Medical record

A medical record was created for each patient. This is Peter Behrens‘ medical record. Some records include a photograph. These were always affixed to the top left of the first page. A photographer visited the institution for this purpose. He photographed all patients who were staying for a longer period of time. The stamp in the top right-hand corner of the medical record shows that Peter Behrens was admitted to the Lüneburg mental hospital against his will and by police force. He was assessed as »hereditarily diseased«. As a result, his sterilisation was requested and carried out on 11 August 1938. The upper red stamp confirms that Peter Behrens was registered by the health authorities as »hereditary biological« and that a file was created for him and his entire family. Each family member was examined to determine whether they might have a congenital or potentially hereditary disease.

The second red stamp indicates that Peter Behrens received insulin shock treatment. This involved deliberately lowering his blood sugar levels and inducing a coma for several minutes. The procedure was repeated several times, placing additional strain on the patient. In some cases, it triggered seizures. It was not until 1955 that the ineffectiveness of shock treatment was recognised, and it has not been used since.

»7.3.41 transferred« means that Peter Behrens was transferred to the Pirna-Sonnenstein killing centre on that day. It is the handwriting of Rudolf Redepenning, who knew at the time what a transfer to the Saxon institution meant. Peter Behrens is a victim of »Aktion T4«.

Medical record of Peter Behrens, 1937.

NLA Hannover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/066 Nr. 07569.