Download Aktion T4

Hitler’s policy towards
the mentally and
physically disabled
Research Question
Assess Hitler’s policies towards the mentally
and physically disabled and their impact on
Nazi Germany.
What were his policies?
What were the aims of Hitler’s policy?
What successes did Hitler have in this area?
What failures did Hitler have in this area?
To what extent was this achieved?
Vocabulary
• Weltanschauung
• Eugenics
• Gemeinchaftfremde
• Sterilization
• Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring
• Marriage Law
• Euthanasia
• Aktion T4
• Sonnenstein
• “Das Erbe”
• August Von Galen
In two or threebeliefs
columns
Hitler’s
◉ Weltanschauung- German philosophy or view of the world
◉ Eugenics- the belief in the possibility of improving the Aryan race through selective
breeding  “The perfect and complete human animal.”
◉ Asocial or Gemeinchaftfremde “community foreigners”
Those who “Show themselves, in their personality or in the conduct of their life, and
especially in light of any unusual deficiency of mind or character, unable to comply by their own
efforts with the minimum requirements of the national community.”
Consumers of state resources that could be better used for the Volkgemeinschaft.
◉ Schizophrenia, manic depression, hereditary epilepsy, serious physical deformities,
alcoholism and feeblemindedness.
Excuse to punish those blamed to have exercised poor judgement (KDP
supporters).
In two or three
columns
Hitler’s
policies
◉ Sterilization- between 1934 and 1945, 350,000 people were sterilised.
◉ Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring, 1934“countless numbers of inferiors and those suffering from hereditary ailments are
reproducing unrestrainedly while their sick and asocial offspring are a burden on
the community.”
◉ Marriage Law, 1935- proof that any offspring from the marriage would not be
afflicted by any genetic disease.
◉ Euthanasia- 72,000 deaths before Aktion T4
Named after the address of the organization, Tiergartenstrasse 4, Berlin, halted in
1939 with the start of WW2.
Killed by starvation, lethal injection and poison gas (200,000).
Six killing centres in Germany and Austria: Sonnenstein.
In two or
three columns
Schloss
Sonnenstein
◉ Born as a mental home, it was closed in 1939 to be converted into a
euthanasia killing centre.
◉ Building 2 was dedicated to the actual killing facility (gas chamber and
crematorium).
◉ The use of gas chambers served as a training for the SS for Auschwitz.
◉ Over 13,000 were killed at
Sonnenstein.
◉ Visits were not possible.
◉ Relatives received condolence
letters with falsified death
certificates.
And his means…
Propaganda
◉ Joseph Goebbels in charge from 1929.
◉ “Der Angriff”, a weekly newspaper dedicated to promoting Nazi
ideas.
◉ Aim of propaganda: capture the attention of potential supporters.
◉ Techniques, such as radio broadcasts, films, mass meetings and
loudspeakers.
 “Opfen der Vergangenheit” (Victims of the Past)- attempts to justify
the practice of euthanasia.
 “Das Erbe” (The Inheritance)- helped legitimize sterilization.
 Scientific tone, particularly persuasive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Ww800PzlJ6Y
The aim
In two or three columns
Protect the racially healthy community, Volkgemeinschaft, from the
mentally and physical disabled.
◉ Eugenics- study the laws of heredity with the practical purpose of
using this information to improve the Aryan race.
◉ Sterilization and euthanasia- eliminate “hereditary defects” so that
new generations will be “perfect Germans”.
◉ Aktion T4 and Sonnenstein- eliminate incurable people who have
“lives unworthy of living”.
Successes
In two or three columns
How successful was the Nazis’ attempt to create a perfect
Volkgemeinschaft?
Due to the Nazis’ use of law, terror and propaganda:
◉ Denunciations received by the Gestapo helped the Third Reich
identify the undesirables.
◉ German youth was indoctrinated and controlled.
By 1935, 60% of all young Germans belonged to one of
Hitler’s groups.
The Nazis managed to kill:
◉ Between 200,000 and 250,000 under the euthanasia program
70,000 under Aktion T4
The Reich saved about $3 billion!
◉ 300,000 to 400,000 were victims of sterilization
Victims of Aktion T4
T4 operation
Total number of victims
Centre
From
To
Grafeneck
Jan. 1940
Dec. 1940
9,839
Bradenburg
Feb. 1940
Oct. 1940
9,772
Bernburg
Nov. 1940
July 1943
8,601
Hartheim
May 1940
Dec. 1944
18,269
Sonnnenstein
June 1940
Sep. 1942
13,720
Hadamar
Jan.1941
July 1942
10,072
Total
70,273
Source: Document 87, P. 232 cit. in Ernst Klee. Dokumente zur “Euthanasie”, 1985.
Failures
In two or three columns
The only failure was the participation of the Church, which opposed
to the euthanasia program and Aktion T4.
Bishop of Muenster, August von Galen:
“We are talking about men and women, our compatriots, our brothers and
sisters. Poor unproductive people if you wish, but does this mean that they
have lost their right to live?”
Hitler was opposed in public at Hof for the first time in 12 years of
rule
Aktion T4 was suspended but it continued secretly
Killing centres personnel were moved to
concentration camps.
two or threeextent?
columns
ToIn what
Hitler fully achieved his goals.
Even if Aktion T4 ended in
1941, the killing program
secretly continued until the
end of the war.
Bibliography
◉N.p., 20 Feb. 2015. Web. <http://www.britannica.com/event/T4-Program>.
◉"GHDI - Document." GHDI - Document. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016. http://ghdi.ghidc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1521
◉"Sonnenstein Euthanasia Center Www.HolocaustResearchProject.org." Sonnenstein Euthanasia
Center Www.HolocaustResearchProject.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/euthan/sonnenstein.html
◉N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. <http://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/learning-materials-andresources/mentally-and-physically-handicapped-victims-of-the-nazi-era/forced-sterilization>.
◉N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. http://www.pudv.nl/aktion-t4/
◉"El Paraguas De Rififi." El Paraguas De Rififi. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
http://elparaguasderififi.tumblr.com/page/4
◉"Referenz." Seidel+Architekten. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
http://www.seidelarchitekten.de/SchlossSonnenstein.html
Bibliography
◉"How Successful Was the Nazis' Attempt to Create a Harmonious 'national
Community' (Volksgemeinschaft)?" SkeltonSays. N.p., 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.
https://skeltonsays.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/how-successful-was-the-nazisattempt-to-create-a-harmonious-national-community-volksgemeinschaft/
◉N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/disabled.html.
◉"Medicalized Murder: Mentally or Physically Disabled Adults." AHRP. N.p., 18 Nov.
2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2016. http://ahrp.org/medicalized-murder-mentally-or-physicallydisabled-adults/