Martha Ossmer was born on 22 May 1924 in Bremen. Martha’s father Christian was a worker in a wood factory. Her mother Bertha was a housewife. Martha had two younger sisters, Elfriede and Käthe. Martha’s birth was very difficult and complications arose. During the forceps delivery, her skull bone was severely deformed. The doctor then forced the skull back into its original shape, probably damaging Martha’s brain in the process. This resulted in mental disability. Martha could not speak, was late in learning to walk and could not climb stairs. She needed help with many everyday tasks, such as eating and going to the toilet. Doctors repeatedly advised her parents to put Martha in a home. But her parents did not want that. Martha did not attend a special school, but was always cared for by her family. Sometimes Bertha was heavily burdened with caring for her daughter, and from time to time she was probably ashamed of Martha’s disability. Nevertheless, Martha remained at home until the age of 21, thanks in part to the support of her sisters. It was only when the bombings began that the family became overwhelmed. On 18 July 1944, Martha was admitted to the psychiatric clinic in Bremen. From there, she was taken to the Lüneburg institution and nursing home in a collective transport on 23 July 1944.

Her father visited Martha at least twice. The family had the impression early on that Martha was not getting enough to eat, a situation that was to continue for many months. On 18 April 1945, the day Lüneburg was liberated by the British, Martha died. The official cause of death was: »Underlying condition: idiocy. Subsequent condition: exhaustion.« It is highly likely that she was killed by medication. Starvation cannot be ruled out either.