SCOPE FOR ACTION

Almost all those involved in the killing of patients did not question their actions. They did not object, apparently acting without doubt or remorse. In connection with the crimes in Lüneburg, there were only a few individuals who tried, within the limits of their capabilities, not to participate.

The letter has been perforated. It was typed on a typewriter. The writing has faded in places and is difficult to read. One sentence has been underlined in red pen. Another sentence has been marked in black pen in the margin. In the marked sentence, the words »criminally insane« are underlined in black.

Letter from Georg Andreae, Chief President of the Province of Hanover, to the Reich Ministry of the Interior, dated July 11, 1940.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Göttingen Acc. 58/83 No. 10.

Georg Andreae from the provincial administration in Hanover traveled to Berlin to delay reporting the sick. There, he succeeded in ensuring that individual patients could be postponed from being transferred to a killing center. He also wanted to ensure that the assessment of »usefulness« would be interpreted very broadly. However, he was unsuccessful in this endeavor. He allowed himself to be convinced that there was a Führer order and did not use his discretion to defer as many people as possible.

As experts, Georg Andreae, Ludwig Geßner, and Gottfried Ewald knew that »euthanasia« was planned murder. They were opposed to it. In their opinion, people with disabilities should not be murdered, but instead receive only the most necessary care and assistance. Together, they wrote a memorandum to Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick opposing »euthanasia.« However, this had no effect.

This is a copy of the document. It is light in colour. The document is densely typed. Words have been corrected in some places. Some paragraphs are marked in red pen and several sentences are underlined in red pen.

Excerpt from the transcript of the public prosecutor’s interrogation of Georg Andreae on May 11, 1948.

NLA Hanover Nds. 721 Hanover Acc. 61/81 No. 28/1.

GEORG ANDREAE (1888 – 1983)

This is a copy of the document. It is light in colour. The document is densely typed. Words have been corrected in some places. In the first line of the text, the words »Dr. Andreae« are underlined in red pen.

Excerpt from the minutes of the public prosecutor’s interrogation of Georg Andreae on May 11, 1948.

NLA Hanover Nds. 721 Hanover Acc. 61/81 No. 28/1.

Georg Andreae was born in Göttingen and married in 1918. He studied law in Berlin, Munich, Freiburg, and Kiel. In 1933, he joined the NSDAP and became a member of the SS. From 1934 until the end of the war, he was the administrative director for youth welfare and social services as well as mental hospitals and nursing homes in the province of Hanover. This made him responsible for the implementation of »Aktion T4« as well as subsequent »euthanasia« measures in the province of Hanover. After his dismissal in 1945, he became managing director of the Lower Saxony Hostel Association and taught law at the Deaconess School in Stephansstift Hanover. In 1947, he was denazified as a »follower.« In 1948, preliminary proceedings were initiated against him, Ludwig Geßner, and Paul Fröhlich for aiding and abetting murder. At the end of 1950, all three were acquitted. Georg Andreae died in 1983.

Due to her experience in caring for children and adolescents, senior nurse Marie Jürgen (1891–1994) took over the management of the »children’s ward« in Lüneburg. Shortly thereafter, she took a vacation. When she returned two weeks later, Max Bräuner exercised his authority and replaced her with Wilhelmine Wolf, whom he believed would provide the necessary determination and attitude.

Excerpt from the interrogation of Marie Jürgen on April 25, 1949.

NLA Hanover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 No. 3.

The letter is yellowed. It is damaged in the upper right and lower right corners. It is typewritten, as is Ingeborg Weber's signature. Below the letter is Director Grimme's reply. It is also typewritten in its entirety. Some sentences in the letter and the reply are underlined in red pen.

Letter from Ingeborg Weber to the Hildesheim Mental Hospital, Director Grimme, dated November 10, 1941.

NLA Hanover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 No. 3.

Ingeborg Weber reluctantly accepted her transfer to Lüneburg. She was just starting her career and had only completed her training in June 1941. When she realized that her »special assignment« meant killing children, she asked to be transferred back to Hildesheim. Her request was denied, and she was permanently transferred to Lüneburg instead. When Max Bräuner also rejected her request for leave and she had to remain in Lüneburg, she was so desperate that she took her own life in 1942.

SCOPE FOR ACTION

Escaping murder in the killing centers of Brandenburg, Pirna-Sonnenstein, Hadamar, and Pfafferode was virtually impossible. Families often only received news of a transfer after the murder had already taken place. Rescue was extremely rare. Four patients survived their transfer to killing centers through deferrals or repatriation to Lüneburg. They are exceptions.

