Zigmund Rascher was born in 1909. He was the child of a doctor and followed his father's career. He began studying medicine in 1933 when Hitler came to power. Immediately Rusher became a member of the Nazi party. In 1939 he joined the SS. Thanks to his wife's connections with Himmler, Rascher was immediately promoted and allowed to conduct human experiments at the Dachau camp.
In 1941 he asked Himmler to provide him with prisoners as human test animals to determine human endurance at high altitudes. The "experiments" were carried out for the benefit of the German air force. Indeed Himmler allocated 200 prisoners to him. The "experiments" were conducted in the spring and summer of 1942 using a chamber simulating high-altitude conditions (up to 21,000 m). Himmler emphasized that if any of the human test animals survived the experiments they would not be executed.
But Rusher disagreed as, he said, they were just Russians and Poles whose lives, in his opinion, had no value. Of the 200 prisoners used in the "experiments" 80 died during their duration and all the rest were murdered.
But Rusher also proceeded with cooling "experiments". For this purpose he used 300 prisoners as experimental animals. And these "experiments" took place in Dachau. Prisoners had to remain naked for 14 hours in freezing conditions, or endure three hours in a tank of freezing water. In both "experiments" the temperature and heart rate of the victims were monitored with electrodes.
Immediately after, those who survived were thrown into boiling water to warm up... in theory. These "experiments" continued until 1944. But Rusher's diseased brain thought of creating a pill that was supposed to stop bleeding from wounds.
Raser's new victims would take the pill and then be shot. Other more unfortunate prisoners after taking the pill were simply mutilated, without anesthesia of course, with the executioners watching as they bled to death in excruciating pain.
Rogue Rascher did not hesitate to make fun of Himmler himself declaring that he has succeeded in prolonging female fertility, citing as an example his wife who gave birth to three children after 48 years. But it was all a fraud. The children Rascher presented to Himmler were not his. He had simply kidnapped them along with his wife.
When the deception became known Himmler was so enraged that he sent the couple to the Buchenwald camp. Interrogations showed that Rusher had committed other crimes, from murdering his assistant to embezzling money and stealing other people's scientific papers. In April 1945 he was transferred to Dachau where he was executed by order of Himmler on the 26th of the month.