DETERMINE AND EVALUATE

In July 1945, the political investigation of those involved in the Lüneburg crimes began. In the end, all of them were classified as »followers« at most. There were no disadvantages and no penalties. Hans Rohlfing, the head of the health department, was classified as »uninvolved« because the »Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseases« was still in force. Gustav Marx was also acquitted and completely »exonerated«.

The paper is yellowed. The pre-printed categories of the questionnaire are filled in by hand in very neat handwriting.

Extract from the British Military Government’s questionnaire on the denazification of Max Bräuner.

NLA Hannover Nds. 171 Lüneburg Nr. 29889.

Carola Kleim filled out the British Military Government’s questionnaire for the political investigation of Max Bräuner. She omitted the special allowances for his involvement in the murder of the sick. His work as an assessor for the Hereditary Health Court also went unmentioned. His duties for the Racial Policy Office were played down.

Complete questionnaire

On 24 August 1945, Max Bräuner and Wilhelmine Wolf were the only employees to be dismissed from their duties at the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home. Members of the British security police held them responsible for the catastrophic conditions on the wards. The British considered the doctor Rudolf Redepenning to be unsuspicious and untainted. He became the new medical director.

The paper is yellowed and looks worn. The document is perforated on both sides. The text is typewritten. Several handwritten notes have been made.

Letter from the Chief President of the Province of Hanover (Georg Andreae) dated 24 August 1945.

NLA Hannover Nds. 300 Acc. 2005/128 Nr. 16.

RUDOLF REDEPENNING (1883 – 1967)

The paper of the item is yellowed. The photo accompanying the article is black and white. It shows two men, one of them Redepenning with the certificate of appointment in his hand, at a table. They are facing each other. The sources for the article are handwritten above.

Lüneburg Post of 28 December 1945.

ArEGL.

Rudolf Redepenning, around 1955.

ArEGL 151.

Shortly before the end of 1945, Rudolf Redepenning succeeded Max Bräuner as Medical Director. His appointment marked the beginning of a new era at the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home. As he had lost his leading position during the Nazi era and was a relative of a victim of „Aktion T4“, his initial commitment to the reorganisation of psychiatry and the investigation of the Lüneburg medical crimes was credible.

The letter is closely typewritten and comprises two pages. It is numbered at the top.

Letter from Rudolf Redepenning to the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court dated 26 October 1962.

ArEGL.

Nobody considered that Rudolf Redepenning might have been complicit in the crimes and therefore did not take part in the second investigation. He blamed memory lapses and illness.

The open casket of the order lies in the display case. The red cross lies in the dark padded casket.

The certificate is in the display case. It is printed on yellow paper. The name of the order is in red and capitalised. The certificate is signed by the Federal President.

Original box for the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon with certificate of appointment, 1958. Rudolf Redepenning received a similar certificate.

ArEGL 203.

In December 1958, Rudolf Redepenning was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon by the then Federal President Theodor Heuss for his involvement in rebuilding the institutional system. At that time, it was not publicly known that he had been involved in medical crimes and the killing of patients. Rudolf Redepenning was never stripped of this award.

It is a black and white portrait. Willi Baumert can be seen up to his chest. He is wearing a suit and tie. His short hair is styled backwards. He wears distinctive glasses and looks into the camera.

Willi Baumert as Medical Director of the Königslutter Regional Hospital, circa 1964.

NLA Hannover Nds. 300 Acc. 2005/128 Nr. 4.

Many of those involved in the crimes continued to work after a brief interruption in the post-war period. Margret Dehlinger returned to Lüneburg Municipal Hospital as a senior physician in 1949. Hans Rohlfing remained at the health department until his retirement. He was highly regarded as a prison doctor for the regional court and as a medical examiner for health insurance companies. Willi Baumert enjoyed a successful career as the former head of the ‘paediatric department’ at the Königslutter Regional Hospital. In 1958, he became the medical director there.

In early post-war trials against those responsible for the killing of patients, courts classified the acts as murder and imposed harsh sentences, including death penalties. This was also the case for those involved in the murders at Lüneburg Municipal Hospital in 1945/1946.

