Editing Karl Brandt (section)

== Life in the inner circle ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H0422-0502-001, Berlin, Beisetzung Oberst Werner Mölders.jpg|300px|thumb|Brandt at right, following [[Hitler]] and [[Martin Bormann]] and walking behind Field Marshall [[Erhard Milch|Milch]]]]
Karl Brandt and his wife Anni were members of Hitler's inner circle at [[Berchtesgaden]] where Hitler maintained his private residence known as the [[Berghof (Hitler)|Berghof]].{{sfn|Hamilton|1984|p=138}} This very exclusive group functioned as Hitler's de facto family circle. It included [[Eva Braun]], [[Albert Speer]], his wife Margarete, [[Theodor Morell]], [[Martin Bormann]], Hitler's photographer [[Heinrich Hoffmann (photographer)|Heinrich Hoffmann]], Hitler's adjutants and his secretaries. Brandt and Hitler's chief architect Albert Speer were good friends as the two shared technocratic dispositions about their work. Brandt looked at killing "useless eaters" and the disabled as a means to an end, namely in the interest of public health. Similarly, Speer viewed the use of concentration camp slave labor for his defense and building projects in much the same way.<ref>Lifton, (1986) ''The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide'', p. 115.</ref> As members of this inner circle, the Brandts had a residence near the Berghof and spent considerable time there when Hitler was present. Despite Brandt's closeness to Hitler, the dictator was furious when he learned shortly before the end of the war that the doctor had sent Anni and their son toward the American lines in hopes of evading capture by the Russians.{{sfn|Hamilton|1984|p=138}} Hitler charged him with treason and Brandt underwent a summary trial and was sentenced to death. Only the intervention of [[Heinrich Himmler]] and Speer saved him from execution at that time.{{sfn|Hamilton|1984|p=138}}