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FORCED STERILIZATION

More than 820 people were made infertile against their will. There were over 2,400 court cases in Lüneburg. Most of the verdicts were based on »congenital and social imbecility«. Many of those affected were only 14 years old. If women sentenced to forced sterilization were pregnant, forced abortions were carried out. Men were castrated on the basis of the »law against dangerous habitual criminals«. The external sexual organs could also be removed.

It is a black and white group photo in a passe-partout. Four family members are sitting on chairs in the front row. Three family members are standing in the second row behind them. They have positioned themselves in front of the façade of the farm's half-timbered house. They are all wearing festive clothes and looking seriously at the camera.

The Saul family, around 1925.

Private property Anne Krause-Rick.

In addition to the physical injury, sterilization was accompanied by a devaluation of the person and a devaluation of the entire family. Families who struggled with illness were belittled and ostracized. Their shame continues to the present day.

Wilhelm Saul (back row, center) was sterilized against his will due to »congenital feeblemindedness«. His sister Marie (front row, right) became mentally ill and died in the Lüneburg institution and nursing home. The family experienced social coldness.

Interview

More than half of the forced sterilizations were carried out at Lüneburg Municipal Hospital. The only operating theater available was often used for this purpose. The procedure was well paid for. Forced sterilizations were also carried out at the Landesfrauenklinik Celle, the St. Viti Hospital in Uelzen, the Hafenkrankenhaus Hamburg, the Krankenhaus Hamburg St. Georg, the Henriettenstift Hannover and the Städtisches Krankenhaus Hildesheim.

The operating theatre where forced sterilizations were carried out in Lüneburg from 1934 to 1945, around 1900.

Copy ArEGL.

In the course of the hereditary biology registration, each family member was assessed for their genetic material. This meant that an entire generation of a family was reported, checked and, in case of doubt, rendered infertile. This was also the case for the Marienberg family and the Münzer family from Lüneburg.

The printed form is filled in with curved handwriting and ink. Charlotte Münzer's family tree is accurately drawn by hand and individual members of the family are marked in different colours and shapes. Each colour and shape stands for a different attribution: for example, drunkard, divorced, criminal and so on.

Family tree of Charlotte Münzer, February 7, 1938.

NLA Hannover Hann. 138 Lüneburg Acc. 102/88 No. 1223.

Four siblings from the Münzer family were forcibly sterilized: Dora (born 1899), Ferdinand (born 1906), Albert (born 1907) and Frieda Münzer (born 1911). The public health officer even invented new categories to justify their sterilization. In reality, the family was persecuted because of a Romno background. Their way of life also did not conform to the narrow ideas of the time. Albert’s son Horst Münzer was also a victim of »children euthanasia«.

Frieda Gras, née Münzer, was the penultimate of the Münzer siblings to be forcibly sterilized. Nine days later, her brother Ferdinand was made infertile.

There are two black and white photos. One from the front and one from the left. Charlotte Münzer is wearing a dark-coloured top with a fur collar. Her hair is chin-length and pinned back on one side. She looks into the camera with her mouth closed.

Official medical report on Frieda Münzer, 20.12.1937.

NLA Hannover Hann. 138 Lüneburg Acc. 102/88 No. 1223.

It is a black and white photo. Erich and Thea are smiling at the camera and leaning their heads towards each other. Erich is wearing a uniform and his hair is combed back. Thea is wearing a dark top with a light-coloured bow at the neck. Her hair is wavy and pinned back. She is holding a lavish bouquet of flowers in front of her.

Wedding photo of Erich and Thea Harenburg (née Marienberg), February 28, 1941.

Privately owned by Uwe Marienberg.

Sterilization was also used to disenfranchise dissenters. The brothers Georg (born 1910) and Karl Marienberg (born 1913) were sterilized in 1938. The main reason was their political views. As communists, they were considered »socially imbecile«. Their half-sister Emmi Nielson (born 1921) became a victim of forced sterilization in 1943, as did her cousin Thea Harenburg (born 1921), née Marienberg.

