Rudolf Brandt

Rudolf Brandt (June 2, 1909, Frankfurt (Oder) - June 2, 1948), was a SS officer and civil servant.

A lawyer by profession, Brandt was Personal Administrative Officer to the Reichsführer SS (Persoenlicher Referent von Himmler) Heinrich Himmler, and a defendant at the Doctors' Trial.

From 1938, he was Himmler’s personal aide and the Ministerial Councilor and Head of the Minister's Office in the Reich Ministry of the Interior.

He was indicted after the war by the US Military Tribunal on charges of:

Conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,
War Crimes, to wit performing medical experiments without the subjects' consent on prisoners of war and civilians of occupied countries, as well as participation in the mass-murder of concentration camp inmates,
Crimes against humanity: committing crimes described under count 2 also on German nationals and
Membership in a criminal organization, the SS.

Brandt, in common with most of the defendants at the Doctor's Trial, was acquitted on the first count as the Tribunal felt that it fell outside their jurisdiction.

He was found guilty on the other three counts as he had been responsible for the administration and coordination of the experiments at the camps. He was hanged on June 2 1948.

The career of Erik Dorf in the 1978 miniseries "Holocaust", mirrors that of Brandt. Both were lawyers by profession, both were administrative aides to top SS leaders, and both performed a clerical role in the unfolding of the Final Solution.

References

Medical Case Tribunal Nuremberg Indictment at www.ess.uwe.ac.uk