OSKAR (1903 – 1941) aND HANS POHLMANN (1899 – 1942)

The brothers Oskar and Hans Pohlmann came from Wieren in the district of Uelzen. They had two siblings, Alma and Wilhelm, who died in his first year of life. In 1908, the family moved to Bodenteich. Their father, Wilhelm senior, was a master shoemaker, as was their uncle. Alma also later married a shoemaker. Their mother, Berta Pohlmann, ran a grocery store. After school, Oskar trained as a roofer. He played the clarinet and violin, most recently in the SA band, from which he was dismissed. He sang in the men’s choir and was also treasurer there for four years. His brother Hans struggled at school and trained as a shoemaker in his father’s workshop. Both were sent to the Lüneburg mental hospital. First Oskar, then Hans. Oskar fell ill in 1934. A year later, he was forcibly sterilised. Six years later, on 21 May 1941, he was murdered at the Hadamar killing centre. His brother Hans began behaving strangely in 1939, shortly after being drafted into military service. It cannot be ruled out that he only pretended to be ill in order to avoid military service. After various stays in different institutions, he too was admitted to the Lüneburg mental hospital in December 1940. It is unclear whether he was sterilised. He contracted tuberculosis and died in May 1942. A violent death cannot be ruled out. The mother had both sons buried in Bodenteich. Fearing that customers would stop shopping at her store, she claimed that her sons had been killed in the war. Oskar and Hans Pohlmann are not the only victims of euthanasia in their family. A cousin of the two, Helene Pohlmann, was murdered in Weilmünster. Her brother Paul Pohlmann also died in 1943 in the Lüneburg mental hospital.