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»Gr. Lobke d. 7.1.44.
To the director of the state mental hospital.
Please excuse me for bothering you with a question that is beneath your dignity. During my visit on January 4, 1944, I noticed that my children Willi and Herbert Köhler, as well as all the other children, were lying in bed naked. They were covered only with a blanket. I also noticed that they were lying on a rubber mat with their kidneys exposed. The nurse told me that they did this because the children wet the bed and their shirts would get wet. […] It is no wonder that the children then catch colds, develop coughs, and suffer from kidney and bladder problems. My children never wet the bed at home. I have now seen with my own eyes how the children are being mistreated with this method. I have already contacted the authorities, who were outraged, and now I am waiting to see what response I get from them. I am almost convinced that you, Mr. Director, know nothing about this shameful treatment. […] Why are the children put to bed so early in the afternoon? Why do the children have to eat their dinner in bed? In my opinion, this is only for the convenience of the nurse. […] I only wish that the person who initiated this treatment would be tied naked to a tree for an hour every evening. My children have enough clothes with them that they can keep their shirts on in bed.

If they no longer have any shirts, I am not obliged to purchase new laundry, but I am always in a position to do so. I look forward to receiving your valued response as soon as possible so that I can submit it to the official authorities to determine who is at fault. Heil Hitler, Mrs. Berta Köhler.«

»II.1.44
Dear Ms. Köhler, I would like to respond to your letter dated January 7, 1944, with the following clarification. 1.) On the day in question, all of the children were lying naked in bed because they had been bathed. Clean laundry was then distributed. 2.) Given the current shortage of laundry, it is understandable that bedwetters and children who soil their beds often have to sleep without shirts when all the laundry has been used up and the washed laundry has not yet been returned. 3. In this situation, it is not possible to catch a cold, as the dormitory is heated. Incidentally, the children were bedwetters before, as they are all severely mentally disabled and such a condition is part of the illness in children like these. 4.) The fact that the children are put to bed earlier, e.g., before dinner, can only be understood as a result of the lack of staff. The children have to be washed, their clothes sorted carefully, and they have to be fed, as the children themselves do not take care of anything due to their mental disability. Until the end of the shift at 9 p.m., the nurse is therefore more than fully occupied. I must therefore firmly reject your accusations. Above all, the accusation that the children are being mistreated here. There can be no question of the nurse being lazy with the current staff. Incidentally, I leave it up to you to place your children elsewhere. Heil Hitler W.B.«