It is a slightly yellowed, perforated paper. It is written on closely with a typewriter. The reverse, which has also been written on, shines through. There is a handwritten note under the text. Archiving stamps are visible.

Interrogation protocol of Günter Schulz from 17 October 1945.

Archive of Yugoslavia Belgrade Inv. No 13093.

Doctors and nurses were questioned by the British military police about the murders of forced labourers that had been committed at Lüneburg Municipal Hospital from 1943 onwards. There were several witness statements. The doctor Günter Schulz was subsequently extradited to Belgrade and was imprisoned there. He made a statement.

In October 1946, a second interrogation of Günter Schulz took place in Belgrade prison. A trial was held there before the military court. The defendants Helmut Bock, Günter Schulz and Margarete Dethlefsen did not succeed in making the now deceased medical director Adolf Wilke solely responsible for the murder.

Full transcript

Excerpt from the interrogation protocol of Günter Schulz from 31 October 1946.

Archive of Yugoslavia Belgrade Inv. No 13093.

It is a very yellowed page. The page is tightly printed without photos. At the bottom centre is the article under the heading "Belgrade death sentence against Lüneburg doctors".

Lüneburger Landeszeitung of 22 November 1946, p. 3.

StadtALg, 8.2-LLA-B, 276.

The nurse Margarete Dethlefsen confessed to the offences and heavily incriminated the doctors. The administration of an overdose of morphine resulting in death was recognised as a war crime by the United Nations War Crime Commission. The legal basis was the Hague Land Warfare Convention (1907) and Control Council Law No. 10 (1945). Helmut Bock, Günter Schulz and Margarete Dethlefsen were sentenced to death on 5 November 1946. The sentence was carried out eleven days later.

The list is printed. The paper is light-coloured and stapled and folded over at the top left. The document is punched on the left.

Interrogation protocol of Günter Schulz from 17 October 1945.

Arhiv Jugoslavije Beograd Inv. Nr. 13093.

n patients of foreign origin, 34 people could be named who had been murdered in Lüneburg Municipal Hospital:

YUGOSLAVIA

Babic, Blagoje

Ubinovel [ohne Namensprüfung]

Babic, Gjuro Petrov

Sudar, Bogdan

Milivojac, Stojan

Vidovic, Milan

Cikic, Dragilin

Cicic, Uros

Lokvić/Lokušević, Duran [ohne Namensprüfung]

RUSSEN

Zurk, Sven [ohne Namensprüfung]

Senkowetz, Johann

Milevan, Beljrus [ohne Namensprüfung]

Vojšenko, Frosja [ohne Namensprüfung]

Jannjuk, Fedor

Kula, Valdemar [ohne Namensprüfung]

Kolb, Theodor

Kudin, Peter

Teslenko, Kusima

Onitschuk, Wasily

Bodnar, Wasyl

Preytschenko, Michail

Varonska, Hana [ohne Namensprüfung]

Tschuba, Wasyli

Matuck, Maria

Kutscher, Iwan

Antein, Kosta [ohne Namensprüfung]

Ehušnjivik, Marija [ohne Namensprüfung]

Belons, Wassily

POLEN

Bialy, Wladyslaw

Premas, Helene

Tabat, Valentin

Sakubek, Sabina

TSCHECHIEN

Domeika, Elena

BELGIEN
Baert, Frans Hilaire

The first preliminary investigations into the crimes committed at the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home began in 1947. In the meantime, the legal opinion had changed. Perpetrators were recognised as not having known that their crimes were illegal. From 1948, they therefore received lighter sentences.

Order from the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Hanover to the Lübeck Criminal Investigation Department dated 22 May 1948.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3.

As early as October 1945, lawyer Hans Bolenius filed charges against Max Bräuner and Willi Baumert. Bolenius suspected both of murdering children in the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home. This included Ulf Quadfasel, the son of his wife Margret. The public prosecutor’s investigation was not opened until 1948.

