Ravensbrück: Experimental Operations on Polish Women Prisoners

Victims of the operations

Materials by Ewelina Małachowska identify 1 August 1942 as the start of operations on six young Polish women. By August 1943, 74 Polish women prisoners, mostly brought from Warsaw and Lublin, had been subjected to them. The study distinguishes their later fates: five died as a result of the procedures, six were later shot and 63 lived to see the end of the war. [1]

Deliberately inflicted injuries

Ewa Wójcicka describes the experiments of Karl Gebhardt's team: causing infections, interventions on bones, and removal of fragments of muscles and nerves. These were not therapeutic procedures carried out for the patients' benefit. The study gives 86 women subjected to experiments in a wider group, including 74 Poles. These figures are not interchangeable. [2]

An IPN brochure points to the worsening effects of lack of hygiene and inadequate postoperative care. The women were left with pain and bodily injuries. Survival therefore did not mean avoiding harm, and treating deaths alone as the measure of the crime would erase the survivors' fate. [1]

Evidence and responsibility

Women prisoners passed information about the operations outside the camp, including in hidden letters. When, at the end of the war, attempts were made to obtain statements from them attributing their injuries to workplace accidents, they refused. Their action was resistance to the falsification of evidence. [1]

In describing this crime, we distinguish participants in the experiments, victims of fatal complications and women who were shot. We do not portray 74 Polish women as 74 people killed. Bringing together two IPN studies helps order the scope of the figures, but does not replace independent analysis of every medical record and account. [1] [2]

Limits of the findings

The number 74 describes victims of experiments, not the number killed. The date range concerns the described series of operations on Polish women, not all experiments conducted in the camp. Outdated general death totals for Ravensbrück from popular texts were not used. [1] [2]

Sources and notes

Footnote markers identify the basis for specific findings. Bibliographic records remain in their original language; the notes indicate how each source is used.

The bibliographic record and source-use note are retained in Polish to preserve the original scholarly citation.

1. Ewelina Małachowska. FKL Ravensbrück. Obóz koncentracyjny dla kobiet 1939–1945. Materiały edukacyjne. IPN Katowice, 2023.

   opracowanie instytucjonalne · Sprawdzone s. 34–36, 54–55 i 62–63: eksperymenty, procesy i przekazywanie informacji · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

   Use of this source: 74 Polki, 5 zgonów pooperacyjnych, 6 rozstrzelanych, 63 ocalałe, warunki zabiegów, świadectwa i Oberheuser.

2. Ewa Wójcicka. Centralne obchody 80. rocznicy wyzwolenia obozu koncentracyjnego dla kobiet KL Ravensbrück – część historyczna. IPN.

   opracowanie instytucjonalne · Sekcje „Frauenkonzentrationslager Ravensbrück. Piekło na ziemi” i opis eksperymentów · Dostęp: 2026-09-05.

   Use of this source: Zespół Gebhardta, rodzaje ingerencji i odróżnienie 86 eksperymentowanych kobiet od 74 Polek.