1. Albert Widmann was an SS officer and German chemist who worked for the Action T4 euthanasia program during the regime of Nazi Germany.
18 Facts About Albert Widmann
1. 2.
Albert Widmann was convicted in two separate trials in the West German courts in the 1960s for his criminal activities during World War II.
3.
However, in July 1933, as a student, Albert Widmann joined the National Socialist Motor Corps.
4.
Albert Widmann was admitted into the Nazi Party in May 1937.
5.
Albert Widmann took part in the early discussions about killing methods, participated in the first Brandenburg gassing experiment, tested gassing and dynamiting in the occupied parts of the Soviet Union and, through KTI, obtained the necessary gas and poisons for T-4.
6.
Albert Widmann submitted the paperwork and obtained the carbon monoxide gas needed for the T4 killing centers to operate, as well as the "medicines" needed for killings in children's wards and "wild" euthanasia hospitals within the T-4 program.
7.
For example, Albert Widmann suggested releasing gas into the hospital dormitories while the patients slept, but this idea was dismissed as impractical.
8.
Albert Widmann appeared at Brandenburg Euthanasia Centre to administer the first gassing experiment and teach the proper gassing method.
9.
Albert Widmann visited other T-4 centers only when solutions to technical problems needed to be tested, such as, when the crematorium in Sonnenstein Euthanasia Centre did not function correctly.
10.
One of the main goals of Albert Widmann's work was to minimize the psychological impact that the killings bore upon the killers.
11.
Albert Widmann contacted Kripo headquarters and asked for their help in carrying out the killing of the insane with either explosives or poison gas.
12.
Dr Albert Widmann took to Minsk 400 kg of explosive material and the metal pipes required for the gassing installations.
13.
Nebe and Dr Albert Widmann carried out an experimental killing using explosives.
14.
Albert Widmann had nearly died of carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust fumes.
15.
Albert Widmann further explained that firing squads on the eastern front could be spared.
16.
Albert Widmann did not appear to be motivated by Nazi ideology, but rather saw himself as an expert determined to keep his job.
17.
Albert Widmann had worked his way up to chief chemist by the time of his arrest in January 1959.
18.
Albert Widmann was sentenced by a Dusseldorf court to five years in prison for aiding and abetting murder through poisoned ammunitions experiments.