The picture shows Hertha Braun from the chest up. She is wearing a large dark coat. Her hair is parted and tied back. Hertha Braun looks at the camera with her mouth closed.

Herta Braun, 1924.

NLA Hanover Nds. 330 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/134 No. 03270.

The picture shows Paula Jahn from the chest up. She is wearing a patterned top with a bow across the chest. Her hair is parted and pinned back. Her head is tilted slightly downwards. Hertha Braun is looking at the camera with her mouth closed.

Paula Jahn, 1937.

NLA Hanover Nds. 330 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/134 No. 01135.

The picture shows Karl Reich sitting on a chair. He is sitting in front of a large light-coloured wall. He is wearing a dark suit with a waistcoat and a light-coloured shirt. The chain of a pocket watch is visible. He has short hair and is looking towards the camera with his mouth slightly open. His hands are folded in his lap.

Karl Reich, around 1922.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/066 No. 08339.

The picture shows Heinrich Brandt sitting on a chair. He is visible from the knees up. He is sitting in front of a large light-coloured wall. He is wearing a dark suit with a waistcoat and a light-coloured shirt. He has short, somewhat thinning hair and a moustache. He is looking towards the camera with his mouth slightly open. His hands are resting in his lap.

Heinrich Brandt, around 1914.

NLA Hanover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/066 No. 07628.

Only a few patients were not transferred from the Herborn intermediate institution to the Hadamar »T4« killing center. Two women were brought back from Herborn to Lüneburg. Two men managed to be removed from the gas chamber at the Hadamar killing center. They were needed as laborers on the institution’s own farm in Schnepfenhausen. These four patients survived.

HEINRICH BRANDT (1882 – 1957)

Heinrich Brandt from Bornberg near Cuxhaven came from a family in which alcohol was consumed in large quantities. He too became addicted to alcohol. In 1912, his mother died, a few weeks before he was committed to the Lüneburg mental hospital. The family farm was taken over by his brother Johann. Heinrich Brandt repeatedly committed crimes to obtain money for food and alcohol. When he learned of his uncle’s death in 1914, he escaped. Three weeks later, he was arrested and committed to Lüneburg again. He thus survived the First World War and was released in 1919. In 1922, he reoffended. After two stays in the »Santa Fu« prison in Hamburg, the court in Stade ordered him to be committed again because:

»The court is convinced that the defendant does not suffer from intellectual inferiority.«

Decision of the Stade Regional Court dated January 10, 1936.

Hadamar Memorial Archive. Ref. 12/K2978.

The document is slightly yellowed and perforated. There are some stains visible at the top edge. A table with two thin columns and one thick column is pre-printed. The two thin columns are labelled with the month and day. Various months and days are entered by hand. Next to the individual dates, there are handwritten comments about Heinrich Brandt in the thick column next to them, which are difficult to read. His name is written at the top right above the table.

Entry by Gustav Marx in Heinrich Brandt’s medical records.

Hadamar Memorial Archive. Ref. 12/K2978.

After undergoing alcohol withdrawal treatment, Heinrich Brandt behaved in an exemplary and »useful« manner. Nevertheless, he was transferred to »Aktion T4.« This was probably also because he had become inconvenient:

»Behaves rather arrogantly towards the nurses at times, does not like to be told what to do. According to the nurses, he sometimes makes highly censored speeches and expresses disparaging criticism of the current form of government.«

It can be assumed that Heinrich Brandt sensed what threatened him and his fellow patients. After his release from the gas chamber, he behaved as desired, almost overly conformist. This saved his life. In 1942, he helped Hedwig Siebert run her cinema. In 1945, she vehemently advocated for his release. On February 11, 1946, he was allowed to leave. He later moved back to his homeland and died on December 2, 1957, in Bornberg.

The letter is slightly yellowed and perforated. The letterhead is pre-printed in the top left corner. It contains the name and address of the cinema and the name of Hedwig Siebert. In the address, the street name »Horst-Wessel-Strasse« is crossed out. Next to it, the new name of the street is written by hand. The letter is handwritten in dark ink and signed.
On the back is the reply from the Hadamar institution and nursing home. It is written in pencil and is difficult to read.

Letter from Hedwig Siebert with reply to the Hadamar Institution and Nursing Home dated August 11, 1945.

