Karl Gebhardt
| Karl Gebhardt | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Karl Franz Gebhardt 23 November 1897 Haag in Oberbayern, Bavaria, German Empire |
| Died | 2 June 1948 (aged 50) Landsberg Prison, Landsberg am Lech, Germany |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Resting place |
Munich Ostfriedhof Plot 8—Row 5—Grave 1/2 |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Known for | Heinrich Himmler's personal physician |
| Political party | Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei |
| Criminal penalty | War crimes, crimes against humanity |
| Criminal status | convicted in the Doctors' Trial (9 December 1946–20 August 1947), which was part of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the War Merit Cross |
Karl Franz Gebhardt (23 November 1897 – 2 June 1948) was a German medical doctor and a war criminal during World War II. He served as Medical Superintendent of the Hohenlychen Sanatorium, Consulting Surgeon of the Waffen-SS, Chief Surgeon in the Staff of the Reich Physician SS and Police, and personal physician to Heinrich Himmler.
Gebhardt was the main coordinator of a series of surgical experiments performed on inmates of the concentration camps at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz. These experiments were an attempt to defend his approach to the surgical management of grossly contaminated traumatic wounds, against the then-new innovations of antibiotic treatment of injuries acquired on the battlefield.
During the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials, Gebhardt stood trial in the Doctors' Trial (American Military Tribunal No. I). He was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to death on 20 August 1947. He was hanged on 2 June 1948, in Landsberg Prison in Bavaria.
In his student days Gebhardt had been a supporter of the national counter-revolutionary movement and was active among other things in the Volunteer Corps "the Upland Alliance." Gebhardt studied medicine in Munich beginning in 1919. In 1924, after two years as an unpaid assistant physician he received a post as an intern at the Surgical Clinic of the University of Munich. Gebhardt trained under the tutelage of Ferdinand Sauerbruch and later under Erich Lexer, finally gaining his habilitation in 1932. Gebhardt had a distinguished career prior to World War II, contributing a great deal to the development of the field of sports medicine. He wrote articles on physical medicine and rehabilitation, a textbook on sports rehabilitation and he disseminated his ideas in Germany and throughout the rest of Europe.
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