Full letter

In 1952, Hans Heinze (former expert at the ‘Reichsausschuss’) was released early from prison and moved to West Germany. In 1953, he was reinstated in public service. A year later, he became head of the newly opened child and adolescent psychiatric clinic in Wunstorf. In October 1960, he took early retirement. Due to a preliminary investigation into murder, his pension payments were suspended in 1961. In 1965, he presented a medical certificate attesting that he was unable to ‘comment responsibly on any questions or physically endure lengthy conversations.’ As a result, the investigation against him was dropped, even though his involvement in ‘child euthanasia’ had been clearly proven.

It is a black and white picture. It shows Heinz Heinze half lying on the floor with two young grandchildren. Between the three of them is a Lego house, which Heinz Heinze appears to be building. He is wearing a dark suit and tie and looks relaxed.

The family photo from 1965 of Hans Heinze playing with two grandchildren does not reveal the poor state of health that had been certified in expert reports.

Private property Hilde Winkelmann | Working Group Stumbling Stones Rehburg-Loccum.

Das Protokoll ist eng mit Schreibmaschine geschrieben und leicht vergilbt. Mit rotem Stift sind einzelne Aussagen im Protokoll unterstrichen.

Interrogation of Marie-Luise Heusmann on 3 November 1947.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3.

In 1947, all employees were questioned about the events in Lüneburg. They responded with almost identical answers, stating that no patients had been murdered at the Lüneburg mental hospital. They explained the high number of deaths by citing poor care conditions and, later, the large number of bombing victims from Hamburg. A comparison of the interrogation transcripts shows that the statements had been coordinated. The investigators were deceived.

ULF QUADFASEL (1940 – 1943)

It is a black and white photo. It shows the mother sitting with her cousin on her lap. They are sitting in a garden. Both are wearing smart clothes and look very happy.

Margret Quadfasel with Karla Rust, Bremen, August 27, 1939.

Private property Karla Reinhart.

Ulf Quadfasel came from Bremen. His mother was Margret Quadfasel, the daughter of a merchant. It is known that she frequented the elegant Hillmann Hotel in Bremen, where she met guests from high society. She became pregnant with Ulf, who was born on 15 May 1940; his father remained unknown. In November 1941, Ulf’s younger brother Peter was born. His father was the Austrian Karl Reininghaus, who acknowledged his paternity. At the beginning of 1944, Peter was adopted by Hans Bolenius and took his surname.

With two illegitimate children and her job at the hotel, the mother had a reputation for being a “loose woman.” The fact that her two sons were temporarily placed in the Oberneuland children’s home was interpreted as “anti-social behavior.” As a single, unmarried, and nonconformist woman, she did not conform to the role models and rigid rules of behavior of the time.

Im Kinderheim wurde Ulfs EntwicUlf’s developmental delay was discovered at the children’s home, and as a result, he was not allowed to stay. The home sent him to the hospital in Bremen, and he was registered. Nurse Antje from the Bremen Health Department applied for his admission to the “children’s ward.”

Just one week later, on November 16, 1943, Ulf Quadfasel was admitted to the Lüneburg mental hospital. Five weeks later, on Christmas Eve 1943, his mother married lawyer Hans Bolenius. Shortly thereafter, Ulf was murdered at the age of three and a half in the “children’s ward” in Lüneburg.

The sudden death of her son came as a shock to his mother. Just a few days later, Hans Bolenius questioned the official cause of death and put persistent questions to the Medical Director Max Bräuner.

After the end of the war, Hans Bolenius continued to endeavour to clarify the circumstances of his stepson’s death. As the only relative of a victim of „child euthanasia“, he filed a criminal complaint with the Lübeck police and thus made a decisive contribution to the investigation into „child euthanasia“ being opened.

Letter from the senior public prosecutor’s office in Hanover to Doctors Berger and Gerson dated 31 May 1948.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3.

Extract from Berger’s medical report to the senior public prosecutor’s office in Hanover dated 1 July 1948.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3.

To verify the initial suspicion, two doctors from the Göttingen and Wunstorf sanatoriums were commissioned on 31 May 1948 to examine the causes of death of 20 children on the basis of the entries in the medical records. They came to the following conclusion: it could not be proven that the deaths had been caused by violence. As a result, the investigation was closed in 1949.