Interview

Around one in ten people who were forcibly sterilized were »double victims«. Either they were not only forcibly sterilized but also had a forced abortion (at least 16) or they were murdered with gas in 1941 as part of »Aktion T4« (at least 15). At least eight patients died in the Lüneburg institution and nursing home and the Pfafferode killing center from overdoses of medication or starvation. At least two women died as a result of sterilization.

The paper is slightly yellowed. The letter is typewritten. It is signed by hand. Some terms and expressions have been underlined by hand.

Letter from Margarete Tost to the district administrator in Soltau dated 29.11.1935.

NLA Hannover Hann. 180 Lüneburg Acc. 3/005 No. 15/2.

Two women did not survive the sterilization: Henny Tost (born 1900) from Schneverdingen and Emma Timme (born 1901) from Wohlde-Salzmoor. Henny Tost died immediately after the procedure because the doctor wanted to remove a cyst during the operation. Her mother demanded 50 Reichsmark per month as compensation for the loss of her daughter’s labor.

Emma Timme died in the middle of the night a few days after the operation. As the doctors could not explain what had killed her, they performed an autopsy on her body.

The letter is slightly yellowed. It was written using a typewriter. The paper is smaller than half a page.

NLA Hanover Hann. 156 Celle Acc. 95/79 No. 6.

The treatment report was entered in her medical file. It was entered into the table using a typewriter. The following entries were again made by hand. The report of the operation is about half a page long.

Treatment report dated January 6, 1936.

NLA Hanover Hann. 156 Celle Acc. 95/79 No. 2.

In the forced abortions, pregnancies were terminated between the second and seventh month of pregnancy. The fetuses were 17 to 38 cm long and weighed up to 930 g. It also happened that women became pregnant despite forced sterilization. In these cases, the procedure (forced abortion) was repeated. Only two cases are known in which the child expected despite sterilization was carried to term and allowed to survive.

Emma Schulze (born 1909) from Schmölau was 26 years old when her unborn daughter was forcibly aborted as a result of her sterilization.

In May 1938, the hereditary health court in Lüneburg decided to sterilize Paul Hausen. He was castrated on the basis of the »Law against Dangerous Habitual Criminals«. His genitals were removed. He was then admitted to an institution as a »moral criminal«. On April 23, 1941, Paul Hausen was transferred to the Herborn intermediate institution as part of »Aktion T4« and from there to the Hadamar killing center on May 21, 1941.

It is a black and white portrait photo. Paul Hausen looks seriously into the camera with his mouth closed. He is wearing a dark, high-necked shirt with light-coloured buttons. His hair is shaved at the sides and slightly longer at the top.

Paul Hausen on his sick note, 1938.

NLA Hannover Hann. 155 Lüneburg Acc. 2004/066 No. 07888.

It is a black and white picture. Auguste Schmid is sitting on a chair with her legs crossed and holding a bouquet of flowers. She is wearing a dark-coloured dress with a large neckline. She is wearing a long necklace with a large, oval pendant. She looks at the camera with a slight smile.

Auguste Elise Schmid, around 1925.

Private collection Kirsten Muster.

Auguste Elise Schmid from Bülkau was the mother of a four-year-old and a two-year-old daughter when she was forcibly sterilized in 1938. She escaped »Aktion T4« but was transferred to the Pfafferode killing center on September 8, 1943. She did not survive this transfer. As the girls‘ father, Josef Unger, was already married, the relationship remained unofficial. The girls grew up with Augusta’s friend Martha Niehaus.

Kurt Heine was not a typical victim of forced sterilization. He was a victim of the consequences of the First World War and his own world view. In times of economic and political crises, he repeatedly experienced professional failures, which may have contributed to his illness. Seriously ill and lacking in self-esteem, he probably voluntarily allowed himself to be made infertile.

It is a blue cardboard folder. "Personal details" is written in decorative black lettering in the centre of the title. Kurt Heine" is written in the same font at the bottom right.

Medical file of Kurt Heine.

ArEGL.

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