Experiments on Twins
Approximately three thousand twins were pulled from the masses, most of them children; only around two hundred survived. To my surprise, the children were not afraid of Mengele. They arose every morning and had thorough inspections and he gave them chocolates and candy. Twins were spared from punishments unlike those in other camps. They had to have blood drawn nearly every day and were then taken to a lab. One of the various things were done to them at this point: chemicals to their eyes, shots of diseases (which often killed them), various surgeries, and death.
This video gives an overview of the experiments placed on humans during the Holocaust, especially twins. The main goal of the Nazis was to transform the look of every human to the blonde hair blue eyed vision they idolized. The intended reaction for this video is awareness. This video isn't meant to scare people today, but to be aware of the things that were going on behind the scenes during World War 2. It wasn't too long ago that these experiments were placed on children, so we need to be aware of what could possibly happen again today. This video can really impact parents, because they think of their children being treated this way and it could bring upon sadness and fear. Children, if old enough, can understand it and be afraid as well to think about people their age being tortured this way. This video is such an effective piece of propaganda because not only is it informative, but also touches on the emotional perspective of propaganda. When learning about difficult topics like this, the feeling you get when seeing the people is memorable.
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Sea Water Experiments
In sea water experiments, the goal was to figure out how to make sea water drinkable. The doctors would only give victims sea water without food and see how their bodies reacted. The victims became so dehydrated some even began licking the floors looking for consumable water. The image shown is a man getting injected with sea water to see the effects it has on the bloodstream.
The intended reaction for this image is sorrow. After reading what is happening to this man at the time, seeing the actual transfusion of salt water is painful to our human eyes. This can show a lot about the country and the country's goals. Medical breakthroughs were crucial to them and the Germans wanted to learn new things every day. The reason they continued to experiment on these people was because they didn't know any better and they thought it was moral to discover new things at the cost of human lives. The target audiences were men or other adults today, showing that it wasn't only children and women who were experimented on. Although many men went to work in the camps, some were also used for experimentation. This image is extremely effective as propaganda today for many reasons, one being the look on his face. We should not want anyone to feel the way this man is feeling right now, so this drives us to want to make a change.
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Freezing Experiments
In the freezing experiments, the goal was to find out how to cure hypothermia. The doctors knew their German airmen had crashed into sea and been in subzero temperature water, and the soldiers on land had battled cold temperatures as well. For the experiments, they filled tubs with cold water and lots of ice to get the water as close to zero degrees Celsius. They could be clothed, not clothed, soaked for extended periods of time, soaked for a short while, or basically were forced into situations at the whim of the experimenter. Afterwards, they tried to warm the victims with various blankets, lamps, and even women's bodies.
In this photo, they are testing out various "warming" techniques after a soak in the frigid bath. I think the intended audience for this could be anyone, but it's mostly geared towards men. The freezing was done to any adult, not normally children or women because men were the ones on the battlefield/planes. I think it's impacting to men in the military right now, knowing not only what was going on to the German soldiers in the oceans and on land, but also what was happening to the men in the experiments. This experiment also shows the German's care for their soldiers and their need to keep them safe. They made it a priority to protect their men, which shows loyalty to their country and respect to their military.
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Malaria Experiments
Over 1,084 inmates were subjects in the experiments about malaria. These experiments were help from February 1942 until April 1945. Inmates who were considered to be healthy were deliberately infected with malaria-infected mosquitoes, or were injected with malaria-infected blood. Doctors would purposefully maintain the strain of malaria by deliberately injecting malaria into patients so it would remain in their blood. The malaria experiments directly caused thirty deaths, while three to four hundred died due to complications as a side effect of malaria.
In this photo, a man is being afflicted with malaria though an injection. The malaria experiments were, in my opinion, the most intentionally deadly experiments. The Germans knew all the side effects and the fatalities involved with malaria. Not only did they directly kill many who were injected, but also killed many who suffered from awful side effects from the disease. I think this also shows a dark side of the Germans and their willingness to kill for science. This is propaganda for many adults, and even those who live in mosquito infested areas. It can be scary to know what these insects can carry even though most don't. I think the actual photo is influential because they're not inflicting pain themselves, but allowing the patient/victim to suffer with no help. It also shows how infectious and messy their work environment was; the man doesn't wear gloves, doesn't seem to have any sterilization, and is not even wearing a white coat like the typical doctor.
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