Entire report

Letter from the senior public prosecutor’s office in Hanover to Doctors Berger and Gerson dated 31 May 1948.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3.

The extract is typewritten and signed by hand. The paper is yellowed. It is signed by Dr Berger by hand.

Extract from Berger’s medical report to the senior public prosecutor’s office in Hanover dated 1 July 1948.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3.

»I come to the conclusion that from the 20 medical histories of the children who died in Lüneburg that were sent to me, it cannot be concluded that the children’s deaths were caused or accelerated by external influences.«

It is a black and white picture. Taken from an elevated position, it shows a road junction. On the opposite side is the gymnasium with two striking angular towers. It is splendidly brick-built.

MTV hall, Lindenstraße 30 in Lüneburg, around 1965.

Private property Beckmann | ArGW.

It is a black and white picture. It shows the view of the accused, who has stood up. A uniformed military policeman stands next to him on each side. Brandt looks serious and is wearing wired headphones. The lawyers sitting in front of him seem engrossed in what they are also listening to via headphones. Only one of them turns round to face him. The marble columns and heavy wood panelling of the room can be seen in the background.

Karl Brandt (standing) at the sentencing at the end of the Nuremberg Doctors‘ Trial, 20 August 1947.

Copy ArEGL.

During the first investigations into the Lüneburg murders of the sick, the Bergen-Belsen trial took place in Lüneburg from September to November 1945. A further 13 „Nuremberg Trials“ were also held from October 1945 to April 1949. Only one of these trials related to the murder of the sick in the German Reich. The murder in „paediatric wards“ and of patients of foreign origin played a subordinate role. The focus was on „Aktion T4“.

ERGEN-BELSEN PROCESS (17.9. – 17.11.1945)

The first war crimes trial on German soil was held in the gymnasium of the Lüneburg MTV. It met with great international interest. The crimes committed in the Bergen-Belsen prisoner of war and concentration camp took centre stage. The trial also covered crimes committed in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The MTV hall was remodelled to accommodate around 200 journalists and trial observers in addition to the 45 defendants. This picture was taken a few days before the start of the trial.

It is a black and white photo. You can see angular benches made of light-coloured wood. A carpenter is carrying out assembly work. Screw clamps and a ladder are visible in the picture.

Carpentry work in the MTV gymnasium. A carpenter assembles the seats.
Photographer Sgt Wilkes.

IWM BU 10369.

It is a black and white photo. It shows a view from above of a large crowd of seated people. They are all facing the right-hand edge of the picture. The first two rows are made up of people in military dress at a long table with papers and reading lamps. Behind them, separated by a parapet, sit three rows of people with uniform clothing and numbers on the front of their chests. Behind them sit people in uniform.

45 defendants in the Bergen-Belsen trial, 17 September 1945. The former camp commandant Josef Kramer, marked with the number 1, can be seen in the lower left front corner.

IWM HU 59545.

From October 1945, there were investigations and criminal proceedings against those involved in the murders of the sick in the Brandenburg, Pirna-Sonnenstein, Hadamar and Pfafferode killing centres. Many proceedings were discontinued or ended with impunity or lenient sentences.

MEETING TRACKING IN BRANDENBURG

The murders committed at the Brandenburg “T4” killing center were dealt with in various trials. Investigations against the medical director, Irmfried Eberl, led to his arrest on December 30, 1947. On February 16, 1948, he committed suicide while in custody. Eberl’s deputy, Heinrich Bunke, returned to Celle and became a doctor at the state women’s clinic and the hospital in Celle. In 1965, charges were brought against him. The following year, he was acquitted. In 1970, the case was reopened. In 1987, the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court sentenced him to four years in prison for aiding and abetting murder in 11,000 cases. After 18 months, he was released from prison early.

PROSECUTION OF PIRNA-SONNENSTEIN

It is a black and white photo. People are sitting in three rows on raised wooden benches. The benches are separated by tables and balustrades. The men are wearing suits. Some of the women are wearing white nurse's caps.

n the back row on the far right is Paul Nitsche, standing is the doctor Ernst Leonhardt, who escaped execution by suicide. Sixth from the right is the nurse Gäbler, who was executed on the same day as Nitsche.