Hadamar Memorial Archive. Ref. 12/K2978.

DOROTHEA KALIWE (née GRIESBACH) (1890–1967)

The photograph is sepia-toned and quite dark overall. Dorothea Kaliwe is holding a baby in her arms. The baby is wearing a light-coloured romper suit and is looking intently at Dorothea. Dorothea is wearing dark clothing and is looking down at the baby with a smile. To the right of the two of them stands Dorothea's daughter Ursula. She is wearing a ladies' hat and a dark coat with a scarf. She is looking down at the baby with a smile.

Dorothea Kaliwe was saved from »euthanasia« by her daughter Ursula and son-in-law Theo Zobel. Her rescue was an exception. She was married to the forester Ernst Kaliwe, and they had three children: Günter, Ursula, and Ernst. After World War I, the family left their home and eventually settled in Scharnebeck. Dorothea suffered from depression, probably as a result of a miscarriage and domestic violence. From 1928 onwards, she was a permanent patient at the Lüneburg institution. In 1943, she was transferred to the Pfafferode killing center. Her daughter and son-in-law followed her there. As a forester, he owned a gun and threatened the doctors:

»I’m going through that door with my mother-in-law right now, and if you pick up the phone, we won’t leave this room alive.«

Interview with Ursula Becker, January 11, 2018.

ArEGL.

Dorothea Kaliwe was handed over to her family. She survived and died in 1967 in the apartment of her daughter, with whom she had been living since her rescue.

In the photo, Dorothea Kaliwe (left) is holding her newborn granddaughter Ursula Zobel. Dorothea’s daughter Ursula Zobel can be seen on the right. The photo was taken in December 1934 at the Lüneburg Institution and Nursing Home.

Photo of Ursula and Theo Zobel, taken before 1944.

ArEGL 64.

Doctors and parents rarely resisted. The doctor Willi Baumert only exercised his discretion once. Only a few parents even attempted to save their children, and even fewer succeeded. Children who survived the »children’s ward« rarely returned to their families. They often remained in institutional care for many decades.

The document is perforated and has a few small stains. A table with two thin columns and one thick column is pre-printed. The two thin columns are labelled with the month and day. In the thick column next to them, handwritten notes about Käte are entered in blue ink, which are difficult to read.

Excerpt from Käte’s medical history.

NLA Hanover Nds. 330 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/134 No. 02912.

The children transferred to Eben-Ezer had to be of school age. Younger and older children had no chance of escaping in this way – with one exception: Erika (born in 1940) was transferred to Eben-Ezer even though she was only four years old. Willi Baumert decided that she should not be separated from her older sister Käte (born in 1938). Thus, both sisters survived the »children’s ward« in Lüneburg.

Frieda Neumann could not be saved. Although her father tried everything to get her into Bethel, she was murdered by Willi Baumert.

This is a black-and-white photograph. Hilda is sitting in a wicker chair in a garden. She is wearing a dark dress and has long braided hair. Leaning to the right, she is looking at the camera. Frieda is sitting sideways on her lap. Frieda is wearing a light-coloured short-sleeved dress and is holding Hilda's hand. Frieda is looking to the left, out of the picture.

Frieda Neumann sitting on the lap of her older half-sister Hilda Janssen, presumably on Hilda’s 17th birthday on May 4, 1931.

Privately owned by the Alpha family.

Vacation request from Frieda Wernitz dated December 2, 1942.

NLA Hanover Nds. 330 Lüneburg Acc. 2012/064 No. 2566.

Some parents even accepted the sterilization of their child so that it could be discharged from the »children’s ward.« The parents of Ingeborg Wernitz from Lüneburg did the same.

»On September 26, 1942, Ms. Wernitz appeared at the health care office of the city of Lüneburg […] and requested the release of her daughter Ingeborg Wernitz from the institution. She and her husband did not agree with the placement and would never give their consent to it. Her daughter could be cared for more cheaply at home, as she was not learning anything at the institution. She would also take good care of Ingeborg. On October 3, 1942, the Lüneburg Health Care Office sent a letter requesting information on whether I. W. could be released if she were to undergo sterilization.«

NLA Hanover Nds. 330 Lüneburg Acc. 2012/064 No. 2566.

Ingeborg Wernitz was sterilized on January 21, 1943, at the age of 14, and then discharged from the »children’s ward« on February 26, 1943.

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