Brack, Victor enlisted in an artillery unit of an SA regiment in 1923, and became a member of the NSDAP and the SS in 1929. Throughout his career in the Party he was quite active in high official circles. He entered upon full-time service in the Braune Haus, the Nazi headquarters at Munich, in the summer of 1932. The following year he was appointed to the Staff of Bouhler, business manager of the NSDAP in Munich. When in 1934 Bouhler became Chief of the Chancellery of the Fuehrer of the NSDAP, Brack was transferred from the Braune Haus to Bouhler's Berlin office. In 1936 Brack was placed in charge of office 2 (Amt 2) in the Chancellery of the Fuehrer in Berlin, that office being charged with the examinations of complaints received by the Fuehrer from all parts of Germany. Later, he became Bouhler's deputy in office 2. As such, he frequently journeyed to the different Gaue for the purpose of gaining first-hand information concerning matters in which Bouhler was interested. Brack was promoted to the rank of Sturmbannfuehrer in the SS in 1935, and in April 1936 to the rank of Obersturmbannfuehrer. The following September he became a Standartenfuehrer in the SS, and was transferred to the staff of the Main Office of the SS in November. In November 1940 he was promoted to the grade of Oberfuehrer. In 1942 Brack joined the Waffen SS, and during the late summer of that year was ordered to active duty with a Waffen SS division. He apparently remained on active duty until the close of the war. The persecution of the Jews had become a fixed Nazi policy very soon after the outbreak of World War II. By 1941 that persecution had reached the stage of the extermination of Jews, both in Germany and in the occupied territories. This fact is confirmed by Brack himself, who testified that he had been told by Himmler that he, Himmler, had received a personal order to that effect from Hitler. The record shows that the agencies organized for the so-called euthanasia of incurables were used for this bloody pogrom. Later, because of the urgent need for laborers in Germany, it was decided not to kill Jews who were able to work but, as an alternative, to sterilize them. With this end in view Himmler instructed Brack to inquire of physicians who were engaged in the Euthanasia Program about the possibility of a method of sterilizing persons without the victim's knowledge. Brack worked on the assignment, with the result that in March 1941 he forwarded to Himmler his signed report on the results of experiments concerning the sterilization of human beings by means of X-rays. In the report a method was suggested by which sterilization with X-ray could be effected on groups of persons without their being aware of the operation. On 23 June 1942 Brack wrote the following letter to Himmler: "Dear Reichsfuehrer: "* * * Among 10 millions of Jews in Europe, there are, I figure, at least 2-3 millions of men and women who are fit enough to work. Considering the extraordinary difficulties the labor problem presents us with I hold the view that those 2-3 millions should be specially selected and preserved. This can however only be done if at the same time they are rendered incapable to propagate. About a year ago I reported to you that agents of mine have completed the experiments necessary for this purpose. I would like to recall these facts once more. Sterilization, as normally performed on persons with hereditary diseases is here out of the question, because it takes too long and is too expensive. Castration by X-ray however is not only relatively cheap, but can also be performed on many thousands in the shortest time. I think, that at this time it is already irrelevant whether the people in question become aware of having been castrated after some weeks or months, once they feel the effects. "Should you, Reichsfuehrer, decide to choose this way in the interest of the preservation of labor, then Reichsleiter Bouhler would be prepared to place all physicians and other personnel needed for this work at your disposal. Likewise he requested me to inform you that then I would have to order the apparatus so urgently needed with the greatest speed. "Heil Hitler! "Yours "VIKTOR BRACK."Brack testified from the witness stand that at the time he wrote this letter he had every confidence that Germany would win the war. Brack's letter was answered by Himmler on 11 August 1942. In the reply Himmler directed that sterilization by means of X-rays be tried in at least one concentration camp in a series of experiments, and that Brack place at his disposal expert physicians to conduct the operation. Blankenburg, Brack's deputy, replied to Himmler's letter and stated that Brack had been transferred to an SS division, but that he, Blankenburg, as Brack's permanent deputy would "immediately take the necessary measures and get in touch with the chiefs of the main offices of the concentration