Paul Nitsche from Colditz invented the so-called »Starvation diet« and murder according to the »Luminal scheme«. The latter consisted of an overdose of an anti-seizure drug with the trade name »Luminal«. Nitsche was a doctor’s son, had studied under the Heidelberg psychiatrist Kraepelin and took part in the International Hygiene Exhibition in Dresden in 1911. From 1914, he ran the Pirna-Sonnenstein sanatorium and nursing home, and four years later the Leipzig-Dösen sanatorium. He returned to Pirna as director in 1928. From 1934, he was also a judge at the Higher Hereditary Health Court in Dresden. In 1940, he once again took over the management of the Leipzig-Dösen institution and became chief expert of the »T4 Centre«. Shortly afterwards, he replaced Werner Heyde as head of the »T4 Centre«. Nitsche was arrested in 1945, and two years later he was charged with murder at the Dresden District Court. He maintained his position that the murder of the sick and people with disabilities was scientifically and socially justified. His death sentence was carried out in 1948.
