A forum post about Sigmund Rascher (it describes the experiments he conducted in graphic detail)
This photo is not the only one from this experiment; there are a series of photos of this prisoner
In 1942, Sigmund Rascher and others conducted high-altitude experiments on prisoners at Dachau. Eager to find out how best to save German pilots forced to eject at high altitude, they placed inmates into low-pressure chambers that simulated altitudes as high as 68,000 feet and monitored their physiological response as they succumbed and died.
Sigmund was said to dissect victims' brains while they were still alive to show that high-altitude sickness resulted from the formation of tiny air bubbles in the blood vessels of a certain part of the brain. Of the 200 people subjected to these experiments, 80 died outright. The survivors were executed.
Sigmund also conducted hypothermia experiments on 300 involuntary subjects, as well as blood coagulation experiments on other subjects. He would continue his experiments until April 1944.
During this time, Sigmund was trying to win approval from Heinrich Himmler, who had a good relationship with his family. Sigmund attempted to Himmler that population growth could be accelerated by extending female childbearing age. He publicized the fact that his wife, Karoline, had given birth to three children even after she turned 48. Himmler used a photograph of Sigmund's family as propaganda material.
However, in April 1944, during her fourth "pregnancy", Karoline was arrested for trying to kidnap a baby. An investigation revealed that her other three children had each either been purchased or kidnapped.
Himmler, a massive proponent of German mothers giving birth to more "pure-blooded" children, was enraged by Sigmund's lies and had him arrested as well. Sigmund was also accused of financial fraud, lab fraud, and murdering his former lab assistant.
The Raschers were both sent to concentration camps as regular prisoners. Sigmund was sent to Buchenwald concentration and Karoline was sent to Ravensbrück camp.
Sigmund spent about a year in Buchenwald. After the camp was evacuated in April 1945, he was then, ironically, transferred to Dachau. It is believed that Himmler, apparently still angry over Sigmund's lies and/or wanting to destroy evidence, directly ordered the summary executions of both Raschers.
Sigmund was executed by shooting in his cell in Dachau on April 26, 1945. He was 36 years old. SS officials shot Sigmund just three days before U.S. soldiers liberated the camp. Around the same time, SS officials hanged Karoline in Ravensbrück.