Daniela,
1. What do you mean “The last time I know these questions being non-theoretical was in Europe during WW2”? B’h the opinion of ora is at least asked in both the US (where Orthodox Jewish groups and individuals submit amici curiae briefs that are accepted and some Supreme Court justices have quoted Chazal and poskim) and Israel (where Jewish law has official status as a source andis frequently quoted in court decisions). This obligates us to clarify these questions on a practical basis.
2. I did not write that bodies should be maimed only that it is permissible. I added that “this is a very severe step which should only be taken in an extreme situation after serious deliberation”.
3. Just as a point of information, the letter was most liely written to then NY governor Hugh Carey. Rav Moshe called him “sar hamedina” and not “hanasi”. At the time there was a move in the NYS legislature to reinstitute it which Carey vetoed. I do not recall any meausre being discussed at the Federal levl at that time.