camps." A Polish Jew testified before the Tribunal that while confined in Auschwitz concentration camp he was marched to Birkenau and forcibly subjected to severe X-ray exposure and was castrated later in order that the effects of the X-ray could be studied. A French physician of Jewish descent who was confined at Auschwitz from September 1943 to January 1945, testified that near Auschwitz was Birkenau camp where people were sterilized by SS doctors. About 100 male Poles who had been sterilized at Birkenau were attended by the witness after the operation. Later this group was castrated by the camp physicians. The record contains other evidence from which it is manifestly plain that sterilization by means of X-rays was attempted on groups of persons who were painfully injured thereby; and that castration followed the X-ray procedures. Brack's part in the organization of the sterilization program with full knowledge that it would be put into execution, is conclusively shown by the record. The Euthanasia Program, which was put into effect by a secret decree of Hitler on the day that Germany invaded Poland, has been discussed at length in the judgment in the case against Karl Brandt. Brack contends that he was basically opposed to this program.and that, on occasion, he assisted certain of his Jewish friends to escape from its consequences. But be that as it may, the evidence is that whatever sentiments Brack may have entertained toward individual members of the race, he was perfectly willing to and did act as an important administrator in furthering the Euthanasia Program. After it had gotten under way, he wrote letters to various public officials, explaining to them how to keep the matter secret and to allay the public sentiment against the program. This much is shown by Brack's own statements. As a witness on the stand he testified that while at first he did not understand the full import of the program, he decided, after a talk with Bouhler, to collaborate in carrying out the assignment and to execute Bouhler's orders. He participated in the initial meetings called for the purpose of placing the project in operation. He was present at meetings of the experts, as well as the administrative discussions. He often acted as Bouhler's representative, frequently making decisions which called for the exercise of personal judgment and a wide latitude of discretion. Brack admitted that such were his activities in the program, that one might well have come to the conclusion that he was the influential man in euthanasia. As Bouhler's deputy he addressed a meeting at Munich, where he explained the purpose of Hitler's decree and mentioned the draft of a law which was being prepared to give complete legislative sanctity to euthanasia law, incidentally, which was never in fact enacted. He represented Bouhler in April of 1941 at a meeting attended by Nazi judges and prosecutors. He testified that the Ministry of Justice had become considerably embarrassed because of the Euthanasia Program, and that he was present at the meeting for the purpose of imparting information concerning the salutary features of euthanasia to those who were present. Brack gave the Tribunal considerable information concerning the method of extermination by euthanasia, stating that the program was so designed as to render the process inconspicuous and painless. In December 1939, or January 1940, Brack, Bouhler, Conti, and some other doctors were present at the administration of euthanasia to four experimental subjects. The victims were led into a gas chamber which had been built to resemble a shower room. The patients were seated on benches and poisonous gas was let into the chamber. A few moments later the patients became drowsy and finally lapsed into a death sleep without even knowing they were being executed. On the basis of this execution "Hitler decided that only carbon monoxide was to be used for killing the patients." According to Brack these persons were not Jews, because, as Bouhler had explained to him, "the philanthropic action of euthanasia should be extended only to Germans." The evidence is plain that the euthanasia program explained by the defendant, gradually merged into the "Action 14 f 13," which, briefly stated, amounted to an extermination of concentration camp inmates by methods and agencies used in euthanasia. One of the prime motives behind the program was to eliminate "useless eaters" from the scene, in order to conserve food, hospital facilities, doctors and nurses for the more important use of the German Armed Forces. Many nationals of countries other than Germany were killed. Brack's direct connection with and participation in the execution of euthanasia is conclusively proved by the evidence in the record.

(the above text comes from the book by Dörner, Klaus, The Nuremberg Medical Trial, 1946/47:guide to the microfiche-edition , K.G. Saur, 2001)