It is a black and white picture. You can see several similar-looking villa-like buildings. The buildings are two-storey with ornate brick walls and high mullioned windows. A handwritten note is written at the top of the map in blue pencil. The buildings are also numbered and labelled by hand.

Postcard, Großschweidnitz Institution and Nursing Home, 1922.

ArEGL 99.

GROßSCHWEIDNITZ

The Großschweidnitz institution, built in pavilion style and opened in 1902, was involved in the killing of patients in several ways. Around 2,300 patients, including minors, were transferred during »Aktion T4« and murdered in Pirna-Sonnenstein. Around 5,500 patients died violently on site as a result of malnutrition and drug overdoses. One famous victim was the aunt of artist Gerhard Richter, Marianne Schönfelder.

With the transfer of children and adolescents from Leipzig-Dösen to Großschweidnitz in December 1943 and the establishment of the Großschweidnitz »Children’s ward«, the institution also participated in the murder of children and adolescents as part of the »child euthanasia« programme.

Even before the evacuation of Leipzig-Dösen, there was a child and adolescent psychiatric ward in Großschweidnitz. The expectation that all children and adolescents from rural areas who were receiving psychiatric care could be brought together in the »Children’s ward« in Leipzig-Dösen did not come to fruition. Instead, the course of the war and the bombing of the city of Leipzig meant that the Leipzig-Dösen institution had to distribute its patients to rural facilities. The »Children’s ward« ward’ in Leipzig-Dösen was relocated to Großschweidnitz. Dr Arthur Mittag, head of the »Children’s ward« in Leipzig-Dösen, also took over the management there. The »Children’s ward« was largely integrated into the existing children’s ward. Not all of the nurses from Dösen were retained; some were transferred to other wards, hospitals, institutions and »Children’s ward« (Kalmenhof, Eichberg).

Between December 1943 and May 1945, Arthur Mittag and at least six nurses murdered around 400 children and young people. The nurses received special payments from the Reich Committee for this. One nurse was even nominated for a »medal of honour for German public service« for her »services to the Reich Committee«. It is not known whether this actually happened before the end of the war.

After the war, Arthur Mittag remained in service until October 1945. In 1946, he was arrested. He injected himself with a solution made from 30 Luminal tablets and took his own life. No further investigations were conducted against anyone else involved in the »child euthanasia« programme in Großschweidnitz. The focus was on the murders of adult patients.

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