Process Paper
During World War II, Nazi scientists conducted unethical experiments, without consent, on concentration camp prisoners located across German occupied territories. After the war, the Nazis who were responsible were prosecuted during the Nuremberg Trials. As a result, a code of ethics was created to protect human rights in experiments and the trial sparked a long-lasting debate about whether the data from the experiments should be used.
The topic of Nazi experimentation was suggested to us by our Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Kraus. We did most of our research on the internet, but we also visited a few libraries. Our most valuable source was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website. It had a great collection of information, both secondary and primary. One of our most interesting primary sources was the book Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account, which gave us an interesting first-person view of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and the experiments done there.
When we began this project we had no idea of the true horrors of the experiments. We knew that what the Nazis did was terrible, but we did not fully grasp the full extent of their tests. A challenging part of the project was when we had to cut out some less important, but still relevant, information. It was difficult to choose between different facts and to decide which ones gave the best information.
We chose to do a website for a few reasons. To begin with, our topic would not work well as any of the other types of projects and a website would be best for a group. All our group members could work at it simultaneously, at home. In the beginning, we separately researched our topic. This was our first problem, because we mostly gained the same information. Later, we split up our topic into three parts and assigned a group member to each part. The amount of information was unbalanced. To solve this problem, we simply cut out the facts that were irrelevant and did extra research where it was needed.
It is important to study the Nazi experiments to remember what horrors the prisoners went through and to prevent something like that from ever happening again. Also, the data from the experiments could be used for good causes. During the experiments, thousands of people died, which was a terrible impact. After the war, the Nuremberg Code was created and it served as an international code of ethics in experiments. The Nazi doctors were responsible for denying the rights of the concentration camp prisoners. Many people have debated whether we have the right to use the information gained from the experiments. We have concluded from our research that we should not ignore the terrible things that occurred in history. We need to study these dark topics to make sure that they do not happen again. This project has taught us how to work in a group and how to create a great final product.
The topic of Nazi experimentation was suggested to us by our Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Kraus. We did most of our research on the internet, but we also visited a few libraries. Our most valuable source was the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website. It had a great collection of information, both secondary and primary. One of our most interesting primary sources was the book Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account, which gave us an interesting first-person view of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and the experiments done there.
When we began this project we had no idea of the true horrors of the experiments. We knew that what the Nazis did was terrible, but we did not fully grasp the full extent of their tests. A challenging part of the project was when we had to cut out some less important, but still relevant, information. It was difficult to choose between different facts and to decide which ones gave the best information.
We chose to do a website for a few reasons. To begin with, our topic would not work well as any of the other types of projects and a website would be best for a group. All our group members could work at it simultaneously, at home. In the beginning, we separately researched our topic. This was our first problem, because we mostly gained the same information. Later, we split up our topic into three parts and assigned a group member to each part. The amount of information was unbalanced. To solve this problem, we simply cut out the facts that were irrelevant and did extra research where it was needed.
It is important to study the Nazi experiments to remember what horrors the prisoners went through and to prevent something like that from ever happening again. Also, the data from the experiments could be used for good causes. During the experiments, thousands of people died, which was a terrible impact. After the war, the Nuremberg Code was created and it served as an international code of ethics in experiments. The Nazi doctors were responsible for denying the rights of the concentration camp prisoners. Many people have debated whether we have the right to use the information gained from the experiments. We have concluded from our research that we should not ignore the terrible things that occurred in history. We need to study these dark topics to make sure that they do not happen again. This project has taught us how to work in a group and how to create a great final product.