The Ravensbrück Rabbits

The young students had been part of the Polish underground resistance intent on defying the brutal Nazi regime. Captured by the Gestapo, they were sent to Ravensbrück, the concentration camp known as “Hitler’s Hell for Women.” They were called “the Rabbits” because they were used by the Third Reich as laboratory animals for medical experiments. The Nazis had used their limbs to recreate war wounds and infected those wounds with aggressive bacteria, wood chips, and glass, trying to cause gas gangrene. They also experimented with removing and damaging nerves, muscles, and bones in the legs.

Not only did the Rabbits work together to keep one another alive after the surgeries, but other inmates in the camp risked their lives daily, secretly bringing them food, water, and even medications to help them survive. Later, they were successfully liberated by an international team headed up by journalist Norman Cousins.

Source: Saving the Rabbits of Ravensbrück