Sachsenberg Mental Asylum, old coloured lithograph, Rostock, published by Tiedemann’schen Hof-Steindruck in Rostock, around 1845.

ArEGL 214.

SACHSENBERG

The »Children’s ward« of the Sachsenberg mental hospital in Schwerin was established in August 1941 and existed until at least the end of 1944. The medical director of the institution was Johannes Fischer, and the head of the »Children’s ward« was Alfred Leu. Fischer committed suicide in 1945, while Leu fled to Schleswig-Holstein, where he was held in British captivity until 1948. After his release, he worked as a forensic pathologist from 1949 onwards.

Two anonymous letters accusing him of involvement in the murder of patients led to the start of investigations. This was followed by three court cases in Schwerin (1946) and Cologne (1951 and 1953), which he won on the grounds of »innocence«. He was able to convince the court that he had only murdered around 100 children in order to save his other charges from being killed. He convinced the judges that if he had not killed any children, another doctor would have taken his place and many more would have died. In fact, a total of around 430 children and adolescents are said to have died in the Sachsenberg »Children’s ward«, and at least 287 of them are said to have been murdered.