Karl Brandt (physician)

Karl Brandt
Brandt as a defendant at the Doctors' Trial
Born	(1904-01-08)January 8, 1904 Mulhouse, Alsace-Lorraine
Died	June 2, 1948(1948-06-02) (aged 44) Landsberg Prison, Landsberg am Lech
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Nationality	German
Occupation	Personal physician of German dictator Adolf Hitler.
Employer	Adolf Hitler
Known for	Reich Commissioner for Health and Sanitation
Political party	National Socialist German Workers' Party
Spouse(s)	Anni Rehborn (m. 1934)
Children	Karl Adolf Brandt (born 4 October 1935)

Karl Brandt (January 8, 1904 – June 2, 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 physician in August 1934. 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 Sanitation and Health (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 United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al. He was convicted, sentenced to death, and later hanged on June 2, 1948.

Brandt was born in Mulhouse in the then German Alsace-Lorraine territory (now in Haut-Rhin, France) into the family of a Prussian Army officer. He became a medical doctor and surgeon in 1928, specializing in head and spinal injuries. He joined the Nazi Party in January 1932, and first met Hitler in the summer of 1932. He became a member of the SA in 1933 and a member of the SS on July 29, 1934; appointed the officer rank of Untersturmführer. From the Summer of 1934 forward, he was Hitler's "Escort Physician". Karl Brandt married Anni Rehborn (born 1907), a champion swimmer, on March 17, 1934. They had one son, Karl Adolf Brandt (born October 4, 1935).