BArch Bild 183-H26186.

From 16 June 1947, a total of 15 doctors, carers and nurses from the Großschweidnitz and Pirna-Sonnenstein institutions were charged with crimes against humanity at the Dresden Regional Court in the Soviet occupation zone. These included the doctors Paul Nitsche and Ernst Leonhardt as well as two nurses from Pirna, Hermann Felfe and Erhard Gäbler. The trial ended on 7 July 1947: Nitsche, Leonhardt, Felfe and Gäbler were sentenced to death. Some of the other defendants received long prison sentences. A female doctor, a doctor and a nurse were acquitted for lack of evidence. Leonhardt and Felfe avoided execution by committing suicide. Nitsche and Gäbler were executed in 1948.

PROSECUTION OF HADAMAR

It is a black and white photo. There are four men and a woman in a small room. They are sitting around a wooden table. The men are in uniform, the woman in a nurse's uniform. There are some papers and stamps on the table.

Nurse Irmgard Huber, Hadamar, 4 May 1945, photographer Troy A. Peters, US Army.

USHMM, Nr. 73720.

The trial against the perpetrators of the Hadamar killing centre was the first „euthanasia“ trial in the western occupation zones. The US military began taking evidence in March 1945 and the US military court in Wiesbaden brought charges in October 1945. The focus was on the murder of the forced labourers in the „foreigners‘ collection point“. Two head nurses and an administrative manager were sentenced to death. The doctor responsible, Adolf Wahlmann, a head nurse, an administrative employee and a gravedigger were sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1946, the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court brought charges of murder in 900 cases against the doctors Adolf Wahlmann and Bodo Gorgaß as well as 23 others involved.

The doctors received a death sentence in 1947, which was commuted to life imprisonment in 1949. Both doctors were released from prison in the 1950s and Gorgaß was pardoned in 1958 by the Hessian Minister President and Minister of Justice Georg August Zinn.

In July 1950, a trial began at the Hanover Regional Court against three senior administrative employees of the Province of Hanover who were responsible for the sanatoriums and nursing homes: Ludwig Geßner, Georg Andreae and Paul Fröhlich. They were charged with crimes against humanity for their involvement in the murder of the sick.

Newspaper report „Aiding and abetting murder in 260 cases“ in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of 11 July 1950, p. 2.

ArEGL.

The trial ended just three weeks later with her acquittal. It was based on the personality of the accused and the „exceptional situation“ at the time.

It is a clipping from a newspaper. The paper is slightly yellowed. Some stains are recognisable. The article is written in two columns.

Newspaper report „Acquittals in the euthanasia trial“ in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of 31 July 1950.

ArEGL.

»All three defendants are acquitted at the expense of the state treasury!«

In the criminal proceedings against Werner Heyde, the public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt am Main consulted the files on Willi Baumert. In the criminal proceedings against Hans Hefelmann, Max Bräuner confessed to the murders in 1961. The murder investigations against both were then reopened. Because the carer Dora Vollbrecht also incriminated herself in the court proceedings against Georg Renno („Kinderfachabteilung“ Waldniel), an investigation was also opened against her. All three eventually admitted to murdering children and adolescents in the „specialised children’s ward“ in Lüneburg.

The transcript is closely typed. Some names and expressions are underlined by hand.

Excerpt from the transcript of the hearing of Max Bräuner on 30 November 1961 before the examining magistrate, Frankfurt am Main Regional Court.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3.

The letter is typewritten and signed by hand. A postmark is visible at the top.

Letter from the Public Prosecutor General’s Office in Frankfurt am Main to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Lüneburg dated 27 June 1962.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

Full transcript

Werner Heyde

Hans Hefelmann

»I would like to explain why the paediatric department was set up in Lüneburg. One day I received an enquiry from Hanover […]. This enquiry revealed that the possibility of euthanasia was included. For reasons still to be explained, I accepted after careful consideration.«

From the interrogation of Max Bräuner on 30 November 1961 before the examining magistrate, Frankfurt am Main Regional Court.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3.

