# Were any Nazi studies later used to advance science?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-nazi-studies-later-used-to-advance-science/360075>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 9, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-nazi-studies-later-used-to-advance-science/360075 "2006-06-09T15:59:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 13

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**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-any-nazi-studies-later-used-to-advance-science/360075/13 "2006-06-09T20:19:12Z")

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[QUOTE=John Corrado]  
So, yes, there were a _few_ Nazi studies used to advance studies. Many studies were complete garbage and little more than innovations in sadism, such as nearly all of Mengele’s experimentation on twins. Some studies procuded data, such as the gangrene experiments, that was never used due to the nature of how it was obtained, and because the information was available in other forms. But the Nazi experiments in reviving hypothermic victims were immediately put to use by the countries that found out about them.  
[/QUOTE]

But the question isn’t whether anybody used the Nazi data, it’s whether the data had any scientific validity. There’s a whole section in the document you cited that concludes there it did not. Medical experts are cited as calling the experiments “pseudo-science” and saying “They’re of no scientific value.”

They specifically addressed the dubious data from Rascher’s hypothermia research (which is inconsistent and shows data being changed to fit the desire conclusions).

> [@](#):
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> Historians have suggested several reasons for Rascher’s inconsistent hypothermia data. The most revealing theory was that Rascher was under strict orders, by Himmler himself, to produce hypothermia results, or else. Apparently, Rascher dressed up his findings to forestall confrontations with Himmler. Shortly before the German surrender, Himmler discovered Rascher’s lies, and had Rascher and his wife (Himmler’s mistress) murdered because of Rascher’s deceptions.

The section concludes: “The experts agree that the Nazi experiments lacked scientific integrity. …Some have suggested against terming them “experiments,” since they were really brutal beatings and mugging.”

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