HELGA VOLKMER (1933 – 1941)

Helga Marie Volkmer was born on March 19, 1933, in Westerwesede, Rotenburg district. Helga had three siblings. Her parents, Johann and Marie Volkmer, farmed ten acres of leased land and owned cows. In 1939, Helga’s admission to an institution was requested because it was assumed that her mother was overwhelmed with supervising her children in addition to her work on the farm: »[…] since she [the mother] is extensively occupied with caring for her children and tending to her own farm (three head of cattle).«

Helga Volkmer was admitted to the Rotenburg Institutions of the Inner Mission on June 5, 1939. There, doctors diagnosed her with »hydrocephalus.« Between June 1939 and August 1941, there were no entries in her medical records, even though she had contracted diphtheria and scarlet fever in the meantime. Helga Volkmer was transferred to the »children’s ward« in Lüneburg on October 9, 1941. The first entry in her medical history in Lüneburg was made on November 19, 1941. The second entry already described her death. Her parents were prepared in advance for her impending death with a standard letter: »Your daughter Helga has been ill with a high fever for several days. Given her general frailty, her condition is not without risk.«

Helga Volkmer died on November 30, 1941. She was one of the first victims of the Lüneburg »children‘s euthanasia« program. After her death, her brain was removed and her body was dissected. The official cause of death recorded by the doctor Willi Baumert was pneumonia. She was buried as the fifth child in the »children’s graveyard« of the institution’s cemetery. Her mother traveled to the funeral, but arrived too late. Helga had already been buried.