QUESTIONING OF MAX BRÄUNER

Max Bräuner was summoned for questioning several more times. During his interrogation on 11 December 1962, he explained in detail why he had agreed to the establishment of a „children’s department“. He claimed that he had done it for the good of the institution. He also had no guilty conscience. He claimed that he had thought everything was lawful at the time. He acted as if he had been deceived and took no responsibility.

The minutes were written on a typewriter. The pages are tightly written and punched on the left. Individual names and expressions are underlined by hand in red.

Interrogation of Max Bräuner on 11 December 1962.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

»I must add that for years before that, there had always been plans to turn the Lüneburg institution into a Gauschschule, at least for party purposes. With the Reich Committee in the background, I therefore hoped to have a powerful argument against these party plans. […] At the time, I agreed to the establishment of a KFA [specialised children’s department] because I was of the opinion that the planned measures were lawful«

From the interrogation of Max Bräuner on 11 December 1962, p. 2 | 8.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

Interrogation of Willi Baumert on 17 December 1962.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

INTERROGATION OF WILLI BAUMERT

When the investigation against Willi Baumert was reopened, he had already been Medical Director of the Königslutter State Hospital and Chairman of the Association of Lower Saxony Institutional Physicians and Psychiatrists for six years. In December 1962, he admitted to having murdered hundreds of children. He took no responsibility for his actions. He said that he had acted on orders from above. He also glorified the murders as a service to science.

»I am accused of having labelled the boy ‚unworthy of life‘ in Wilhelm Schaffrath’s medical record. This word is not part of my vocabulary. Of course, I may have used it occasionally. […] In conclusion, I would like to point out once again that I became involved in this matter through no fault of my own. I always gave the orders to euthanise children reluctantly and only because I felt bound by the instructions issued by the Reich Committee. It was certainly a very unpleasant activity, but I didn’t have the feeling that I was doing anything illegal«

From the interrogation of Willi Baumert on 17 December 1962, p. 8.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

INTERROGATION OF DORA VOLLBRECHT

After Dora Vollbrecht lied during questioning by the examining magistrate on 22 May 1962, she was tormented by her guilty conscience. She confided in an acquaintance who convinced her to tell the truth. She then made a new statement on 4 June 1962 in which she described her involvement in the murder in the Lüneburg „children’s ward“ in detail.

Interrogation of Dora Vollbrecht on 4 June 1962.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

»I would like to say today that these children did not know what they were alive for. I mean that these children were spiritually under the animal. […] When I am asked how I felt when Dr Bräuner told me what my task would be, I have to say that I am a person who swallows everything and can say nothing. […] Nor did I dare to disobey the doctors‘ instructions after being instructed […]. […] I didn’t like doing that […]. […] I am not a person who dares to contradict superiors. I can’t do that. I can’t even do that with my brother«

Dora Vollbrecht’s report of 4 June 1962, p. 5 | 8.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

Hertha Heuer (née Walther), Marie-Luise Heusmann, Maria Harneid and Loni Böttcher were still working as nurses at Lüneburg State Hospital in the 1960s. They claimed before the examining magistrate that they had never heard of the murders or had never worked in the „paediatric ward“. Carers who were now working elsewhere (Getrud Scholz, née Marloth, Irmgard Fischer, née Kamienke and Frieda Bergmann) also testified that they had not seen or heard anything. They were all lying. Although there were testimonies suggesting their involvement, no investigations were carried out against them.

The certificate is typewritten on half a page. It is signed by hand.

Medical certificate for Willi Baumert dated 19 January 1963.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

The investigations against Max Bräuner and Willi Baumert were dropped in 1966 and against Dora Vollbrecht in 1980. All three presented medical certificates stating that they were unable to stand trial for health reasons. As a result, no charges were brought and there was never a trial. Their offences were not punished.

Resolutions

During the investigations into the Lüneburg perpetrators, the criminal trial against Werner Heyde took place at Frankfurt am Main Regional Court. The trial attracted a great deal of public interest. In January 1964, DER SPIEGEL devoted a cover story to it on pages 28 to 38. One month later, Werner Heyde took his own life, thus avoiding judgement.

