This is the first full-scale biography of Karl Brandt, one of the most powerful figures of the Third Reich. It tells the story of his rise to power and influence at the heart of Hitler's coterie of trusted advisors and confidants. It also tells of his execution after Nuremberg, and of the many thousands of 'patients' condemned to death as a result of his researches.As General Commissioner for Health and Sanitation Karl Brandt became the highest medical authority in the Nazi regime and played a major role in the organisation and implementation of the first mass killing programme of the Third Reich, the so-called 'Euthanasia' programme. He initiated experiments which were carried out on concentration camp inmates, and was eventually put in charge of biological and chemical warfare research. How was it that a rational, highly cultured, literate, idealistic and talented young professional could come to be responsible for mass murder and criminal human experimentation on a previously unimaginable scale? In this riveting biography, Ulf Schmidt explores in detail what we know and what we cannot know about one of the most intriguing of the Nuremberg Nazis.