The women who survived were often severely handicapped and fought for decades for at least financial compensation.

Constanze Jaiser



Toy:
Bunny with Cabbage Leaf, 6,2 cm.
Ravensbrück Memorial.
Shelf mark: V636D3
Maja Borezowskia:
Rabbit.
Ravensbrück Memorial.
Shelf mark: V867E2
  

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