Werner Heyde

DER SPIEGEL, No. 8, January 1964.

ArEGL 191.

DORA VOLLBRECHT (1906 – 1984)

Dora Vollbrecht came from Hanover. She was a trained and civil servant institutional carer. On 1 October 1941, she and her colleague Ingeborg Weber were seconded to the Lüneburg „children’s ward“ for a „special assignment“. Vollbrecht decided to accept the secondment and take part in the „euthanasia“ measures. In 1942, she agreed to her permanent transfer to Lüneburg. From then on, she frequently fell ill for several months, but always dutifully returned to work. In January 1945, she was certified as being too ill for the nursing profession. It was not until October 1945 that she left the Lüneburg sanatorium and nursing home and moved to Hanover. Her actions shaped the rest of her life. She died on 29 October 1984 in Bremervörde.

The investigations against the experts of the „Reich Committee for the Scientific Registration of Serious Hereditary and Congenital Diseases“ were opened by the public prosecutor’s office in Hanover in 1956. The proceedings against all those responsible for „child euthanasia“ usually ended with an acquittal or without a judgement.
Many of those involved in „paediatric euthanasia“ who are known by name can be found in the „Book of Perpetrators“ opposite.

The letter is typewritten, signed by hand and stamped.

Letter from the Public Prosecutor General’s Office in Celle to the Chief Public Prosecutor about the ongoing „child euthanasia“ proceedings in Hanover dated 19 July 1962.

NLA Hannover Nds. 721 Lüneburg Acc. 8/98 Nr. 3/1.

KEINE STRAFVERFOLGUNG

Nur etwa 175 Personen, die nachweislich an der »Kinder-Euthanasie« beteiligt waren, sind namentlich bekannt. Die tatsächliche Zahl der Beteiligten ist um ein Vielfaches höher.

Die meisten blieben frei von einer Strafverfolgung. Gegen mehr als 115 wurde nicht einmal ermittelt. Bei rund 30 Personen handelte es sich um die Leitenden Ärztinnen und Ärzte sowie Direktoren der Kliniken und Anstalten, unter ihnen auch die Ärztlichen Leiterinnen und Leiter der »Kinderfachabteilungen« Berlin-Wittenau, Breslau, Aplerbeck, Eglfing-Haar, Görden, Graz, Hamburg-Rothenburgsort, Kaufbeuren-Irsee, Konradstein, Leipzig-Dösen, Universitätskinderklinik Leipzig, Niedermarsberg, Sachsenberg, Stadtroda, Tiegenhof, Uchtspringe, Ueckermünde und Wiesengrund. Zwölf weitere Personen waren Oberpflegerinnen und Oberpfleger. Sie alle wurden nie zu den in ihren Häusern verübten Verbrechen befragt.

Gegen mehr als 25 der identifizierten rund 175 Personen wurde in den Jahren 1945 bis 1949 sowie in den 1960er- bis 1980er-Jahren zwar ermittelt, alle Ermittlungsverfahren wurden aber eingestellt.

Das hatte verschiedene Gründe:

Sieben Ärztinnen und Ärzte sowie zwei Pflegerinnen entzogen sich einer Strafermittlung durch Selbsttötung, vor allem in den Jahren 1945 bis 1947. Eine Ärztin nahm sich 1964 das Leben.

Die übrigen Ermittlungsverfahren wurden aus Mangel an Beweisen, aufgrund ärztlichen Attests oder wegen Verjährung eingestellt. Gegen viele Verdächtige wurde nicht wegen Mordes, sondern wegen Tötung ermittelt. Infolgedessen griff ab Mitte der 1950er-Jahre eine Verjährungsfrist. Viele konnten darüber hinaus glaubhaft machen, dass sie aus gesundheitlichen Gründen außer Verfolgung gesetzt werden müssten.

