Karl Brandt (January 8, 1904 – June 2, 1948) was a German physician and
Schutzstaffel (SS) officer in
Nazi Germany. Trained in surgery, Brandt joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and became
Adolf Hitler's escort physician in August 1934. A member of Hitler's inner circle at the
Berghof, he was selected by
Philipp Bouhler, the head of
Hitler's Chancellery, to administer the
Aktion T4 euthanasia program. Brandt was later appointed the Reich Commissioner of Sanitation and Health (
Bevollmächtiger für das Sanitäts und Gesundheitswesen). Accused of involvement in
human experimentation and other war crimes, Brandt was indicted in late 1946 and faced trial before a U.S.
military tribunal along with 22 others in
United States of America v. Karl Brandt, et al. He was convicted, sentenced to death, and later hanged on June 2, 1948.