Remains of victims of Nazi experiments found in France
Medical research facility in Strasbourg contains samples from several dozen Jewish gas chamber victims, raising questions about whether anyone knew of collection's existence.
A researcher discovered a World War II-era letter from the then-director of the Strasbourg Medical Institute about the experiments directed by Nazi anatomist August Hirt.
The letter detailed the storage of tissue samples taken from Jews killed in gas chambers built specifically for Hirt's experiments. On July 9, the researcher, Raphael Toledano, identified the samples in test tubes and a jar in the institute's closed collection.
"It was a shock to discover that these jars were still there, that we put in a museum display a part of these Jews who were murdered by the Nazis," Toledano said.
The Jewish community believed until now that they had been buried in a mass grave in 1946, but local authorities have confirmed that many remains remained in storage.
The Daily Mail reported that August Hirt, an SS captain and chairman of the Reich University in Strasbourg, was responsible for starting the collection. The bodies were intended for use in medical experiments attempting to prove the validity of the Nazis' scientific racism.
Historian Raphael Toledano told the Daily Mail that the remains included a jar containing skin fragments of a gas chamber victim, as well as test tubes containing intestines and a stomach. Most of the remains were found preserved in alcohol when the Allies liberated the city in 1944.
According to Tolenado, many of the remains were preserved by Camille Simonin, a professor who was investigating Hirt. A letter by Simonin from 1952 confirmed that the remains belonged to Jewish gas chamber victims.
"The labels identify each piece with precision and mention the register 107969, which matches the number tattooed at the Auschwitz camp on the forearm of Menachem Taffel, one of the 86 victims," wrote Simonin.
The discovery has raised concern among representatives of Jewish communities, said the newspaper. A Board of Deputies of British Jews spokesman said: "This discovery raises serious questions about who knew about these remains and why they did not reveal this sooner."
The Strasbourg mayor's office said Monday it hopes to return the remains to Strasbourg's Jewish community for eventual burial in the city, near the border of France and Germany.