Vier Pflegerinnen der »Kinderfachabteilung« in Wien, der Leiter der »Kinderfachabteilung« Konradstein sowie der Verwaltungsdirektor der »Kinderfachabteilung« Meseritz-Obrawalde tauchten unter und wurden zum Teil erfolglos steckbrieflich gesucht.

PROSECUTION

Criminal proceedings were only opened against around 35 people involved in the »child euthanasia« programme. Eight of these criminal proceedings were dropped, including those against Ernst Wentzler, chief expert at the »Reich Committee«, and Georg Renno, head of the Waldniel »specialised children’s department«. The criminal proceedings against the heads of the Eglfing-Haar (Fritz Kühnke), Hamburg-Langenhorn (Friedrich Knigge), Hamburg-Rothenburgsort (Wilhelm Bayer) and Konradstein (Hans Arnold Schmidt) »specialised children’s wards« were also dropped.

At least five criminal proceedings, including those against the medical directors of the Sachsenberg (Alfred Leu) and Uchtspringe (Gerhard Wenzel) paediatric wards, ended in acquittal. At least three carers were also acquitted, including Aenne Wrona, who had murdered children in both the Waldniel and Kalmenhof »children’s ward«.

Karl Lempp, as medical director responsible for the Waldniel »paediatric department«, was fined 2,000 marks in 1947. Other sentences were initially less lenient.

Erwin Jekelius, responsible medical director in Vienna-Spiegelgrund, was sentenced to 25 years of forced labour in 1948. He died in a prison camp in 1952. At least eight death sentences were handed down in 1946 and 1947. Three of these were carried out, against Ernst Illing, medical director of the »specialised children’s wards« Görden and Wien-Spiegelgrund, and against Hilde Wernicke and Helene Wieczorek, both responsible for the child murders in Meseritz-Obrawalde. Johann Aberg escaped his death sentence by going into hiding.

The other death sentences were commuted to prison sentences in 1949. In the 1950s, the convicted doctors were pardoned and released from prison only a short time later. Mathilde Weber (head of the Kalmenhof »specialised children’s ward«) was released after two years in prison. Hermann Wesse (head of the Kalmenhof, Waldniel and Uchtspringe »specialised children’s wards«) was pardoned in 1958 and released from prison in 1966. With 17 years in prison, he spent the longest time in prison of all those sentenced.

At least eight doctors and at least four nurses involved in the »paediatric euthanasia« were sentenced exclusively to prison terms of between twelve and two years. At least four never served their sentences. The others served only a fraction of their sentences and were released early after one to six years.

The title of the book shows a black and white photograph of a mother and toddler against an orange background. The mother is looking up at her child, who is stretching his right arm upwards and seems to be looking after his hand.

Hannah Uflacker: Mother and child. Gütersloh 1965.

CAREERS IN THE BRD AND THE GDR

After the end of National Socialism, many paediatricians made their careers in West and East Germany. They shaped paediatrics and infant care in the post-war period until the 1970s. Due to the lack of investigations, it often remained hidden who had participated in the »paediatric euthanasia«.

In 1956, Hannah Uflacker published her practical guide »Mother and Child« in what was then West Germany, with a foreword by Werner Catel. Nobody was bothered by the fact that he had been the main expert in the »Reich Committee« and responsible for the murder of thousands of »Reich Committee children«. Between 1960 and 1964, Hannah Uflacker herself was investigated for her involvement in „child euthanasia« during her time at Leipzig University Children’s Hospital. She confessed to the murder of six children and took her own life in 1964 when she was threatened with the withdrawal of her medical licence. At the time, she was working at the Hanover health authority.

The title of the book shows a black and white photograph of a mother and baby against a blue background. The mother is holding her child in her arms.

Hans-Christoph Hempel: Infant Primer. Leipzig 1970.

Hans-Christoph Hempel was a former head doctor at the Leipzig University Children’s Hospital and ran the Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz) District Children’s Hospital in the GDR. He was never investigated, although he was responsible for the »special treatment« of children and adolescents in the Leipzig »paediatric department«. He habilitated in 1960. In 1969, he published the »Infant Primer« as a »Meritorious Doctor of the People«. In it, he particularly emphasised the advantages of crèche care for very young children.

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