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Talking Back: Protests against the the Nazi Program to Murder Handicapped Citizens of Germany 1933-1945
By 1900 German scientists were convinced that the Aryan race epitomized health and beauty. But the defeat of Germany in World War I and the Great Depression generated fear that German society was degenerating.
When Hitler came to power, he concluded that the racial health of Germany required that those with weakened genetic constitution should not reproduce. Compulsory sterilization began in 1934 and forcibly prevented more than 400,000 “other” Germans from ever enjoying a family life. Government propaganda convinced most people that the measure was necessary if Germany was to become great again.
As war approached in 1939, Hitler decided that a more stringent scheme was necessary to conserve resources—food, hospital beds, medical staff—for those who could work or fight for the Fatherland. A secret program began at six killing centers where thousands of mentally or physically disabled citizens were transported, gassed and cremated on an industrial scale. The “secret” became widely known as people just disappeared, and families then received a form letter explaining the “sudden death” that killed their loved ones.
Some hospital administrators and physicians attempted to block the transfer of their patients. Catholic and Protestant church leaders, judges, local government officials and family members all protested against the widespread killings. BBC broadcasts and leaflets dropped by the RAF airplanes substantiated rumors across the community. There really was a government program that had destroyed thousands of disabled people. Leading government officials now convinced Hitler that the morale of the citizens was being compromised by the euthanasia scheme, and their willingness to endure the rigors of war was melting away.
The Führer concluded that the “secret plan” was no longer secret and needed to be replaced by a more insidious program to accomplish the same goals. Approximately 70,000 people had already been successfully eliminated. He halted the gas execution and encouraged local hospital administrators to experiment with less obvious forms of killing the disabled by starvation and lethal injections.
As Germany began to experience military defeat in several campaigns early in 1943, protest of any kind was no longer tolerated. Germany was fighting for its very existence. Rare attempts by pastors and priests to speak out were halted by imprisonment and execution. Citizens who distributed leaflets informing their neighbors about the scheme were promptly executed. Everyone now knew about the killing operations at local hospitals, but very few risked their lives by raising any objections to the demise of more than 150,000 people in the latter stage of the euthanasia operation.
The extant documentation from this era demonstrates the warm bonds between families and their disabled relatives. Nazi propaganda labeled them as “ballast people” and “useless eaters.” The disabled, in fact, had many abilities and wanted to work to contribute to the community. The National Socialist government however decided that they were refuse and could not contribute anything to the common good. The humanity of all was scarred by this epoch of history.
Alan R. Rushton practiced Pediatrics and Medical Genetics at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey from 1980 until 2017. He completed his professional education at the University of Chicago (PhD in Genetics 1975 and MD with Honors 1977) and residency training at Yale University (1980), and has served on the faculty of Princeton University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He was elected Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
He has conducted research on the history of medicine and genetics for more than thirty years and has published five books which are available on Amazon.
When Hitler came to power, he concluded that the racial health of Germany required that those with weakened genetic constitution should not reproduce. Compulsory sterilization began in 1934 and forcibly prevented more than 400,000 “other” Germans from ever enjoying a family life. Government propaganda convinced most people that the measure was necessary if Germany was to become great again.
As war approached in 1939, Hitler decided that a more stringent scheme was necessary to conserve resources—food, hospital beds, medical staff—for those who could work or fight for the Fatherland. A secret program began at six killing centers where thousands of mentally or physically disabled citizens were transported, gassed and cremated on an industrial scale. The “secret” became widely known as people just disappeared, and families then received a form letter explaining the “sudden death” that killed their loved ones.
Some hospital administrators and physicians attempted to block the transfer of their patients. Catholic and Protestant church leaders, judges, local government officials and family members all protested against the widespread killings. BBC broadcasts and leaflets dropped by the RAF airplanes substantiated rumors across the community. There really was a government program that had destroyed thousands of disabled people. Leading government officials now convinced Hitler that the morale of the citizens was being compromised by the euthanasia scheme, and their willingness to endure the rigors of war was melting away.
The Führer concluded that the “secret plan” was no longer secret and needed to be replaced by a more insidious program to accomplish the same goals. Approximately 70,000 people had already been successfully eliminated. He halted the gas execution and encouraged local hospital administrators to experiment with less obvious forms of killing the disabled by starvation and lethal injections.
As Germany began to experience military defeat in several campaigns early in 1943, protest of any kind was no longer tolerated. Germany was fighting for its very existence. Rare attempts by pastors and priests to speak out were halted by imprisonment and execution. Citizens who distributed leaflets informing their neighbors about the scheme were promptly executed. Everyone now knew about the killing operations at local hospitals, but very few risked their lives by raising any objections to the demise of more than 150,000 people in the latter stage of the euthanasia operation.
The extant documentation from this era demonstrates the warm bonds between families and their disabled relatives. Nazi propaganda labeled them as “ballast people” and “useless eaters.” The disabled, in fact, had many abilities and wanted to work to contribute to the community. The National Socialist government however decided that they were refuse and could not contribute anything to the common good. The humanity of all was scarred by this epoch of history.
Alan R. Rushton practiced Pediatrics and Medical Genetics at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey from 1980 until 2017. He completed his professional education at the University of Chicago (PhD in Genetics 1975 and MD with Honors 1977) and residency training at Yale University (1980), and has served on the faculty of Princeton University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He was elected Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and the Royal Society of Medicine in London.
He has conducted research on the history of medicine and genetics for more than thirty years and has published five books which are available on Amazon.
553 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 23, 2017
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