15 Facts About Erich Hippke

Erich Hippke was a German Air Force General Surgeon with the rank of Generaloberstabsarzt.

Erich Hippke is most noted as Chief Medical Officer of the Luftwaffe and subsequent Inspector of the Medical Matters for the Luftwaffe during World War II.

Erich Hippke was born on March 7,1888, in the town of Prokuls, East Prussia.

On March 1,1912, during his senior years in the academy, Erich Hippke was commissioned Unterarzt on and assigned to Grenadier-Regiment 9.

Erich Hippke graduated on June 19,1913, and served with his regiment in its garrisons to Stargard, Bromberg, and Demmin.

Erich Hippke was promoted to the rank of Assistenzarzt on August 18,1913.

Erich Hippke subsequently participated in the Battle of Gumbinnen and the Battle of Tannenberg.

In October 1916, Erich Hippke was transferred to the Heeresgruppe Below under the command of General Otto von Below, serving on the Macedonian front.

Erich Hippke spent almost a year with this unit before he was appointed Adjutant of the Army Surgeon within the 11th Army under the command of General Kuno von Steuben.

Erich Hippke was tasked again with the capacity of Adjutant of the Army Surgeon.

Erich Hippke was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research.

Erich Hippke was the true source of the ideas for the so-called "freezing experiments" conducted on behalf of the Luftwaffe, at Dachau concentration camp by Sigmund Rascher.

Erich Hippke was succeeded by Oskar Schroder on May 15,1944.

Erich Hippke avoided the Doctors' Trial and left Nuremberg without charge.

Erich Hippke was never charged with a crime, but American investigators of Nazi medical atrocities later concluded that he was actually the source of the idea for the deadly "freezing experiments" on humans.