Using Nazi Data

There is no question that the research done in Nazi concentration camps during WWII was completely unethical. Doctors tortured prisoners in the name of science to try to discover how much the human body can withstand before dying among other things. They were able to draw conclusions about the effects of temperature and altitude. Even though death usually ensued, some of this information is valuable, especially to the military. I found this hypothetical situation to illustrate my point:

“Given, then, that A is the donor, and that B is the worthy recipient, it would certainly be unethical to remove A's heart while he is still alive (thereby killing him) with the intent to transplant it into B's body. B's blood is not redder than A's, and both A and B deserve an equal chance to live. But what if a doctor disobeyed our warning, and removed A's heart anyway? Can he transplant A's murdered heart to save B's life? B still needs a new heart or he will die. The moral problem is: what do we do with A's murdered heart? Do we throw it away because it was immorally obtained? If so, must the needy recipient (B) suffer and die because of A's unfortunate death? If so, is it ethical to have B's death on our conscience? And what of the doctor? Suppose he transplanted A's murdered heart into B. Would the doctor be considered A's murderer or B's hero? Could he be both? Would B's renewed life suffer because of A's death?”
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/naziexp.html

This research is impossible to replicate; the data, no matter how disturbing or wrong, is still useful information. We can’t take back the suffering and cruelty that people had to endure for this research, so why shouldn’t we turn it into something good? Some of the data can be used to save lives, so we shouldn’t let it go to waste.

The knowledge gained from these experiments cannot even begin compare to what was lost, especially since most of the data isn’t completely valid. A lot of it was bad science and no good can come out of it. Too many people suffered that did not deserve it, and their suffering should no be forgotten.